Rest and Recovery: From Training and Life

If training continues to teach me one thing, it's the importance of rest and recovery.  Today I did a 1 hour bike ride, followed by a 45 minute run...my last solid workout prior to Ironman Lake Tahoe.  I was feeling a little under the weather when I got up, probably because I was fighting the same stomach bug that my wife and daughter have.  Fortunately, I generally have an approach to stomach bugs...keep my stomach empty!  So, I had a couple of pieces of toast before my workout and water during it.  I've been trying to eat responsibly the rest of the day.  I couldn't start resting, however, until I went and took my father-in-law's hearing aid in for possible repair.  Turns out the batch of batteries he has are bad...just needed a new battery!  Kind of a metaphor for him right now:).  Ironically, he's ready for a rest and recovery afternoon.  As he recovers from his recent illness, walking a couple hundred feet is his marathon.  He did it three times this morning, despite a bad night's sleep.  So, I encouraged him to rest for the remainder of the day...that's what I did after stopping at the supermarket.

The body gets stronger when it is resting and recovering from training.  The training generally breaks things down...the recovery builds it up.  In a lot of ways our minds are like that as well.  This year has had it's fair share of mental stressors, training for an ironman is arguably part of that, although I often feel it's an opportunity for me to rest my mind...except during a hard workout, when one needs to mentally push through the pain!  With 9 days left before Ironman Lake Tahoe, there's really no more training that will help me be faster or stronger.  Getting the appropriate amount of rest and recovery, while staying loose, is what's important.

The mind needs resting and recovery as well.  I've been thinking about forgoing the internet over the next several days, particularly Facebook.  It's a tough decision.  I actually keep up with a lot of people of Facebook and generally don't see it as stressful.  That said, I have to admit that I check Facebook regularly throughout the day.  When I've taken Facebook sabbaticals it has actually felt good.  Being a physician also generally keeps me engaged in family medical matters (at my bequest), and with my father-in-laws illness this year, I've been very engaged.  I won't go into the other life stresses, but there are a lot more than I would have expected based on my present circumstances.  So, my mind needs rest and recovery.  I will keep blogging, however, through my taper.  And, I'll try to get back to some better blogging habits after the race.

As I'll be taking a Facebook sabbatical, starting right now (I just decided), I'll have to depend on one of my blog followers to post my blogs on FB during the next week:)  Thanks!