A Day of Rest!

I have a rest day today.  That means that my only scheduled workout is an easy thirty-five minute run.  It also means that I completely tortured my body for the last three days and need to recover before this weekend's brick (a combination bike-run workout) and long ride (known as the bloody Sunday ride... for a reason!).  So what's a girl to do...

For starters, sleep.  Sleep until you can't sleep anymore.  You know that gluttonous pleasure of no morning obligations?  YEAH!  Sleep in, take a nap, whatever.  Supposedly, the body does all it's good work when you are sleeping, kind of like the Toothfairy.  The Toothfairy hormones go to work repairing damage, building muscle, and burning fat.  Oh, that is so much cooler than leaving a quarter for a little discarded enamel.  If only I could get out of the habit of drinking coffee by the pot, I'd be golden. 

Eat.  Oh boy!  I can sure do that!!  OK, what this really means is eat this carefully balanced array of nutrients so that the body can repair itself and refuel it's reserves for tomorrow.  Buzzkill.

Read.  OK, technically this doesn't help in recovery but it is so much easier to read on a rest day than on a heavy day when your eyes can't focus due to exhaustion.  That way, some of the training tips might have a chance of penetrating the gray matter and getting stored for later use.  It also serves to keep the mind focused on training.  I find that if I don't train, my first impulse is to forget that I ever did or wanted to.  Usually, I remember after I have burrowed like a cocaine-driven mole through three quarters of a half-gallon of ice cream.... OH, YEAH!  I didn't want to sabotage myself today.  Crap.

Walk the dogs to the waterfront.  Or some other thing I don't normally have time to do.  Like date.  HAHAHAHAHA!  OK, better now.  Seriously, I am finding that I chose a sport that will eat your life like some universe sucking black hole.  Fun and socializing are teetering on the event horizon like a couple of doomed planets and there is no Hollywood hero in a fancy ship coming around the corner to save them.  Besides, walking the dogs to the waterfront makes for tired dogs, empty of poop, and that is a blessing.

Cheers all!  It's nap time.