Recovery and everything in between

I seriously expected to *hop* out of bed this morning with bounce in my step, I was delusional. Instead I rolled over to get up and crippled over. It appeared my 8 1/2 hour slumber was too much rest for my legs because they completely seized up. I am also experiencing incredible burning in my quads. Really I could say 75% of my lower body felt ok; the problem lies in my ham-hock quads. I'm still completely exhausted. I have small amounts of energy that decide to frequent throughout the day but they're short lived and in my opinion only brought on by the espresso drip I've had installed in my right vain. I'm sure the caffeine infusion isn't helping in bringing my RHR down either. I'm also puffed out like a puffer fish. Not really sure why as I have been in control of my hunger and on top of my nutrition. I'm getting in my multi's, extra amino's and calcium and am even going as far as drinking 2-3 packets of Emergen-C a day. Really, I want to speed this whole recovery process up. I have been fortunate in getting in an extra 45 minute nap daily. I asked my coach how long recovery is supposed to last....a day for each mile. 26 days?! 26 days until I can go full force again. Ah, I think this is a blessing in disguise. I know I need an off season....I need a short block of time to be free. Eat, drink, and indulge in what I want. IM training will be a very long road to travel and I'd like to start it in a refreshed state. Plus I'm moving again. So the recovery couldn't come at a better time. I've been pondering the idea of becoming a minimalist. This will be my second move in 6 months and not going to be the last with home shopping on the horizon. So I figure the less crap I have the easier the move will be. I am an awful pack-rat and often feel overwhelmed by clutter. Someone once said the reason people "pack" is because they have been without and are afraid one day they might need it. Bingo - hit me right on the spot. I keep anything and everything. I figure they're all memories. Memories are all stored in the brain though, there is no reason I need to keep ticket stubs, gifts, or just misc crap....it all adds to the clutter. So day by day I am starting to pack and trash. If I haven't used it in 6-12 months I'm throwing it away. I'm also going to get rid of extra distractions....like cable. I rarely watch TV, I'm lucky to get in 2-3 hours a week and that's all stored on my DVR. Instead I'll take those extra minutes of *wasted* energy and use it on something productive, ie reading, writing, strengthening, stretching, cooking. My fish Oscar is still alive. Random I know, but I'm a random kind of person. I've had him for 3 months now, this is a pretty big step in the right direction. I'd like to get another pet....but something that doesn't need much maintaining, maybe a snake. Hmmmmm, anyone have any thoughts?

By the way, thanks to everyone that voted on my Halloween costume. I was a little surprised the grecian goddess won. I mean really, there's nothing scary or badass about it. I tried on a few roman empress costumes and all of them where either see through or too ity-bity to wear. I was about to give up on looking for costumes when I found this awesome Ghostbuster get up calling my name. So it turns out I'm going to be fighting ghosts for Halloween, the best part of my costume is the little ghost has-vac backpack. I can stuff it full of all kinds of (insert what you like here). :)

BTW, did I mention my stupid ass decided to sign up for a century ride this Sunday?