Rest

I'm gonna rest today.  I swear.  No exercise, not even a "recovery" spin.  Nothing physical other than what I have to to at work and what I've got to do at home.  Chores as they're usually referred.

I read somewhere that rest is over 50% of the puzzle when it comes to training and general fitness.  In my experience, this has been true more times than not.  I, like all athletes, have refused rest, pushed my limits, and often gone overboard with training.  It's not because of some internal need to be better (well, in some cases it might have been), but in thinking about it, the incidence of such overtraining is much more related to the fact that it "feels good".  Yeah, at a point in my life, I had goals-be them weight loss, muscle building, going faster on my bike, etc-but it all comes down to the fact that I feel better after a hard workout, and especially when I'm in a fatigued state.  In my sick head, I don't feel that I'm doing anything relevant, physically, I've I'm not spent by the end of the day.  And the cherry on top is when I'm pleasantly sore the day after a hard weight workout.

As I've shifted my focus more and more into the gym and lifting weights these days, it's easy to get carried away.  As well, the feeling of soreness is easier to achieve, further pushing me through the revolving door of being over trained and under rested.  I'm at the point now where I'm seeing changes in my sleeping patterns because I'm too wired from my workouts to settle into a good night's rest.  I've GOT to work on this and today will be the day.

As I started this post, I HAVE to rest today.  There's no other option.  No easy ride on the rollers and certainly no "fun" and "light" kettlebell session.  This day will be all about healthy eating, sitting when I can, laying down when I can, and even taking a nap if it's possible.  For as hard as I've been pushing my body, I owe it a little bit of a layoff-at least for 24 or so hours.