Wednesday ended up being an unscheduled complete rest day for me. The first such day in the previous 11 days, and only the second in the previous 24. Granted, I hadn't been running every day—I only run 4/5 times per week, mixing in strength training, yoga, swimming, or biking on the other days (mostly strength training)—but I was starting to feel a little sluggish.
Now, I am not the biggest fan of complete rest, but with the race coming up, and having had so little rest over the past 3 plus weeks, I figured it would be good for me. In addition to the rest, I suggested to Julie that we go out for some Tex-Mex and margaritas for dinner. (That is the one sure-fire way to ensure that I rest.) Of course I didn't have to twist Julie's arm for this!
So of we get home from work, change into some comfortable clothes, and head out to a local Tex-Mex joint for some good food and margaritas. Less than two hours later, I am completely miserable, stuffed, and wishing I'd had another margarita, instead of eating all of the refried beans and rice on my plate (for the record, I got grilled fish tacos on corn tortillas). After we got home, I stretched out on the couch and didn't move until it was time for bed.
The next morning, I knew I should stay off of the scale. There was simply no need to go anywhere near it, as it could only be bad news. But I couldn't resist. In a span of 24 hours, I went from 179 to 182. Mind you, I ate healthy the rest of Wednesday. Obviously there was some fluid retention, and I really try not to pay attention to the day to day fluctuations, but sometimes that's easier said than done. In the end, I think I've learned a valuable lesson: complete rest days are good, and so is Tex-Mex and margaritas, just don't do both on the same day. Next time, we'll save the Tex-Mex and margaritas for my long run day.
Ahh, dont worry about the weight gain. It was just water weight driven by all the salt you took in from the mexican food (and the salt on your margarita glass). Weight loss will continue to come over time. And its good you took a rest.
Posted by kevin on 6/13/2008 11:32:59 AM