Who Am I Kidding?

It's supposed to be my off-season, but two recent events make me think otherwise. Two weeks ago, while doing a 50-minute run, I thought to myself, "How is my body going to make it through the training for two ironmans next season." It's the off-season and I'm feeling broken down and burnt out? Last week, I had to stay at work late and I had to skip a workout on the trainer. I found myself stressed out, and I was desperately trying to rearrange my schedule the rest of the week to make up the missed workout. Once again, is that proper behavior for an off-season? Who am I kidding? I am training. I was doing 3 swims, 3 bikes, and 3 runs per week, and I was obsessive about completing every workout. I needed a major shift in both thinking and attitude. It was time to set up some off-season guidelines. I stopped running two weeks ago, and I don't plan to run again until the end of December or possibly until January 2*. I decided that if the sun isn't shining, then I can't swim outdoors (indoors is okay). And as for the bike, I can only ride the trainer if there is a show on Netflix or Hulu worth watching. Since implementing this plan one week ago, finally, I feel like it's an off-season.

*I broke the rule and ran today...10 miles. I got invited to a group run with some friends I haven't seen in some time. It was perfect Bay Area winter weather to run, a bit of drizzle to keep us cool. My reasoning as told in my email response:

It's the off-season, don't you people sleep in? If it's not raining, I'll be there. I'm not supposed to be running but this is social, it's like going to the bar with friends since we don't really go to bars anymore.