hey Tri Girl...
Thats funny about the guy that did IMAZ not liking the swag.. Personally I noticed the expo to be lacking. But I figure thats what you get with such an early season race. Plus we need to gain the oomph that IM lake placid, and Canada have to get the real good sponsors..
Ok, to address the question... And let me tell you, I had no idea what to do post IM, so I played it by ear.
First off I took two weeks totally off. I did nothing. I had a really blistered left foot, so for the first week I was hobbling anyway.
The wierd thing was I FELT fine other than the blistered foot. I FELT like I could have gone for a ride or run. It was much different from my marys I've done in the past. But I think in reality my body was in fullon recovery mode..

The first ride was pretty eye opening. I rode for about 45 minutes feeling pretty strong when WHAM fatigue hit me and hit me HARD!! It was like somebody had zapped me of all my energy in an INSTANT. I literally limped my bike home.
My first run was 4 miles of misery. I felt sooo out of shape I could hardly believe it. I mean I had just done an IRONMAN??!!! And for the next week that was about how it went. I ended up only running 3 milers and riding for no more than an hour. When I hit the 4th week post IM I started getting my spunk back, but it took time. I've heard from my IM friends that you really have to listen to your body during that time. One of my friends tried to push it and ended up with a fatigue so deep that she developed cronic fatigue syndrome and it lasted for MONTHS! And I've heard that from alot of people. That you really need to take it slow and not do anything hardcore for at least a month. And only push when your body tells you it's ok. For me that was about a month. Now I'm pretty much back to normal workouts, though I have no desire to go long at this point. I think that also has to do w/ the fact that it's summer- in Phoenix- and to go long I'd have to get up at 0 dark 30!! I'm NOT a morning person!!
As for the weight.. UGH!! I feel like SUCH a TUB at this point!!! I feel like I'm gaining weight at a rapid clip!! And I don't have ANY room for that! Lets just say I'm going to be joining the local WW group here this week. I have to get my eating in check. During training I had this HUGE apettite and while I needed to be LOSING at least I wasn't gaining. Well now the training volume has been cut in half, but I'm having trouble doing that with the food portions. I need to reign myself in!! So off to visit the friendly folks at weight watchers!!
Hope this helps!
Denise
p.s. I have some video's I made of me at the Ironman. If you would like a copy I'd be glad to send you one. Just PM or email me your address.