Recovery

I am eating an Endangered Species espresso bean dark chocolate candy bar.  I have eaten one of these espresso bean dark chocolate candy bars every morning for breakfast this week.

The Endangered Species Chocolate Company makes several different flavors of chocolate (hazelnut toffee, caramel and sea salt, cranberry and almonds, orange, raspberry, forest mint, extreme dark, etc…) and each flavor (supposedly) supports a different endangered species.  For example, the espresso bean chocolate bar helps support the endangered tigers.  I have tried all of the flavors.  Each bar is truly spectacular, but my go-to as of late has been the espresso bean bar.  And the funny thing is, I don’t like coffee—I think espresso beans are one of the main ingredients in coffee.  

There is something about the way the chocolate mixed with the espresso beans when I crunch my teeth down on it that gits me where I live.  Sometimes I like to just let it melt there in my mouth.  But after a few seconds, I can’t resist the urge to chomp into that wonderful chocolatey goodness.  Mmmmmmm… Chocolate.  When I bite into an Endangered Species chocolate bar I can almost go into an ecstatic state.  I really believe all of this chocolate has helped me recover from the marathon.  After only one week, my legs have improved immensely.

Another thing I’ve been doing to recover is taking ice baths before going to bed.  I’m not sure if the cold water actually does anything for my legs, but it sure feels good.  And it definitely helps me to cool off.  This past week has been hot and sticky.  While sitting in a tub of frigid water for half an hour, I feel more relaxed and I’ve been sleeping soundly all through the night.  During the ice baths, I’ll drink a bottle or two of Kona Longboard Island Lager and put on the Beach Boys “Friends” album.  There really is no better way to recover than to relax in the bath with a cold brewski in hand and listen to Mike sing about “Anna Lee, the Healer.”

This Wednesday, I’ll be doing the Pittsville Heart & Sole Two Miler, then it will be onto Colorado to hike around in the Rockies.