Fighting Fatigue - or NOT Fighting It

During Ironman training, unlike marathon training, the biggest struggle for me is the exhaustion and fatigue. For a runner with a tendency to overtrain, triathlon training is a good way to stay injury-free and still get the endurance "high" on a daily basis (what drives my no-rest mentality). But Ironman is a different story. Unlike cross-training for running, the cross-training now becomes the sport, and I can no longer escape the muscle and mental fatigue of 2-3 hour training days because I now have hard bike rides and hard swims. Training has become a second job. And the thing I hate most is that sometimes the only thing between me and my next workout is my bed. Sleeping often takes precedence over eating -- being so tired that you can't chew is usually a dead giveaway of which one to choose. As I get older, sleep has become even more important -- to heal, to regenerate, to recharge my brain, and, obviously, to spend more quality time with the cat.