"off season"

Call it what you want, but the time is here to enjoy some downtime. Relax a little, re-focus, enjoy a few different things you maybe didn't allow yourself to during heavy training, etc. For most people, they tend to end their season with a big event that might require some recovery time after. Even if your biggest event wasn't your last event, then I am sure you continued on through the season without giving your body proper recovery after your big event of the year. Either way, it is important to take the down time. I think a couple weeks of no running is good, and then a month or two of easy workouts, or cross training like x-country skiing, mountain biking, yoga, and so on is good. Use this time to mentally and physically unwind, and then come back prepared to re-build the fitness you may lose during this time, and lose some weight you may have gained. Losing some fitness and gaining a little weight is not bad. In the endurance sports world, our "season" is all year. It is not like basketball or football where there is a season that lasts a set amount of months or games. If you have had a good year, and don't want to take the downtime because you don't want to lose all this great fitness you have gained this year, rethink that stance. Your body can not maintain that level of fitness and breakdown day after day, year after year. You can try to force it to, but eventually, the body will make sure you get the message one way or another, be it injury, depression, depressed immune system, etc. The body has a funny way of making sure it gets what it wants eventually!

I know it is hard to not get antsy, but use the time to off to look back on your year, critique it, figure out what you would like to see different for the next season, where you can improve, and what your goals are going forward. Enjoy a few extra bad calories, sleeping in a few more times than normal, and let the body rebuild itself so you can continually improve year after year. The last thing you want is to push too hard during your downtime and come spring, you are already burnt out!