Open Letter to Marc---On the Recovery of a Burned -Out Athlete

Marc is a friend who got heavily involved in training, particularly running with some biking and swimming, as a means of recovering from years of heavy drinking and poor eating habits.
His story is not unusual--he once weighed something like 240 pounds and got down to about 160 by training hard day after day. Marc's probably 5'10" at the most, so his transformation from being a self-described drunk and glutton is all the more remarkable.
I came to know Marc when he was still training hard but hampered by overuse injuries like a heel spur and plantar faciitis. One thing I noticed about Marc was that when I tried to give him some advice on what to do about his injuries (rest, alternative exercises),he didn't really want to hear it. He told me that he ate a lot and needed to run to burn off the calories. When I told him he should eat less or load up on things like salad he just sort of dismissed it. By the way,I just saw that you burn 300 calories if you do a half hour of easy jogging. It'll take a lot of miles to burn a lot of calories that way.
Anyway, another thing I learned about Marc was that he was clueless about the principles of training. Previously, I had given him a book edited by Joe Henderson and another by Bob Glover that dealt with all things relating to training, racing and injury prevention. My sense is that he didn't pay them much mind.
I saw Marc for the first time in around a month the other day and was a little alarmed by his appearance. He had obviously put on about 20 pounds. He didn't look fit or healthy. When I asked him how it was going he said that he had taken 3 weeks off because he was totally burned out and his foot had been bothering him. He added that he was having trouble getting back into it. I told him to ease into it, do the walking and running combination, be more concerned with time out on your feet instead of mileage. Marc's far away look let me know that I was sending and he wasn't receiving. A week later he told me had done 40 miles that week. All I could think was, you went from basically zero to 40 in one week? Where do you think that is going to take you?
Well--the following is dedicated to Marc and all the other Marc's of the athletic world---
Dear Marc,
Glad to hear you are healthy again. You are a smart guy and recognize the saying, now cliché, that says if we don't learn from our mistakes we are doomed to repeat them. I'm sure you don't want to go down the same path you just got off of.
I would strongly recommend that you set yourself some goals--the first one I'll do for you--#1.Get back in shape. That mostly involves shedding the extra pounds. The next goal or goals you set for yourself. Since you like to race, pick one 3 months or so down the road that you can enter, preferably a 5k or less. That will give you an added purpose to your training. You do triathlons and biathlons, if you want, consider an event you can enter within a year.
Next--start out easy--jog easy and walk--focus on time out on your feet, not mileage.You like the gym, somedays use the stairmaster as an alternative to running, this is also a wonderful way to simulate running the hills or the stairs. Swim--bike--they are all part of your conditioning process.
Read the books on training and the inspiring literature, your lack of proper training and rest, is what got you to where you are now. The Henderson and Glover books offer great advice on how to set up a training program that suits you and your needs.You have to have a map to get to your destination.
Finally--recognize and acknowledge why you compulsively over trained when you knew you needed to gear back.Being the ideal athlete requires reading,thinking and contemplation,and that sometimes means looking inward.
All the Best!
Dave

30 minutes running at 2/3's pace--agonizing in spots---exhilarating after.
What did you do?