Ironman recovery and training for next ironman?

It depends on a lot of things.  One is age and then there is genetics and overall fitness/years of training long distance/total vollume before the race.  The younger, more genetically sound, more years of training at the IM level with larger base miles you had coming into TXIM and assuming no pulls or muscle issues during the race the sooner you can start building back up.  Usually I take about a month with almost no running (walking is fine 3x a week) z1 bike rides of less than 20 miles 2x a week and z1 swims of less than 1500 yards 2x a week.  This year, after completing my 3rd IM in 3 years I thought maybe I could cut corners and come back quicker....which cost me 6-8 weeks instead of 4 weeks.  I wanted to run a half mary with my son for his first, but it wasn't in the cards.  Results verry a lot.  I am 45 years old, average genetics, history of minor calf pulls and a hamstring pull, nothing serious.  This year I will take the full month as described above.  Now for building, once that month is up you will feel like crap when you start building again, but you can build at a reasonable rate to regain that fitness once the body has recovered.  You will get a lot of opinions on this one.  It is usually better to err on the side of too little than too much.  You may have to feel your recovery once you start working out to see how much you can build that first month of building.  Your second month of training should be more solid and the third month you should be gtg for a nice build which gives you your 3 solid peak build cycles before your next IM.    

thank you for response! I am 38 and IM Fl will be my 3rd in 15months and i haven't had any issues after either one.  i have thankfully remained injury free so far. i did a half IM a month after my first full and then ran 2 marathons back to back. i am definitely going to take it easy for a month. a 20 week plan would start for me right at a month, so based on what you said, that would start my build again. 

I also just finished Texas and am getting ready for IMNYC in early August. I took a full week completely off and just started training back up today. Like it was said, it'll vary for each of us. Today's 30 min run in the heat felt tough as did the 50' swim. I'll just keep slowly building these next two or three weeks until I feel ready to jump into full build mode. Just listen to your body and take rest as needed. It'll be better to get to the start line a bit undertrained than not get there at all.

First of all, sounds like you got the genetics to deal with alot. For me, I agree with Baowolf in taking it REALLY easy for about a month. Learned my lesson the hard way last time. Felt like I could do stuff, but something was always a little bit off. Paid the price for pushing through it.

Which brings me to my second point...
It's 10 days after your second Ironman and you "haven't had issues". I would be careful with that. Just because you feel good now, doesn't mean there isn't any residual wear and tear on your body that may show up as little aches and pains, or sluggishness. Just be in tune with your body. You might be fine, but back off if things are entirely right.

I appreciate all the advice! i haven't done much except some short slow runs/walks, an easy bike ride and easy short swim this week, and i did nothing but walk the first week. i will definitely take it easy! i don't want to get injured!