Finding Kona: A Day in the Life

Someone recently suggested I write about a typical day/ week and what that looks like.  I thought it sounded fun but rather than do a whole week right now, I thought I'd throw in a day here and there as I build for Hawaii.  I have some fun adventures planned for 2017 where I think a "week in the life" would be more interesting.

With my work schedule I work 4 longer days each week.  I work Wednesday- Saturday, have Sunday off, then work Monday through Thursday and have 5 days off.  That 2 week cycle repeats indefinitely.  So here's my Monday July 11, a typical "work" day:

4:22 am:  Alarm goes off.

Completely random time, I know, but 2 nights ago when I set my alarm I overshot 4:15 am and was too lazy/ tired to forward through the minutes again to hit my intended target.  I've been awake for somewhere between 30-45 minutes.  I often wake before my alarm goes off.  Sometimes I can tell it's still the middle of the night and I am still sleepy, just woken up by my need to pee.  Other times, like today, I can tell that I've finished my sleep cycle and it's time to get up.  My alarm clock is covered because the light bothers me at night, so I lift the veil to reveal that it is, in fact, 4 am.  I lay in bed resting until 4:22.  I've gotten roughly 8 hours of sleep as I was in bed by 8 pm last night.  8 hours is my comfort zone.  I would love 9-9.5 (THAT is in infrequent luxury!).  Less than 8 multiple days in a week and I'm struggling big time.

4:22 am- 4:48 am:  Getting ready for training.

On average if I am swimming or running it takes me 30 minutes to get out the door from the time I get up.  If I am biking, it's more like 45 minutes.  Sometimes an hour if I have to pack my car to drive somewhere to bike.  Today, knowing I am a little behind my intended 4:15 am wake-up, I am spurred to pick up a few minutes.  I'm driving to Lifetime Fitness for my workouts and then will be at work until 8 pm so I am packing for the whole day.  I make my breakfast (a Van's GF waffle with Justin's Almond Butter) while packing my lunchbox and somehow managed to carry all 6 bags to the car in one load.  I'm pulling out of the driveway at 4:48 am.

5:10 am:  Death by Treadmill

First workout today is an hour progression run on the treadmill.  Traffic was light in the pre-dawn drive and so I'm on the treadmill early which makes me happy and lowers my stress level a little.  This particular workout is pretty tough for me so I like to have 10 minutes to just walk on the treadmill afterwards to cool down.  I make it through the first 40 minutes listening to a podcast.  As I crank up the pace the final time, I'm having a hard time processing the words and my body is protesting, my mind begging me to jump off the belt for a quick rest.  Instead of giving in, I grab my iPod, which is conveniently preset to repeat my 3 favorite Eminem songs, and switch out my ear buds, all without breaking my stride.  In my head I'm singing (rapping?) along with Eminem and the minutes tick by.  At one hour, I slow the pace and walk, relieved to have survived.  I drink a bottle of water with 2 scoops of Tailwind during my run.  I don't always use electrolytes but I've been noticing lately with harder workouts that I'm more depleted and feel kinda crappy so I've been supplementing and it's helping a ton.   

6:20 am:  Shower number 1.

I have to go to a breakfast meeting in between my run and swim so I jump in the shower quick.  I change into my suit and throw some run clothes over the top.  I leave everything else in my locker knowing I'll be back in 2 hours to finish up.

6:30 am- 7 am:  Drive to breakfast.

I make a quick stop at Cadence Running Company on my way to breakfast.  I've got to pick up a stack of bills that are due, check my major accounts, and grab the files needed to get everything in order for the week.  I'm last to arrive at breakfast (which is rare!) but it's just 7 am when I arrive.

7 am- 8:45 am:  Downtown Chandler Cafe.

The doctors at my hospital meet once a month to discuss, well everything, so I won't bore you with details.  Breakfast on my meal plan today was a breakfast sandwich with tomato, avocado, eggs, spinach.  I made due with a Florentine Eggs Benedict, minus the hollandaise sauce and with fruit instead of potatoes.  And coffee of course.  Lots of coffee.

8:48 am:  Drive back to Lifetime Fitness.

By 8:30 am, I'm looking at my watch and getting jumpy.  At 8:45 things are wrapping up and I'm standing, ready to bolt out the door.  Three minutes later, it appears as though we're finished and I book it out the door.

9:05 am:  Swim.

I'm poolside just after 9 am and ready to jump in.  After the run and the breakfast I'm feeling pretty lethargic.  Today's 3k straight swim doesn't give my mind any distraction either.  Sometimes intervals are easier to bust out than 45 minutes of just mindless swimming.

9:55 am:  Shower number 2.

Workouts done for the day.  I pack up my crap and head to work a little early.  I will have time to get my bills from Cadence organized and paid before I start my work day.

11 am- 8 pm:  Work.

I'll be honest, I'm just not in a great mood today.  My allergies have been bad the last few days and I don't feel great.  I'm tired and I hate working closing shift because I'm normally asleep by 8 pm.  I feel pretty useless in general past about 4 pm, but we all share duties and I'm lucky enough to have only one closing shift for every 2 weeks.  Tonight is cat night, so I'm looking forward to seeing only cats in the last few hours.  The morning is gone, and the afternoon seems to drag.

Things I eat during this time frame:
Greek yogurt with kiwi, raspberries, and granola.
Banana and a hard boiled egg.
Big-Ass Salad with spinach, romaine, lentils, quinoa, avocado, hard boiled egg and a drizzle of evoo.  I forgot my tomatoes at home.  My salad could have used them. 
Apple with almond butter.
2 bites of a cinnamon roll left over from our breakfast meeting.
Sushi roll (something with spicy tuna) delivered by one of my colleagues.

8 pm:  Drive home.

Some nights I'm so tired I don't remember driving home.  I used to use my drive home to visualize my upcoming race.  I did that for 6 months straight leading up to IMAZ 2014 and when race day arrived I executed the race without even thinking.  I had rehearsed it so many times in my head that everything was routine.  It was pretty amazing to me.  Last year I was too stressed out and couldn't focus so there was no visualization practice.  If nothing else, it was a nice routine to destress after my day, and I always think about restarting.

8:20 pm:  Getting ready for bed.

The hubs is sitting outside when I pull into the driveway.  He helps me unload the car.  I unpack my lunch boxes while drinking a Nocturne shake.  It's late and I don't want to fix dinner, I just want to go to bed.  So the nighttime shake gives me a little calories boost so I don't wake up starving in the middle of the night (you know this feeling from after Ironman, right?).  Plus it has tryptophan in it which helps me fall asleep without my usual de-stress time in the evening.  I can't do benadryl or melatonin, so this is a nice alternative when I don't want to lie awake for an hour thinking about work.  I'm asleep before 9 pm.