run, rest, eat, bitch, buy things, cross-train, blog, repeat.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

The Daily Life of a Marathon Trainer... and tips!

5:00am: Alarm goes off, stumble out of bed. And I do mean literally stumble... no contacts= tripping over all kinds of random shit that is laying around on my floor.
5:10am: Hit the pavement.
6:25am: Come in, eat a cup of yogurt, flip through the paper, take a shower.
7:30am: Eat breakfast, take vitamins and supplements. (Yeah, I'm cool, I take supplements.)
7:50am: Leave for work... sit in traffic for the next 35 minutes, listening to sports radio.
8:30am: Work till 5:00pm.
5:01pm: Sit in traffic for next 35 minutes, listening to sports radio.
5:36pm: Cross-Train... Could be tennis, yoga lattes, or strength training.
6:45 pm: Shower
7:00pm: Prepare and Eat dinner.
8:00pm: Start getting ready for bed, laying out running clothes for the morning, laying out work outfit for the next day and packing gym bag for next day.
8:25pm: Crawl into bed with a book.
8:50pm: Put book down, turn out light.

Start the next day all over again... Damn... I didn't realize how boring my life is until this very moment. One thing I am really enjoying though.... no tv. The only television that I watch, is sometimes sportscenter in the morning while I'm getting ready and sometimes I'll flip on the tv while I'm preparing and eating dinner. So, we're looking at a total tv time of about 45 minutes a day. And that's being generous!

Training tips to be extracted from my schedule:
Morning Run... you can't do it? Sure you can! Here's how I do it:
1. Having all your shit together prior to your morning run is key. Lay out EVERYTHING you need for your morning run in a neat stack at the foot of your bed or in the bathroom.
2. I turn on my lamp immediately when my alarm goes off. Sure, I'm blind for about 3 minutes, but it's the only way I can ensure not falling back asleep.
3. I either leave my running clothes in the bathroom, or grab the stack on my way to the bathroom, and I put my legs through my running shorts while I'm peeing and attempt to get at least one sock on too... This way... if I go back to bed... well dammit, I'm going back to bed in running shorts and a sock and who wants to sleep in that?
4. Make sure you brush your teeth before a morning run. I've made the mistake of not... and it's a mistake I'll only make once.
5. Fill your water bottle up prior to leaving, so that as soon as you get back inside, you can have a nice big gulp of icy cold water.
Other tips:
6. Commutes are such a waste of time. If you can find a way to do something constructive during rush hour, and then go home AFTER rush hour, you can save lots of time. For instance, I often play tennis right after work at a tennis court like 5 minutes from my office or I run along the streets by work. So, by the time I'm done, I can breeze right home. Also good to join a gym near your work (you can drive to the gym early in the morning when traffic isn't bad save that commuting time).
7. This may only apply to girls, not sure, but if I'm not getting up in the morning to run or cross train, I always take a shower right before I go to bed... let my hair airdry overnight, so that I can sleep a little later in the morning.

Okay, well that's all I can think of for now... you have any to add?

1 comment:

April said...

Good tips...I think I'll try turning on my lamp once the alarm goes off.

Another one (that I don't do, but should) is to let your super-hyper, excited dog out of his kennel right away. And then take him outside.