Thursday, January 10, 2013

Making it work

One of the more common questions I'm asked as a full-time working professional and ambitious (some might say intense) athlete is: "How do you balance work and working-out?" I should preface by saying that I am 23 years old, single, and live in my parents backyard. There's no significant other to keep happy, munchkins to chauffeur and feed... generally dinner is ready when I get home and I even get the occasional (ok, frequent) helping hand with laundry. As a result, there isn't much external stress in my life. I imagine most people have many additional factors to balance so as with all things I write, take this with a grain of salt.

1. I live where I train: While most young-adults my age live in the more "happening" city of San Francisco, I specifically chose to live with my folks b/c they reside in one of the most fertile grounds for multi-sport athletes. It may not be Boulder, Colorado but I'm surrounded by empty roads and mountains to summit, am a 5 minute drive from the pool, and tues. track workouts are just a few blocks from my place. And yeah, I love 'em.
2. I work where I live, which is in turn where I train: On a bad day, I'm a 25 minute drive from the office in the carpool lane. Since Dad is an engineer at the same company, we save a good 30 minutes/day by matching our schedules. The office is on a well-connected network of trails in the baylands, so squeezing in a 60-90 minute run midday takes just that: 60-90 minutes. No commute necessary.
3. I don't drink and I don't go out: Alcohol is poison. It makes you weak and dehydrated, can lead to bad decisions when done in excess and ruins your workouts the next day (in fact my coach bans all workouts for the 24-hours preceding moderate drinking). I'll have drinks a couple times a year. In the off season. And that is it.
4. I combine social and fitness: I stay connected with my remote friends (St Louis and Germany to San Francisco) via gChat and text. Sure the connections aren't as strong as they used to be – it's a sacrifice. My close buddies are the guys I train with, we catch up on the open road.
5. No TV, no distractions: I don't have time for it – I might squeeze in an hour a week to wind down but that'll be with dinner, or while icing after a hard workout. I also don't have a gf. I'm not looking and I'm too young to get settled. We'll tackle that challenge when it's fated to happen, or I'll change tactics when I hit 28.
6. Vacation = racing (or a training camp): I match my time-off with big builds... lots of cycling over Christmas/New Years & 3-day weekends. I take vacation when I go racing. The only time I can afford to turn the engine off is when I'm recovering from my A-race. 
7. Sleep right, eat right & stay healthy: I try to get 8 hours a night as it leads to better workouts and more productive work days. I take vitamins and aminos every morning and try to eat balanced meals - lots of lean proteins and greens.

Here's how the above pans out in terms of a weekly schedule. This is for the w/o Jan. 7 which still in my base phase. We are, believe it or not, still cranking the intensity dials.

DISCLAIMER: this schedule is insane for the average person but exists because my athletic goals are equally audacious. You DO NOT need to and SHOULD NOT train this much to be healthy and happy. I managed a 9:49 Kona with a only a few weeks at the below intensities. I am now hunting for a sub-9 and FOP AG finish at the world championships, and am sharing my schedule for the simple purpose of appeasing curiosities.

MONDAY 1/7/2012
4:15: alarm goes off. pack work & workout bags, take vitamin d & multis, eat oatmeal
4:40: drive to pool (Stanford campus)
5:15 – 6:45: swimming (~5-6k yards)
6:45: shower, change and drive to office
7:10 – 18:00: work
18:00: carpool to home w/ dad
18:30: quick snack, fill bottles
18:45 - 19:45: spin on trainer
19:45: dinner
20:00: abs and stretch
20:15: bed

TUESDAY 1/8/2012
5:15: alarm goes off. pack work & workout bags, take vitamin d & multis, eat oatmeal
5:45: run to track
6:00 – 7:15: speed work @ track (~8 miles)
7:15: run home
7:30: shower, change
8:00: carpool to work w/ dad
8:30 - 18:00: work
18:00: carpool to home w/ dad
18:30: quick snack, fill bottles
18:50 - 19:50: swim on own (~3.5k)
19:50: abs and stretch 
20:15: dinner
20:30: bed

WEDNESDAY 1/9/2012
4:45: alarm goes off. pack work & workout bags, take vitamin d & multis, eat oatmeal
5:10: drive to gym
5:30 – 7:40: 20 min spin, 1 hr weights, 25 min run, 30 min abs & stretch
7:40: shower, change and carpool to office
8:30 – 12:00: work
12:30 – 13:30: Sports Massage
12:00 – 18:00: work
18:00: carpool to home w/ dad
18:30: quick snack, fill bottles
18:45 - 19:45: spin on trainer
19:45: dinner
20:00: ice bath, abs and stretch
20:15: bed


THURSDAY 1/10/2012
4:15: alarm goes off. pack work & workout bags, take vitamin d & multis, eat oatmeal
4:40: drive to pool (Stanford campus)
5:15 – 6:45: swimming (~5-6k yards)
6:45: shower, change and drive to office
7:10 – 11:30: work
11:30 – 12:50: run (~8-10 miles)
13:00 – 18:00: work
18:00: carpool to home w/ dad
18:30: abs and stretch
19:30: dinner
20:00: bed

FRIDAY 1/11/2012
4:45: alarm goes off. pack work & workout bags, take vitamin d & multis, eat oatmeal
4:15: drive to pool (Fremont Hills)
5:45 – 7:45: swimming (~8-10k yards)
7:45: shower, change and drive to office
8:15 – 12:00: work
12:00 – 12:30: run, higher-pace 5k
12:30 – 18:00: work
18:00: carpool to home w/ dad
18:30: quick snack, fill bottles
18:45 - 19:45: spin on trainer
19:45: dinner
20:00: abs and stretch
20:15: bed

SATURDAY 1/12/2012
6:15: alarm goes off. pack swim bag, take vitamin d & multis, eat oatmeal
6:40: drive to pool (Fremont Hills)
7:15 – 9:15: swimming (~8-10k yards)
9:15: shower & dawn bike gear
9:45 – 14:45: ride (70 miles, lots of climbing)
14:50 – 15:10: transition run (2-3 miles)
15:30: drive home
16:00 - 17:00: ice bath, abs & stretch
17:00 – 19:00: down time
19:00: dinner
20:00: bed

SUNDAY 1/13/20128:00: wake up, make oatmeal from raw oats, omelet, juice from juicer etc. take vitamin d & multis
10:00 – 11:40: run rolling hills (~14 miles)
12:00 – 13:00: ice bath, abs & stretch
13:00 - 18:00: down time! cook, read, etc.
18:00: dinner
19:00: bed

Around 23 hours of training + core work & stretching, 45-50 hours in the office. It can be done and it certainly helps when you LOVE it!

--gui


3 comments:

  1. Gui, what are your MWF spin sessions like?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Depends on the week. This monday was recovery, weds/fri full hour of steady... we'll soon start working in some of the same tempo/threshold intervals I'm going to venture you have in your plan. Weekends is lots of climbing & when structured, hill repeats targeting threshold for 20 or so min.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The main reason I enjoyed this post is that it makes me realise I'm nowhere near as insane so really should be able to handle my schedule no problem at all! I would love to be in bed at 8pm though! How do you manage to eat dinner in 15mins then do abs straight away?! And how on earth do you make sure you stick to that schedule to the minute such that you can plan 15minute increments in your day? My schedule is almost the complete opposite and has to stay flexible as there are many more outside factors involved for me and my work day is much less predictable - no such thing as a routine here.

    ReplyDelete