A Day in the Life of TRP

I rarely blog about my work-week because it is so mundane: run, work, second workout (usually), bed. But I still think it is fun to share what an actual day looks like for me.

Here is how my Monday went down. . . . .

5:00 a.m. Alarm goes off, get out of bed

I am not a snoozer; it feels like a waste of time, and I don’t have a minute to spare.

5:00 a.m. Get dressed

This morning I went to the gym to run on the treadmill, so it didn’t take me as long to get ready. When I have to dress for cold weather running, it takes me twice as long to put all my layers on.

5:05 a.m. Feed Sadie

She always hears me coming down the stairs and gets so excited to see me because she knows I am going to feed her. Afterwards I let her outside to go to the bathroom.

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5:10 a.m. Empty the dishwasher

Kind of an odd thing to do so early in the morning, but I don’t like things out of place, so I spend a few minutes putting the clean dishes away.

5:20 a.m. Finish getting ready

Back upstairs to do my hair, put my contacts in, use the bathroom, etc.

5:30 a.m. Drive to the gym

5:40 a.m. Arrive at the gym

Realize I forgot my heart rate monitor and watch to track my heart rate. This is no good because my workout is based on my heart rate. There’s nothing I can do, so I find a treadmill and discover the cable is out, which means no distraction while running on the treadmill. Double bummer.

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5:45 a.m. Run on the treadmill

Today’s workout is a 7 mile run with a two tempo intervals in the middle.

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6:45 a.m. Stretch at the gym

6:55 a.m. Drive back home

7:05 a.m. Take Sadie for a quick walk

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7:15 a.m. Return home, first half of breakfast

I grabbed the last two slices of banana bread I made a few days ago because I could already feel my hunger kicking in.

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7:20 a.m. Shower, start getting ready

7:45 a.m. Make breakfast

Too hungry to finish getting ready, so I go downstairs to make the second half of my breakfast. I go through my phases of what I eat for breakfast. Lately it has been oatmeal: 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup water, raisins, brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon.

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8:00 a.m. Finish getting ready

Go back upstairs to finish doing my hair and make-up, fix the bed, and pick up any clothes on the floor.

8:15 a.m. Drive to work

8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Work

5:15 p.m. Arrive home

Hang out and talk with Craig, repack my lunch, debate about going to the gym. I was really wanting to go to a bootcamp class at the gym, but I was not feeling up to it at all.

6:00 p.m. Eat dinner

I let my hormones get the best of me and ate a few chips and cheese and the last piece of this pie for dinner. Not the well-balanced diet I try to strive for.

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6:30 p.m. Check e-mail, Facebook, read blogs

7:00 p.m. Housework

I spent nearly an hour ironing clothes and folding/hanging clothes that I had washed over the weekend. I had a few extra items because I washed all of the clothes I am bringing to Hawaii. Does anyone else do that? Even though I most likely washed them at the end of last summer, I still felt the need to rewash them.

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8:00 p.m. Get ready for bed

With a 5:00 a.m. wake-up call, I am ready to start winding down at this point. During this span of time I also end up checking e-mail/Facebook again, entering data from my run into Google Docs for my coach, and picking up things around the house.

8:45 p.m. Bed

I usually end up reading for 15-20 minutes (if I even make it that long) and then lights are out.

So there you have it—the day in the life of my super exciting life here at TRP (The Runner’s Plate).

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Questions

What time do you get up in the morning?

How long do you spend getting ready in the morning?

What is one thing you would change about your daily routine?

I wish I only worked part-time and had time to cook dinner for Craig and myself in the evening.

Hi, I'm Michelle

I love running around the lakes of Minnesota, running after my two boys, and racing anything from the 5K to the marathon. I have been blogging here since 2010 when I ran my first marathon. I finally secured my sub-3 hour marathon after trying for 8 years.

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13 Comments

  1. 3.18.14
    Krissie J said:

    I have a terrible snoozing habit, so I’d probably choose to change that. I usually peel myself out of bed by 8am, and am out the door in 15 min. The perks of being in a lab is you don’t have to dress up if you don’t want to. 😉

    • 3.18.14
      Michelle said:

      Wow! 15 minutes, that’s impressive. I could get by with something like that as a p.e. teacher if I wanted to.

  2. 3.18.14

    I try to get up by 6:45, but sometimes I have a hard time falling asleep soon enough so I push it back a bit. I also like to linger over breakfast—we don’t usually start our first workout until 8:30 or 9am!! I need the time to digest my huge breakfast before working out. I do wish I could get myself to bed earlier—I think 8:30-9pm would be ideal for the amount of sleep, but it leaves so little time with my husband in the evenings. (He doesn’t get home from work until 6 or 6:30!!)

    • 3.18.14
      Michelle said:

      Yeah, I don’t like the little time I have with my husband in the evenings either.

  3. 3.18.14
    Sarah said:

    i wish my mornings weren’t so rushed. they mostly are because i have a 20-30 minute drive to work and i should learn to get up earlier. sigh.

  4. 3.18.14

    I am so not a snoozer either! Right when my alarm goes off (at 4:10am!) I jump right out of bed and on to my yoga mat 😉 Perfect way to start my really early mornings. But I go to bed by 9 every night and I love the early hours so waking up isn’t bad!

  5. 3.18.14

    In an ideal world, I would have mornings at home to clean the house, blog, bake, etc. If I were to change my routine one way without changing anything else about my situation, I would start reading more. Even if it is just 15 min at night on the ipad, I want to read more books. I have a short break from school (<2 weeks), so I am planning to do a little reading during my down time. Typically, I just blog or blog read at nights and I know that I want to be reading books so I just need to do it already and create a new routine! 🙂

    I make dinner most of the nights I'm not in class, but it is typically something easy like spaghetti with veggies or stir fry and peanut sauce or homemade tacos.

    • 3.18.14
      Michelle said:

      Me too! I find doing housework in the mornings very relaxing. It is often how I spend my Saturday mornings. 🙂 I also need to read actual books more.

  6. 3.18.14

    I get up right away with the alarm too, there’s no sleeping between those snooze alarms anyway. It’s what 3 minutes? Not enough time to fall back asleep. I’m impressed that you can do an entire speed workout without any breakfast. I would be all kinds of bonking, but I suppose it’s all in what you’re used to.

    • 3.18.14
      Michelle said:

      I did have a little UCAN that morning (forgot to mention that!), but yeah, I don’t often eat anything beforehand. It is amazing how much our bodies differ!

  7. 3.21.14
    Kathryn said:

    I get up at 5am too. I have to get ready, eat, feed my baby and pump before work. I have to leave at 6:50ish because I have a half hr commute. I wish I lived closer to work. Someday!

  8. 3.25.14

    I wish I was better at going to bed early. I wake up between 5AM and 6AM depending on the day but am lucky to make it to bed by 10:30PM. By the time the hubby gets home and we eat dinner there isn’t much time for hanging out if I go to bed at 9PM. 🙁

  9. 3.26.14
    Brandon Beverly said:

    Michelle,

    Hope all is well–I’ve enjoyed reading your blog as it has given me and my girlfriend some significant insight into life in Alaska. We are considering a move sometime before October, as it would be the ideal time for us if we choose to do so, we’ve both been actively applying for jobs in Anchorage area with no luck so far. We have a one year old baby girl, well almost 14 months now.If you don’t mind I would like to get some feedback on how to make the transition to Alaska as far as finding a job prior or at least some pointers. If you wish and you have the time I would love to hear from you. Email is best for me, currently on break at work, but you can reply through this blog if you rather.

    brandonsbeverly@gmail.com

    I appreciate you time.

    Best regards,

    Brandon