A Day in the Life

Andriy Yastrebov (above), Ironman Wisconsin men's pro winner in 2005, gutting it out on one of the many short-but-sharp hills in corn-and-cow country.

This is a typical weekday during “Crunch Time”. Don’t try this at home.

4:30 AM

Awaken to Green Day’s “American Idiot” on the clock radio. Flip the wakeup time to 5:30 AM for Barb, turn volume way up. Wait for Green Day vibe to wear off, check resting pulse, 44 BPM: on the money.

Stagger blindly into the bathroom. Purge last night’s hydration. Put on swimsuit, so I don’t forget later. (One morning I got into the pool in my briefs. Luckily, the other regulars were half-asleep too, and didn’t notice.) Put on robe. Stagger blindly but quietly to the kitchen.

Turn on TV news. Another bombing in Iraq. I think they just repeat the same story every day, and fill in the blanks for the location and number of fatalities. Make breakfast: poached egg, toast with peanut butter (REAL peanut butter, not the hydrogenated-icing-sugar stuff), Shredded Wheat with milk. Three minutes ahead of schedule, go downstairs to stretch upper body.

Back to the bathroom, quietly. Shave face, brush teeth. Get dressed.

5:15 AM

Grab swim bag, jump in the Jeep. Drive to the Canyon Meadows pool. Speed limit gets abused severely.

5:25 AM

Say good morning to the other regulars. Get undressed, confirm swimsuit. Rinse, head for the deck.

5:30 AM

Put on goggles and swim cap. Say good morning to my lane partner, Maria. Push off, start 400m warmup, freestyle. With 100m to go, count number of strokes per length, to check technique: 17-18, on the money.

5:38 AM

Wait for pace clock to hit Red Top, start main set, 10x100m on 1:50, rest 10 seconds every 100.

5:58 AM

Swim 100m easy. 1500m in the bank so far, right on schedule.

6:00 AM

8x50m fast. 50 seconds each, anaerobic by the sixth rep. Dug deep on the last two. Followed with 100m easy to recover.

6:10 AM

Start 500m pyramid: 25m fast, 25m easy, 50m fast, 50m easy, 75m fast, 75m easy, 50m fast, 50m easy, 25m fast, 25m easy, 50m cooldown.

6:30 AM

3000m done, I’m outta here. Shower, change, drive home. Abuse speed limit again.

6:45 AM

Chug some Gatorade, grab lunch, jump in the car with Barb for the drive to work. Eat a banana on the way.

7:15 AM

At my desk with a cup of Sumatra, which inflicts target HR for the second time this morning. Work, work, work. Save the world thru SCADA. (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition).

10:00 AM

Snack time: yogurt and a muffin. Crave chocolate.

12:00 PM

Lunch: Ham, avocado and lettuce on whole wheat, baby carrots, trail mix, apple. Get up and stretch. Crave chocolate. Post more useless info on blog.

12:30 PM

Back to work, saving the company single-handedly yet again. Nobody notices.

3:00 PM

Snack time again: 2% cottage cheese, muffin, apple. Crave chocolate.

4:50 PM

Company is safe for another day. Leave the office to meet Barb for the ride home.

5:30 PM

Make supper, eat, do a few chores. Make tomorrow’s lunch.

7:30 PM

Put on running gear, grab some Gatorade. Go to the basement, line up some lively CDs in the changer, turn on baseball with volume down. Get on the treadmill, put on the headphones, hit Play on the remote. Adjust slope to 2%, warm up for 15 minutes at 8:30/mile pace. Then 3x10 minutes at tempo (Zone 3), or 7:00-7:15/mile pace, with 5 minutes recovery between. 5 minute cooldown at 10:00/mile pace.

8:35 PM

Stretch: Run- and swim-specific stretching.

8:45 PM

Get bike stuff ready for tomorrow morning’s Computrainer ride.

9:00 PM

Ice the sore spots, if any. Eat bran flakes and milk. Brush teeth.

9:15 PM

Smooch, snuggle. “Accidently” kick the cat off the bed. Sleep.

4:30 AM

“It’s Only Rock and Roll”, by the Stones. Crap, it’s morning already? Speaking of which, last night’s bran flakes are working. Time to get up!

If you found this day's schedule to be attractive in any way, you are either a masochist or a triathlete-in-the-making. In either case, please seek counseling, or a good tri coach. Which in most cases, will be the same person.