A Day in the Life ~ Last Tuesday

I wrote this last week before a whole bunch of unexpected things (including a very sick pup, a snowstorm and a never-ending power outage) derailed life and training a bit. Other than the fact that we are still without power, things are starting to get back to normal. So here’s a look at one of those kind of ‘normal’ days.

4:30am Wake up, look at clock and realize I have just over an hour to sleep.

4:53am Geez, it’s only been 20 minutes. I tell myself to go back to sleep.

5:05/5:21/5:25am ^See above, with slight variation on “geez, it’s only been….”

5:31am Screw it. It’s time to get up. Alarm or not.

Hit the washroom, floss, brush teeth, and put my swim suit on. Quietly say goodbye to Shane and head downstairs where I give Rusty some cuddles before getting ready to head out the door.

5:35am [I actually take longer than 4 minutes to do the washroom biz, but I set my alarm clock ahead by about 12 minutes, as I don’t like the idea of getting up before 5:30, even though I clearly am – this means I often make it downstairs with the same time on the clock as when I get up]. As today is mine and Shane’s anniversary I set up the coffee so it will be ready for him when he gets up. This isn't something I usually do, but since it's a special day, I act the part of a nice wife. Set up a card and anniversary present on the counter; slug back some water and juice, do one final bag check and give Rusty one final snuggle before I head out the door.

5:45am Hit the road on route to the pool.

6:05am Have a quick chat in the change room with “lady-who-has-been-swimming-there-for-as-long-as-I-can-remember-but-have-no-idea-what-her-name-is” about the fact that the parking lot is really busy today and how we are both hopeful that doesn't mean the lanes will be busy.

6:12am Walk out onto the pool deck to the glorious sight of EMPTY LANES!

6:13am Get going on my swim workout. It’s just a short one today, which is quite nice as my body is feeling a bit sluggish from the big weekend of training that just past. I flip turn through my warm up, do some drills, chat with Roger [an older guy who is about the same speed as me but likes to tell me how slow he is and how quick I am – really, I’m pretty sure he’s just fishing for compliments] before getting to work on the main set. Good, consistent times. I still feel a bit lethargic, but am happy to be swimming and notice a few moments that really click. I make it through the whole workout without having to share my lane at all, even though the lanes around me have begun to fill up.

7:04am Workout done! I head over to the leisure lane to stretch out a bit and find myself creepily watching “IM-Florida-swim-cap-guy” cranking through some 100m repeats. I’m not sure why, but I feel the need check his times and stroke count. For the record, his stroke count is similar to mine, however his 100m time is definitely quicker. I am not a stalker. I swear. 

7:10am Hit the showers and get cleaned up for the day ahead.

7:37am Sit in my car and eat my breakfast while listening to the “Awkward Tuesday Phone Call” on Brooke & Jubal, before joining the rest of the cattle on the way to work. Notice I’m following my Dad into town today. I wave at the next stoplight, but I don’t think he saw me.

8:05am The Colwood Crawl was pretty good today and I make it to town pretty quickly. I park and wander through the alleyways and side streets to Habit for an Americano. I’m not sure what it is, but I always find that a Habit Americano is pretty much the best thing on earth after an early morning swim.

8:15am Get to work a bit early and just kinda get to it. Do some work. Some Twitter and Facebook (which is actually work related now). Check emails. Work some more. Facebook some more (non-work related now).

10:00am Head downstairs to Starbucks with the coworkers. I haven’t had a double coffee day in quite a while, but I’m feeling rather ravenous and think that maybe drinking some calories might help. I green tea latte it up and head back to work. Eat some snacks and do the usual everyday tasks.

12:17pm Look out the window at the driving rain and contemplate skipping my run.

12:25pm Suck it up and go get changed.

12:30pm Head out the door for my lunch run. This truly was one of those days that getting changed and getting out the door was the hardest part. It was windy and it was wet, but it didn’t actually feel too bad once I got moving. My legs were a little tired and my pace wasn’t super quick, but it turned out to be a decent run. My inner monologue went something like this: “head winds suck” “tail winds are awesome” “oh man, I have to poop” “yay tail wind” “this isn’t so bad at all” “oh man, I’m going to get blown away” “I’m glad I didn’t skip this.”

1:24pm Get back to work a little later than I meant to (oops) and quickly get showered for the afternoon. Remember I ran out of deodorant this morning and make a mental note to pack a new one in my bag tomorrow. Cross my fingers that I won't start stinking too much as the afternoon progresses. 

1:40pm Back at my desk. Munch on my lunch. More usual everyday work tasks. More Facebook and Twitter. Read some blogs. Work some more. Eat more snacks (this is pretty much a constant). Play some radio contests. Kill some time. Work a bit more.

4:30pm FREEDOM! Hit the road home to spend the night celebrating 8 years of marriage and 15 years of togetherness with my favourite person. Stop at the wine store and the Thai restaurant on the way home, as I don’t feel much like cooking and figure it is okay to splurge a little on a special occasion.

5:45pm Home. Home at last. The evening really wasn’t much different than normal. We ate. We chatted. We watched the Olympics. I fell asleep on the couch sometime around 9:00 and missed all of MasterChef Canada. You know, the usual. 

Sometime in the early 10:00 hour Make my way to bed and doze off with Shane and the Rustbucket beside me.