Thursday, September 9, 2010

A Day in the Life

Many of you have asked, “What is a day in the life like for Shut Up and Run”?  That’s bullshit. No one asked. So bear with me.

No two days are the same. I work for myself. I have no set hours. That’s good and bad. That means I have lots of time to run my miles, sit with the kids while they have a snack after school and catch glimpses of the Real Housewives while I eat leftovers for lunch in the living room. It also means I work nights and weekends and can be reached most any time of day by clients (although I don’t always answer). I like the trade off.

Today:

6:00 a.m: Woke up. Out of bed by 6:30 a.m. I’ve been sleeping like crap since my gum surgery, so last night I took an Ativan. These precious pills are supposed to be for when I fly.  I hate to fly. I always think it will end in death. The little white pill plus a vodka tonic is just what the doctor ordered (well, not really, she said don’t mix, but WTH?). Threw on some running clothes, put in a pad, brushed teeth, checked the gums: swelling’s gone down! Score.

6:30 a.m.: Downstairs. Ken was already at the counter eating cereal. Kissed him, sleepily mumbled “Hi.” Started the coffee. Fed the dog. Fed the guinea pig. Listened for child #1 to start his shower. Check. Took multivitamin, calcium, penicillin (for post surgery infection) and a probiotic (to counter-act evil antibiotic).

7:00 a.m.: Woke up child #2. She’s not a morning girl. “Mom, I need to skip school. Mom I’m tired.” I gave her the proverbial, “Can’t skip school. It’s illegal. I’ll go to jail and so will you.”

7:15 a.m.: Ate some raisin bread with lots of butter and cinnamon sugar. First cup of coffee. Made the same for Sam minus the coffee. Briefly checked email. Made English muffin for Emma (again, butter and cinnamon sugar).

7:30 a.m.:  Dump #1

7:35 a.m.: (Yes, I’m a quick dumper) Sam and Emma are arguing. Sam didn’t put back Emma’s iPod. He uses hers because he lost his on our RV trip. He found it with his drum stuff downstairs. I tell him to put back stuff he borrows. He gives me that sassy, attitude-filled, insincere, “Sooorrreeee” which I hate so much. I yell at him to say sorry nicely. He tells me to stop yelling. I lecture for a bit then get tired. He begrudgingly tells me goodbye (no kiss) and leaves on his bike for school. Sigh. I hate goodbyes like that.

8:00 a.m.: Put Emma’s hair in ponytails (down low, in the back). Drove her to school and reminded her about choir practice. On the way home, listened to Gayle King talk about Muslim extremists.

8:20 a.m.: Dump #2!

8:25 a.m.: (Quick dumper!) Shoes on. iPod charged. Fuel belt loaded with Accelerade, water, orange GU, phone, TP, money. Strapped on Garmin. Low battery. Dang it.

Interjection: Damn! A lot happens before 8:30 a.m.!

8:30 a.m.: Started what I like to call my Chariots of Fire run. Headed out for a medium length run of 11 miles, planning to run comfortably so that I don’t deteriorate. Listened to all of my bathtub music that Ken and the kids hate like Elton John, Josh Groban, Jackson Brown, Norah Jones. My pace was averaging 8:30 and I was lost in the mellowness and peace of the music. I usually listen to much more upbeat stuff, but sometimes on these quiet morning runs I like to get introspective and to flow with the music. I’m so deep. 

The air was a perfect 50 degrees, the morning sparkling and clear with much of the smoke from the huge forest fire blown away. I was totally inside my head, but not thinking of much at all. At 5.5 miles my Garmin died. I stopped for an orange GU and took in the day. I had run east of town and was afforded an amazing panoramic view of the Rockies. Camera phone doesn’t quite catch it, but you get the idea.

viewfromrun

9:15 a.m.: Made the turn around for home. Noticed aching in my hamstring, which has become commonplace. Swigged some Accelerade. Felt pretty achy for the rest of the run, but still kept up the pace.

10:10 a.m.: Arrived home. Rolled on the foam, stretched. Drank some more Accelerade. Showered. Headed to Starbucks for my reward: Grande bold coffee, extra cream. Gave the cashier at the drive thru a box of Junior Mints because I read in the employee profile binder (doesn’t your Starbucks have one?) that she liked them.  Noticed my mom called to check on me and my gums. Tried to call my brother. Not there.

11:10 a.m.: Checked emails. Read blogs.

11:15: a.m.: Dump #3!!!

11:50 a.m.: Chiropractor appointment. Trying to figure out why my hand is still numb. Loved this guy. I haven’t been to chiro in 12 years. Appreciated how he rubbed my shoulders, zipped me through some x-rays, educated me about my Ts and Ls. Found out some discs in my neck are quite compressed, causing the numbness. Going back for an adjustment tomorrow.

1:15 p.m. : Home and famished. Ate some rice/veggie casserole mixed with last night's pork. And cantaloupe. Watched 30 Minute Meals with Rachel Ray who looked like she had put on a few. Must be those relationship problems I’ve read about.

2:03 p.m.: That’s now. 57 minutes until kid pick up time. Then it will be the mad rush to the orthodontist and library. There will be dinner to cook (BLTs or bean/cheese quesadillas?), homework to supervise, instruments to be practiced.

Nothing spectacular, and yet it is all spectacular. All of the little things that make up our days and make us grateful. Kisses hello and goodbye. Home made and nourishing foods. Three dumps. Songs that make you cry while you run. Songs that make  you feel invincible while you run. Candy given to strangers (not in a creepy sense). Calls from people who love you. Nature displaying itself to you in its finest. You being alive and aware enough to appreciate it all.

Life is in the details. Don’t miss a thing.

Consider yourself “it.” What’s a day (or morning or night) in your life look like, you 740 followers? I’d love to know all the little stuff (workouts, food eaten/cooked, books read, things observed).  Blog about it and send me the link. I’ll share it on the blog. Ask others to do the same. We can learn a lot from each other by what our days contain.

And don’t miss my $80 CSN Giveaway. Ends September 15.

52 comments:

  1. I think many of us would be surprised how much we can get done in the early morning hours if we had to write it out. We'd put our hubbies to shame! LOL!

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  2. hahah! i LOVE this :) i get so much done in the mornings too. which makes me feel good for the rest of the day and then i do nothing. well not really nothing but compared to you nothing :)

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  3. you are a busy woman......and sure do take a lot of dumps! :) seriously, i'm lucky if i can go once a day! what are you eating?!

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  4. 3 times! Did you check this -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Stool_Scale after each one?

    I'm a two-timer myself.

    I'll post my day on running man wannabe. To keep your readers from falling asleep at the computer. (And there is something I can owe you!)

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  5. Loved
    11:10
    1:15pm

    4:07 - you booked your Vegas trip, what!?

    Love this idea [daily journal & vegas {heheheheee} ]. Will be posting. Mine seems similar since I work for myself as well, just a lot less "dumping".

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  6. Nice. I'll try to post my day on my blog but don't hold your breath. I'm still waiting to post my Cherry on Top Award and that was how long ago? :)

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  7. Thanks for the challenge. It was fun to lay it out in print...a "typical" day. But when is any day typical? :)

    http://pickinguptherear.blogspot.com/2010/09/day-in-life-of-tales-from-back-of-pack.html

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  8. I loved reading all of those little details. Then I start to wonder what mine would sound like.

    "Ate a Jolly Rancher. Picked my nose. Went on Facebook to discreetly stalk friends while at work. Around 5:15 ran 7 miles and had severe gas pains from all the beans I ate at lunch."

    Yeah, that's me in a nutshell. All of my friends would agree.

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  9. I too am a tre' dumpomatic although much closer together.

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  10. http://runningandraising.blogspot.com/2010/09/day-in-life.html

    For you! I hope your son came home and gave you a big hug... they still do that at his age I hope?!

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  11. wake up
    work
    go to bed
    repeat.

    HA HA HA

    i kid.. but seriously working a 12 hour day seems as if thats how it goes!

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  12. PS. You poop more than my 1 year old...

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  13. What a fun idea!! And I would pay to poop that much...

    I'll get on that tomorrow. I would love to hear more of all of your cook at home recipes and how you grew up never eating out. For me it's an amazing thing to hear.. I WISH!

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  14. TMI!!...Just kidding! Wow, I wish I had your schedule! I'm deskbound during my day job.

    Can't look out the window too much cuz I'd wish I was out running.:)

    Run Happy.

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  15. Damn you take a lot of craps. I'm a one crap a day'er. (unless I am racing and then who knows).

    Loved a day in the life. I probably won't post my day on my blog. No one wants to read about a day in the life of an accountant. They would fall asleep. "Printed income statement, filled copier with paper, jammed copier with numerous printouts, cursed the @#ing copier, went to bathroom" You get the drift.

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  16. I swear I don't always take this many craps. It's feast or famine around here. Being regular is not one of my strong suits. Except when it comes to drinking wine.

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  17. I love this! Its going right along with the self examination vibe going around. Tall Mom, miss Zippy, me.
    I will think about this and get something down.
    I have been out of town on the weekends for work lately and I really am appreciating the days when I am home and all is mellow. From a younger me's perspective it would be mundane. From my perspective now its lovely :)

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  18. I blogged about my day on Sunday if that counts! It was a HUGE 1/2 marathon for me! http://gymclassdropout.blogspot.com/2010/09/spirit-of-columbus-12-marathon-do-over.html

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  19. Thanks for the inspiration. Sorry no craps are included, but that's been my day: http://ang-theturtlespace.blogspot.com/2010/09/my-day.html.

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  20. I was thrilled I had one crapper today!!

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  22. Hey - that is a great list and a great idea! New post coming soon!

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  23. Great day, your day is colorful as it is. I also want a great day every day, hope it always happen.

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  24. your daily summary made me tired......and feeling rather irregular.

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  25. My day is nearly identical ( minus 6 miles and 2 dumps). My sons name is also Sam and he is gettin the " tude" down as well! Good call on Rachel Ray btw!

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  26. this is great...isn't it the small things that are the best sometimes?

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  27. So I thought of you when I went for an open water swim in my wetsuit and desperately needed to take a crap in the middle of the swim. Wearing a wetsuit. There is absolutely NO ONE IN MY LIFE I can tell this story to... I was thinking, hmm, who could I tell (because it's really funny) and I thought of you. Not sure how you feel about that :-)
    So anyway, thankfully I was by myself in the river (all my friends were upstream while a few drunkards had just floated downstream) and I took off my wetsuit in the middle of the river and popped one out. Yes, into the river. No way to get up on the banks. Put back on my wetsuit and merrily swam back to my group.
    So I wondered -- I think you've done tris -- have you ever had to take a crap in a wetsuit? And if so, what did you do about it? Can't bring TP on a swim :-)

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  28. It's been fun reading everyone's posts. Here's mine: http://runningforbetterorworse.blogspot.com/2010/09/day-in-life.html

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  29. My days are not as filled, since I do work in an office, but why not?

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  30. This was fun, I love stealing ideas for a blog post!
    http://anaverageathlete.blogspot.com/2010/09/day-in-life.html

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  31. I'm not sure what I love more - the 3 craps, that you can do them in 5 minutes (I swear, my husband takes 45), or the junior mints for the starbucks drive through girl.

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  32. omg. you are hilarious. i mean that in a good way....high-five! :)

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  33. I needed this today! My days feel so mundane, but I know they really aren't. I need to appreciate the little things. The Junior Mints part was my fave :)

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  34. LOL! I love that you included dumps. Haha! I have to include some reading in my day. It's my reward if it's been a successful day.
    ~Sophia
    Fit&FabLiving

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  35. Thanks for posting!!! Helps to know that you are incredibly normal. I mean that in the nicest way possible. I was convinced that you ate nothing but stuff you grew in your own backyard. Great to know you have cinnamon and real sugar for breakfast, cream in your coffee and pork for dinner.

    I'll try to post my day on my blog, but I'm afraid my readers would find it boring, especially with the giant 10-hour block of working outside the home I'd have to throw in there.

    Your 3 "deposits" impress me. I'm lucky to get
    one a day!

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  36. "Put in a pad" <--- I'm lost already.

    Yay for probiotics! They cause multiple dumpage for sure. One thing though, try taking it about 6 hours after you take the antibiotic. That way they both have time to do their job effectively.

    Loved this post.

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  37. Ok running mistress! ... the my daily torture is here.

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  38. http://andreachronicles314.blogspot.com/2010/09/day-in-life.html

    Not even close to being as funny as yours, but I played along.

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  39. I could only handle typing up half a day about my life today but feel free to check it out if you like :)
    http://nonracerunner.blogspot.com/2010/09/iou-to-shutupandrun.html

    Have a great weekend.

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  40. Not as entertaining as you, but I was game nonetheless. Thanks for the idea. :)
    http://lauriehiggins.blogspot.com/2010/09/day-in-life.html

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  41. There's never a dull day in my life and never a repeated day; well, not in exactly the same way, anyway! My whole blog is a day in my life; well, Shelby's life anyway: payettestork.wordpress.com But you already knew that. :-)

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  42. My mom will be SO HAPPY with you - I used your idea to finally update my abandoned blog. :) thanks! http://www.hopalog.com.

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  43. Late to the party, but here you go!!!

    http://gardenrunners.blogspot.com/2010/09/day-in-life.html

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  44. Love it! Sounds a bit like my day, LOL well at least the quick dumping and feeding the guinea pig part! Do you hate cleaning the cage as much as I do??

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  45. Your day sounded great. Including the dumps, so important!

    I will see if I can compile my "day" as if anyone would want to read it. It's nice enough that my few followers actually stop by each day for a micro-dose of my day. But we'll see how a whole day goes over with them. I'll look forward to reading how similar and different our days all are.

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  46. I have been stalking for months but had to tell you I died out laughing at number one about the Ativan and the Dr's orders...love it

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  47. I've been blogging my diet and workouts for the past 40 days - I'm doing a 90 day weight loss challenge and today is day 40. I had a baby in March and had 70 lbs of baby weight to lose (yikes!!)...I'm 1.6 lbs from that and then will work on losing the husband weight (another 80 lbs - double yikes!) to get back into the shape I was when I was training for Ironman. Your blog is such an awesome inspiration! Here is my blog: http://loseitin90days.wordpress.com/

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  48. It took me awhile. I finally did it!
    http://jacobandgeorgia.blogspot.com/2010/09/typical-day-of-nutty-teacher.html

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  49. I love how you said, "Put in a pad"!
    That was former life. Until July when I had TVT bladder surgery. I am the same age as you. Having babies reeks havoc on your body! The surgery was life changing. No more pads for running or the gym! I recommend it!!

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