A Day in the Life

     The apartment above me is having some remodeling done. Like clockwork, the crew starts at 7:30am on they don't stop until 5pm. I have no clue what exactly they're doing but whatever it is, it involves a lot of sanding, drilling, and jackhammering. It's loud but honestly, I couldn't care less. Even if it's shaking, it's just nice to have a long term roof over my head.

    Things are starting to feel more settled here. After a week of jumping from one Airbnb to the next, I've managed to move into my long term apartment; a spacious two bedroom near the Cathedral. The lowest point of last week definitely came when my Airbnb host messaged me at 7pm to say there was mistake in booking and that I would have to check out the next day by 10am. This kicked off a mad dash to not only find a new place but also one that would let me check-in early. Fortunately, demand these days for Airbnb's isn't all that high (I guess there's this pandemic going on) so finding a place wasn't very tortuous but for about an hour there I wanted to kill something.           

    Now that some sense of normalcy has entered my life, I've made a point of trying to settle into a daily routine; cyclists, after all, are creatures of habit. One of the more quirky means by which I maintain a day-to-day schedule is by making a to-do list the night before. A while back I read that one way to stick with the habit of making a to-do list is to always include something that you know will get done; that way you don't feel discouraged at the end of the day when nothing has been crossed off. In keeping with this, I always start my list with "wake up." I figure if I can't get this one thing done then not completing any of my others tasks is the least of my problems. So far, my success rate for this initial step is 100%. Gotta take the small victories where you can, I guess. 

    After waking up, my day starts with a cup of coffee and oatmeal if doing a true training ride or eggs with toast if just an easy spin. From there I check the news (briefly), read emails, write, take a few online spanish lessons, fold laundry if needed and answer messages from friends and family back stateside. Generally, just a low structured, somewhat slow start to my day. Around 9:30am, I do a bit of yoga to warm up for my ride and generally get out the door by 10am. Girona is similar to Colorado in that the mornings can be pretty cold but then warm up QUICK. Several times, I've made the mistake of starting a ride bundled only to have the thermometer jump by fifteen degrees in the first thirty minutes; not fun. Normally training can take anywhere from one to six hours and after getting back, I eat "lunch" (which can sometimes be as late as 4pm) and put my feet up. Despite the exhaustion of my job, being still is something I'm incredibly bad at and sitting down to rest requires conscious effort. If not, I'll just be up and about doing random things like cleaning the oven, sweeping or simply standing at the kitchen table. Both here and at home, lounging around and watching TV is rare for me. In the business of professional cycling we call this sort of laziness "recovering" but to me it's always been synonymous with boredom. 

    Before moving on, I'd like to acknowledge that there are probably some people reading this and thinking "wow, this is how this guy spends a work day!?" To those individuals, I'd just like to say, yeah, I get it; the luxury of my job isn't lost on me. When describing what I do to people outside the world of cycling, I often have to explain (more like convince) how simply resting is a major part of my job. Literally, I can take an hour long nap at noon, wake up and legitimately tell myself I've been "productive;" and the crazy thing is, that's a true statement! Again, the plushness of this gig isn't something I'm blind to.

    Anyway, for a short while after getting back I'll occupy my time with some small task such as a blog post or, as it just so happens given the time of year, prepping taxes; my favorite. This is also my chance to call family back home since everyone is now awake. Depending on the length of my training ride, this can occupy anywhere from a few hours to twenty minutes. Around sunset I make a point of going for a walk and buying dinner from the grocery store. Going at sunset is actually something I do on purpose. As a means of re-setting one's circadian rhythm, I think it's important for your body to be subjected to the stimulus of watching the sun set and darkness rise. I'm also of the opinion that walking does wonders for promoting blood flow and helping recovery. Again, I have a lot of weird quirks...

                                                                Cathedral at sunset

    At the grocery store I make a point to buy items that will be consumed for dinner that night, breakfast the next morning, and lunch the next afternoon. For the most part, I don't keep much more than a day or so worth of food in the apartment. Partly this is because most of the food I buy is perishable and also because I can't carry much more than that in a single trip; after all, it's not like I can load up my car with excess grocery bags. In general, food in Spain--especially produce--is exceptionally good compared to what you find back home. Fruits and vegetables tend to stick to what's in season and are grown fairly locally. Chances are, anything from the market around the corner here would fetch a pretty penny at a Whole Foods stateside; yet it's a quarter of the price and undoubtably more fresh. Just yesterday I opened a carton of eggs to find a clump of chicken feathers inside; something which was both very perplexing yet intuitively obvious. Like I said, fresh.

    Once back at the apartment, I make dinner, call home again, then put both my computer and phone away for the evening. Again, for the sake of helping me sleep, I try to avoid looking at screens in the hours leading up to bed. Like everyone else, I probably spend enough time looking at my phone as it is. Instead, I'll do some light stretching and foam rolling before reading a book. My current novel is a John Grisham thriller that was kicking around the apartment when I moved in. Usually this sort of non-fiction isn't my thing but the plot is both mindless yet still interesting enough that I'm going to see it through. 

And there you have it, a day in the life. 

Thanks for reading,

~E

Latest Entertainment:

This song by "the hardest working man in show business" was recommended to me on Spotify a couple days ago and since then I can't it out of my head. 

Nate Bargatze is my favorite comedians at the moment. He has a great standup special on Netflix and has a weekly podcast that comes out on Wednesdays. It's great if you're looking for some humorous background banter while doing work around the house (or, in my case, while trying not to do said work).