Michele Gonzalez of NYCRUNNINGMAMA Workout Wednesday

This Workout Wednesday I am excited to bring you Michele Gonzalez! She had one of the first instagram accounts that I started to follow and one which ultimately inspired my “Running on Veggies” account. I watched her train and compete in an Ironman while raising a family at the same time. She is an all-around inspiring and motivating role model and I found myself so curious to see what a day in the life of this Super Woman would look like!

Michele is a 3:15 marathoner (11x marathoner), Ironman and ultrarunner. She lives in Staten Island, NY with her two young boys and husband. She is a West Point graduate and was a Captain in the Army where she completed three deployments to Iraq. Michele writes about running, pregnancy and juggling it all as a mom on her blog (nycrunningmama.com) and as a fellow contributing writer for Women’s Running. She can be found on social media on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Wake up: 5am – I try to get most of my summer runs in before the sun and heat start their day, so that means running before 6am. Clothes and coffee are prepped for the early morning wakeup so it minimizes the wasted time.

5:15am – Drink small glass of water (6-8 oz) while coffee finishes brewing

5:20am – Large cup of coffee with one stevia and unsweetened almond milk. As I sip my coffee, I check and respond to any emails, spend some time on social media (Instagram, Twitter and Facebook) and work on any upcoming articles I am working on (I blog for Women’s Running and Competitor).6am: I try to be out the door running. Sometimes it’s earlier. Sometimes it’s later. If my little guys (ages 4 and 2.5) wake up, I usually end up playing with them for a while, so my run gets pushed back. Everyone is still sleeping today (yay!), so I’m out by 5:55am.

My runs average anywhere from 7-11 miles during the week. Wednesdays are typically my speed day so I’ll have some sort of workout consisting of a 2 mile warmup, some faster running (either intervals or tempo miles) and then 2 mile cooldown.  Today is a 3 x 2 tempo workout – so I run 2 miles “fast” and then recover for .25 miles of easy running. I do that a total of 3 times. Tough workout today because of the heat and humidity. But at least there was some light rain to cool me down.  7:45am: As soon as I return, I drink a bottle of water with UCAN Hydrate (an electrolyte replacement drink). And within 15 min, I try to drink some sort of recovery drink. My favorite is the Generation UCAN Chocolate Protein Drink Mix. It optimizes recovery with whey protein while replenishing glycogen stores and rebuilding muscle while burning fat.8:30am: after a quick shower, it’s time for breakfast and some substantial calories. Most days, I make a sweet potato hash with beef, eggs and lots of veggies. It’s incredibly filling without being so heavy on my stomach.9am: The boys and I head outside for some physical activity. We walk to the beach for some “adventures” (as they call it) and seashell searching. We bring water and snacks – often fresh fruit – for all of us.

11:30am: Lunch time! I reheat leftovers from dinner last night – chipotle chicken. The boys have chicken, some sweet potato and ½ avocado each and I make a couple of chicken wraps for myself – butter lettuce, chicken, avocado, sweet tomatoes and green onions. SO delicious.12:30pm: The boys get to watch two episodes of shows on TV while I do some work on the computer –training plans, finishing a blog post and send off my Women’s Running article for the following week.

1:30pm: We head out for some errands and trip to the library. I try to get us all out of the house for a little bit each day. It helps break up the long summer at home.3:00pm: Snack time for the three of us. Maple almond butter on apple slices for them and almond butter on a banana for me.  Post-snack, the boys play in the playroom and I spend more time working.4:00pm: We head outside again. The boys play together while I do my strength and core workout. I try to do my strength workout on the same day as my hard run so that I can take it extra easy on my “easy” days.5:00pm: Start prepping dinner. I try to minimize cooking in the kitchen during the summer, so everything will be cooked on the BBQ. Tonight, we are having: BBQ chicken, grilled veggies (Brussel sprouts and broccoli) and grilled sweet potatoes. The veggies and sweet potatoes are cooked with coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper.

5:30pm: While I shower, my husband cooks everything on the grill (that’s his area of expertise!). By 6:15pm, we are seated and eating dinner.The next few hours are filled with eating, cleanup, baths for the boys and bedtime routines. Summer bedtime is always a bit later than usual – by 8:30pm, the boys are asleep and I’m back in the kitchen working on the computer with a glass of Malbec (my current obsession!) until bedtime (usually around 9:30-10pm).Note: Throughout the day, I am constantly drinking water. I aim for 100+ oz of water a day (I usually sweat out a few pounds each day during the summer!).