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Any restaurant employees here?
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Just wondering how you deal with being on your feet all day plus the stress of training? I trained for a marathon and that was about 7-8 hours of training a week and I was pretty beat. Now I'm training for a half Ironman and it's really beating me up.
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [duganator99] [ In reply to ]
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duganator99 wrote:
..... I'm training for a half Ironman and it's really beating me up.

This does not bode well for race day.......

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [duganator99] [ In reply to ]
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I have an IM friend who is a union electrician and spends 10-14 hours a day on his feet. He actually doesn't even run in training any more because what he does all day takes care of that.
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [duganator99] [ In reply to ]
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If you can do your training before work then the quality of your standing at work drops (no big deal as long as you're not grumpy towards customers and lose tips). In other contexts I have been in work that is all day on feet and the best solution I found is runs or rides before work, swims after work.
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [Ironfan] [ In reply to ]
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Ironfan wrote:
I have an IM friend who is a union electrician and spends 10-14 hours a day on his feet. He actually doesn't even run in training any more because what he does all day takes care of that.


HA! Would love to see that!!!
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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devashish_paul wrote:
If you can do your training before work then the quality of your standing at work drops (no big deal as long as you're not grumpy towards customers and lose tips). In other contexts I have been in work that is all day on feet and the best solution I found is runs or rides before work, swims after work.

I'm an elementary teacher, so am on my feet most of the day, moving around a lot, up and down from the floor to work with kids (although it will be very different this year). Probably not equivalent of working in a restaurant for 8+ hours, but I'll echo that getting things done in the morning is the way to go. Unless you are working at a place that does breakfast, you wouldn't have to get up super early (I'm up between 4-5am every day).

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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [duganator99] [ In reply to ]
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Professor here.. There are days I'm on my feet 8+ hours. It's all about the shoes. With the right shoes it's not a big deal....unless you have long campus walks.

_________________________________
The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [duganator99] [ In reply to ]
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My job has me on my feet about 8 to 9 hours a day, wearing steel toed safety shoes and walking around on cement floors. My watch normally records about 14,000 steps in a normal work day. My day usually lasts about 11 hours and then I go home and train.

The "tired legs" that occur during my work day have little affect on my ability to train in the evening. It is a different set of muscles that are performing in a different manner and range of motion.

"...the street finds its own uses for things"
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [duganator99] [ In reply to ]
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Restaurant Manager for 20+ years. Eventually I just got used to it. I will stay off my feet close to races as much as possible, but as far as training goes, I do morning, and night. Sometimes after a long day I feel great and kick ass. Sometimes after a great nights sleep I wake up and just feel like a sloth.

My preference is mornings before work

http://www.TriScottsdale.org
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [duganator99] [ In reply to ]
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Hmm, was a chef for many years and put in a lot of 70-80 mile weeks running...really early in the morning. I had cut back on hours when I started tri training, but good shoes, good nutrition and also -when you can rest, try to maximize it. Now at work I’m not always walking around on the rubber mats and I definitely notice it at the end of the day. I’m also a lot older now though!
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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devashish_paul wrote:
If you can do your training before work then the quality of your standing at work drops (no big deal as long as you're not grumpy towards customers and lose tips). In other contexts I have been in work that is all day on feet and the best solution I found is runs or rides before work, swims after work.

This. Spent a few years in a passion pivot as a chef. Wasn’t competing at the time but still running up to 1/2 marathons. Would do my training before shifts and then just feel tired and crappy at work.

Focus group of one - I think that it would be very hard to work in quality tri training on a food & beverage schedule, but maybe you could mitigate by changing the situation. Examples: changing to a union environment with strict 8-hour shifts; moving into pastry or confections, versus production or service if you’re a cook; switching to hosting or a corporate hotel gig if you’re a server, etc.

I’ve read a few coach comments on the same issue and they all seem to concur that one needs to make a realistic decision about their goals and adjust either their training or work environment accordingly.

Personally, I did that when I started competing seriously in cycling and change jobs from management consulting at 60-80 hours a week to a less challenging client-side gig where everyone left at 5;00 and they had a great gym. Did wonders for my training...
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [duganator99] [ In reply to ]
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Wear leg compression gear at work if you can.

https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [duganator99] [ In reply to ]
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duganator99 wrote:
Just wondering how you deal with being on your feet all day plus the stress of training? I trained for a marathon and that was about 7-8 hours of training a week and I was pretty beat. Now I'm training for a half Ironman and it's really beating me up.

I was working in a restaurant, evening shifts, during the best and fastest part of my triathlon life. Mind you, I was in my mid and 20s, early 30s. It didn't bother me at all, trained for IM, marathon etc. It looked something like this. Go to work from 5pm to about 11 or 1130 pm or so. Home (commute by bike) and in the bed around 1am. Sleep until around 10 or so, in the pool by 1130 or so for hour-hour and a half swim. Even if I wake up at 11, I could put in 2-3 hrs of run. If the evening ends early, or sometimes I would give up a table that seems to be lingering, I would wake up earlier and put in few hrs of biking or run. Sundays were usually my days off from training as Saturdays evenings were always very busy and I would work very late. Long intense rides and runs were reserved for my days off, but not always. My training schedule was not written in the stone, it was very flexible and I would do what I felt I have energy and time for. Ran a marathon in 3:07, IM in 10:50 etc. I actually found that, time wise, working in a restaurant was the best for training as no other job provided me with flexibility and time. Easy to ask somebody to take my shift or late table etc. The restaurant was on two levels so I was joking that the stairs were my hill training. It was a fine dining place, one of the best in the city. If you break down the time, of the 6-7 hrs we spent at work, the hard work would really be maybe half of it. First rush early, then it slows down while the first seating is eating, then another rush at about 7-8 and from 9 or so it slows down. I felt that my training actually made my work easier.
Good luck
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [plant_based] [ In reply to ]
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plant_based wrote:
Wear leg compression gear at work if you can.

This. I’m a pharmacist on my feet 10+ hours a day. Do all my training before work. Some days that means I’m up at 4am to be at work by 8. Compression socks and good shoes. Plus grab a seat whenever possible.

Let food be thy medicine...
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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devashish_paul wrote:
If you can do your training before work then the quality of your standing at work drops (no big deal as long as you're not grumpy towards customers and lose tips). In other contexts I have been in work that is all day on feet and the best solution I found is runs or rides before work, swims after work.
Fortunately/unfortunately I haven't worked for tips in a while so I'm good there lol.
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [natethomas] [ In reply to ]
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natethomas wrote:
devashish_paul wrote:
If you can do your training before work then the quality of your standing at work drops (no big deal as long as you're not grumpy towards customers and lose tips). In other contexts I have been in work that is all day on feet and the best solution I found is runs or rides before work, swims after work.

I'm an elementary teacher, so am on my feet most of the day, moving around a lot, up and down from the floor to work with kids (although it will be very different this year). Probably not equivalent of working in a restaurant for 8+ hours, but I'll echo that getting things done in the morning is the way to go. Unless you are working at a place that does breakfast, you wouldn't have to get up super early (I'm up between 4-5am every day).
I manage a restaurant so it typically requires me to be there at 9:30 and leave at 9:30-10 so it's tough get lots of training in
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [insulinpower] [ In reply to ]
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insulinpower wrote:
devashish_paul wrote:
If you can do your training before work then the quality of your standing at work drops (no big deal as long as you're not grumpy towards customers and lose tips). In other contexts I have been in work that is all day on feet and the best solution I found is runs or rides before work, swims after work.

This. Spent a few years in a passion pivot as a chef. Wasn’t competing at the time but still running up to 1/2 marathons. Would do my training before shifts and then just feel tired and crappy at work.

Focus group of one - I think that it would be very hard to work in quality tri training on a food & beverage schedule, but maybe you could mitigate by changing the situation. Examples: changing to a union environment with strict 8-hour shifts; moving into pastry or confections, versus production or service if you’re a cook; switching to hosting or a corporate hotel gig if you’re a server, etc.

I’ve read a few coach comments on the same issue and they all seem to concur that one needs to make a realistic decision about their goals and adjust either their training or work environment accordingly.

Personally, I did that when I started competing seriously in cycling and change jobs from management consulting at 60-80 hours a week to a less challenging client-side gig where everyone left at 5;00 and they had a great gym. Did wonders for my training...
Yeah I pretty well agree it's probably going to be one or the other eventually. After quarantine, I think working 60+ hr weeks on my feet probably won't last too much longer. The 5 year goal was to start my own restaurant, but it's looking more like I'll probably pivot to starting a craft cocktail canning company.
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [softrun] [ In reply to ]
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softrun wrote:
duganator99 wrote:
Just wondering how you deal with being on your feet all day plus the stress of training? I trained for a marathon and that was about 7-8 hours of training a week and I was pretty beat. Now I'm training for a half Ironman and it's really beating me up.

I was working in a restaurant, evening shifts, during the best and fastest part of my triathlon life. Mind you, I was in my mid and 20s, early 30s. It didn't bother me at all, trained for IM, marathon etc. It looked something like this. Go to work from 5pm to about 11 or 1130 pm or so. Home (commute by bike) and in the bed around 1am. Sleep until around 10 or so, in the pool by 1130 or so for hour-hour and a half swim. Even if I wake up at 11, I could put in 2-3 hrs of run. If the evening ends early, or sometimes I would give up a table that seems to be lingering, I would wake up earlier and put in few hrs of biking or run. Sundays were usually my days off from training as Saturdays evenings were always very busy and I would work very late. Long intense rides and runs were reserved for my days off, but not always. My training schedule was not written in the stone, it was very flexible and I would do what I felt I have energy and time for. Ran a marathon in 3:07, IM in 10:50 etc. I actually found that, time wise, working in a restaurant was the best for training as no other job provided me with flexibility and time. Easy to ask somebody to take my shift or late table etc. The restaurant was on two levels so I was joking that the stairs were my hill training. It was a fine dining place, one of the best in the city. If you break down the time, of the 6-7 hrs we spent at work, the hard work would really be maybe half of it. First rush early, then it slows down while the first seating is eating, then another rush at about 7-8 and from 9 or so it slows down. I felt that my training actually made my work easier.
Good luck
I wouldn't be posting here if I had your schedule lol.
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [AutomaticJack] [ In reply to ]
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AutomaticJack wrote:
My job has me on my feet about 8 to 9 hours a day, wearing steel toed safety shoes and walking around on cement floors. My watch normally records about 14,000 steps in a normal work day. My day usually lasts about 11 hours and then I go home and train.

The "tired legs" that occur during my work day have little affect on my ability to train in the evening. It is a different set of muscles that are performing in a different manner and range of motion.
I feel you, my typical work day is 20,000+ steps
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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devashish_paul wrote:
If you can do your training before work then the quality of your standing at work drops (no big deal as long as you're not grumpy towards customers and lose tips). In other contexts I have been in work that is all day on feet and the best solution I found is runs or rides before work, swims after work.
..
I worked in the Hotel/F+B trade for more than 20 years and that was during the time I was at my fittest,fastest and drunkest.Maybe I was just young and stupid but working nights and training days was perfect.Moving to managing graveyard room service shifts for a few years put a huge dent in the training and screwed my relationship on top of it.

Best pub tri-geek story was Ultraman Canada 1999.My mates owned Anthony's Pub in Penticton and used to give me work while I was in town for a few summers.As Ultraman falls on the very busy August long weekend I could only get one weekend night off so I had to work until midnight the night before the race and the night after day one.Race morning and the race director Steve Brown is dicking around doing last minute shit and he sees me standing there in the water tapping my watch face yelling at him "Steve,can you hurry up mate,I have to be at work at five?" He just laughed and I said "I'm not kidding!". Finished the swim/bike and then worked until midnight before lining up again for day two a few hours later.Stupid shit you do for fun!
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [Sbernardi] [ In reply to ]
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Sbernardi wrote:
Restaurant Manager for 20+ years. Eventually I just got used to it. I will stay off my feet close to races as much as possible, but as far as training goes, I do morning, and night. Sometimes after a long day I feel great and kick ass. Sometimes after a great nights sleep I wake up and just feel like a sloth.

My preference is mornings before work
Yeah it can be tough some days. Saturday for example, I ran lunch solo (pickup/curbside/patio only) from 11-3 then cleaned and got the menu together for foh and boh(we print daily). Grill cooks wife got covid so all the cooks shifted and I worked fry/cold app station from 5-10. I totalled 25k steps all day and worked just over 12 hours and was pretty spent at the end, no real energy for training. That's not a typical Saturday, but it's not uncommon that I'm stuck somewhere I'd rather not be lol.
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [duganator99] [ In reply to ]
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I worked as a server for years first but when I first got into tri it was hard but it wasn’t long before I could manage 20hrs/week while serving 7x a week. I took a 4 month break while visiting my GF out of country and expected to be able to train 30hrs/week no problem when in reality I could only add 2ish hrs with the same fatigue to the work offered very little limitation as it turns out for me.

Edit: should add that while i was working 7days/week my shifts were 6-8hrs but still logged 10-15km per shift. I had zero live outside work/tri but made 8+hrs sleep a priority.
Last edited by: BGildenstern: Aug 3, 20 17:24
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [T2LV] [ In reply to ]
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Just to bump this, I checked Garmin to see the total distance I covered this week. I finished the week right at 60 miles, with 20 of those being from running. I knew I was covering some ground, but I didn't expect 40 extra miles
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [duganator99] [ In reply to ]
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This biggest surprise about this thread is that all triathletes aren't in the 1%.
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Re: Any restaurant employees here? [duganator99] [ In reply to ]
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It's quite normal.
I have worked for 25 years as a chef. Now teaching culinary arts. I didn't even bother doing anything else but work and sleep for more than 17 years in the restaurant/hotel business. Even now when I spend my 7-8 hours on my feet working in the school kitchen, I have no legs either for training or racing.

LOuis :-)
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