June 16, 2014 0 Comments Experience Working in Alberta's Oilfield, Fitness

Working 11-13 Hour Days and Training as a Young Dude

Working 11-13+ hour days outdoors ever since coming to Alberta in May 2013 (currently Monday – Saturday) and going to the gym always semi daily or daily gets painful. Your time- and even more so sleep- is rather limited.

My schedule is usually like this:

4:30AM: Wake up, brush teeth, throw wet clothes into dryer. Check for missed calls/texts.

4:45AM: Prepare breakfast, take medications and supplements

5-5:15AM: Eat with the laptop open reading financial news as well as those in companies/industries invested in. Read technical data. Check how investments are doing and think about what may happen down the road. Send in buy/sell orders if deemed a good move. Look over personal finances and mentally prepare to only spend accordingly. Update to-do list on my phone.

Clean the eating area quickly and/or the bathroom if necessary. Put away dishes.

Pack food and liquids for the day, counting protein and calorie intake, adjusting according to predictions of physical activity at work.

6AM: Get clothes out of dryer, get dressed, fold clothes and put them away.

6:15-6:30AM: Drive to work.

6-8PM: Drive home from work, then shower, put on moisturizers and sunscreen, shave, get groomed, etc.

Every second day, or daily if getting home earlier: cook dinner quickly, eat it, and go to the gym. Get home at 10-11PM, brush teeth, throw clothes into the washing machine, and then sleep.

If not going to the gym that day, just shower, shave, etc., get groomed, eat lightly, and then clean room/house. Go run outside to take photos, or see someone. Get into bed at 10-11PM after throwing the clothes into the washing machine.

Sunday is an exception to the above, as I usually don’t work that day.

I’ve often been questioned why I am single. Life gets lonely, and the young girls usually just want to play, or the older ones often won’t even look at you, as the usual arrangement is a young girl + older dude and a taboo otherwise.

Sometimes you feel it’s unfair because the other young dudes just sit and watch tv, play the xbox, collect a beer belly- while you work and go train, and it seems like not many take note of what you do. When you are  replaced or neglected in favour of someone else, often it is someone who looks worse than you, works less (quantity and quality) than you, has little ambitions and direction in life, is less organized, etc.- but he is often an easier love, and more appealing at the present. Naturally one would be bothered, but I realize that in a few years things may change. One day I will shine.

Your body aches and you’re always tired. Looking at the others in the gym you still feel you got so much more further to go. You feel you’re still nowhere as strong or big as the others who’ve been in there for years, and wonder if you’ll ever get to look as good as one of the models in the magazines.

But stop lifting and working and you start losing everything you’ve gained so far. You’re tired, frustrated, and lonely, but you know that if you give in, you will lose your car, your body, your investments, and your dreams. Regardless of the pain, it makes logical sense to keep fighting for what you’re passionate about. In regards to loneliness and love, one day someone will appreciate you for who you are.


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