A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ALEXANDRA WHITLEY

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A day in the Life of Alexandra Whitley

June 5, 2018

Alexandra Whitley

photo credit: Samantha Harriman Photography

It’s 4.30am, I feel like I have only just fallen to sleep when an alarm goes off in the distance to my dreams, it gets louder and I wake.

Laying there I could so easily rollover into my warm bed, my whole-body aches from my PT session the day before, but something within drives me to move, when my body screams no! go back to bed!…

I drive to the gym hoping to beat the morning rush, but this is Auckland city and it never sleeps. I run 4K and do a weights session all before 7am. Arriving at work I’m always the first and as the others stumble through the door, like robots straight to the coffee machine, they whinge about how little sleep they got the night before.

Sitting at my desk for so long my body cramps up, longing for some movement to free my aching muscles.

Sometimes I find my mind wandering about racing, winning, standing on the podium, driving world class… Snap out of it! and get back to work. I finally get out of the office and drive 400km across Auckland and back running errands for work all in the one day in the horrendous stop start traffic and I love driving too, but not like this. I think to myself “how the hell do people do this day in day out!” I work late because I’m stressed I haven’t got enough done that I wanted or needed to because I spent half the day “driving around”

I start thinking about my other job, I have 3 so I can try to afford new tyres or parts here and there. I ring sponsors when I have 5 minutes to spare. I don’t even know what lunch and smoko are anymore. I am so driven and focused I just don’t stop then wonder why I am so hungry at 3pm when I finally eat some food.

Finishing work, (I’m always last to leave), making more calls on the way home, bouncing ideas and planning for the next race or sponsors, Finally I’m home, only to realise I left my keys sitting on my lunch box inside the house today!

and I have to break into my own house…. again…

Dinner is late, my trainers not going to be happy, but my body thanks me for the hearty meal and much needed vegetables that no one really wants to eat.

By the time I collapse on my bed I am absolutely wrecked and so looking forward to the sleep I could have easily had on the drive home, only to find my mind catches up with me…and now all I can think about are all the things I need to do and sort tomorrow! It takes me hours to fall asleep!

Sometimes I wonder why I don’t just have a normal 9-5 job and be normal like most people on this earth. Then I remind myself that reason I’m still driving home from work at 10.30 at night after a 14 hour day is because I want to be successful, and today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can have what others don’t.

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