If you are like us, you are pretty darn amazed with rabbitPRO power couple Seth and Lauren Totten. We wanted to know a little more about their daily life, including how they balance training, working, and maintaining a strong married life, and so we asked them! Hear more about how the Tottens prep for, and crush, a workout and manage to balance the rest of their busy lives in the blog:
The night before.
Seth and I tag team with dinner plans. Since I took a more full time job, he’s been helping with groceries, dinner prep, and farmer’s market hauls. We try, as best as we can, to buy all of our veggies and bread locally. We also look forward to Bread SRSLY shipments, a gluten free sourdough company that has sponsored me for 4+ years. When I get home from work, I typically prepare dinner or finish up what Seth started. His help has also allowed me to go for a double after work or, frankly, lay on the couch a few minutes before cooking. We’re a team.
Typically, a pre-workout meal includes: smashed potatoes, kale salad, gluten free or local bread, and maybe some other greens, or a small amount of fish. Sometimes Seth has started or made the kale salad on his lunch break and I might finish by setting the table, cooking whole garlics, or smashing potatoes and drizzling them with avocado oil and flaky salt to get them crispy in the oven. We eat a lot of vegetables and a whole lot of carbs. It’s fuel for what we do!
Here’s our favorite potato recipe:
- 1 lb. of mini or yellow yukon potatoes
- 2+ TBS. avocado oil (It retains it’s nutrition at high heat over olive oil)
- Flaky salt
- Boil the potatoes on medium heat for 22-25 minutes, so they are soft, but not bursting. Wait to fully cool. When we don’t have time, we boil in the morning and finish them later in the evening.
- Gently smash each potato in a paper napkin. Generously drizzle with avocado oil and sprinkle flaky salt. Cook at 375 for 45-60 minutes. These are even delicious cold!
Seth usually gets home from his (bike) ride around 5:30pm and we eat by 6pm.
After dinner, we clean up and Seth grinds coffee for the next morning and gets it set up (coffee is a necessity for our success). I make Seth muesli every night: a combination of oats, nuts, seeds, bars, non dairy yogurt, and almond milk. Our nights usually include reading, a short show, and legs up. Lights out by usually 8-8:30pm. We are wiped by the end of the day!
Workout morning:
5am: Seth typically wakes up 30 minutes before and starts coffee and puts toast in the toaster. We are fueled by a coffee roaster in Flagstaff, AZ, called Single Speed Coffee Roasters. Once he wakes me up, I prepare our toasts and coffees. Seth usually has almond butter toast with banana and honey. (Muesli is typically post-workout breakfast) I have toast with butter and a date or two with peanut butter.
We spend some time journaling and reading the Bible. Our faith is the most important part of us and being in the Word is important to our spiritual health, as well as the vital part of why we run. It’s the gift we believe the Lord has given us to steward.
5:30am: Stretching and preparing workout stuff. I typically make my bottle the night before with a scoop of Matcha + Lemon Skratch Labs. I guzzle it the second I finish a hard workout for instant sugars. Seth makes a bottle, sometimes with a Nuun tablet or just water. He saves sugars for his bike rides, unless he’s doing a long run.
5:50-6am: We head out the door and head to the trails or track.
6am-7am: Tempo Tuesday. Warm up 3 miles together nice and easy. Our first mile is usually 8:00-8:30. We don’t rush warm ups. We are usually sleepy and try our best to progress into running quicker on some strides before the workout. Post 3 mile run we do leg swings, walking stretches, and lots of strides. This week was my first tempo in weeks as I am adjusting to a new job. Seth is fit and ready to race soon! He raced a 5k in Sacramento on March 17. His training block consists of some track races and we both have SacTown 10 Miler on the calendar on April 8th in Sacramento, CA (where I’m from).
Workout stats:
Seth: 10k Tempo (31:20)--- 5:02 pace
Lauren: 6 mile tempo (35:05)---5:50 pace
7am-8am: Time to tempo! Seth and I pray together and he gives me a kiss, then we are off on our own. We typically both listen to our own tunes. I like a mixture of worship music (Bethel or Lauren Daigle) with a mixture of Kygo, Lindsey Stirling or other alternative music that most people consider too slow to work out to. When I’m getting back into shape my tempos start around 5:50 pace and hopefully progress down and Seth runs 4:55-5:05 pace.
8am: Done! I usually like to get in a 3 mile cool down, so I run a little longer and Seth finishes farther up on the bike path. We might get in the last mile together if we see one another.
8:15am: Drive home. I get Seth his muesli and eat a snack (bar, dates, smoothie). I always use Vital Proteins in my smoothies. We believe in fueling with what makes us feel good and is nutritionally dense! Seth usually makes us a pour over or another pot of coffee. I rush to stretch and shower, while Seth takes more time to stretch (his desk is a long commute....to our garage). As a legal assistant, Seth works from home. I work in accounting at a property management company with a flexible start time.
9:30am: I leave for work and am typically gone between 9:30am-4:00pm or so.
Before we start the day, we feel like we’ve lived a whole day. (We kind of have) But, it’s always worth it! We cherish the time we get to be athletes. It’s something that is special to us and our marriage. We can’t wait for a spring of racing!
