By the time us media types are halfway through a third coffee, Wanaka triathlete Nicky Samuels has run eight to 12km, swum for up to two hours and perhaps even popped in for a quick gym session.
She follows that up with a wee 5-7km cycle ride in the afternoon when we are reaching for a cameo creme or a chocolate finger.
It is not much fun interviewing triathletes, really.
The worst part is Samuels would usually be doing a lot more with her days, but the 32-year-old is recovering from surgery.
The 2013 Xterra World Championship winner needed corrective surgery on her knee in May.
She started experiencing pain in November but boxed on, as athletes often do. She had increased her running load from 80km each week to 120km and ''that was the problem'', Samuels said.
''If your coach writes it down, and you are eager to run, then you do it. You always want to push the boundaries.''
In hindsight, Samuel wished she had popped up to Cambridge to get the New Zealand triathlete physiotherapist to assess the injury much earlier.
The pain went ''away for a while but came back again, so it was like good, bad, good, bad''.
''I could train a bit and then I couldn't do anything and this went on until in May, when I had surgery on it.''
Recovery has been slower than expected. Initially, Samuels was hoping to be back running within six weeks of the operation.
But when her knee ''blew up to double the size'' following a 10-minute jog, plan A was given the flick.
She had a second setback, then finally got a ''decent jog in at week 13''.
Samuels is up to 60km each week now and would like to get that back up to between 80km and 100km, but is cautious about not overdoing it.
''Obviously the running leg has been my weak link in the past so I probably need to get up to that 100km to get good results.
''But everything is just steady, steady at the moment ... but I guess I'm eager to get the miles up so I can actually get a good base.''
Samuels is targeting a competitive return in March and is focused on Olympic selection.
She needs a ''podium finish'' in the 2016 ITU World Triathlete Series to ''finalise'' a spot at Rio.
However, she believes a top-eight finish will be enough to secure a berth and hopes she can achieve that in one of the first three ITU events.
The opening race of the World Series is in Abu Dhabi in early March, but the Gold Coast event in April could be a better opportunity for Samuels to get that top-eight finish.
She will head to South Africa later that month but is desperate to avoid a long trip to Japan for the fourth event in Yokohama in May, which would be her last opportunity to qualify if she had not already done so.
''In those first three races I'm hoping to get my podium finish or at least a couple of top eights just to show I'm back in the game and heading in the right direction.
''In an ideal world, I would have achieved selection this year so I did not have to worry about trying to peak for races at the start of next year and then trying to peak for the Olympics again.
''It is a lot of travel and probably not the best thing to be doing [in an] Olympic year, with that many flights back and forwards. But I think it is important for me to do it and it is important for me to get some points back on the board and get some confidence back.''
