A full-time nanny and elite endurance racer said she wakes up at 3:30 a.m. to train

• Athlete Kris Rugloski said balancing a full-time job with elite fitness helps her stay balanced.
• She said working with kids keeps her schedule structured to her training and more focused.

For most people, a relaxing Saturday might involve ordering takeout, bingeing the latest hit Netflix series, or catching up on social media. For Kris Rugloski, a chill weekend is climbing five mountain peaks of more than 14,000 feet each — and that's when she's not traveling the world to take on 100-mile races or grueling obstacle courses.

All of that's on top of her full-time job as a nanny, spending nine hours a day, four days a week caring for a 2-year-old and 4-year-old, squeezing in training sessions in the wee hours of the morning or jogging with a double stroller.

Despite not being a full-time athlete, Rugloski, 26, still ranks among the elite, earning the title of 2022 world champion of Hyrox, a fitness race which involves running in addition to circuits of exercise like sled pushes, burpees, and lunges.

She told Insider that her strenuous schedule of work and workouts help her find the balance and discipline to push through some seriously gnarly physical tests.

"The human body is very malleable and adaptable, and capable of a lot. What limits it is our mindset," she said. "I'm choosing something that hurts and sucks, but there's satisfaction at the end of having chosen it and gotten through it."

Rugloski shared her training schedule, from early morning runs to planning her competition prep, and why her day job makes her a better athlete.

She starts her day at 3:30 am with an hour of running and a CrossFit workout

Rugloski rises early to fit in not one but two workouts before most people are even awake. She wakes up at 3:30 a.m. for an hour of running, followed by 90 minutes in a CrossFit-style functional fitness gym.

Her training routine involves logging lots of miles of running to build endurance and efficiency, as well as strength training with equipment like sandbags and kettlebells, which help develop explosive power.

"I'm not truly the best at any one thing, but my goal is to be a solid, well-rounded athlete," she said.

Rugloski is always looking for ways to get more fitness into her day, often working in a jog with the stroller during her day job. After a nine-hour workday, she'll hit the gym again for different types of training, depending on what type of contest is coming up next.

Since her competitions can vary from obstacle courses that require her to jump, climb, and navigate odd objects, to ultra-marathons, to hour-long bouts of all-out effort like Hyrox, her training needs to be versatile for her body to keep up.

While Rugloski said she works with a running coach and a strength coach to dial in various techniques, she said designs a lot of the planning and structure for the training herself, since it needs to be unique to the challenges she wants to take on.

"What I am doing is not coachable. There's no specific formula, no way to coach everything I want to and am doing," she said. "At the end of the day, I'm passionate about it, and it just takes a lot of guts, and that comes from me."

Spending the day working with kids keeps her grounded

Rugloski said that balancing workouts with her job is worth the effort, because it takes the pressure off of being a full-time athlete.

"I think having a full-time job gives me structure and balance," she said. "When I compete, I want to win. But at the end of the day, it's not paying my bills, so I can truly enjoy it."

During the active competition season from about March through November, Rugloski said she's traveling nearly every weekend to compete — in the past year, she's had only three weekends at home in Colorado, and spent those exploring nearby mountain peaks.

The packed schedule seems strenuous, but Rugloski said her ability to stay focused and discipline through this routine is part of what helps her excel in competition.

"If you show up to race day, you can be the most physically prepared, but if your mind isn't with it, your body can't do what it can do," she said.