WEBVTT - Enjoying your morning routine, with Deirdre Fitzpatrick 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:09.280 Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 0:00:10.160 --> 0:00:15.080 This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:17.400 episode is going to be a longer one part of 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:20.320 the series where I interview fascinating people about how they 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:23.000 take their days from great to awesome and any advice 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:25.680 they might have for the rest of us. So today, 0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:28.440 I am delighted to welcome Deirdre Fitzpatrick to the show. 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:31.680 She has spent twenty five years as the weekday morning 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:36.640 news anchor for KCIATV, which is the NBC affiliate in Sacramento, California. 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:39.400 She is also the host of the Dying to Ask 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:41.680 A podcast. So, Deirdre, welcome to the show. 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:44.959 Thank you so much for having me on. I appreciate it. 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:45.960 Yeah. 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:49.120 So I'm excited to hear about your daily routines and 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:52.320 how you manage your life. I understand that part of 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:55.600 the job description of being a morning news anchor is 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:57.920 that you get up very very early. 0:00:58.080 --> 0:00:59.080 Can you talk about that. 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:01.440 Yeah, I mean back in my college days, I would 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:02.400 have said it was very late. 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:04.959 You just staying up the whole time? 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:07.600 Yeah, pretty much. I've just kind of completely flip flopped. 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:11.200 So yeah, so my my responsibilities at Case areas. I'm 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:13.200 a morning news anchor, and our morning news goes from 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:15.959 four am until ten am, so there's a six hour 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:20.039 morning news block. I'm responsible primarily for our five am 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:22.880 to seven am news, So I get up, depending on 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:27.400 the day, anywhere from about two am to three am. 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:28.440 That's pretty early. 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:31.600 It is pretty early, well, and that's because you also 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:34.800 have you're responsible for the news reporting. I mean, right, 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:37.920 you're choosing some of like how you're presenting some of it, 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:39.920 from what stories you're doing, so you actually have to 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:41.520 work before you go on air. 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:43.640 Yeah, so it's interesting. You know a lot of times 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:45.400 you can kind of cruise into your day and kind 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:48.560 of amp up. I have to start, Like, my sharpest 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:50.160 time of the day is between three and six am 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:52.080 is when I really need to be at my best, 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:55.040 which is problematic for somebody who gets up at that 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:57.040 hour because you know, as humans were not really wired 0:01:57.120 --> 0:01:59.560 to do that kind of on the regular. So my 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:01.960 job is in the morning is we have producers who 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:04.560 put together the news all night long. My job is 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:07.200 to come in and be I always say like the 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:09.040 eighth grade English teacher who comes in with the red 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:11.080 pen and goes, yeah, yeah, you can't really say that, 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:13.519 or that's not correct, or we could do this a 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:16.240 little bit better, and then so I copy it. I 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:18.480 try to make things sound a little bit more conversational 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:21.000 so that somebody who's in their bed trying to wake 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:22.760 up at six am and has turned the news on 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:25.359 can really kind of process it in a certain kind 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:27.040 of way. So we write the news in the morning 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:29.440 a little differently than we would say in the evening. 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:32.440 People process information differently at different times of the day. 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:35.200 So my first hour or two I actually work from 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:37.160 home for the first hour. I get up, I have 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:39.800 some coffee, and I get right into our computer. I 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:41.960 catch up on what's happened overnight, read a couple of 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:44.760 newspapers online, and then I'm writing into scripts and I'm 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:49.360 messaging our producers and suggesting things or rewriting things. Sometimes 0:02:49.360 --> 0:02:51.520 they'll say, hey, could you write this for me? So 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:54.200 my job is very very hands on for the first hour. 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:58.239 Okay, so the whole team is working at two thirty 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:00.520 three am while you are you are going with this, 0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:02.640 and then what time do you go into the studio. 0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:05.720 So I typically get into my car at around four am. 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:08.600 I live about twelve minutes to the studio, so you 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:10.880 can see everything is down to the minute. Yes, that 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:12.960 was a process. There's a routine. 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:14.440 There's not too much traffic. 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:17.880 Fo there's no traffic at that hour. It's actually not 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:21.480 too bad. So I go in and then I quickly 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:24.239 get myself writing. It takes me about twenty twenty two 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:26.960 minutes to get the mankup on, do the hair, and 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:29.240 then I walk into our studio at about five minutes 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:31.880 before five o'clock and then we're on for the next 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:32.720 few hours. 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:36.720 Yeah, and so you are on air till seven am, 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:38.560 more or less, right, more or less? 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:40.640 More or less what happens after that? 0:03:41.080 --> 0:03:43.560 So after that I work on other things. So sometimes 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:45.280 I might be filling in on other hours of our 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:48.000 news if somebody is out or if something else is needed. 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:49.840 But for the most part, I shift into the second 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:51.040 part of my day, which is where I work on 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:52.960 more project stuff. So I work on the podcast that 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.200 you mentioned dying to ask. I work on special projects. 0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:58.720 So I work for First Television MIT that's who owns 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:02.960 my station, and for the last eleven Olympics, I've been 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:06.000 covering the Olympics for her. So I helped create Olympic 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:09.400 content for thirty television stations, and then I've actually traveled 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:12.680 to the Olympics every two years to go follow athletes 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:15.839 for these stations and work on stories. So I have 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:23.440 a very self managed project list. Yeah, when you've been 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:25.840 in a place for that long, if you're known as 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:28.159 the one who's really good at just getting stuff done, 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:30.040 people tend to go hands off and say, hey, when 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:32.839 do you think you'll have that ready? So I keep 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:35.360 myself busy, which, you know, I think if you're going 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:37.559 to stay in a job for that long is really 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:39.720 crucial because it's really easy if you've been in a 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:42.200 if you've been at least on the surface in the 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:44.760 same job for a really long time, it can get 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:47.960 very road and to not get like that, especially in 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:51.680 a job that for me is as performance based as 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:54.200 it is journalism based, you know, in terms of like 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:57.120 the preparation and the presentation. You have to stay engaged. 0:04:57.279 --> 0:04:59.840 And so having all these other projects for me kind 0:04:59.839 --> 0:05:03.920 of feeds the creative part that I love about being 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:05.000 a television journalist. 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:07.400 Yeah, and how do you come up with your ideas? 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:11.479 Oh my gosh, I'm thinking of like three things just 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:13.840 while we're talking I mean, ideas are everywhere. It's kind 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:16.360 of like it's like writing, Laura. I mean, where do 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:18.679 great ideas come from? They come from really quiet moments 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:20.720 that might come when you're out on a run and 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:23.400 you notice something happening at the corner that you didn't 0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:26.159 notice the other day. Sometimes people are emailing you and 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:31.000 they're suggesting ideas. Sometimes it could be just within your 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:34.080 own local community. I mean, I have kids, I'm in schools. 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:36.320 People are telling me about things all the time. I 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:39.520 went to a presentation at my son's high school last night, 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:41.880 and I think I walked away with at least six 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:44.719 story ideas from it, you know that about a subject 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:46.640 that I knew nothing about before I walked in. I 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:49.600 thought I got to file that away. So ideas come 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:53.880 from everywhere if you are open enough to see them. 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:57.560 Yeah, wonderful, wonderful. So, and when does a work day 0:05:57.680 --> 0:05:58.800 sort of end for you? 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:02.280 So the workday technically ends, I'm usually done by about lunchtime, 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:05.360 so about eleven twelve, I've put in my eight or 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:07.760 nine hours, you know, on the clock. The reality is 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:09.680 that with a job like this, probably similar to a 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:13.000 job like yours, you know, never really done done there's 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:15.640 always that straight email that probably needs to be looked at. 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:18.680 And because I work these kind of off hours, I 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:21.200 like to stay in touch, knowing what I'm heading into 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:25.360 the next day, So you try to be careful about 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:29.159 how much you're doing that in the afternoons. But I 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:31.160 would say that I probably work a little bit more 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:32.720 than I should once I leave. 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:37.760 Yeah, I mean, because if you have started working at 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:40.480 three am and you're you know, a normal work day 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:41.680 would be done at noon, but the rest of the 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:45.200 world is not done working at noon. I would imagine 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:48.279 you have to actually actively put in some boundaries in 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:50.600 order to create some personal time. 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:53.880 And you know, I've gotten better about that. I think, 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:56.159 like most women, once we get to be on a 0:06:56.200 --> 0:06:58.760 certain age, you start realizing that's not a great idea 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:02.120 to continue doing that, so I do so I will 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:04.159 set like it. I will purposely not take my work 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:05.599 I have two different phones. I have a personal phone 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:07.479 and I have a work phone, and I will leave 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:09.720 the work phone if I don't think I need to 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:11.400 have it. I'll leave it at home while I'm out 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:13.920 running errants in the afternoon, but I might check before 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:15.600 I go to bed, just to make sure that something 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:19.920 hasn't changed, so I think, you know, it's really easy, 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:22.920 and we all definitely fell into this during the pandemic 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:25.040 of doing things all the time. The truth is that 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:28.240 that's not really good for anyone, so I try to 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:30.760 be really careful. The weird thing I run into is that, 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:33.400 you know, my workday starts at three am, and I 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:36.320 will send, I'll respond to emails at that time. But 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:38.600 for people who don't necessarily know exactly what I do 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:40.280 in the hours that I keep, it comes across as 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:44.440 very aggressive. So I have recently been told that I 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:48.480 should really think about sending those emails later. So I 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:51.000 don't know what the like fine line is because it's 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:52.960 really clear of my work email what I do for 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:55.600 a living. But that was a new one that kind 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:56.680 of came at me this year. 0:07:57.320 --> 0:07:58.080 Yeah, I love it. 0:07:58.120 --> 0:07:58.480 I love it. 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:00.080 Well, we're going to take a quick ad break. I 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:09.040 will be back with more from Dirja. So I am 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:12.440 back talking with Deirdre Fitzpatrick, who is the morning anchor 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:16.920 of KCRITV, the NBC affiliate and Sacramento. We've been talking 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:19.280 about how early she has to get up in order 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:22.200 to be on air from five to seven in most mornings. 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:25.480 But with that, I imagine you have to go to 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.120 bed pretty early to be up at two thirty or 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:28.920 three in the morning. 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:30.320 What does that look like for you? 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:32.720 It doesn't look like what it should. I mean, if 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:35.880 you back time, you know, to get the recommended eight 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:38.120 hours of sleep, I should be in bed at dinner time. 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:42.439 But that's not terribly practical. So I try to protect 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:45.200 sleep as much as I can, particularly these days, because 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:46.760 I used to be able to muscle through and kind 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:49.960 of power through anything, and that just stopped working at 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:51.920 a certain point, you know. So now I'm a little 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:54.320 bit more careful about it. I always say, if I 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:56.160 wake up and I've got a six in front of it, 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:58.360 I feel pretty good. And then on the weekends, I'm 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:00.079 really good about getting an eight in front of that 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:03.320 total sleep, maybe even pushing a nine. On the odd day, 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:07.880 I probably go to bed, I would say by about 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:09.880 between eight and nine. I prefer to go to bed 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:13.439 around eight o'clock. But you know, I have teenagers. They 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:15.440 don't ever want to talk to you until it's late 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:18.800 and inconvenient, and so I've had to shift that a 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:19.959 little bit over the years. 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:21.640 Yeah, I was going to ask about that because of 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:25.760 course teenagers have the total opposite schedule, like they might 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:29.199 stay up until two thirty three am, and so you 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:33.320 would completely be ships passing in the night in your house, 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:36.040 or even just if they have events in the evening, 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:39.360 you know that the school concert gets done at nine 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:41.760 fifteen or whatever it happens to be. 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:46.360 I'm curious how you sort of work that into your life, 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:47.760 knowing that you do have to be upset. 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:50.080 Yeah, I mean, it's an interesting question because it's not 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:53.360 just me obviously. I mean, my job comes with a 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:55.480 certain kind of lifestyle, and it's not a lifestyle that's 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:58.080 really for everyone, but for my family members, it's the 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:02.120 lifestyle that affects them as well. So you know, my 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:04.760 husband and I just celebrate our twentieth anniversary and he's 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:08.000 never like seen me on a Tuesday at ten pm, 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:10.560 like to have a conversation. So it is it is 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:12.640 a bit of an adjustment. And I've talked to people 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:15.400 in other fields who work, say in emergency medicine, where 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:18.559 it's also very common to work these odd shift hours, 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:21.240 and it does take a lot of flexibility from the 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:23.800 other family members. Now there are advantages for those family 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:26.240 members too, because if somebody needs to go do a 0:10:26.280 --> 0:10:29.280 doctor's appointment in the middle of the afternoon, I'm your girl, right, 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:31.840 somebody needs to go run to Costco or pick up 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:35.120 the dry cleaning. I'm available to do those things. However, 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:38.000 doing something at nine or ten o'clock at night is 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:41.320 not really conducive to me being able to do my 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:44.480 job at full capacity. So not only does it take 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:47.440 a lot of cooperation I think from your family members 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:51.079 and discipline for everybody. I really rely on my parent 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:53.240 network too. I have a group of moms who know 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:56.960 that for sports pickups and drop offs, I'm great to 0:10:57.080 --> 0:10:59.600 go take the kids wherever, but if there's going to 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:02.600 be a pick up at eight o'clock, nine o'clock or later, 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:05.240 I really need some help with that one. If my 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:08.439 husband's not available to go pick up my sons. So there, 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:11.840 it takes a lot of planning, obviously, but also I 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:14.480 think a lot of flexibility with the people in your life. 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:17.560 Absolutely well, I'm curious. I mean, one of the bits 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:19.439 of sleep advice people always have out there is like 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:22.520 trying to maintain something near the same schedule into weekends, 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:25.320 and I imagine that that's also just not something that 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:26.800 would really happen. 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:30.680 I have no we do. I've known people who do that, 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:33.280 and I don't know how that flies with their spouses. 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:36.120 That would not fly in my house. But I'm not 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:38.400 that far off. So if on a weekday, I'm I 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:40.520 go to bed at eight o'clock, I mean, honestly, Laura, 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:42.079 I want to go to bed by ten on a 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:42.800 Saturday night. 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:46.400 You're really tired. I mean, I'm doti Yeah, yeah, I've 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:47.160 been working all week. 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:50.400 Yes, but I'll probably still like to get up early. 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:52.360 I mean, I still I like mornings. 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:55.480 I love morning person I'm in. I imagine, with your 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:57.160 line of work, you kind of have to be. But 0:11:57.280 --> 0:11:57.920 are you? 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:01.160 You should be? Not all people are, but I am, 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:04.040 but yeah I am. I love the quiet of a morning. 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:06.320 I love the freshness. I love that nothing has gone 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:09.120 wrong when that alarm clock goes goes off, like nothing 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:12.600 has ruined the day yet, right, It's all just fresh, 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:16.520 full of possibility. I love the quiet my favorite hour 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:19.200 of the day. I used to really hate when that 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:20.800 alarm went off and I got up and I was 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:23.760 walking around. I was really resentful of it. And then 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:26.320 I started looking at it as Wow, this is completely 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:29.120 my time. And now on the odd occasion that somebody 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:32.080 is awake in my house. I'm kind of annoyed by. 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:34.800 It, like I don't know, what are you doing? What 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:38.400 are you doing? This is why are you here? Yeah? 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:41.880 Well, now I'm very curious because a lot of people 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:45.920 who exercise seriously do that in the morning. And I 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:50.480 know that you are a competitive athlete, You've done Iron Man, 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:55.480 Ultra marathons, all that. I don't believe that you are 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:57.559 training at two thirty am for those things. 0:12:57.600 --> 0:12:58.679 So when does that fit in? 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:03.760 Not necessarily training for those things at that time, But 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:05.360 I do get a little bit of movement in the 0:13:05.360 --> 0:13:08.400 morning just to wake my brain up. And I listened 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:11.040 to before breakfast because it's kind of I'm not kidding you. 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:14.200 I go into my gym in the garage. We've got 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:18.040 a garage gym, and I have for years. I've listened 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:20.880 to you. So you're actually, oddly one of the first 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:23.640 voices I hear in the day. Quite a lovely but 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:25.840 you know, just like a couple of minutes. And I think, 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:29.120 especially for working parents who are really busy, even if 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:32.920 you're not working odd hours, I think getting a couple 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:36.480 of minutes of exercise throughout the day is what gives 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:40.000 you that energy to go deal with whatever schedule you 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.280 have to deal with. So I do a little bit 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:45.360 of that, but my time is really after work. I 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:49.040 like a reset because sometimes the news is really it's 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:52.880 not all happy, right, So I love that little swite 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:56.200 it out, get it out sessions. So second I'm done 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:59.360 with work, I either change at work into the workout clothes, 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:01.040 so it's a lot harder to talk yourself out of 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:03.280 it when you get home, or I change instantly when 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:05.760 I get home and I walk out the door. So 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:08.560 I'm a runner. I run the neighborhood. So I do 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:12.920 those things almost instantly, and they're non negotiable. They must happen. 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:15.679 And about how much time are you devoting to that? 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:18.120 Not as much time as you would think. I think 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:19.960 a lot of people think it would take hours, you know. 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:22.800 I like I do marathons. I do not do the 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:24.560 amount of training you should be doing. I am not 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:25.560 something you want to come. 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:29.120 To spend less time on it. Yes, yes, I do not. 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:31.600 What I do though, is I do try to maintain 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:34.160 a certain level of fitness so that if there is 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:37.120 that race or a project or a you know, a 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:39.080 girlfriend calls and says, Hey, we're going to go up 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:40.680 to the mountains. We're going to do this. Come do it. 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:43.120 Then I can pull it off. So am I gonna 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:45.400 win it? Absolutely not. Am I going to hang in 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:48.320 there till the end? Absolutely? And I'm probably gonna have 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:50.520 a pretty good time while I'm doing it, because I do. 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:53.640 When you have that time to go and exercise or 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:55.480 be with your friends or just have that free time, 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:59.120 I really have learned to enjoy it and be in 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:02.240 the moment. I speak terrible about that, and I am 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:04.520 not anymore. I really really am there. 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:07.120 If I'm there and there, Well, what's the longest race 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:07.720 you've done? 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:09.600 Fifty kilometers? 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:12.120 Okay, that's about thirty miles, right, thirty. 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:14.200 Well, it's supposed to be about thirty one. They're rarely 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:18.080 measured exact, so can vary a little bit. 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:21.960 What is I am very curious mentally, like what you're 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:27.240 doing during thirty one miles where you're running and trying 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:29.160 to keep yourself moving forward? 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:31.160 Do you know what I'm doing? I'm talking, Yes, I'm 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:34.040 talking NonStop because I run them with my girlfriends. Okay, 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:35.880 so I have a couple of girlfriends who live in 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:38.240 different cities will meet up and that's the time that 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:40.360 we have together. So our joke is the longer we 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:42.280 take to do this, the more time we get together 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:46.240 away from the children. We have no responsibilities out here. Yeah, 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:50.440 unless you're like a super serious person, you're in it 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:53.080 to win it. You're in it to finish it, which 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:54.880 means that when you're coming to a steep hill, you're 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:57.680 really hiking it. And out here, I live in northern California. 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:00.360 I mean it's very, very beautiful. So these are these 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:04.600 like incredible vistas and mountains and your nature and it's 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:07.320 just like a really lovely moment. So even if it's 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:10.800 a really long day, it still ends up being really fun. 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:13.040 Yeah, well, more power to you. I think I might 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:15.840 enjoy the beauty for about three miles with it. 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:19.000 You know what, With the right people and the right snacks, 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:19.960 I think you could do it. 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:21.120 You can do it. 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:22.840 Well, We're going to take one more quick ad break 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:24.920 and I'll be back with more from Deerdriff. 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:31.720 Well. 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:35.240 I am back interviewing Deerdrif Fitzpatrick for Before Breakfast. She 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:37.280 has told us that she listens to this show in 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:39.600 the morning, so that is very exciting to hear. 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:43.600 So I want to hear a little bit more about. 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:46.440 Your Olympics experience, because you have been doing this for 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:50.240 a great many years. You fly off, you cover what's 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:52.760 going on with there. I wonder if there's a particular 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:58.240 memory or two that was formative of those experiences that 0:16:58.280 --> 0:16:59.280 you'd be willing to share. 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:03.240 Yeah, So I started doing this back in two thousand, 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:06.760 so almost twenty five years ago. When we started doing it. 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:08.879 We launched this project in my company and we send 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:11.080 every two years. What we've done is we've sent a 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:14.240 small team eight to ten people to the Olympics to 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:16.920 do what we call group coverage. So it's a small 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:20.960 amount of people reporting and producing content for lots of 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:24.960 different stations, and there are three reporter photographer teams, And 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:28.320 the illusion for all of these stations as you do 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:32.120 live shots for them is that I'm there just for you, 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:35.959 when in fact I'm actually there for thirty stations. So 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:38.320 you really get a chance to cover and interact with 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:40.800 athletes from all the different sports and really from all 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:44.720 over the country, which has been super fun. I would say, like, honestly, 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:48.080 my favorite thus far would be the Paris Olympics, and 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:51.000 I think it's because you know, we had this gap 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:55.120 of two Olympics being just so unbelievably weird during the pandemic. 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:57.600 Those are the ones I did not travel for. And 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:01.240 to be in Paris this past summer with these athletes 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:03.920 and doing these stories and with the Eiffel Tower behind 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:07.359 me is my office was like a pinch me moment 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:11.679 all day long because it was so joyous after really 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:14.359 difficult ears for a lot of people. There was so 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:18.720 much joy every day, no matter who you met, of 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:22.040 people who were so grateful to have this experience. I've 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:24.520 always loved the Olympics, just the wonder of it and 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:26.840 the magic and the underdogs and the people who you know, 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:30.520 literally dedicate their entire lives for a couple of seconds 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:34.800 of opportunity. Sometimes at works, sometimes it doesn't, and I've 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:36.760 always just absolutely loved it. So to be in that 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:40.720