Every person has to approach this in the best way they can. Every person/family situation is different. Many different ways to approach this.

By the time my son was born, I had been racing triathlons at a very high level for 15 years. Two things came together at the same time - he was born and a significant promotion at work was offered to me, with a post-start-up company that was growing rapidly at the time. That was my cue to look in the mirror and say . . that's it for triathlon. I went back to running only for a time - WAY more time efficient. The promotion at work also meant a lot of travel, and running is SO easy when you are on the road - you can run, anywhere and any time!

I guess I could have done the 0-Dark-30 routine. I did try that for a few weeks as a bit of a test-drive and it nearly killed me. I need, 8+ hours of sleep or I just don't function and/or I end up getting sick.

Walking away from triathlon at the time for me was fine. I had no regrets. I had accomplished a great deal in the sport, and taken it about as far as I could.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I'm a roadie, but post here as lots of good training info in general comes up worth reading.

For me? Same thing. Time with kids is tough. I bought and follow very closely plans from The Time Crunched Cyclist.

They have a Tri version also I'm pretty sure, The Time Crunched Triathlete. It's Chris Carmichael stuff and I found it immensely helpful.

For roadies, it's a book and plans centered around 5 to 6 hours a week on the bike. For Tri, I'd assume it's a bit more time than that per week (since the race is longer than most any low-level amateur bike race).

Here's the links:
Cyclist: 6 hours a week
https://www.amazon.com/...ime+crunched+cyclist

Triathlete: says 8 hours/week
https://www.amazon.com/Time-Crunched-Triathlete-Race-Winning-Fitness-Athlete/dp/1934030619/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508354900&sr=8-1&keywords=the+time+crunched+triathlete


It's working for me. The work is often much more intense than just "base miles" of riding and running. Gut busting intervals.

But that's the price you pay for not having more time.

I work in finance and my husband is an attorney. Both pretty demanding and can be time consuming professions. To be honest, I just don't have the time to tri train at the level I would be happy with right now. I decided to focus on running and have found great happiness and satisfaction from that. I wake up at 4/4:30 6 days a week and run. On Saturdays, I run long. To do that, my husband and I had a conversation so we were on the same page.

I totally could add some trainer rides in, but I don't want to. I know what I don't have the time for is swimming. Or riding long outside. There are some things that come with being a female athlete and one of those is not being able to train alone in the dark.

Some key take aways for success:
1) Wake up early and get most if not all of your training in before anyone wakes up.
2) Open and honest communication with your partner. What works now might not always work, so continue the conversations.
3) Talk to your spouse about getting "me time" with him/herself.
4) Know that your long training counts as your me time. So when you're home, you're not off napping/cooling down/whatever.
5) Make family time important. Quality over quantity. Set times to put the phone down, plan special outtings to the park, children's museum, etc.
6) Read Stew Friedman's "Total Leadership" book. Know that you have to balance family, self, work, and community.
7) Enjoy the journey!

We waited until our boys were old enough to be left on their own for a couple of hours and not fear them burning down the house. Even then, we were only doing sprints and olympics and also had to tag team train, meaning one would have to run the kids around to where they needed to be and the other would train, then we would switch. Still it was tough logistically. We did not have the time to tackle halfs and fulls until they could drive themselves and we could have big chunks of time on the weekends. Trying to do all their sporting commitments, plus all the regular school and life stuff was just too exhausting for long training sessions. Now our boys are grown and gone, we can train whenever we want and we race quite a bit. Enjoy your kids while they are young, my husband and I did a 14 year taper and then got back into it. The days are long but the years are short.

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No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
Laura

I started tri when my son was 3 and my daughter was about four months old. Before jumping in, my wife and I had a discussion about the time commitment, and I communicated to my coach the max I was willing to put in. The first year was pretty easy, as my wife was not training for anything due to breast feeding. I did do a fair amount of early evening workouts, but went for early morning when possible.

This year, it was a lot more challenging (4 and just over 1). I ended up getting up a lot earlier to try and knock out most of my workouts before the kids got up. My wife has returned to running, so we had to negotiate when she could get in her runs. From time to time, I had to get a babysitter just so I could get in a ride (typically if my wife was out of town for work). I'm lucky that my job (also an attorney, but government) has easy hours, and I often beat the kids home. So, if needed, I could be coming back from my afternoon workout as the kids were getting home.

The biggest factor I found, as others have said, is having a spouse on board. Also, be prepared to take on workout times that you'd rather avoid (such as early morning or late at night). The longest distance I've done is Olympic, but had an eye toward 70.3. Based on my current commitments, family, etc., I suspect I won't move up to a 70.3 for at least 3 years (if ever). You'd think it would be easier to get stuff in as the kids get older, but the problem is, they have their own activities that also demand your time. In fact, with your kid just at 1, this might be your best time to train over the coming years.

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Attacking this day with enthusiasm unknown to mankind.