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Being a cop and triathlete, does it work?
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A serious career option for myself at this point. Just wondering if you can pursue both passions? For anyone with experience, I'm very interested in your thoughts.
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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I don't see why not. Though being at race weight all the time might get you tossed around a bit on some rough streets.
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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A guy in my runnning group is a Kona guy and an officer. From what he's told me it's tough to schedule races because his work schedule is done month-to-month (or similar).

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Madison photographer Timothy Hughes | Instagram
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [ekrub10] [ In reply to ]
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Donuts would keep the weight up ..... ;-)
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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Its the best career for training, I love it. We work 4/10 hour or 3/13 hours shifts shifts, so it leaves 3-4 full days to train depending on which you choose. If you work the 4/10 shift you can train right before or after work and it doesnt effect your home life.
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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Become a firefighter instead. ;) I have a few friends who are and they enjoy a lot of time for training and racing. One even runs a full time business on the side.
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Orcaman] [ In reply to ]
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Haha I wish it were that easy. I was born to become police, or atleast I feel that way. Ive come across a few firefighters, and they seem to have a good go. When it's slow it's easy, but when it's time to work it's very impressive. Happy to hear for your friends however!

I've been military for some time. I'm wondering if racing/training is frowned upon for possible injury?
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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I have two good friends who are NYPD. They have no problems training and racing Triathlons. One even does multiple (>10) marathons a year. Frankly, I don't see any problems with their lifestyle.


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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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A pretty fast competitor of mine down here in Florida is a cop. Sean Johnson is his name. Look him up and drop him a line.

Austin Hardy -

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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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You risk your life every day on the job so I would hope its not frowned upon. We should be so lucky to have all cops be in triathlon shape.
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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My department positively encourages training and racing. They try to give you and hour each shift to workout if possible and the Union will refund some of your entry fees to encourage fitness. Our fitness staff have a lot of experience and one of them is even a tri coach.
I find that the long stretches of rest days allow you to schedule some great training, the stretches between days aren't bad but it's the between and after nights that are hard to maintain. Diet is the same issues for days and nights.

Good luck with wherever you end up. I'm ex military and it turned out to be a great choice for me.

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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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A woman in my AG (who regularly beats me) is a police officer. She's mainly a runner, but does short distance tri as well. She's usually on the top of the OA podium.
Last edited by: surroundhound: Sep 15, 14 10:56
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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A police chief in my area was doing Triathlon since 1993, here's his retirement article: http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/...le?AID=2007704300306 - Looks like he qualified for Kona twice.
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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My resume: 20yrs a cop and 10yrs a triathlete (5 IMs, 10 1/2IMs, 7 marathons, countless shorter races)

It is a challenge depending on which shift you work and your work rotation. If you like training partners it can be tough to find people who are available to ride for five hours on a weekday morning. We are 6 on/ 3 off so I frequently have three days off in the middle of the week. I have found that PMs (3p-11p) with workouts before my shift worked best for me. The night shift was good for workouts after work but I was usually pretty exhausted by the time 7a rolled around. Training schedule flexibility is key because bad weather on your days off and OT on your work days can wreak havoc on a rigid training plan. Maintaining body mass is an issue.
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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I'm not a cop, but military standing 12-hr shifts in a watch center. We get our schedule a month out so I have to put in for leave for my race or century rides on the weekends (burned a lot of leave this year). My coach loves it - I can get in long workouts throughout the week on my days off instead of having to cram them in on the weekends. I do end up doing a lot of my long rides solo but it is what it is. Working out between night watches is tough since by the time I get back to my house, finally get to bed, there's not much time between me waking up and heading back into work - typically we only do 2 night watches in a row so the day between is my "rest day". It works out - just have be flexible. I found that having a coach that can figure out how to work my training schedule around my work schedule has been key - not to say it can't be done without a coach but it takes the stress out of it for me.


Elisha
"Triathlon doesn't build character. It reveals it."
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, but you'll have to give yourself a ticket when you blow through stop signs
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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I've been a cop for 9 years and a triathlete for 10. You can do it, it's all about time management.

I'm not going to say that it's always easy and some workouts have been missed bc of work but you can do it. As far as my career I've always been active and have worked my way through patrol to plain clothes, to detective investigator.

You must always have your priorities in check. I have 2 young girls (15 mos and 3 yrs old). There are times when family has to come first, work can take a priority over a lot and then your triathlon and training. Now I'm nowhere near kona but I have done 2 Ironmans, a bunch of 1/2s, marathons, olys, sprints, etc. I place near the top of my AG at most races but I keep it in perspective.

Matt
Race-Ready Endurance Training
Team BIKEWAY.com
NYPD Racing
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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Plenty of people balance training with shift work, but my perspective (as a cop's wife, a cop's daughter in-law, and a cop's sister) is that the take-home stress is the limiter. If your training is your stress relief, you'll be fine. If stress derails your training, it will be tough to keep the focus.

http://www.extramilenutrition.com
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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It really depends on your shift and family life. It was pretty rough for me this year as I tried to increase my volume to reach a goal. Since I didn't want to take time away from my family to do it, I was not getting much sleep for months and ended up sucking by the time the 'A' race came around. The biggest problem is my 12 hour shift schedule, I work 4am to 4pm and have to work Friday-Sunday every other week. With a schedule like that it can be VERY difficult to keep your volume up because you have almost no free time for 7 out of every 14 days. I have to be in bed at 7pm if I want 8 hours of sleep and I almost never get off work on time. Leaving me only 2-3 hours to be a father and husband, eat dinner, get any house-work done, and try to get in a training session or two.
Whatever you do, don't try to fit a square peg into a round hole with your training. Last year I set up my training on a 14 day microcycle instead of the usual 7 days because that's how my work schedule goes. I had very little training on work days and only did any long workouts every other weekend when I was off work. I had great results and enjoyed the season. This year I wanted to get better at running by increasing run volume to 40 mpw, I did the traditional 7 day microcycle which meant early morning short runs (at 2:30am) and then staying up late to get another workout after the family went to bed. You can guess where all that discipline got me. Let's just say that I am going back to a 14 day cycle next year (and doing whatever I can to get off the 4am shift, it is absolutely ridiculous, I would rather work overnight than have to get out of bed that early). If you don't sleep enough everything sucks. Now it's way past my bedtime already, crap. Good luck.

Powertap / Cycleops / Saris
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, it works. I've been doing it for 13 years. I work 4-10, so during my work week I get limited time to train. I usually get up at 0300 to get an hour run in one day, and a little other during the week. Like the others have said, the 10 hour day is often longer, considering overtime, commute, etc. So my work week is essentially recovery time. But then I get 3 days off, so I get a long ride and run in. And since 2 of those days are during the wife's work week, I have all day to do my ride.

Good luck my friend. It is a noble career.

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Blazeman Warrior - so others may live
Live more than your neighbors.... Bark at the moon like the wild dog that you are.... And by all means, whatever you do, get it on film.

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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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It works, but it is tough. I work midnights on a 5-2 4-2. My biggest issue is training consistency. Working mids will take a lot out of you and sleep becomes priority above all else. If you have a crummy day of sleep, expect your tr raining to suffer. It also becomes more difficult when you have a family, and suddenly you are trying to balance shift work, sleep, training, and family time! Good luck in the hiring process. It's a tough job at times, but it is worth it.
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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I'm overwhelmed by the amount of info here. Thank you all it truly means a great deal!
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [Noof] [ In reply to ]
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So what is the most aero gun?
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Re: Being a cop and triathlete, does it work? [v0coder] [ In reply to ]
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v0coder wrote:
So what is the most aero gun?

Sig 232. It's got the airfoil shape that in my n=1 eyeball study looks the fastest, therefore it is.
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