I'm a mum with 2 grade-schoolers, and I did a half-ironman a couple of years ago. Speaking from the perspective of someone who at one point had a toddler and a newborn at home, I don't think this is the right time for you to be planning a 1/2-ironman. Your wife is going to need your help. I don't think planning a race a few weeks out from her due date is putting your energy in the right place. That's just my opinion, but like I said... I know that of which I speak. There will always be other races.

Ditto above. I dropped out of riding entirely when my wife and I started having kids. The time demand for training will hit when your wife needs you most. Every minute you help her in the evenings is worth years of happy marriage ahead. The first six months of our two children were some of the most exhausted moments of my life, and I was not the one doing the heavy lifting. I cannot imagine that I could have substituted HIM training during that time without unfairly putting a massive burden on my wife.

Actually get up early. I'm up at 330 to get trainer and treadmill workouts knocked out. that bike commute to work hardly seems worth the trouble.

I have a 20 month old and will be doing IM North Carolina 4 weeks after the due date of our 2nd child.


1) Early Mornings - can do 2 hours before work
2) After kid/wife go to sleep- usually trainer ride or easy run
3) Saturday/Sunday AM from 5am-10am is "me time"


Did my 1st IM last year with 1 toddler and it worked. 12:41 so not KQ but not terrible.

Hard for anyone to say on here if you have the time to train for a half at this particular point in your life.

Ways to sneak in workouts to stay in shape however would be get on the trainer so you are there at the house. Netflix and TrainerRoad make the time pass a little easier. For runs, hopefully you can sneak out for some QUALITY 30-45 minute runs during the week and sneak out for a long run and swim on the weekend.

Personally, I would probably wait for the race and take care of family first. Triathlon isn't going anywhere, you can do one in a few years.

Wake up early. Set the alarm for 4. You'll be fine.

15-month old, plus a pregnant wife? Do you want to actually stay married?

This. Just divorce now and save yourself the trouble. Then you'll be free to train as much as you want!

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Long Chile was a silly place.

A trainer In the garage and a few early morning sessions is a good start. If getting up early is out of the question, it might be tough.

One more piece of input for you, re. those who say "just set your alarm and get up at 3/4:00 a.m.". In my household, my first born was up roughly every hour or two at night. Many mothers of babies/toddlers also have this thing where if you hear so much as a carpet fibre rustle under the weight of a little foot, you're jolted awake wondering what's up. Can't speak to everyone's experience, but this was my own (and I had previously been a sound sleeper). If my husband had set an alarm, or even crept out of bed at 3:00 a.m., it would have woken me up. And if that was during one of my precious uninterrupted 1-2 hrs of sleep, I would have seriously gone nuclear on him. Even if you sleep in another bed, on another floor, your wife will likely hear your treadmill or trainer, or the front door closing as you leave for your workout. If you're dead set on keeping up with your training load, I would cut back on your work hours and fit it all into your (normal, not extended or you're taking time from your family) work day. If you insist on taking 5-hour chunks of "me time" on the weekend, make damn sure you give your wife at least that much for herself while you look after the kids (which frankly, might be difficult if she's breastfeeding).

I'd postpone. You aren't going to be getting any sleep when the second one comes and that will be during your in heavy training. You'll quickly realize how easy you had it when on only had one kid.

I have 4 kids age: 12, 11, 5, 3. I've been training for triathlon for 5 years, so I've gone through the newborn thing. 3 years ago, my wife also started triathlon. We both trained/raced a 70.3 together this past April in NOLA.

Here's what works for me. And I will preface this by stating that it has actually gotten easier since my wife has been training too. True, we have less time. She has always been understanding and supportive, however now that she's also training, the level of support is greater because she understands the importance of workouts, etc.

Almost all of my training takes place early in the morning. Usually, I'm starting to train each morning during the week at 4-5am. Either 1-2 hours on the trainer for cycling, almost all swims and runs. My longest runs for 70.3 cap out at about 2 hours, so I will usually squeeze one of those in during the morning. I train until 7am, then shower and go to work. This leaves evenings open for family. During the summertime, I can squeeze in about 3 workouts during lunch (swim or tempo runs). Weekends, it's really a crap-shoot of what we have going on family wise. Usually, I can get one long bike in on Saturday afternoon, but more times than not, it's also on the trainer.

When my youngest was an infant, I used to put him in a bouncer chair next to the bike/trainer and he would be mesmerized by the spinning legs/wheels and white noise. It was sure to put him to sleep.

One thing that I can say is that it's best to do things very early in the morning and be flexible. If you insist on a workout when she's having a hard time/needs you, it will only build resentment toward you, and your training. It's a tough deal.

Commuting to work is not an option for me, but i wouldn't do it even if I could. It seems like the time/benefit would not be there, compared to the work I can do on the trainer.

Whatever you decide, do not underestimate the added stress of not getting quality sleep. I have a four year old and a nine month old, the later of which just started to sleep through the night (kind of).

I raced my season-opening HIM last weekend. In the training leading up to this event, I failed to accurately account for reduced sleep and paid for it in the weeks leading up to the race (decreased motivation, tired all day at work) and during the race (diminished training=crappy racing).

Also, trying to squeeze in training around a newborn is asking for a lot of missed workouts and marital discord

My two cents would be to chill on the HIM for this season.

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Jon Ryder
RPM Coaching

This

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Jon Ryder
RPM Coaching

I'm not up quite this early, but the alarm goes off sometime between 4-4:45 most mornings, depending on the length of my workout. I have a 3 year old with another due in September. All of my workouts are done by 6:15ish during the week and by 8:30 or so on the weekends. The trainer and treadmill become your friends once you have kids, as does an alarm clock.

I've been getting in 12-15 hr training weeks by averaging around 1.5 hours a day during the week, then around 6-7 hrs total on the weekend.

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Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NateThomasTri
Coaching: https://bybtricoaching.com/ - accepting athletes for 2023

Ok Ok, I will stick to running/Lifting weights for now.....

BUT I WILL BE BACK!.

I've got an 18 month old, so it's a little easier. Training for a half in November. Currently haven't hit huge work loads yet, but averaging 7 hours+ since November to do sprints and oly's beforehand. Biggest thing for me is the ability to get home from work way earlier than my wife. She picks him up from daycare at 5, and I can get home at 4 a lot of days. Knock out a trainerroad workout or go for a run before they get in. Also, the gym I swim at is next door to the office, so I can grab a swim and be getting home same time as them. Sometimes interval workouts on the trainer at lunch. If I have to work later, I have to wait until my son goes to be at 7:30 and I'll do something then. I try to get morning workouts in, but I already have a decent commute and like to be out the door by 6. So that means getting up at 4. Nights like last night when my son couldn't sleep and kept me up most of the night ruins any possibility of me getting that workout in (laying out all my stuff before hand last night was a waste). So I rely on that flexible afternoon schedule.

There is absolutely no doubt that if we had a sub-6 month old running around, that I would in now way shape or form be able to handle the training. Best I can hope for is to keep in decent shape by getting some 30 minute runs in with the rare swim or bike. We are thinking about a second one, but I really want to attempt a full next year. I know that if it happens, that goal is out the window for a little while.

Indeed, on all counts. It will get easier though, depending on how much your baby sleeps. I found when my wife was on maternity leave and our eldest was 4 that getting-up early to swim was manageable, but when she went back to work I dropped that as logistics took over! I did do a local half when the baby was 3 months old, but didn't take it overly seriously and remember our eldest was four and in Kindergarten a lot of the time; I withdrew from the Ironman I entered when we discovered my wife was expecting. Don't put too much pressure on yourself, just be prepared to do a quick bit of training when the opportunity arises; treadmills and bike trainers in the garage are great for this. Chances are you'll be really tired anyway, and there's always next year or the one after for that PB :)

I always say....Two kids = three times the work ;-)

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29 years and counting

With one kid, sure why not. With 2 or more? Personally I would not do it. Maybe wait a year or two until the sleep patterns are steady bt those first few months will suck. I could get by with 5 hours of sleep a night without kids, now I need 6-7 hours if I am training or I get sick much more often. Between allergies being horrible this year and a walking petri dish at home being healthy for the family is key

I'm going to go against everybody and say you can still do it. Get a bike trailer / jogging stroller. For your rides hook up the 15 month old and take him/her along. Of course you need extra safe roads and you may not want to use a nice bike, but will still get your ride in and the kid will probably sleep the whole time. Same thing for runs. It sounds like you may be just trying to finish this and not win it so even if your workouts are interrupted or not perfectly paced you will still be getting the miles in. Plus it will give mom one on one time with the new born which will likely be sleeping a lot so she may get some rest if the 15 month old is out of the house.

I strongly feel we all need our own time to do things. If this is your thing then that is it, nothing else that will interfere with home life. No vegging out watching sports while the dirty dishes are on the counter, no going out with friends while the wife is home with the kids.

Some kids are different but most I have been around are fine in a bike trailer/stroller for 15-30 minutes. Yes that is training time but for those who work full time I would rather spend that time with the kids playing with them instead of training. My workouts are before everyone wakes up, is out of the house, or is napping. If I missed a morning session I sometimes try to get one in at night but that is rare.

Different strokes for different folks but remember, happy wife = happy life.

I wouldn't plan on racing within a few weeks of a due date. You recall how things went after the first one came home. Now picture that all over again along with taking care of your 18 month old. You can't really take turns like you did with the first.

But you can still train and race with kids. There have been a lot of helpful suggestions already and I'll add mine.

1) trainer during nap time. Still do this. Occasionally have to jump off the trainer in the middle of a hard set of they wake up early.
2) baby jogger. Kids are older now, but my wife still looks forward to me coming home. I throw the kids in the stroller and she gets 45 minutes of alone time. Do this every weekday and get you your long runs in at 5 AM on weekends.
3) swim at lunch.

"I'm a mum with 2 grade-schoolers, and I did a half-ironman a couple of years ago. Speaking from the perspective of someone who at one point had a toddler and a newborn at home, I don't think this is the right time for you to be planning a 1/2-ironman...Your wife is going to need your help."
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I missed the part where training for a HIM=not being a helpful spouse.

Speaking from the perspective of someone who at one point had a toddler and a newborn at home, I think if your wife is on board it is very possible to train/race without getting a divorce, especially if your work situation is flexible.

Here was how my schedule worked. Like the OP, I have a flexible job (IT) that allows me to exercise at lunch. I am also able to work from home in the evenings after everyone was in bed to finish things that didn't get done during the day.

Monday: AM: Bike commute (21 miles)/Lunch: swim 45 minutes/PM Bike commute 21 miles
Tuesday: AM: Bike commute (21 miles)/Lunch: run 1 hr with tempo/PM Bike commute 21 miles
Weds: AM Bike commute (21 miles)/Lunch swim 45 minutes/PM Bike Commute 21 miles
Thurs: AM Bike Commute (21 miles)/Lunch run 1 hr 30 minutes with tempo/PM Bike Commute
Friday: AM Bike Commute (21 miles)/Lunch Swim 45 minutes/PM Bike Commute 21 miles
Saturday: 2 hr ride/20-30 minute race pace run brick
Sunday: 1 hr 10 min run

On the weekends, I would usually make sure that the toddler's nap time fell during my workout, but there were times when I would head out for a run at 10 pm after everyone else was asleep if that was the only window I had during a weekend day.

Totals: 210 mpw cycling
5-6000 yds/week swimming
27-30 mpw running

From Sept 1-March 1, I would ditch the swimming and only run, usually avg'd ~60 mpw. On March 1, I'd switch to the schedule above.

My HIM that summer (2007) was Mooseman. Daughter was 2.5, son was 8 months. Rented a place on the bike course with a beach, invited a couple with a son the same age as my daughter to come up and stay with us. They all hung out on the beach on the morning I raced, then met me at the finish. Good times.

Here is my daughter and friend getting ready to cheer me on as I ride past, and then my daugther and I with the Moose after the race.

It can be done. It's not easy but is definitely attainable if completing the race is something your moderately motivated about.

Every situation is different and every kid is different, so it's difficult to say that just because it can be done for one person, that it should work for another. But I now have two kids (1yr & 4yrs old). Since my first was born I've trained for two 140.6 races and two 70.3 races. My training wasn't perfect compared to normal standards, but easily enough to finish respectably. You have to be smart and efficient, but your life also doesn't have to come to an end with kids.

My son was similar to yours, he was never a good sleeper and gets up at 5am. That makes things challenging. But as long as you're willing to do your part and take the kids so that your wife can have some personal time, she should be willing to do the same for you.

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-Andrew