47yr male with young kids here trying to figure out the fine line between overtraining and optimal training. My sleep really suffers since my youngest child hates sleep however I've managed to be able to train 2x per day (lunch and after work hrs) for about 3x per week and 1 training session on the other days. Ive been fairly consistent over the past several months and can usually tell when I need to back off or take a day off but I usually second guess myself and just wonder if I'm just being a pussy when I skip training. My A race is the Kansas 70.3 (now the Legend sponsored race) in early June and then I'll focus on building some speed for the Age Group Nats in Aug (already qualified).

Are there any other methods of improving one's ability to absorb training load aside from more sleep and PED's? Training methods, ice baths, compression? With the reading Ive done these all seem to have some benefits depending on who you ask.

Currently my training is BarryP's running plan at around 20 mi/week running and building, Trainer Road Sweet Spot Base low volume, and my swim workout usually consists of 2-4x per week over lunch with main work set 10x100's on 2:00 intervals and building this to 15x then 20x100.

I feel pretty good about my training compared to last off season and have managed to remain injury free. I need to do a better job testing for improvements and
making training adjustments from there to continue improvement.

Thanks for any suggestions or advice on absorbing training load.