Not until they were teenagers and doing homework every night. Healthy family or fast triathlete: pick one.

I used to ride when I was younger, and I quit when the kids came along. Back then, I did not ride indoors, and I could not be away for multiple hours on a weekend to get in a ride. I did not pick it back up again until last year, after I realized that my kids were doing homework most evenings and I did not need to be present like when they were younger.

Not to be a downer, but if you are training in the evenings, then you are sticking your spouse with kid duty. And, you are absent from your kids and spouse during a relatively important time for them. So, when you take out 1-2 hours a night for training, you are assuming a family debt that you cannot repay. On the other hand, if you burn one or maybe two evenings a week, and you do everything else very early, then have at it. I have friends that get in a 4-hour workout before anyone else in the household gets out of bed.

On the other hand, if you are a stay-at-home mom or dad, and you can get a babysitter and workout during the day, then go for it. That has very little family impact. But, you will spend a crapton for sitters.

I got into triathlon when my kids were 2 & 4.

4am alarm clock is your friend. As is your lunch hour. I never train after work, that's family time.

I have a 1 1/2 year old and attempt to race my bike. I know exactly what you are talking about with a horizon appearing just before they turn one....it's an illusion, they get more interesting and more of a handful, and just as you get used to one thing, they change.

Having said that....the only time I have found that works for my family and I to train is before they wake up and before I start work.

You can def start tri training after the 6 month mark. I think I started 'for-real' tri training again when my kid was 1.5yrs old, but I did plenty of stroller training and enjoyed running stroller 5ks from the 6 month mark.

You can actually get in some really good training from ages 1-2.5; at that age, you'll be passing the kid off between yourself or spouse/nanny, so you can def get 1-2 hrs off to train when you're not on duty.

It actually gets annoyingly hard around ages 3-5 since the kid wants your attention and is also mobile and not patient enough to do anything safely on their own. I couldn't even ride a bike trainer for 30 mins if I was supposed to be with the kids on Saturday all day. (You can do it if your kid naps - mine ditched naps starting at age 1.5!)

After age 5 it gets more doable again since your kid is more reasonable and has enough attention span to watch a video for 30-60 mins while you do your hour workout, and the fact that it's less stressful for your spouse to watch the kid so they're more willing to let you go workout.

I work full time but I am probably as far away from the 'just let the wife handle it' model of parenting as you can get - when I'm home, my wife pretty much assumes I'm taking over and it's time for her to rest and relax - and my kid def agrees with that mentality, so if I'm training, it's either <6AM, during my lunch break, or on weekends while the kid watches a show.

Biggest tip: You can get a LOT done in 20 or 30 minutes of workout time. Don't give up on workouts because you can't go for 40+ minutes. It's not just volume that you need in tri- its neuromuscular recruitment, high-end effort acclimation, and many other things in addition, that are actually very trainable in numerous 20-30 min sessions. If you do mostly 20-30 min focused sessions with intensity and skill focus, you can do fewer longer sessions and still outperform folks who neglect that short/hard skill stuff completely due to their volume focus.

Thanks! Yeah, with the kiddo finally sleeping regularly I am not as fatigued. I can find around an hour to train on work days (which is more than enough for my goals), and I can get in 2 hours on sat/sunday each.

Just at every step, I felt like we were close :)! Oh man the little one turned 6, he can stroller run now! Oh man, he is having two naps so has a more regimented schedule! Oh man, he is walking now, so we can run to the park, he can play, and ride on the way home!

I was going to try to schedule a heavy year next year (try to qualify for some things), but I think that will be a pike dream for now!

THANKS! Yeah I have been doing trainer roads 45 min plans, and going on 30 minute stroller rides with the kiddo during the week and longer stretches.

We are going to start for the next one in like 6 months. So I think I have some good time now to get things in for the next year, we shall see.

thanks again for the tips!

Personally I've been really light on goals the past year. I try to train and ride as consistently as I can and go from there. Have fun, enjoy your family, train as much as you can to stay in shape and sane.

Sidenote....I was in a room with a couple friends of mine and a really good coach yesterday and my friend was prodding me to get on the coach's deal....my response was I can train a ton right now...but unless the coach wants to sleep train my kid better than we have and slow down her suicidal tendencies I'm not going to have any chance to recover and get faster :)

I think it depends. If you're talking about fitting in 18-hr training weeks, I don't have experience to share. But both my kids are in grade school, and I've managed to finish on top of my local/regional tri series the past couple of years, qualified for and participated in ITU Worlds (I didn't come last, and was really happy with how it went). I take every fall from the last race of the season to end of December off of formal training. I do stuff for fun... horseback riding, trail running, maybe a fall coffee ride..., make sure I have time to handle the kids' activities when school gets back in, and that the stress load doesn't go off the chart. I do lose fitness and gain weight every year, and I'm ok with it. I'm at the point where I try to be as fast as possible with whatever time I'm willing to commit to training. I say "willing to commit" rather than "time available" because there are 24 hrs in the day... but I don't do 4:00 a.m. wakeup calls to get on the trainer. I like my sleep, and I like my evening time with my family. If it's freezing rain, I'm not going for that run. You get the idea.

Really depends on your situation.

I was racing the day my wife went into labor in May and started training four days out and raced with a two week old. It worked for me because my wife was comfortable with it. Raced through the rest of the summer and just about lost my mind by the end. In retrospect it was silly, but didn't want to waste the fitness I started the year with.

Thanks. yeah, not looking for 18 hour training weeks. More so around 8 hours week with some consistency. I think I am there! But I thought that when the kiddo was 6 months old too!

Are any of your spouses also training/racing?

My wife and I both love to train and have our first child due in 3 weeks. We've always hopped on the trainers together, ran together and swam together. We're hoping that once she's back to training we can squeeze in time during naps, put kid in the jogger once she's old enough, etc. I'm also hoping to use the childcare at the gym so we can get some pool time in. I think it really helps that we are both into the sport, but my dreaming of training time might be just that.. dreams. I guess we'll find out in a few months.

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I actually suspect it will be EASIER for you as a double triathlete couple than the typical situation like mine where I'm the triathlete and the wife is not an athlete whatsoever.

I get zero sympathy or consideration for my workouts. If I do them, I am fully and completely expected to have it at the most convenient time for them (when they are sleeping or on my lunch break), and there's very little give in terms of "I'll watch the kid for 90 mins while you workout, then we can trade."

I know, you'd think a nonworking spouse would make it easier for the working spouse to exercise, but the hard reality is that taking care of the young kid is frustrating enough such that the moment I'm home, I'm expected to take over for the most part in childcare duties (and I honestly don't blame her for it - I feel the exact same way when I'm at home with the kid all day in reverse!) It is hard, however, to convince her that training 60 mins for racing is that important to me such that she should sacrifice her time - I don't think I'll ever reach that point, because let's be honest, racing (not just baseline fitness) is a luxury when you've got little kids.

My husband and I both run, and I think that does make it easier. We do a lot of family stroller runs. Sometimes one of us starts first to fit in a longer run and the other joins midway or we do it all together. I'd say my 19 month old does at least 3 stroller runs a week with us. She's sat for up to 12 miles happily so far starting when she was around 6 months old.

If you have a good napper/sleeper, then the trainer will definitely be easily used.

I have been lucky to have a relatively easy, portable baby/toddler though and I think it's definitely child dependent.

We have three kids under 9.. and both my wife and I run/do tris. I fit in the bulk of my workouts during my lunch, my spouse does things in the morning--and sometimes we get a sitter and do workouts one evening a week. That limits us to about 5-7 hours a week, at best, without feeling like we're neglecting other things.

I wouldn't say having a partner who competes actually helps--as they can get jealous if you get to work out and they don't!

What works for me:

Lunch- the gym is right across the street from my office. Sometimes I swim but that's harder.

2-3x per week masters swim @7:30. I can head out at the 2 year olds bedtime.

Trainer or run either early before everyone wakes up or after my wife goes to bed. Either way sucks, but 5am is better than 10pm workouts.

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Early mornings are your friend!!! I have a 4 1/2 year old and a 13 month old, so that's where I'm speaking from.

I definitely inconvenienced my wife by signing up for an IM just before we found we were pregnant with our first, and I probably shouldn't have done as much training as I did (up to 20 hour weeks).

The past two seasons have been focused on the 70.3 distance for me, and I've been able to get up to around 15-16 hours pretty much under the radar. It means getting up between 4-4:30 every morning, including the weekends. For instance, I was done with 10.5 mile run by 6 AM this morning.

My wife is also an athlete, and understands the training thing. It also means I make room for her workouts as well.We are both teachers, so lunch time workouts don't fit in. A few mornings a week we trade off workout times while the kids hopefully stay asleep. There are mornings where I'm running or riding along with Daniel Tiger or Peppa Pig, as the 4 1/2 year old wakes up and wants to join me!

Talk it out with your SO to make sure they are on board and supportive. Make concessions and trade offs to get in workouts (or not get in workouts). It's hard to do if there isn't much support!

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Agree with the sentiments here. My wife started this whole endurance thing between us, so she understands.

I absolutely cannot ride in the afternoons though, I just have no desire to miss that time with the now 2 yr old. I do take her for runs a lot, but she has started to want to run herself, so I end up power walking to keep up with her while she runs down the sidewalk and I push the stroller.

Waking up early is easier said than done for me, as soon as I get into a groove, someone gets sick and sleep suffers, and unfortunately training is the first thing to get cut. I really need to get more disciplined here, but my natural sleep rhythm has me in deep sleep at 4-5am and that is tough to rise from ready to give good effort. Anyone have tips on adjusting that natural rhythm?

We are getting a smart trainer this year so hopefully I can get some rides in before she wakes, or while we watch Mickey on Saturday morning.

Just to counter the morning training people... I tried that and couldn't make it work.

I have three kids 6 and under and train about 8 hours a week.

The issue I've had with morning training is that I can never really tell when the kids are going to wake up. It's brutal to get started on a training session and then have one or more kids wake up 15 minutes in and I've got to go deal with that. And especially with the baby (but the 2 year old is no picnic in this regard either) there are some terrible nights where I'm just wiped out in the morning and can't muster the motivation to train.

But after the kids are in bed, they're pretty reliably down for a while and I can get uninterrupted training in. My wife usually has work to do and does that while I'm on the treadmill/trainer or running outside. If she's not working we'll spend some time together and then when she goes to bed I'll do a session.

So for me night training thing has allowed for much better consistency that trying to get stuff done in the morning.

Thanks! I train at night most of the times too. Only big problem is having to pee an extra time in the middle of the night.

How much did training change between Kiddo 1 and kiddo 2? I feel like I am going to have a good opportunity for 1 year before we start for kiddo number 2. When number 2 comes, I feel like I am going to be backing off a lot.

shiiiiiiiiitttt

Job / kids / triathlon

You can be reasonably good at 2 of 3 at any one time

I have a 2 year old and 4 year old.

Have done an IM each year except this and only didn't this year as we moved 3 countries in 10 weeks, moved house twice and quit a job

When i worked i left to take kids to nursey at 6.30, worked 7-3, pick kids up at 3.30-4, home 4.30-45, kids dinner at 6, bath and bed at 7

The last thing my wife wants is once kids are asleep for me to say heading upstairs to ride trainer for 2 hours

Probably the 9-12 month time frame.

It also helped once he was big enough to ride in a jogger stroller. My wife also does triathlons and it is a big help for me to take him on a 60 min run so she can sleep in or get a trainer ride in or whatever.

I also do all workouts in morning and lunch during the week. Once I'm home it's family time. No exceptions.

The other big limiter for getting "back to normal" was getting past the daycare constant sicknes. I couldn't go more than 3 weeks without getting sick the first year in day care from him bringing home who knows what.

Talk to your SO and work out a plan/routine and stick to it. Make time for family, give your wife ample time off too, and it's definitely manageable.

Mind if I ask how old you are? If your in your 20's or early 30's it's gonna be a lot easier to train and actually recover then if your trying to train with kids and your in your late 30's or 40's, from my experience,

Same situation here. Learn to love trainerroad.

It depends on your definition of "reasonably" but based on my definition, you can easily be "reasonably" good at all 3. You don't need a 2 hour ride to be reasonably good at triathlon.