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Training with a New Born baby
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Hey all , i have not posted in a while but I am looking to come back into the sport with a new born baby. I don't know how to find the time to train and everyday I get sidetracked or cant find the time. Any tips or advice on getting the time to train with a little one at home?
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Re: Training with a New Born baby [RDR_Tri22] [ In reply to ]
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The first one was the biggest change. After that, you kind of figure out what works or you stop doing it. For me that meant I had to make my training transparent to the rest of the family. Get up early before work to run, then ride to work and swim at lunch, then ride home. My wife always gave me until noon on Saturday, so I got up early on that day as well. Nothing on Sunday. If you have a supportive spouse then you better make sure you keep them that way by doing your part at home and showing your appreciation. And when it is very clear that he or she needs a break, you skip a workout, or even the occasional race when that feeling comes to you. The early years are not really that bad. When they hit the later ages and you turn into soccer mom then it really gets tough, but if you have learned anything by then, you know that no accomplishment of your own is going to bring you the same joy as sharing their lives. Good luck.
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Re: Training with a New Born baby [RDR_Tri22] [ In reply to ]
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RDR_Tri22 wrote:
Hey all , i have not posted in a while but I am looking to come back into the sport with a new born baby. I don't know how to find the time to train and everyday I get sidetracked or cant find the time. Any tips or advice on getting the time to train with a little one at home?

I have a 4.5 year old and a 16 month old - the only way I get to train is to maximize any downtime, while also being very careful to make sure my wife gets here own time as well (or my time can quickly be taken away!). I've also realized that anything beyond Olympic (or at a big stretch, a single 70.3) distance just isn't in the cards for me right now, so I adjusted my training load accordingly.

Early morning isn't viable in my house - getting everyone ready for school/daycare/work makes it unworkable. Getting up even earlier than our 6am alarm is a non starter since we barely sleep as it is with the kids still waking multiple times a night.

I try swim 2x a week during my work lunch break - I'm fortunate to have a public pool with lane swimming about 5 minutes away - this is the hardest one to schedule and I found lunch works best, and make up the extra 15 minutes I go over my hour later in the day or during the week.

I try to run the other work days during lunch - good hard tempo or intervals.

I try to Zwift (either bike or run) after the kids and wife go to bed 3-4x a week - usually a shorter structured workout or a race. This is the best time for us because the kids sleep more soundly in the early evening.

Anything that has a set time commitment is also pretty much a non starter since my schedule morphs with the day. And even these workouts are goals, not set in stone. They either get done or not, depending on the work/family week.

I try to make sure to spend some quality time with my wife when the kids are asleep because it's all too easy to not actually see each other between work and the kids and training. I'm not willing to let my training cut into quality time with my wife.

I also make sure to block out time for my wife to run on the treadmill - for us that means as soon as we get home from work while I'm preparing dinner and hanging out with the kids in the kitchen.

For us, it's really about squeezing training in when it won't take away from the family or work - to be honest, it's a lot to juggle, and for a planner type like me, it's been a big transition, but we make it work. Being able to workout on demand versus on a facility's schedule or having to go somewhere to workout has made triathlon workable, even if not ideal.

I will say that when it was just one kid, and they were a newborn, they slept so much for the first 6 months that the only real difference was that our nights were broken so rest and recovery was harder. It gets more challenging as they get older and into the toddler/pre-school/kindergarden stage for a time perspective.

Of course, this is just my family's experience - everyone has their own dynamics, but this works for us.
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Re: Training with a New Born baby [RDR_Tri22] [ In reply to ]
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2 year old and 1 year old here. I attempted to train the first year. Did a half, oly, and sprint. Was not in shape for any of them and decided to not race this year. It was the best decision I could have made. Spared myself a lot of headache and I got to spend a ton of time with my family.

Now that my kids are kind of sleeping through the night and on a routine I can get in training when they go to bed or very early in the morning. On weekends I can get in some training during the day but always make time for my family.

Honestly though, I'm realistic and know that until my kids are much older racing will always be on the backburner.
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Re: Training with a New Born baby [RDR_Tri22] [ In reply to ]
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I have a 9 month old and when she was born last winter it was a crazy time! Biggest thing for me was communication with the wife. She was home for 3 months so after we got settled a bit I swam before work if it was possible then tried to get a workout done at lunch. If I got home and it was good timing I would do something after I gave my wife a break. But there were, and still are, times where I don't get to a workout because I just want to spend time with my daughter. Biggest change for me was to mentally feel ok with missing a workout. I figure if I was too tired or wanted to spend time with the family the workout I would get in wouldn't be as good of quality anyway. These memories only happen once so live it up and triathlon will be there whenever you want it to be!

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Re: Training with a New Born baby [RDR_Tri22] [ In reply to ]
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There are a couple threads discussing this. Not trying to be the thread police just saying there's some good discussion on the topic.

I have a 4 month old, first child. It's been a challenge to do much regular training. At the same time I don't feel bad about it. I want to spend time with my son. I gave up Masters swimming for the time being. When I do get out it's a run or ride. Prior to the baby, I liked trainerroad but I lacked the motivation to crank out intervals. I switched to zwift and that's been more fun, easier to do on lower energy.

I think it depends on your spouse's role and support. Mine has a demanding job and works unpredictable hours. We have a nanny for 8 hours a day. I work from home. If work isn't too crazy, I try to squeeze workouts in while she's here. Otherwise I've got to work around my spouse's schedule. So I am decent shape still but I just can't say I train on a regular schedule. Much more sporadic.
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Re: Training with a New Born baby [cdw] [ In reply to ]
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thank you for the advice definitely gave me some options to discuss with my wife and the time on Saturday is a great idea!
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Re: Training with a New Born baby [RDR_Tri22] [ In reply to ]
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Don't even bother Tri-ing for that first year. Seriously.

Just train if and when you can, where and when you can.
Don't be surprised if 20-30 minutes here and there for a trainer ride or quick run is all you can manage.

Once your little one is a little less little, you can incorporate them into "training" as family time - get a bike trailer and/or baby jogger (we had a Burley that did both), and go for family outings with the wee one.

You've got the whole rest of your life to do this stuff.
Your kid is only a baby once, and your spouse needs your help & support now more than ever.


float , hammer , and jog

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Re: Training with a New Born baby [RDR_Tri22] [ In reply to ]
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I’ve got 2 kids 3 1/2 and 2 years old, and average 10-12 hours per week. I race a few sprints and one half each year and stay reasonably competitive.

A few keys things that made it possible for me to do this is basically every bike workout is indoors while kids are sleeping and running is either when kids are sleeping or take them with me in jogging stroller. A great way to score points with your SO is taking the kids for a jog in the stroller.

Of course the thing that helped the most was both my children started sleeping thru the night at 2 months and at 6 months would sleep from 6:30 pm to 6:30 am, and they nap at the same time.
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Re: Training with a New Born baby [RDR_Tri22] [ In reply to ]
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Lots of great advice. I have to do early am stuff as I keep the focus on the family. Yes, ensure the wife gets HER time as well. Your child will only be this age once.

One thing that has helped me, and is often mentioned by others when asked "how do you do it?" is have things so you don't have to think about it. You can just do it. When I have to think about what the workout will be, I lose more time that I planned on before the workout. Have things setup and ready to go so in less than 10 minutes you are going from parent to training.
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Re: Training with a New Born baby [RDR_Tri22] [ In reply to ]
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Enjoy the journey! Parenthood is amazing.

There are a few keys to success (I'm a mother, so I'll leave out the breastfeeding/pumping details I handled while being the sole nutrition for my son for 6 months and pumping at least three times a day while at work for 13 months).

1) As you can see from above...APPRECIATE YOUR WIFE! She just birthed a baby from her body. She might also be using that same body to feed your baby. She's going through a gigantic change. Support her.

2) Communicate. Figure out why training is important to you. Is it to complete an Ironman? Is it to win local, shorter races? Find out what's important to you. Think about how you would train specifically for that. Then, talk to your wife about how you can do that and continue to be present. For example, I do a long workout on Saturday's. That means my husband is solo in charge Saturday until about 10am. I need his support and buy in for that. It also means I don't rest when I come home. I do a solo activity with my son while my husband has "his time"

3) Train during non family time. I wake up between 330 and 430am every day but Sunday. I train before my family is awake for the most part.

4) Adjust your goals. I actually decided to step away from triathlon. My goals were too big for the time I have and I wasn't enjoying training just to complete. So, I switched to ultra running. I can train much more efficiently without the bike and swim time.

5) Keep your perspective. You're a dad/partner first. Then probably employee. Then athlete. Don't loose sight of that. Also, read the book Total Leadership. You'll gain some great insights about finding what matters in your life and then finding how to overlap them.
Last edited by: clairec2007: Sep 28, 18 8:31
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Re: Training with a New Born baby [Murphy'sLaw] [ In reply to ]
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Murphy'sLaw wrote:
Don't even bother Tri-ing for that first year. Seriously.

Just train if and when you can, where and when you can.
Don't be surprised if 20-30 minutes here and there for a trainer ride or quick run is all you can manage.

Once your little one is a little less little, you can incorporate them into "training" as family time - get a bike trailer and/or baby jogger (we had a Burley that did both), and go for family outings with the wee one.

You've got the whole rest of your life to do this stuff.
Your kid is only a baby once, and your spouse needs your help & support now more than ever.


^^^^^ This. Tri is a just a hobby.

I have a 4mo. old. I only run now. I gave up tri training once my wife was 5-6mo pregnant. She needed my help more than I needed to train and I wanted to help more than I wanted to train. After the kid was born, I did find a few things that were helpful to continue training - a rocker/swing next to the treadmill (he sleeps like a log while I run), commuting to/from work (works for me, might not for everyone), running at lunchtime at work (again, works for me, might not for everyone), and we have a BOB for when he cna go on runs with me.

I know this is technically true for everyone, but your kid is never this young. Don't miss it because you were doing a 10x100 workout in the pool.
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Re: Training with a New Born baby [RDR_Tri22] [ In reply to ]
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All the advice here is spot on. The main point to drive home at least for me was to be more transparent with my wife. We never kept things from each other, she knew I had a workout most days and a certain schedule but never paid much attention to all that since we were more flexible with time. Once the baby came it was just about shuffling my schedule around so that I could still do what I enjoy, but make sure I still handled my responsibilities as a father. I can speak for myself in that I'll never make money in triathlon and if I show up to my "A" race without my wife's support then it's not worth it. There's certainly a way to do it, for me it was waking up 90 minutes earlier than I was used to everyday and planning the long workouts ahead of time and cutting some of them shorter. And when you're not at work or working out do everything you can to help with the baby and I promise you'll earn some points to get a workout in without complaint most of the time.

Enjoy it man! Kids are awesome! All the best.
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Re: Training with a New Born baby [RDR_Tri22] [ In reply to ]
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A few from my perspective:

-Don't stop training completely, this was advice I found here and I'm glad I followed. Sure I skipped things and adjusted things but I think I only really took 3 days off when my son was first born.

-Early mornings are your friend. I used to get my workouts in after work. Now my alarm is set for 4:30AM most days.

-Don't try to force a workout. If you're supposed to be on kid duty, give the kid your attention. That doesn't mean you can't hit the treadmill while it sleeps but don't try to entertain a baby from the treadmill, it needs you.

-Appreciate the fact that your family supports your training.
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Re: Training with a New Born baby [RDR_Tri22] [ In reply to ]
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we held off having kids while i spent 3 years trying to get to kona. we were very fortunate, i raced kona in 2016 and three weeks later my wife was pregnant.

baby came in july 2017.

i can't imagine trying to train for triathlon with a little one and still being around to help out. my wife works full time so YMMV.

i haven't been in the pool in over a year and have focused on running. we're headed to boston for the 2019 marathon so the adventures continue but the training load is lessened. it's a nice change.
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