When I did my first triathlon, I was far more into lifting than racing. 230 lbs in the low 1000lbs for the three compound lifts. At the time, I lifted 4-5 times per week. Now I'm down to 195 lbs to prioritize IM, but still lift 3-4 times per week. 4 times during most of the season and 3 times in the 2 months leading up to an IM. I find that as long as I keep leg days short (2 exercises, 4 sets each) and heavy (5-15 reps), they don't hurt my cycling/running even in the same day. Lifting upper body doesn't harm my swim much either, unless it is a steady long swim or I do them too closely together on the same day. Once you get used to lifting regularly you shouldn't get too sore or stiff from a weight workout. I keep it to 1 hour with 1 minute breaks between sets and go to near failure, but not all the way there.

My typical week:
Mon: morning swim, lift (chest/shoulders/legs), evening interval bike
Tue: morning lift (back/arms), run
Wed: morning swim, bike+run brick
Thu: morning lift (chest/shoulders), easy evening spin
Fri: morning long swim, evening long bike+run brick
Sat: morning lift (back/arms), long run
Sun: off

Note, I'm 28, so that might change things a little. But I don't think lifting has to hurt your tri training.

This is purely anecdotal and has worked for me.

Is there a reason you do arms, shoulders, chest and back twice a week but legs only once?

I swim 9-12k a week, which isn't a high enough volume to be affected much by upper body exercises. But the latter half of the week is too high in cycling and running volume to do another round of legs.

I lift on my run days. I may be weird, but my swim days are also my bike days.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

"I'm signed up for a hilly IM (IM Canada in Whistler) and I understand the value of strength training. "

For those of us that don't understand the value of strength training, specifically w/regards to how it will help on a hilly IM, perhaps you could expand?

Simple:

20 mins at a time

Kill two birds with one stone. Hill repeats on the bike or running... Strength training should fall second to you primary triathlon training.

Agree! If you are really training hard for swim, bike and run you don't have any need whatsoever for strength training nor do you have enough hours in a week for it. Endurance racing is heart, lungs and slow twitch muscles. If you want to lift, do it during your off season, if you have one. I think a lot of people can't decide if they want to be a fast endurance athlete or an "ironman".

Highlighted the key words. You need neither tri nor weight training (are we talking about health, tri performance, happiness, or what?). I like the feeling of being somewhere between fast/skinny or strong/bulky. Around 195 lbs I've done a 9:45 IM with a 3:12 run and 1:24 open half-marathon, while still being able to move decent weights at the gym. Not FOP, but not slow either. We all have different priorities. But you certainly can do both strength training and tri training reasonably well, if you want.

I've come to the realization that core is much more of a need than strength training

From what I've read, the main benefits are: injury prevention, prevention of muscle imbalances, improved neuromuscular coordination, greater force production, improved posture, ability to maintain good running and cycling form deep into a race. I'm no expert but I think the benefits of strength training for endurance athletes are fairly widely accepted.

+1

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"see the world as it is not as you want it to be"