Ten years ago I had a decision to make: Go to school to be an airline pilot ($$$$$$$$$$$) or open the bike shop. I love airplanes and flying but my life was triathlons, bicycles and writing/photography. I'm also a retailer at heart and get all gushy when I go in a beautiful store. So, I mde the decision to make the triathlon thing my living. It was a good move for me. Lots of sacrifices (I don't make anywhere near what a Northwest 747 captain makes)and I do actually work 7 days a week. If I told you how many hours I am here you would never, ever believe me. Ever. but this is what I do. So no, I don't work. I fit people on bikes, build them, write stuff for our website, train, play with my cats, go to sleep and get up and do it all over again.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

sign me up!! All I need, is a nice woman, who happens to love tris, right by my side. That has got to be the best life going!

I'm definately a type B personality. I live in a small town in a rural area, my office is part of my house. Lower patient volume than many other chirpractors but much lower overhead and lower cost of living. The wife is a school teacher. We've learned that it's not necessary to have a new Mercedes to be happy. Wasn't always that way. At one time in another life I busted butt in the office seeing a much higher volume of patients. Had to, with a big overhead,high expenses and living beyond my means. Don't miss that life style one bit. It's all a matter of priorities.

BTW, I'm at work right now.

I work about 9 hours a day and commute 1.5 hours each way, along with a wife, 2 kids and a dog. I shoot for the following, although it kind of falls apart during Little League:

Monday is 1/2 hour swim, rest.

Tuesday and Thursday I try and get in 2 to 2.5 hours in. Wed is an hour, Friday is anywhere between 0 and 3 hours.

Sat /Sun 3-4 hours.

Best ideas I've found to "find" time:

My weekend workouts start at between 5-6 in the morning, so I have the afternoons free.

I take the train part way home, then run the rest. As my train is dog slow this frees up quite a bit of time.

The only TV I watch is when I'm on the trainer.

When helping my kids with homework, I do that on the trainer as well (when possible)

Most importantly, be lucky enough to have a very forgiving wife and kids.

Weights 2x/week, Swim 4x/week, Bike 4x/week, Run 4x/week, add a wife and a 2yr old; up at 4:00AM 7x/week. And oh yeah, I work 40-50hrs/week, in fact I'm working right now, can't you tell?

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Ross Hoopingarner

I'm all about the lunch hour workout. With work, an hour commute each way, 3 kids under 5 and a wife that works weekend nights, I have little free time to get in a workout longer than an hour. My weekends are spent baby sitting while my wife sleeps. In the spring I can get up early and get in a run and pray the lake close by get above 60 so I can swim. My brick workouts are at lunch 30 min swim/30 min run. I just keep telling myself quality over quantity. This does limit me to spints right now and maybe an olympic as a reach this year.

I moved to New Zealand in order to train full time, you could call it a vacation. And i guess it is a vacation from a real job. I'm trying to find a way to do this the rest of my life. How high's the lottery up to over there? But i was working 36-38 hrs a week before i came here and was getting 15 hrs of training in and commuting an hr a day. I'd usually leave the house at 7-7:30a and come home at 10p.

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Want: 58cm Cervelo Soloist. PM me if you have one to sell

Vintage Cervelo: A Resource

I think anyone can do it, it's just lifestye. I spend less time training per day than most people watch TV. I don't watch TV (much).

I suppose I work an average of 10 hours a day, but I live as close to the office as possible (here), which is about 3 minutes. Here are some thoughts that I cut and pasted from my word processor:

As a veteran of over 130 triathlons, including 12 Ironman finishes, I certainly wanted to continue training and competing with the birth of our 1st child at almost 39 years old (2nd at 41, and 3rd on the way at almost 43), but how do you train and race while keeping your spouse and kids at as the number one priority? I have come up with several rules/techniques that seem to work:

1. The golden rule is that family is number one! Therefore all training must work around family, and non-training time must be clearly devoted to family - both in your heart and through outward expression and deeds (i.e. I always do the dishes!).

2. Try to keep training as "invisible" as possible to the family. I think this is obvious. Swim at 0-dark-thirty, run at lunch, etc. I sometimes run home at lunch and get "two for the price of one!"

3. Here is my favorite trick - I will go any where my wife wants to go, any time she wants to go, as long as I get to run or bike one way. This year I have biked home from the zoo, biked to my in-laws, bike to/from family vacation, run home from the mall, run to/from church activities, etc. I change in the car a lot! You wouldn’t believe how many training opportunities this presents! It’s also kind of fun mapping out rendevous spots, the kids watching for Daddy on his bike, and exploring new areas.

4. Return to quality versus quantity training. For Ironman Canada my bike training consisted of one 70 mile time trial every Saturday morning flat out - note that was all the time I had in order for my wife to make her yoga class (see priority #1 above) . That was it for the week. My only other rides were two 100 mile rides to and from a family vacation. I was a little scared that I hadn’t done enough, but I ended up with my fastest bike split on that course (4 times). I’m not a physiologist, but I think we all tend to spend too much time dawdling along and when forced not to dawdle there are some real fitness benefits. 10 years ago nobody could have told me that an average athlete like me could go sub 11 hours for an Ironman on 10 hours a week training at 42 years old.

5. Bonus fitness opportunities include family hikes, baby jogger runs (I do laps w/ the double jogger while mommy power walks - it’s a family event!

6. Always refer back to rule number one and put your family first. The rewards will surely come!

Good luck and Best Wishes,

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

Hey man - it is a great big world and there is so much to do and see. I work for myself and commute - I try to keep both in check. I put a lot of effort into effeciency. I don't watch much TV and I don't hang out in bars. Nothing wrong with them... just not my priority. Even if I was fortunate enough not to work... I would spend effort to get as muh out of each day as I could. Call me compulsive if you want - but you can always make more money - you can't always get more time on the planet. Use it wisely and get the most out of it!

If it weren't for lunch workouts and weekends it would be impossible. Chicago is a little more limited in the winter due to the ball numbing cold and short hours of daylight, but I find that I can get to the pool 3-4 mornings a week at 5:30, for 1 hour swimming on my way to the train. After a 1 hour commute and a morning of work I then get up to an hour (usually weights and/or treadmill) at lunch time. Saturday is my longest swim & long run, Sunday is a long bike. I usually can still spend every evening and a good chunk of the weekend with my wife & baby girl (well except for a trainer ride one night a week).

Whoever said you have to have an understaning wife or be single is right on.

My wife convinced be to leave my job about 2 and a half years ago so I could take care of my daughter until she was in school full time. Now that she is in school full time I have plenty of time to train.

I have always had a good relation with my old company and have done 5-10 hours a week for them on contract. That 5-10 hours is enough to remind me that it is much more fun to play & train. Maybe some day my wife will realize that my daughter is in school now and want me to return to work, but for now we both like it this way.

I work about 20 hours a week as a dentist in a small town. Used to work a lot more and still could if I wanted to, but found out I was working to pay other people to work for me and to pay for things I really didn't need. Now I run the office with just my wife (she's the greatist!) and myself. I work about half of what I used to and make about the same. We're not rich but have time to go to all our daughter's track and cross country meets and train one or two times a day if we want. It took me many years to realize it, but life doesn't have to be big and impressive to be meaningful. I used to drive and Audi Turbo Quattro now I drive a 3 year old Ford Taurus wagon; big sacrifice. ;^)

I think the key is to get up very early in the morning 7 days a week. It's a lot easier to get in 2 hrs in the am Mon-Friday and 3 to 4 on Sat and Sun if you start at 4:30am. I recommend a trainer and treadmill in the basement.

It's always interesting to hear how everyone else makes time. I also have a wife and 2 year old. I work 9 hours M-Th and 4 hours on Friday, then watch my daughter in the afternoon. Here's what my workout opportunities look like:

Monday: 45 minute swim at lunch, run or bike ride after daughters in bed
Tuesday: run or bike ride after daughters in bed
Wednesday: See Monday
Thursday: Brick, after daughters in bed
Friday: 1 hour ride during daughters nap, 45-60 minute swim after daughters in bed
Saturday: Swim in the AM, run or bike during nap or after daughters in bed
Sunday: Swim, bike or run during nap or after daughters in bed, maybe two workouts.

It does help having a trainer and treadmill in the basement, especially during the winter in MN. In the summer I imagine I'll include my daughter in the baby jogger during some of my runs.

Zeke

I too do the lunch workout thing on my Kinetics, riding 1 hour 3x per week and then a 2.5 hour ride on the TT bike on the weekend.

Its only January and I'm riding interval sessions twice per week, last Sunday my long interval session kept my heart rate at 172-176 BPM for 43 minutes straight! Got a USCF TT this weekend as well.

By May I hope to be able to ride for 75 minutes at lactate threshhold (174ish bpm).

That took me a while to get to. Now I am adding 10 mins (1 lap around the island) every 4 weeks with my goal of riding at 174 bpm for 56-57 minutes pushing a monster gear at about 85 RPM in June (40k state championships).

Believe it or not, I have found that HIGH INTENSITY/LOW VOLUME is the key to what I do (10/11/12mile and 40K time trials).

Lots of rest and really hard sessions make me faster. I dont do the weights thing as I tend to push a BIG gear to build strength. I will be mixing in running 2x per week beginning this month for fun and to get me back in to Duathlon.

I used to ride 10 hours a week and I was much slower than I am now at 6 hours!

Intensity & Strength.

R Isgrigg,

Know exactly where you are coming from. In another life a long time ago on another planet my ex business partner and his wife decided not to have kids because if so he couldn't afford his Mercedes and her Audi. We all have our priorities.

I'm a college student... and am almost looking forward to returning to my running roots when I get a real job.

I recently moved to the Western part of Maine, spend 11 hours between work and commuting, have 2 kids and wife works full time also. I'll predicate my schedule by saying that my wife has a very flexible job and she does most of the kid thing.

I am able to run everyday at lunch, usually 6-8 miles a day that way. I am a runner, so I try to run 6X per week total, with a long run on Sunday. In the winter, I ride the trainer 5 hours a week (this is generally my TV viewing time also) and also usually after kids go to bed at 9. Swim in the morning before work (leave before anyone gets up). I hit the bowflex a few times during the week when watching TV also.

I agree with the above post that making training invisible to the family is important. However, in the summer when it isn't dark at 4:30 PM I'll cash in some of that time for outdoor bike time. I'm hoping to bump up to 20hrs weekly training during the spring-fall time.

I do try to incorporate family time into work outs when it is nice out. My kids are old enough to keep up with me on their bikes when I run for example. They are also old enough to paddle along in a canoe when it actually gets warm enough for outdoor swimming. I can even bike some with them, I just get out my mountain bike and work on spinning when we ride together, even though they do think it is strange when we are riding together and dad is spinning like a madman but barely moving (got to love MTB gearing). Little things like that go a long way in making the wife happy also (which is key).

My wife is a marathoner, so I run with her in the early morning three times weekly; attend masters swim twice weekly also in morning. At work at 7 am; work ten hours (blue collar work by the way!) a day four days a week; and ride in the evening. I live less than three miles from work and there is a bike track between home and work that I can ride on. Talk about having it made. Come to think of it, why am I not a better triathlete? Something to think about on the next long ride.

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Once, I was fast. But I got over it.

hey tom,

if you were at Northwest, you might likely be furloughed. and you wouldn't be a 747 capt. until probably a couple years before retirement. getting your shop was probably the right move....

Greg, B-747-400 FO, Polar Air Cargo

In reading this thread I think its impressive how many interesting people there are on this forum. That's why I enjoy it so much.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

As many people have already indicated there are two crucial items required to fit in enough training.

1. You must love (or at least tolerate) early mornings. Nobody in my household complains about the workout time I spend between 5:00 and 7:00am while they're still asleep. In the good weather (it is -8 C and snowing here today) I'm up at dawn for a 4-5 hour ride followed by 1 hour run on Saturday and a 1-2 hour run followed by 2 - 2.5 hour run on Sunday then spread the others around during the week.

2. Your significant other must be a saint. My wife knows that I'm gonzo on Saturday and Sunday mornings and she is fine with that since it gives her quality time with our children and I'm back before noon.

It's gotta be tough to be a tri-geek if you have small children and/or your wife isn't into tris herself. Again, it becomes a matter of balancing training with everything else, which must be difficult. In that respect I'm glad that I got into tri later in life with my daughter college age and my son in high school and that my (2nd) wife is into triathlon.

Kudos to you folks who get up early and train while the rest of the world is sleeping. I could never have done that. Definately not a morning person.

In reading this thread I think its impressive how many interesting people there are on this forum. That's why I enjoy it so much.

Actually Tom, judging by your website, you're one of the most interesting folks hanging out here. Next time in your area(haven't been down that way for awhile) I'll have to swing by your shop to say hello and introduce myself