Waking up at 5 a.m. is not an option. I need at least 8 good hours of sleep....

AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! ! ! !

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

I'll gladly second the laughter. I haven't had more than 6 hours sleep a night since my daughter was born 2 1/2 years ago. I don't suspect you'll be any different.

Better learn how to sleep at work. It ain't happening at home.

Well, I empathize- I truly do, but...

Eight hours sleep? That is an extraodinary expectation. I get about 5-6 per night. About once a month I get 12 when I take a day off work/training/racing.

As for your kids and wife- I do feel for you. Sometimes I have problems finding enough time to train with two cats at home!

Seriously though, the issues you are pointing out are the primary reason I have made the choices I have made in life. I knew I didn't want to compromise the things I enjoy so much. My Dad did that, and it consumed him. He died addicted and insane and alone after a life squandered.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

OK, seriously. . .

A newborn is going to screw up your schedule for awhile, but it's temporary, and you can work around it in the meantime. First kid?

What you need to try to do is schedule training around your child's sleep. If the baby is awake when you get home, stick around and lend a hand. When he or she dozes off, get your wife comfortable, and squeeze in what training you can. The baby will probably sleep for at least an hour or two at a time.

Congratulations!

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

yeah, here's some advice,....start waking up at 5 am to get your 2 hour work out in. Also, if you have the flexibility, work out at lunch during work. It's the only real options for somebody with a full time job who doesn't want workouts to interfere with their family time. You think the rest of us actually WANT to get up at 5am? The weekends are great...I get to sleep in until 5:30 or 6 before I have to get up to work out.

I have a one-year-old and was faced with this exact dilemna last summer. I'm sorry to hear you say that 5am is not an option, because it may be you only choice. I guess it's possible to split up your 2 hour-ride into one hour from 6am-7am, and one hour on the trainer after the baby goes to sleep, but your wife might not like it. She is probably stressed out right now & the worst thing you can do is make her feel like she's competing with your bike - because she'll start harboring lots of resentment towards it and you.

Or do what I did -- start going to bed earlier or dealing with less than 7 hours of sleep -- make a deal with your wife that the morning is yours to train, and the evening is hers to do what she wants. You have to make a compromise somehow or it'll come back to haunt you.

He sleeps through the night already with the exception of feeding every 3 hours. Since I don't have the boobs I get to sleep. We go to bed around 11:00 and usually get up at 7:00 or 8:00. So na na na na na..... My 5 a.m. comment was to sqush the ultra trainers out there that do two a days everyday, bike to work, lift at lunch etc.....

Then I don't see your problem. You can't give your wife a helping hand for a little while before training in the evening?

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

I decided to start waking up at 5:30 AM so that I can get most of my training done while our son and my wife are both asleep. I have been running some with my son in the jogger, but this only works for runs of less than six miles that end either at the swimming pool or the playground.

Eight hours sleep. Rarely had that since our son arrived.

I'll add my voice to the chorus, early mornings were the only thing that worked for me at this stage. And, as the Mommy myself, I can tell you that your wife DOES need a break.

My son is 10 now and I still workout early mornings, though sometimes we'll watch a movie together while I'm on my Computrainer. But now I can take him (on his bike) out on my long runs on the weekends. That part is really cool!

Oh yeah, if you don't have a Computrainer, get one.

Working out with kids is all about compromise.

WTF? You have a newborn for christ sakes...Your wife is with the kid all day and needs a hand when you get home but you want to go ride and want your beauty rest so you can stay in shape. Go to bed earlier and drag your ass out of bed in the a.m.

I don't mean to berate you but come on man...you're a father...it's not about you anymore.

That may be the first thing you've ever written that I agree with.

Training around when your baby is asleep is the best option. I have a 10 month old and I am NOT a morning person, so I do a lot of training at night. First, get a baby jogger. My daughter goes with me on a lot of my runs. Gives Mom a break and I get a run in. My bike workouts usually don't start until after 9pm. I was doing Spinervals at 10:30 last night. My wife and I have an agreement about weekend workouts. I get up as early as possible to hit the road for my long ride. I'm usually home by 11am and the rest of the day belongs to Mom and baby. The baby will accompany me on a portion of my long run as well in the stroller. Swimming.. I'm lucky that my daughter likes the pool. Also, being an x-swimmer, I usually don't spend too much time training for the swim. We'll go to the pool and my wife will play with the girl while I get my swim in. I'll usually stop and play for a few minutes between sets. Believe it or not, I do this and get 7-8 hours of sleep. Depending on your baby's sleeping schedule, it can be done.

I have a 4 month old at home and am doing lake placid this weekend. I've had no problem getting 6-8 hours of sleep at night. It just means I have to go to bed earlier than normal. Then again, I don't have boobs, so I really have nothing to offer my son when he's hungry. I just kick my wife out of bed when he starts crying ;)

If your child is a newborn, then I would skip the two hour rides for a while. Your wife is exhausted from waking up every three hours and needs the help. Your son or daughter will change a remarkable amount in the next six months. Try to enjoy every second. Do the bare minimum to maintain your conditioning for a couple months and then build back up later.

So you've got some choices:

#1 - Workout at night, never see your son or wife, get divorced within the year, live happliy ever after with your bicycle.

#2 - Decide that it's important to hang out with your fammily in the evenings, continue to sleep 8 hours, don't train like us nutcases and live happily ever after, slow & fat.

#3 - Hike up your bike-skirt and wake up at 5am to train, get fitter & faster, see your family at night, live happily ever after as your wife becomes the envy of her mother-friends since she's got the ultra-fit triathlete husband.

Totally agree. In fact, I'd go overboard with helping your wife and you'll soon be amazed at how nice she is about giving you time. Either way, your training will suffer for awhile- as it should with a newborn.

It's going to get harder before it gets easier, but you have it easy because you get to go to work. Staying home with children is the hardest job in the world. The best advice I could give you is to get home as soon as you can, take the baby away from your wife, and "order" her to go take a break. I sent, and continue to send, my wife off to monthly/weekly massages and facials at an all-women's spa. It's amazing how much more training time I get when I respect how much hard work she puts in to raising our kids. That time of the day, when you get home, is when she really needs a break - leave that time for the baby.

Oh yeah, and the indoor trainer, a good fan, TV, and DVD player will soon be your best friends.

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Jim Manton / ERO Sports

Three things you need: A trainer, a treadmill and a baby jogger. Oh and maybe some TDF or CTS training videos. Its totally doable!

We have an 8 month year old daughter, I cant go to gym in morning because my wife goes to work very early, sometimes I get up early and get on treadmill or trainer, but not often. So on run days I get home from work, put my daughter in the baby jogger and go run for an hour or so, it works out great, she checks out scenery or naps, I run and my wife gets a break from both of us. In the winter I use the treadmill, I just have to find toys/videos to entertain her. On bike days I do the same routine as treadmill. If your going to do a 1hr ride you gotta give yourself 1.5 hrs, cause your going to have to get off the bike occasional and assist/feed baby. But it works out well, my daughter usually laughs at me when im on my bike (everyone does). On weekends I just get up and do long runs or rides at 5am so I am home before noon and could help out. Then once in awhile I try to work something out with my wife so I could do the tues group ride or a monday long swim. Because of the tight schedule I think Ive been getting in better quality and more focused workouts. Run and bike have improved. But next year we will have baby #2, so I think I will have to take a break from Ironman and stick to shorter races, and hopefully I will be able to do more IM's in the future.

Swimming is the difficult part. I cant get to the pool much. So what Ive been doing is going to the pool at lunch and sneeking in 15-25min swims. I do this about 3 or 4 times a week. Then I try to get in one 30-60min swim a week, this time will have to increase as I get closere to IMOO.

You just need to be flexible and get in a workout whenever you can without disturbing the family.

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Kestrel Syndicate
Macca Fan Club

the joke is on you for not wanting to spend quality time with your kid when you get home from work. I can't wait to get home from work, knowing that I've already got my workouts in and I can spend the evening with him.

BTW...how is waking up to feed every 3 hours deemed "sleeping through the night"?

Well said - This is something more people should understand.

Its why I haven't seen 8 hours of sleep in about 7 years and why I drag my sorry butt out of bed between 4:15 and 5:00 every morning. So when I come home from work, I am home to help my wife with OUR kids, not to say: "Honey, I'm home! Hope your day went well, now I'm off for a bike ride, run or swim".

One more choice.

#4 - Get a trainer for your bike and a treadmill for your run. This way you won't need to leave the house to get your workouts in. Yeah, it's not the same as a real-world workout and your fitness level probably won't be the same. But hey, after you have a child, nothing is ever the same. Make sure your priorities are in the right place. Learn to deal with it all or it will drive you insane. Just make sure you have a plan.

Every family is different, but for me a two hour ride during the work week would have been selfish when our kids were little. If you work a typical 8-9 hour day then try to spend 2 more in the saddle you are probably missing out on a lot of family life. Your kids are babies for such a short time. Put them before triathlon. You can train more in later years when they may not want you around anyway.

Practical advice

1. It's usually more practical to try to do two workouts say in the morning and then in the evening then one long one.

2. Get a good bike trainer and use it. Think tour de basement. You can get a quality workout in and be around if the family needs you.

3. Emphasize quality, not quantity in training.

Thanks for all the advice and pointing out that I'm a selfish prick. First of all my son is two weeks old so all he does is eat, sleep and poop. Since my wife Breast feeds I have limited time to "bond" with my son right now. I usually give him one bottle a day before bed. From what I hear a lot of babies think day is night and night is day so the fact that he sleeps all night with the exception of one mid-night feeding to me is considered sleeping all night.... I prefer working out after work since I'm not a morning person but I now understand that mornings workouts are essential to maintaining my shape, marriage and relationship with my son. Once the winter rolls around, I live in Michigan, the use of trainers and treadmills at home will most likely give me more time with him. Thanks for everyone's imput.....