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Weekday Warrior Schedule
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Curious if anyone has had experience doing all (or a majority) of their workouts during the week while working full-time? Likely next year I will have my second kid and doubt there will be much time for exercising on the weekends (maybe one or two short sessions). Thankfully, I mostly work from home and my schedule is flexible, so much so that it has happened (on occasion...) that during meetings I'm exercising. I have an extensive home gym and can do everything but swim.

Here's the question, if I'm focused on the Olympic distance (possibly a Half), what's a recommended way to space out the workouts? I was thinking two-a-days. Note that I also have every other Friday off, so I can make that a three workout day.

A bit more about me: 37M, doing tris for a decade, and mid to high AG looking to place in local races. While I'm slightly stronger on the bike, swim and run aren't far off either. TIA!

Today I do what others won't, so tomorrow I can do what others can't.
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [WatchJoeTri] [ In reply to ]
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Can you ride your bike on a trainer for a few hours each Saturday and Sunday?

You can do that and not make the day all about you, problem solved.

M Swim
T Bike intervals/run
W Swim, Run Long
T Bike intervals/run
F Swim
S Bike
S Bike

Add in more short runs when time is available
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [jaretj] [ In reply to ]
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I work from home so I have the luxury of lunch time workouts, but if I didn't my schedule would be alternate bike/run every other night and swim every morning. Maybe take Sundays off if you want an off day.
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [jaretj] [ In reply to ]
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Sadly I cannot be on my trainer for long if at all on the weekends, it's very sad. Maybe I'll throw in more short runs throughout the week though.

Today I do what others won't, so tomorrow I can do what others can't.
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [WatchJoeTri] [ In reply to ]
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No experience doing this, but you could try a 5:2 high load : recovery schedule like that Olympic speed skater did. I'd still probably try to have M/W/F be your higher intensity/load days so you have some undulation within the week, but you could see how you handle something like M/W/Th/F all high load once you see how it's going with M/W/F. The two days essentially off after might allow you to handle the three hard days in a row. You could also have Tu/Th be swims so that you only have high leg load M/W/F.
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [WatchJoeTri] [ In reply to ]
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WatchJoeTri wrote:
Curious if anyone has had experience doing all (or a majority) of their workouts during the week while working full-time? Likely next year I will have my second kid and doubt there will be much time for exercising on the weekends (maybe one or two short sessions). Thankfully, I mostly work from home and my schedule is flexible, so much so that it has happened (on occasion...) that during meetings I'm exercising. I have an extensive home gym and can do everything but swim.

Here's the question, if I'm focused on the Olympic distance (possibly a Half), what's a recommended way to space out the workouts? I was thinking two-a-days. Note that I also have every other Friday off, so I can make that a three workout day.

A bit more about me: 37M, doing tris for a decade, and mid to high AG looking to place in local races. While I'm slightly stronger on the bike, swim and run aren't far off either. TIA!

I recommended keeping your threshold workouts to perhaps one hard bike a week and one hard short run.

I did three a days a few days a week for a while. My fasted blood sugar kept coming in slightly out of range. Turns out my cortisol was high because I was never recovering and it was triggering a pre-dawn insulin response. I was overtraining and physical markers indicated it.

I'd be very careful with two a days and cramming more training in fewer days. You might have to back off to an extent or do lots of Z2.
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [WatchJoeTri] [ In reply to ]
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WatchJoeTri wrote:
Sadly I cannot be on my trainer for long if at all on the weekends, it's very sad. Maybe I'll throw in more short runs throughout the week though.

You can't ride for 60 to 90 min on Sat and/or Sunday?
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [jaretj] [ In reply to ]
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If I can it would be rare and I can't count on it happening. In addition to kids I'm working on my PhD and renovating areas of my house. That and trying to have play dates for my kid takes up more time that I'd prefer. Currently I'm training for a half in July and getting in sessions has not been easy, and that's just with one kid.

Today I do what others won't, so tomorrow I can do what others can't.
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [WatchJoeTri] [ In reply to ]
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WatchJoeTri wrote:
If I can it would be rare and I can't count on it happening. In addition to kids I'm working on my PhD and renovating areas of my house. That and trying to have play dates for my kid takes up more time that I'd prefer. Currently I'm training for a half in July and getting in sessions has not been easy, and that's just with one kid.

So, kids, PhD, renovating house and triathlon.

Seriously, and I'm not trying to be disrespectful, maybe you need to evaluate your priorities. There aren't enough hours in the day to do everything you want.

Compared to the other things you listed, Triathlon is the lowest priority and is going to be nothing more than a hobby that you train for a few hours a week.

I would just stuff 7-9 workouts in 5 days when I can and keep my expectations low.
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [jwmott] [ In reply to ]
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I like this idea. Currently I am doing a hard run Tuesdays and hard bike Wednesday, with my long bike on Friday and long Run Sunday. But I like the idea of going hard MWF and potentially Th if I can swing it.

Today I do what others won't, so tomorrow I can do what others can't.
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [jaretj] [ In reply to ]
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It's funny cause after kids triathlon is a pretty high priority. However I'm not disillusioned in thinking I'll be in top form with everything else going on. But I want my cake and eat it too, so I'll do what I can!

Today I do what others won't, so tomorrow I can do what others can't.
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [WatchJoeTri] [ In reply to ]
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I found there is a big difference between having just one kid and then having two. I think with just one it's easier to share the childcare and both partners can keep up their individual pursuits. That just becomes much harder with two who have different needs with the age gap. Having said that being able to work from home and train is a huge advantage. No reason you can't achieve what you want, you might just have to compromise on recovery/sleep every now and again.

I'd do longer zone 2/3 stuff during the week, maybe a bike threshold session. Weekend I'd do two very short and hard back to back sessions. You can get a good workout done in 30-45mins on the bike or run, get up early and have it done before everyone else is up and about. Then every other Friday you have off I'd do a long bike/run brick to prep for the half.
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [WatchJoeTri] [ In reply to ]
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Have you considered using a 14 day training cycle verses a 7 day training cycle and spreading your planned workouts over this longer period of time? I am now retired, but with grandkids and traveling to see them on weekends, thatā€™s how I stay in shape.
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [WatchJoeTri] [ In reply to ]
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The killer here is the new 2nd kid - not because they kill your weekend schedule per se, but because they tire you out with the sleep inconsistencies throughtout the entire week, so you can't even workout properly if you have time available since you're so tired.

If however you're lucky enough to have a very manageable 2nd kid that does sleep through the night most of the time, and doesn't run you ragged the rest of the time:

There's nothing holy about long Sat and long Sun bike-run. In fact, it's better to be consistently training well M-F and going easy Sa-Su than doing what a surprising number of people do, which is be really inconsistent and barely train M-F, and then try to make up for all of it on Sa-Su with unreasonably long bike or runs for their fitness.

You would have to likely do doubles M-F to keep the volume for HIM adequate though. 60 minute lunch and 30 minute 2nd workout, but preferably longer than 30 mins when you can make it work. And then shoot for 30 mins on Sat and Sun, more if possible.

For HIM, this still isn't optimal volume to do really well, but if you dialed back to Oly distance you could still be performing near your best with this schedule. Might want to seriously consider that with a new 2nd kid (most people won't even be thinking about racing, let alone training with a new 0-1 yr old. I still trained but it was super hard and I only ran a few 5ks that year)
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [WatchJoeTri] [ In reply to ]
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WatchJoeTri wrote:
I like this idea. Currently I am doing a hard run Tuesdays and hard bike Wednesday, with my long bike on Friday and long Run Sunday. But I like the idea of going hard MWF and potentially Th if I can swing it.

So 4 hard workouts in 5 days with potentially 8 workouts (2/day) in 5 days.

That would put you in a state of overtraining. Do you have a Garmin with recovery times based of perceived rate of exertion (HR)? If so, listen to it. You just can't go to the level you're pushing in such a short time frame and recover in time.

It will result in injury eventually and feeling like shit overall. Not to mention sleep quality and duration will be important for you to get all the training done M-F.
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [WatchJoeTri] [ In reply to ]
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WatchJoeTri wrote:
It's funny cause after kids triathlon is a pretty high priority. However I'm not disillusioned in thinking I'll be in top form with everything else going on. But I want my cake and eat it too, so I'll do what I can!

That's a good healthy attitude towards your training and life.

I had my son when I was 21 (single dad from when he was 3) I was very hasty and selfish then. Sometimes I envy people that had kids in their late 30's because they are so much wiser and understand that kids need much more attention than I gave. While my son turned out great (he's a high school band teacher now) I still wonder how much better he could have been if I would have been less selfish and gave him even more attention.

Because of that I always recommend spending as much time with kids as possible sometimes forgoing hobbies for 10 years until they are more independent.
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [WatchJoeTri] [ In reply to ]
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Iā€™ll echo what others said about baby 2 making things harder. Managed to ā€œraceā€ professional got a season with one kid. Wife and family weā€™d a huge help but no way thatā€™s as easy with 2 and working and being a good husband in my opinion. I shouldnā€™t say canā€™t be done but canā€™t be done without adjusting expectations.

You for sure can do it but your results wonā€™t be what they were and if youā€™re ok with that itā€™ll be easier. Nothing to add to others about scheduling but big thing is to reflect on what your expectations are when you race vs what you can actually do in training.

When second kid came I switched to running only. Way easier. Iā€™d take older kid on runs to make it easier on wife when baby was little and now Iā€™ll take them both out to give my wife a total break. Now theyā€™re 5 and 2 and things are starting to get easier with leaving for a few hours to train.

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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [WatchJoeTri] [ In reply to ]
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I HIGHLY suggest that you a) wait until the kid is here then b) have a frank conversation with your significant other before you start asking for internet training advice.

1+1 does NOT equal 2 in this situation. Even if your second child is ā€˜easyā€™, raising 2 children is far more work. Constantly putting them on their other parent can quickly lead to burnout, resentment, etc. Especially if itā€™s the mother and sheā€™s dealing with all the mental and physical changes that come post birth.

It is not impossible. I have a 11m/o and a 4y/o and am still able to get in 12ish hours a week. However the huge difference from kiddo 1 was that I have to be much more thoughtful on when I work out, open to cutting stuff short and being physically/mentally able to go straight from long workouts to parenting, eg no naps/post workout recovery.

Finally, make sure you think long and hard about your priorities. Maybe tri is up there, maybe it isnā€™t. But as someone else said, there are only so many hours in the day. Make sure you arenā€™t focused on the wrong places when divvying up those hours.
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [Sub17Project] [ In reply to ]
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Sub17Project wrote:
WatchJoeTri wrote:
I like this idea. Currently I am doing a hard run Tuesdays and hard bike Wednesday, with my long bike on Friday and long Run Sunday. But I like the idea of going hard MWF and potentially Th if I can swing it.


So 4 hard workouts in 5 days with potentially 8 workouts (2/day) in 5 days.

That would put you in a state of overtraining. Do you have a Garmin with recovery times based of perceived rate of exertion (HR)? If so, listen to it. You just can't go to the level you're pushing in such a short time frame and recover in time.

It will result in injury eventually and feeling like shit overall. Not to mention sleep quality and duration will be important for you to get all the training done M-F.


He'll have to modulate his 'hard' so it's manageable. Might be 'moderate-hard' of even just 'moderate' if the there's enough training load accumulated by the 5th day. He should be fine unless he's blindly sticking to some plan and forces the issue even if he's tired.

I'm on a slighty modified plan from the Advanced 80/20 book and I routinely do 4 hard workouts in 5 days, but I wouldn't be surprised if some people call my hard days 'not-so-hard', and those 4 workouts are also mixed up S-B-R so nothing gets overtaxed. Definitely no 4 hard runs in 5 days - that's def a bad idea!
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [Sub17Project] [ In reply to ]
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I implement the "hard" Tuesday run day + "hard" wed bike day and Sat is long run day + bike as a mix of skills and/or fun + Sunday bike day (that's the "standard" formula I write out plans as and then fill in the rest with aerobic work; hard swims I add Wed or Thur usually). Traditionally monday and Fridays are "recovery" days with swim focus and/or "off" day. Obviously it's specific to what the athlete can do. If you tell me weekends aren't free, a) we'll have a conversation on "expectations" (OP said he's Olympic focused so this can make better sense) b) modify to get "longer" days on weekdays, but again if you are balancing family + workday, your "long" day is likely not the traditional "long" workout expectation, etc. C) so again it goes back to setting up the proper expectations/goals/communication

I have an current athlete who's had his work modifiedd from full time, so now he can go "long bike" mid week, etc. I've found the biggest success is taking what the athlete can do schedule wise and then applying things. If 1 workout a day is all you can do, that's what it'll be. Weekend warriors is a mix of trying to get the most out of yourself, but also respecting your life (IE- your significant other, your family, work requirements).

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II
Last edited by: B_Doughtie: Mar 18, 23 6:13
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [jaretj] [ In reply to ]
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jaretj wrote:
WatchJoeTri wrote:
It's funny cause after kids triathlon is a pretty high priority. However I'm not disillusioned in thinking I'll be in top form with everything else going on. But I want my cake and eat it too, so I'll do what I can!

That's a good healthy attitude towards your training and life.

I had my son when I was 21 (single dad from when he was 3) I was very hasty and selfish then. Sometimes I envy people that had kids in their late 30's because they are so much wiser and understand that kids need much more attention than I gave. While my son turned out great (he's a high school band teacher now) I still wonder how much better he could have been if I would have been less selfish and gave him even more attention.

Because of that I always recommend spending as much time with kids as possible sometimes forgoing hobbies for 10 years until they are more independent.

Of course every situation is different but I suspect you son wouldnā€™t have been greatly different even if you had been there more. Iā€™m not condoning being an absentee dad at all- Iā€™m super involved with my kid but Iā€™ve also been humbled with how strongly their natural tendencies dominate over what i ā€˜teachā€™ . And Iā€™ve exposed and taught my kid to a lot.

My dad was pretty much near completely absentee in my life and I actually still hold him in higher regard than my mother who was a super high pressure cooker and domineering with all its bad memories. I still turned out fine, which actually amazes me in retrospect.

The big miss is the ups and downs of parenting if youā€™re not there. Itā€™s not all good but itā€™s all very special and a life changing experience.
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [WatchJoeTri] [ In reply to ]
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Monday swim run
Tuesday swim hard bike
Wednesday easy bike
Thursday swim easy run
Friday Hard bike and run
Saturday recover
Sunday recover
Last edited by: MrTri123: Mar 18, 23 8:40
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [WatchJoeTri] [ In reply to ]
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So totally in the same boat as you here my friend, have been trying to maximize family time and training while working full time, and itā€™s interesting. I generally work 7:30-3:30 at home. Only have one kid currently 1.5 yo)

So here is my winter schedule:
Mon: AM - group swim; PM - Long ride (after baby goes to bed)
Tues: lunch: tempo run; PM: swim
Wed: Lunch - run; PM - run
Thurs: PM - Tempo ride
Fri: AM - group swim; PM - ride
Sat: off
Sunday: long run

I often swap the Thursday and sat. Interesting to see how this works in the summer as the long ride wonā€™t work well on Monday.

Bryce MK Hudson
https://instagram.com/bmkh.sports.photo
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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Thankfully I have been in the sport long enough to know to always listen to my body and not blindly follow any plan, however I do have a Garmin 945 and have found it to provide good advice as far as needed recovery time. After reading everyone's posts, I would say it is likely I could get in a 30-45 min hard workout at some point during the weekend, but it would have to be the type of workout that is icing on the top and my week won't be ruined if I happened to miss it. Furthermore, I should clarify I don't think I'll ever be able to be competitive at the Half distance (maybe the Olympic) and would likely stick with Sprints and Olympics and just consider myself lucky to be a father without too big of a gut :), at least for the first several years.

With that said, the following would likely be how I distribute my workouts:

M: Easy Run AM / Interval Bike PM
T: Easy Swim AM / Long Run PM
W: Weights AM / Easy Bike PM
Th: Int. Swim AM / Easy Run PM
F: Easy Swim AM / Long Bike PM (maybe include a short Run afterwards)
S: Rest
Su: Interval Bike or Run (likely AM) / Easy Weights (if possible)

Appreciate all the feedback!

Today I do what others won't, so tomorrow I can do what others can't.
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Re: Weekday Warrior Schedule [WatchJoeTri] [ In reply to ]
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WatchJoeTri wrote:
Thankfully I have been in the sport long enough to know to always listen to my body and not blindly follow any plan, however I do have a Garmin 945 and have found it to provide good advice as far as needed recovery time. After reading everyone's posts, I would say it is likely I could get in a 30-45 min hard workout at some point during the weekend, but it would have to be the type of workout that is icing on the top and my week won't be ruined if I happened to miss it. Furthermore, I should clarify I don't think I'll ever be able to be competitive at the Half distance (maybe the Olympic) and would likely stick with Sprints and Olympics and just consider myself lucky to be a father without too big of a gut :), at least for the first several years.

With that said, the following would likely be how I distribute my workouts:

M: Easy Run AM / Interval Bike PM
T: Easy Swim AM / Long Run PM
W: Weights AM / Easy Bike PM
Th: Int. Swim AM / Easy Run PM
F: Easy Swim AM / Long Bike PM (maybe include a short Run afterwards)
S: Rest
Su: Interval Bike or Run (likely AM) / Easy Weights (if possible)

Appreciate all the feedback!

I foresee that many PM long / hard sessions aren't going to happen due to family commitments; try to do the harder/longer stuff in the AM, before the kids get up; leave the PM sessions for less important easier/shorter efforts. Ditch one easy swim, and do just two hard swim sessions per week: if you have to drive to the pool, do it for a reason.
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