Partner in a small CPA firm. January through end of May are brutal, lucky to get anything more than a few short workouts in. June through Oct 15th in our practice is still pretty busy but able to get out 10-15 hours per week as needed. Oct 15th through XMAS working basic 40 hour week (maybe), but can carve significant chunks of free time whenever necessary. Not the most forgiving profession when starting out and working for someone else, but once you're either a partner or self-employed, you can decide the appropriate balance between money and lifestyle issues. At this point, it's nice, because as my daughter gets older (6) and gets into sports/activities, I can scale back my time so I don't miss those things or time at home with her and the wife (and training).

I am an interbank money broker , specialising in G8 interst rate forwards.

Used to be ( when I started in the 80's ) VERY lucrative. The parking lot of my first broking firm , looked like a showroom for exotic , imported sports cars.

Then :
Massive expense accounts , full medical , company car ( BMW ) ,paid insurance and gas , detox weeks , free booze and smokes for those who smoked. 25 working days holiday per year. Working day , Mon-Fri. 07.30 - 18.00. Paid holidays with customers ( for yourself ) , etc. etc. Unfortunately sleep was only 3-4 hours per night.

Nowadays:
Still lucrative ,not quite the same perks unfortunately ,but way more cutthtroat and not something you would really want to do when you are married.
I used to be extremely motivated and on the fast-track , now at 40, I take what comes my way and am very laid back. I come to work , have 5 screens of which 1, is dedicated to triathlon. As long as I bring in the numbers everybody stays happy.

Interbank broking requires very good interpersonal skills , a fast numerical mind , preferably a good background in business or economics and lethal street smarts.
I work the same hours 07.30-18.00 and train 12-15 hours weekly , getting up to 18-20 for my IM build. I train every night and deicate half of Saturday and Sunday to my training.

I have customers that are friends . We have essentially known each other for 15 to 18 years. In a lot of ways broking and IM have a lot of similiarities . Just by being in the business , there is a certain understanding and respect.

Many brokers drink excessively and smoke like chimneys . It is definitely not a business meant for 99% of the population.

I am very much an outcast amongst those I work with on a daily basis , although there are 2 other IM in the company , who are friends of mine of course :)

If I was to go back 20 years , I would probably have chosen the same profession ,but would have made some fundamentally different decisions at times.

My boss , greatly admires IM and was very generous when I made it to Kona in '05.

Hope this helps you !

Good luck in whatever you choose, happy training :)

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"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" - Les Brown
"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment" - Jim Rohn

Dad/footbal coach/model/realestate broker/contractor/good deed doer.....

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I shall never misuse Rex Kwon Do
I shall be a champion of freedom and justice

do some post-grad work at a university...every masters student that i know has time to do multiple ironman events each year (15+ hours/week year round).

the money isn't great as a masters, but if you do the PHD it's pretty decent depending on the school, and you've got a pretty low stress life.

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"Anyone can work hard when they want to; Champions do it when they don't."

My wife is a HS math teacher and she works more hours than anyone I know. Nights and weekends. I work at a community college in their IT department and my schedule is flexible and can train before work, lunch time and/or after work. IM training I was able to train 20+ hours a week during peak without affecting job schedule.

Assistant manager in a running specialty store. Everybody thinks it's sounds great and it does have good perks......I get paid to talk about running and get cheap shoes and running gear........but requires long hours on my feet and it is retail.

I work 45-50 hrs per week and for the past year was struggling to get in 18-24 hrs of IM training. It sucked. Total burnout by the end.

I have decided to spend a few months focusing on running and attempting to repair my horrible flexibility.......it's amazing how many miles and yoga you can get in 10-12 hours a week! :-)

G

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It's a little like wrestling a gorilla.........you don't stop when you're tired.........you stop when the gorilla is tired.

Sales!!?? I was talking about SCIENCE, man! You know......be the person who actualy accomplishes something.....and get paid half as much = )

To be fair, my girl friend who is in R & D at GSK said that the odds are not one thing she makes will ever get to the market. If one does, it will take at least 12 years.

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-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485

I was married to a teacher, she had a lot of extra time, not at all like you describe. Of course she didn't do much extra for the job, just was coasting through.
______________________

Actualy, pleanty of teachers get a system down. A lot of it depends on the subject. Phy Ed teachers don't need to bring home a lot of work, however I've never found an English teacher who didn't work long long hours.

It's mainly the paper grading the bogs you down. If you are lucky enough to be allowed to make your own tests you can make large portions multiple choice for quick grading.

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-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485

'Soap, I make and I sell soap, the yardstick of civilization..."

well I don't make the soap anymore, but I do still sell some of it. Mostly now I sell industrial laundry machinery (like to hospitals, hotels, nursing homes, stand alone laundry facilities). I got lucky that a couple of years before I joined up we closed the central office in favor of home offices. Working from home rocks if you have the dicipline to get your stuff done. there are also the road trips (I drive 20K-35K per year) which can be hard.
oh yeah, it is also the family business, so as log as I'm getting everything taken care of I get a lot of 'flex time' in my schedule.

I don't drive a BMW and I buy most of my tri stuff used, but it is a pretty good life.

My wife is a teacher and puts in a ton of hours (middle school) it think that it depends on what kind of teacher you are.

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This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time. - Fight Club
Industry Brat.

The possibility of your research not making to the outside world is, for better or worse, common to most research; otherwise it would be engineering :-) In 24 years of research I can think of only 4 (soon to be 5) inventions that I had a hand in that have had any significant effect, and I consider myself lucky to have had that many.

Professional student. I'm really getting good at it now. 2 years of med school done and now I'm in my 4th year of my PhD. In July it's back to med-school to finish up my last 2 years. The PhD has been very flexible. I can train 12-16 hours per week. Not so sure how flexible my clinical training will be. I'm still aiming for an IM during my 4th year of med-school. Anything is possible

:)

Jodi

You can add me into the pharma sales category. Hard to beat for flexibility. Depending on the territory travel can be very manageable and the pharma industry treats us very well compared to other jobs.

derek

You don't post on cafepharma do you? You sound much too happy ;-)

Another ex phys grad student, as others have said it's pretty flexible, the only problem is that the more I'm out training the less research I'm getting done and the longer I'm on a grad student budget.

lawyer
private practice/civil litigation
no billable hours requirement
just me and my boss and a secy
work about 35-40 hours a week unless there's a trial
boss is happy as long as I'm covering him during hunting season, which is right now.
pretty good gig actually.

I usually get around 10 hours/wk of training in the spring/summer. I'm a father of 3 and a software architect for a large financial company by day. Usually my schedule is flexible in the spring and summer and there are quite a few other active people at my company too. They are very supportive of an active lifestyle and have even paid for some of my races. I usually come to work early and take a 2 or 3 hour lunch to train. As others have mentioned it is all about the company itself so you need to keep looking until you find the right fit. I’m also active as a technical consultant on the side so when business is good training suffers. I’m just coming out of a 8 week stretch averaging well over 80 hrs/wk so training hasn’t been all that great lately. It's time to get it in gear for next season!

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Don't hold back

I work in the film industry, I'm an Assistant Director. Hours are totally unpredictable, and my average work day is 15+ hrs. Sometimes I start early (5 am on Mondays), sometimes late (like 5 pm or later on Fridays) and work all night, which also make for a pretty short weekend. The hours in this job suck for training, plus I spend all day on my feet.
The money is very good, and is contract work so I can pick and choose the projects I work on, but it's really not the ideal job for training. When I work, I can always fit in an hour ride (on the trainer) or run before my 15 hrs day (lunchtime workout is impossible), but my swimming suffers the most, if I'm lucky I get one swim/week on the week end.
Since I'm training for IMAZ, I'm taking the winter off, I'll head back to work early May.

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my support:

Pacific Multisport

My girlfriend is an pediatric nurse. Works 3 days a week, 12-hour shifts. I get jealous about the possibilities of training time available.

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"Yeah you point a finger back far enough and some germ gets blamed for splitting in two."

Colonel Saul Tigh from Battlestar Galactica

Home Improvement Sales here!

Hours can be brutal, but my company and my boss have been REALLY good to me after I started training again. I usually get an afternoon and an evening call so I have all morning to train (should be running right now!)

Money depends on how well I do my job, plus a little luck in the appointments I get. Good month 15k, bad month 3k.

Anyone need windows/kitchen/HVAC/entry doors/siding?

Add me to the list of outside sales reps. I work from my home in the Portland area and cover a 13 state territory. Unfortunatley, this requies me to be on the road a lot. I fly just about every week and spend way too many nights in hotels. It's very hard to eat right when traveling like this (healthy food in airports can be nonexistent) and training facilities (and motivation) can be spotty when you finally arrive in your hotel.

On the other hand, there are good parts: the income is good, and when I'm not on the road I work from a home office and can slip in morning or lunch training and it's pretty easy to stop an hour or two early if I want to get a longer session in the afternoon.

The hardest part about my job is not the lack of training (I can always squeeze something in) but the fact that it requires me to spend quite a few nights away from my young kids (age 4 & 1).

Don't start a triathlon clothing business. It chips into your training hours big time....plus you are talking about triathlon all day.

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Emilio De Soto II
Maker of triathlon clothing, T1 Wetsuits, & Saddle Seat Pads and AXS since 1990
emilio@desotosport.com http://www.desotosport.com

IT industry on the business side (alliances). You have to work with IT people, but other than that it ain't too bad. A bunch of the industry is moving off-shore now, and trend will continue for a while.

Travel is the major limiter in training time, so I restrict it to the minimum. If I am working @ our HQ (normal), there is a gym next door with a pool, and riding (MTB and road) is possible right from the campus as well. My hours vary, but if I need big volume weeks, I get up early (gym opens at 5:30) and get in workouts before work, swimming at lunch is easy to fit in a couple of times a week. For family, I only take one weekday night away from home per week (Tuesday), then I do between 5-9 hours on the weekend... getting up early to get those in. After reading through all the replies, I am realizing I have it pretty good.... actually starting to think I am spoiled.

Commuting to work (not feasible with the traffic patterns here) is a great tool as well if you live somewhere that makes it possible. I wish I could do that safely.

I am a Deputy Sheriff in WI, work Mon-Fri 8-4. I am part of our SWAT team so I stay fit as much as possible. Workouts are 430a-7a then off to work, longer workouts of course on weekends......if the wife and 2 young kids allow it!! No training today we are in the middle of a blizzard!!!! Nice to work in our courthouse on these days! And yes Gov't jobs are CUSHY!

Right now am between gigs, which makes my days unstructured (and paradoxically more difficult to schedule). Current career is private equity, with lots of travel - and about 3 hrs/day of commuting when am home. Manage to train 5-8 hours/week on average during base periods, get up to 10 hrs/wk or so through build, generally doing only one workout per day. Need to increase training volume as I move toward IMLP next year. I expect to be in an unstructured work environment through next autumn, so will see how much control I manage to exert over my life!

By the way, this is a second career - in my first (surgeon), had no free time, except for a daily run at 5 AM. In spite of the logistical challenge of figuring out pools, running routes and gym access in multiple geographies and time zones, my current career is infinitely better for training.

Litigator, 70+ person law firm. I work out approx 60m at 430 or 500 am 3-4 out of 5 weekday mornings, and 2 hrs Sat, and Sunday short (60m) usually if I only got 3 during the week, so basically 7 hrs a week or so.

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http://thechuckblog.blogspot.com