Consultri wrote:
mvenneta, any idea when you'd be able to return to Tri? have you talked to your spouse about it?
Really appreciate all the insight, both from the "keep it consistent" crowd and the "dial it back" crowd. Part of my reason for asking for responses from the pointy end of the 35-45 AG is that I feel there's a trade-off between pursuing my own self-interest of finding out how fast I can go / qualifying for WC and being the responsible parent.
Obviously one take priority, but looking back at my own father, he played golf 3-4x a week, got really good, and even took a year off of work to get his handicap below par (really impressive). I know we all want to "be there" for our kids, but I honestly don't think I missed out on much with my dad and we have a great relationship now. I wonder if pursuing my "selfish hobby" would be inspirational to my son?
Any thoughts on that?
The hard reality though, is that it's sort of a crapshoot as to what your kid will take to, ESPECIALLY in the <10 years where their attention span is really short.
I assumed that my daughter would naturally be interested in all the 'exercise' I do since I do it so regularly and tell her about it whenever she's interested, but she didn't seem to get at all inspired until this year, and it's VERY modest. (She likes running now, as opposed to hating it as when she used to be the slowest girl in her class.)
Also, another hard reality is that your young kid WILL miss you if they're awake/conscious while you are working out. Sure, they'll grow up fine, not be maladjusted, etc. from you not being there, but they WILL miss you, and will complain to you about it - I literally miss a grand total of 2 hours per week from actual family time per week and my daughter will still say "awwww, do you HAVE to go?!"
My tips:
- The most important tip for me: PRIORITIZE SLEEP and RECOVERY. Yes, this will be literally impossible in months 0-6 of your infant. Still, prioritize it, it's that important.
- Next most important tip for me: Short workouts can be legit! 30 minutes at threshold pace or interspersed with VO2max intervals is a legit workout. No, it won't substitute for a long IM bike training session for IM racing, but you'll def pump up your speed and fitness with short but hard 30 minutes. I find that even the wife and kid can tolerate 30 minutes of workouts (closer to 45mins with shower!) and you can squeeze in 30 mins a lot more easily than 60 at odd points during the day.
- AM workouts are probably the only time you will have to yourself for over an hour. That said, I simply don't work out well in the morning, and I'm an early riser! I just can't seem to get the same oomph (not even close) that I do if I do the workout at a normal hour, even if I go to sleep super early. I do the easier longer stuff 1-2x/wk in the early hours, and save the hammerfest short stuff for lunch workouts.
- Lunch workouts and even bike/run commute workouts are great - make 'em count!
- You may have to dial it back from IM/HIM to Oly/sprint "A" races. The good part is that Oly/sprints are just as fun and competitive, and don't think you'll be training less hard just because you do less hours - the less hours means you gotta crank it up! I actually think for AGers, this volume training is MUCH more appropriate than the typical hours needed to perform well at HIM/IM.