Run or bike to the pool or work. Work out at lunch. Quit wasting time elsewhere

If it’s a priority, then make the time.

If your day gets less predictable as the day goes on, then workout first thing after waking up. That way something else suffers if you get called in to work.

Surely you can find 1 hr per day during the week and then two longer days in the weekend that gets you to just shy of 10 hrs / wk right there. Not enough for IM, but could get you through HIM or less.

Almost identical lifestyle to what I had / have sometimes still. This will take some time but what worked best for me was to carve out and establish a certain time in the evening (i.e., 5pm) as my "standard" gym time. Eventually everyone knew that if they needed me at or around that time, I was probably at the gym so they'd shoot me an email to catch up. Not sure how it is for you but I'd say 90-95% of the time, if someone needed me, it could either be handled via email or wait an hour or two until I was done with my workout. And if they had to talk ASAP, I could be showered and back at my desk within 15 minutes (my gym's in my building thankfully). You've been at your job for 9 mo's so assume you've proven your competence by now. You just have to make sure to demonstrate the workouts don't negatively affect your work quality, and rather more often than not, helps because it gives you that mental break and re-energizes you.

Morning workouts I started incorporating when I started to have a little more control over certain days or had more consistent patterns. So when I started working less Sunday evenings, I would make sure to hit Monday mornings. Or if I knew I was missing an evening workout on some day, I'd try to crank through my work and get home at a reasonable hour to hit the next morning. Or if I had less time sensitive work in the evening, I'd go home earlier and hit the morning workout and be at the desk earlier than I normally am to finish up the work.

Out of curiosity - what do you do for living?

Thanks for the awesome responses. I agree, carving out time in the later evening hours might work on days to get in a double workout.
Generally being available by email will probably be fine for an hour or so...

At least for this period of my life, I think I am going to try to focus on HIM distance, I agree that full IM may be tough—but I guess will see.

To OP who asked what line of work, I’m an attorney working at larger law firm in the corporate department.

I am an attorney who works a lot of hours and have been able to manage. You didn't really give very much information - What is your home life/family situation? What other responsibilities do you have? How far do you live from the office? Do your senior partners realize that a fit lawyer is a better lawyer? It is VERY doable (I think I am proof). Like most things it really isn't that complicated, but that doesn't mean it is easy. Every time I think I am too busy (or too important, or too anything) I seem to see someone busier than me/more important than me/more challenged than me and they seem to get it done. If you want to race IM there is no question you can do it . . . it is just all about choices.

Best wishes to you. Make sure you are building the life you really want. We only get one chance at today . . .

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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.

Really appreciate the above response, definitely true!

I have a 50 min train commute into the office (about 12 miles). Riding in is possible (though may be harder in the winter). Running is also possible.

I am married but don’t have kids yet so don’t have a ton of family commitments (though my wife may disagree).

I absolutely agree that there are enough total hours in the week to get training and working in. What I have been stuggling with the most I think is the sleep and recovery aspect. I find that after going more than 3 days with less than 6 hours of sleep I really start to drag.

Overalll I agree with the suck it up vibe, your right, a lot of people do it.

I know exactly what you're going through. When I signed up for an ironman, I was working 20 minutes from my house and had pretty easy / predictable hours. lost my job in January but got a new one in March. My new job is about a 2 hour commute from home. the hours are predictable at this point and not bad. I generally work from about 8:30-5:15, eat lunch at my desk.

two days a week I get to the pool at 5:30 when it opens and am in the water by 5:35-5:40 and swim until about 6:45. then I shower, change and drive to the train.
two days a week, I use the trainer at my house. up at 4:45, work out, shower, then drive to the train. Those are the days I pack a backpack of running gear and run at the gym across from my office after work is over.

I'm getting the work in but now I'm 11 days out from Ironman Mont Tremblant and I'm exhausted. during the week, I cant sleep 6 hours. I get home at either 7:15 or 8:30, depending if I run. at that time, I have dinner with the family, read a book to one kid, spend time with the other, tire out the puppy, and hopefully find 30 minutes to catch up with my wife. then its either pack swim or run gear, and start over again. then on the weekends, kids have activities and we like to do things as a family so i have to get any training in early. it all came to a head last weekend, my last large bike workout before the taper and i wasn't feeling well and just couldn't spin the wheels. i went to bed that night and slept it off and got back on the horse on sunday but I'm 48, not 28. i need more sleep!!

no way in hell am I doing another ironman after this. its too much. not just on my body but its hard on the family too. I barely have any time to do anything around the house, it all falls on my wife. and she's been a good sport about it this year. working from home is frowned upon in our group. firm has a flexible policy, but ironically I work in compliance and we don't comply with that rule! maybe there were people abusing it? don't know. I've done it a few times but wish I could more. next season, will be local sprints or Olympics, maybe, if the work from home aspect changes a bit, i'll do a half. i was showing up late to my son's little league games, often running laps / intervals around the outfield for a while.

so you're not alone. do your best to get it in, but make sure you don't undermine your job.

The most effective thing I've done is to find ways to combine the commute with training. I'll often do a run commute on the way home. It's not that much longer time wise to run than the train for me. If it's too long distance wise, look at taking the train part of the way home, then get off early and begin the run.

It sounds like your company has a resourcing issue, if you are working such crazy hours? I worked for an investment bank and was being pressured to work long hours, I just refused, diplomatically. It went down like a lead balloon and they tried to fire me, but couldn't. You need to be careful you don't end up sick, physically and/or mentally. I wonder what would happen if you did have kids? There is no way you'd be able to keep that up with kids.

Is the job good money?

If so, you have to optimize your time. Pay for lawncare, cleaning services, pay for laundry, etc.....

Then, do what people said. Figure out how to commute to/from work for workouts. You may have to ride with a pack of your clothes and change, but you can ride slow into work and then do something hard on the way home.

Also, as time availability goes down........intensity must go up.

I'd recommend the books "Time Crunched Cyclist" and "Time Crunched Triathlete".

I know the cycling book has commuter plans, and all plans and ideas are centered around people who don't have ideal lives for endurance athletic training.

Interesting question. Don't you have to factor in the hours he's working? My mates on $200k a year, but works mad hours, 12 hour days, lots of weekend work, he did a 17 hour day once. You factor in his hours per week, his hourly rate is probably on a par with a road sweeper. Maybe I have the wrong work ethic or wrong attitude, but unless my company is struggling financially I'm not working for free.

Which bank? I work in that business as well, and my hours have been pretty good. but I'm still new and from what i gather, the longer you're here the more projects get dumped on you. I'm not looking forward to that. also I'm in compliance, not the front office or anything like that so our work isn't as intense, until there's some sort of regulatory scrutiny, again.

I suppose it depends on how you look at it and what your priorities are when saying something like that. I'm the plant manager with 230 people working for me. My typical week day starts at 6 and ends at 5:30, but not really, since my phone routinely rings 2 or 3 times a night. Weekends I'm in most of the time for a few hours to all day. I make more a year than your "mates" but that comes with the job, and I've worked hard to get here with no regrets.

To the OP, I decided long ago that the stress of the job was high enough to not need to stress over how I was going to get my workout in after work. I now decide what I'm going to do as I'm walking out the door, and if that means nothing tonight I don't worry about it. At the same time I decided that triathlon was now for fun and keeping in shape and results were not important. Some day when I retire with a million dollar house paid off and a big nest egg I may go back to scheduled planned training with goals, but for now it is just for fun.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

That's kind of what I was getting at.

Especially to "tolerate" a job for years before trying to move on.

If the money is great, you can afford to win back time by paying for services you'd normally do yourself. Especially if you can pay for them at a lower rate than the pay you're in theory receiving during that time you spend at work instead.

If you love the actual work, but it's just longer hours, in theory your time could balance out if you enjoy your job more than mowing grass, doing laundry, and cleaning up your house or apartment after yourself.

If a person hates their job though, that's totally nonsensical.

Persia1921:


David summed up what everyone should challenge themselves with early on in their careers.


While trying to make that choice consider adopting some of the items below in using secrets of Managing Time to Maximize Fitness:

• Maximize simplicity.
• Minimize after-hours phone apping, checking, e-mail responding, snap chatting, friend texting, customers needing and bosses wanting activities that suck up time.
• Create value in every workout for race results. Deliver at work. Love at home. Make every mile count. Redeem value on race and paydays.
• Choose coaches, spouses, and bosses that coach. Avoid those who write workouts and read your output measurements like box scores. You pay coaches to save your time with their work(out and race) knowledge.
• Be an early morning person. That’s when races and workdays start. Wake up to train early. Be race and work ready. Always be on at home and work.
• Multitask. Combine commitments with workouts. Swim at a pool on your commute route. Bike to the office. Brick a run workout after ride. Podcast on runs of books, blogs, and boggie music.
• Socialize. Train with sigos. Workout with co-workers. Hook up with athletes to get faster. Specialize for bonus points: Swim with swimmers, bike with cyclists, and run with track stars. Race against triathletes. Support your sigos and co-workers.
• Reserve time with family and SIGO after 5pm. Listen. Learn. Laugh.
• Communication is to lasting relationships as location is to real estate. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. Discuss schedules, time commitments, and actionable responsibilities.
• Constantly and consistently schedule relationships, rest, and races in advance.
• Flexibility applies to time as much as it does to muscles and bodies. Bend appropriately with family wants, workouts, work, and travels. Jump on last minute special opportunities especially relationships and races.

https://www.palmtreesahead.com/feed
https://www.palmtreesahead.com/tri-50-states

If your kids are young enough to be read to, then you are keeping them up too late . . . you are then not the only one not getting enough sleep. Sounds like you should consider a life change.

Interesting in this thread folks make it sound like life is imposed on them . . . it's not, it's a choice. Simple as that. Your little paragraph is filled with choices - you have to decide. No one else can do it for you. Of course triathlon is part of that choice, and it may not be for everyone. I have a friend who walks 30 minutes every day, is in fine shape, and has time to deploy that I spend swimming, biking, and running - he is probably wiser than me. Just realize that this is all the choices that you stack on top of each other. I'm getting to the age where I look back and people really regret the choices that directed their lives. I'm looking back, and forward, and loving it. Of course some of it is mindset, but largely it is you controlling life not life controlling you. You and I make a gazillion of little choices that all add up. Quick example - I love puppies too, but quickly realized that it is a choice with consequences. The puppy didn't fit. For you, according to what you said, a result is that the puppy is taking away from your sleep. That is a choice you made. Not a right or wrong, but a choice and all choices have results > I may be missing that innocent love and attention.

Lastly, your sleep is an important part of your health. Don't sacrifice it. Figure out a way to get it, or rearrange your life to get it, or if IM doesn't fit in the choice priority list take it off. Just don't miss your son's games!!

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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.

lots there David. so to be clear, i should have said, "read with", not read to. my son is entering 3rd grade and has struggled with reading and we spend extra time with him doing that. he likes to show me what he learned. he goes to bed at 8:30/9:00. which is plenty of sleep since he doesn't get up until at least 7:00am. the puppy is an integral part of the family, we all love what he brings to the house, other than that he can be a handful at times. he's getting better with age and at 16 months, progress! i started taking him running with me too. will do that more in the fall when it isn't as hot out. but its not that he takes away sleep, he takes time that we all love to spend with him, together. my wife is home working and has to keep an eye on him and take a few minutes here and there to occupy him.

unfortunately, where i live (CT), jobs have dried up, so i have a shitty commute to New York now. but we have a lot of family near by and we like being close to them. unfortunately the cost of living and cost of things we like (including triathlon) require i have a full time job that pays reasonably well. I'd love to have the flexibility to work from home 2 days a week, that would help. the job change happened mid season. so going forward, factoring in all of the things that life brings, IM doesn't fit the equation. i do believe that as the person who bears the brunt of supporting the family and all that goes with it, that i should have some time to myself. that's my hobby, triathlon. but i just wont have the time for a full going forward because i want to be a more available husband and father.

i can do 2-3 days on 5:45-6:00 sleep, but no more. that's why racing will be different next year.

baseball.... well games started at 5:00, best i could do without leaving work early is get there at 6:30, only catch the last bit of games.

I've done jobs with long hours and struggled to fit in regular and sufficient training. I've seen all the comments about making time and commuting to work by bike, or running at lunchtime, or getting up early..... none of those ever made much sense to me.
There is a finite amount of time available, there are things you must do, should do, and want to do. There is no magical solution.

The comments that say any time not spent working, sleeping, eating or training are wasted time, or something to tat effect are absurd IMO. Mental health requires downtime. Obsession with being busy and filling your time is probably about as healthy as sitting on the couch eating fast food all day!

Commuting to work by bike MAY be useful and a time saver depending on your circumstances.
Getting your training done before work means either going to work later, going to bed earlier to get up earlier, or sleeping less. Take your pick but no time is saved or created!
Going training during your lunch break likewise means no down time and cramming your lunch in. That's assuming you have a long enough lunchtime. Perhaps your better served taking a shorter but less busy lunchbreak and going home that much earlier, if that's an option.

None of these have ever worked for me, except for taking shorter lunchtimes on occasion to get out of the office a little earlier.

What not to do: Make strictly defined training schedules that will invariably not work and leave you annoyed and disillusioned. Do not become a boring work and training machine with no social or family life.....unless that's actually what you want.

What to do: Set reasonable expectations given the constraints. Be flexible, and take the opportunities as they come. If you can't fit something in, accept it and tweak your next sessions and expectations to take that into account.

I think this has to be part of your answer. you can extend the ride in or shorten the run is as suggested. Get organised with bringing work clothes in on a Monday and out on a Friday. Using your commute time to train will eliminate the otherwise dead commute time. It wont be perfect on the bike (hitting the right zones for the right duration etc) but it will be a lot better than multiple missed workouts

Personally, if I was in your situation, I'd be focusing on sprints and maybe olympic distance. Spend a few years focusing on getting fast. Get to the point where you can drop a really fast 5K run or 20K bike split. In a few years, if you have more time, then stretch out to HIM or IM.

I'm gonna say it before anyone else -

I'm totally sure you have lots of requierd home/life commitments outside of work, but prepare for that to get (potentially many times) worse if you pop out a kid in the future - then you will really see what a work-family time crunch is!

I can't offer much more than

- Prioritize sleep, and get to bed early
- Maximize training opportunities. For me, this meant setting up treadmill, Kickr, and Vasa (key!) equipment in my garage.
- Spend money to save time if you can. I maintain a YMCA membership solely for lunchtime SBR workouts of 30-45 mins that become surprisingly key quality sessions more than I would anticipate.
- And most importantly, LISTEN to your mind and body. Remember that if your job is super stressful, your training WILL be impacted and you should adjust or suffer the consequences.

I don't have kids but do have a full time job. Here are a few things that have helped me train for my third Ironman coming up soon. Both my husband and I do these races together and he also works full time.

1) Hire a good coach who will provide you training that fits into your work and family life. I can't emphasize enough how important this is. I find it's worth every penny. There's no way I could do Ironmans without my coach.

2) Working from home has made a huge difference for me the last year and a half. I know this is not feasible being an attorney. But what about working from home one day a week? I used to do that with previous office jobs and even that one day a week home saved me a lot of time. I even got more work done in my quiet home office. My coach would give me a longer brick workout on the day I didn't have to commute to work.

3) Hiring a house cleaner and someone to mow our lawn has been hugely helpful for both my husband and myself. After the long weekend workouts, who feels like mowing the lawn or cleaning a toilet? Recovery is more important and a better use of time during the 2-3 months leading up to a big race. Give yourself the opportunity to chill out, watch Netflix, read a book, or take a nap after that 5 hour bike ride. Downtime is important. Being "busy" is counter-productive.

4) Make sure you have an off-season to give yourself a break both physically and mentally. Do different things like mountain bike, trail run, hike a mountain, etc to keep your life fresh. And when you are in peak training, know that the big weeks are only temporary and you'll get through them. It all must be sustainable. You can't be full-on the entire year or you'll experience burn-out.

5) My final advice for you specifically is to focus on HIMs (or smaller distances) while you are working over 40 hours. Then focus on the full Ironman when you have better working hours. Luckily you can look forward to a less demanding job eventually. You can do Ironmans well into you 60s or even 70s so there's no rush. Heck, I didn't start until my late 40s and see myself doing this for a long time.

Best wishes! Lots of good advice on this thread!

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

I'm Australian, but worked for ANZ and Barclays Wealth in London. There seemed to be a culture over there of trying to outdo one another over the amount of hours you worked. People coming in extra early and leaving extra late. I contracted for 10 years so was paid for every hour I worked hence when I went permanent I was very reluctant to work for free especially for an investment bank. We only get one shot at this, I want to get to 50 having lived a full life, not having spent half of it in an office :) No problems with people who love their job or happy to do the hours just not my gig.