Balancing Training and Family Time

Some SlowTwitch athletes scoff at IM finishers running across the finish line with their spouse and/or kids ... but I've got to tell you that the victory of that moment is in no small part to the sacrifice they too have made.

I am not going to lie to you, longer distance races take time.  I cannot remember the last Saturday morning I spent with my family.  My 28 mo old see a guy in spandex shorts + a bike helmet and yells "Hi Daddy!"

It takes a supportive spouse and family to get it done.  So the real question is "How do I get that?"

For me it was sitting down with my wife and telling her the importance of achieving this goal was to me.  As a smoker for 19 years (roughly a decade or so of which with her), she understood ... as well as the fact that this training was not going to last forever - just until this Coeur d'Alene in June after IMFL in November.

She was good knowing that there was an end in sight, albeit in the distance, and knowing that it was not forever.

I also make sure that she knows of big training days and events on the calendar so she can plan + schedule around them.

So, in short, the answer for us was and still is communication. 

I am married with three young children and am training for my first IM. There is no getting around the fact that it is tough. I have an extremely supportive wife and we discussed this a lot before I jumped into it. But there are times when I know that it drives her nuts and I do feel guilty a lot.

Like many others, I try to get my workouts done in the early morning and at lunch when I can. But the weekends are now being eaten up by the longer and longer workouts.

I don't have much in the way of advice. Make sure to let her know that you know how stressful it might be for her.

One thing I have done is take advantage some commute time.  i.e.  when we go somewhere as a family, I take the bike/running shoes along.  Then on the way home, which would typically be sleep time for kids, I either ride or run home.  On Sunday's I can get a 2 hour ride in on the way home from church and only "miss" 1:15 of family time.  And some of that is just prepping lunch.  Yes, it does add a little extra load to my wife, but she is very supportive.  Another example was the Easter Egg hunt.  Took the running shoes and ran home from there.  they were in the car for 15  minutes and I got a 35 minute run, only missing "20 minutes".

 Being creative and keeping them high on the priority list is important and also blowing of a workout or two to meet their needs.

Good luck, it is doable 

I'm starting my IM training in May, race is in September.

I have a pretty good situation (for now, never know when things might change, but I'm hoping they don't). My wife is a teacher, so she'll be off from June to the end of August. And I work from home. So I'll be able to spend lots of quality time with the family (we have 2 preschool aged kids).

Still, like everyone else said, early morning, lunchtime, and nighttime workouts are good things. I'm a morning person, so getting up at 4am to run isn't too difficult to do once a week.

One thing that I'm doing is shifting a few of my long rides to match the local ride calendars in the area. For example, I switched the day of my 6 hour ride to a week earlier, and we'll both be going out to Wichita Falls for the Hotter n Hell Hundred. The kids can stay at her parents or mine. That way I get my long workout in, and she gets to do a long ride with a friend as well. She doesn't feel like I'm ditching her to ride.

It also helps that she is training for her first Olympic, so she understands my desire to get the workouts in. Can be tough for us both to do it, but since she's off all summer, it's not too bad.

tough.  I have a 14 month old and our second is due next month.  honestly I don't know how training will go this summer.  I may have to revise my race schedule and ultimately my IMFL goals.  we have a lot of support from family and friends - which helps.  my supportive wife knows, too, how important this is to me.

the other constraint I face is the resources ($$) this sport requires.  I've had to reduce my MTB inventory to procure a road bike for training and dilligently scan craigslist/ebay for values (race helmet, wesuit, etc).

 as for training, yes - try to absorb and much during the week into your "work" hours.  when I come home, its family time.  swimming/running at lunch helps a lot.  early morning rides on weekends reduces the impact.  quick runs right after work are staples in my schedule. Its tough making my own sacrifices but its worth it - and makes the achievement that much more significant.

If you guys want to start another thread to avoid hijacking this one I'll be happy to discuss why I think different. In the end it, I don’t think it has anything to do with been married and having kids (if that is what you are making reference as a family) but the choices one make. You can either choose to spend time away from your family training for an IM or spending time with your family AND training for a less time consuming distance. Also, unlike others peeps that see it as a degrading thing for the sport, or an annoying thing for their finishing experience, trust me I don’t think that at all. Anyway, IMO it is all about your choices and priorities…