Probably not long! Going to trade them for charcoal color pillows haha 
First really hard VO2 max session of this years plan. Got up early, carbs and caffiene down me, good playlist queued up, guess which of my intervals I was on when my kid switched off my music and put on the octonauts playlist
Jesus that was a difficult interval until I switched my music to youtube.
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Father of twins here as well. Mine are 3,5 years old. When they were 2yo things got easier… for a while, until they decided to skip the 1,5-2h nap after lunch. That was the time I used for training on weekends. Gone forever. 
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I have the exact same experience. I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old. Fitting in training wasn’t too bad because I could get a ride in after they went to bed during the week and then a longer outside ride during naptime on weekends. Now that naps are more sporadic on weekends it gets tough to get that weekend ride in.
I am almost entirely after bedtime at this point, which isn’t terrible for 1-1.5 hour rides.
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Newborn parent here, was doing about 5-8hrs of training prior to birth, have taken a week off before I start my time crunch 30 mid vol, just come off the back of SSB low vol, so going to miss those 90min workouts. I’m hoping to maintain as much fitness as possible. Looking forward to the short but brutal workouts, hopefully can do one workout outdoors per week. Seems from the advice here being flexible with time is key as well as not being disappointed if a workout is missed. Have a grand fondo event in November so hopefully I can start throwing in some longer workouts come October.
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Our eldest was sleeping through the night from 7 weeks, youngest from about 13 weeks. Of course there was the odd wake up here and there, but for the most part we worked hard to get them to self settle. Short term pain for long term gain. We also totally avoided pacifiers. They are 6 & 7 now and still great sleepers
Of course all kids are different, and all parents are different, but these things worked for us as well. Do what you and your partner and you child are comfortable with
I have always been an early morning person, so I still ride at 4:30am ish (group ride starts at 5), home 6:30-7:00. Quick shower then ready to make breakfasts/lunches/get them ready for school before I start work at 8:00ish (full time working from home since 2017)
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Trying to build up a bit before the long taper when our second girl is born. Getting after a base cycle with AT and hoping that TrainNow when I can squeeze it in will help extend my fitness through the dark year. It will be interesting to see how things progress this time around. Totally dropped off the boat after the first one.
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Lots of good responses here as well Bike/life balance
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Here is my experience from my first child (currently a 6month old). ‘Fitness’ screenshot from intervals.icu
I trained about 10hpw for the year prior to the birth. This included a 4hr long ride with some efforts every Saturday.
I knew I would be time constrained (at least from going away all day) so I switched my focus to trying to PR in sprints, 1min, and 3min efforts. I have been lifting 1-2 times per week and doing structured intervals.
I am now focusing on a 5min effort for the summer, but I havent been able to ride more than 3hours so far since the child’s birth. I usually can train 1-2hrs most days. I do 2-a-day when I lift (combine a lift day with structured interval - hit the trainer at lunch, lift after work). I also MTB bc you get a nice workout in an hour or two.
Tip: train like its Track and Field and forget about chasing the higher FTP business for now. Just cant get the continuous time on the bike required for that (3-5hr riding). Also the 3hr rides I have gotten in recently leave me feeling wrecked bc I dont sleep like I used to anymore.
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I really like this approach to focus on improving short power when the option for long rides disappears. Game-ify it by finding some appropriate Strava segments to slay. 
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Some of the short workouts in Time Crunch 30 are killers, but totally doable back to back (days) due to the shorter interval/overall workout time. FTP hasn’t gone down much at all (6w) but sweet spot endurance needs a bit of help now. Our little man sleeps pretty well, getting about 6+ hours of broken sleep now (7 weeks old). Mornings are a blur so doing workouts around mid-morning/lunchtime.
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Oh my. The difference between baby one and two has been startling. Although baby 2 sleeps better, baby one (now 20 months) has just started nursery and passes on a cold every couple of weeks to my wife and I and we not getting enough sleep to fight off these little bugs.
Throw in a house move and training since April has fallen apart. Between work, kids, chores and repeatedly getting ill I can generate no consistency.
I’m supposed to be doing an olympic distance triathlon in six weeks. HELP!
On the bright side, it’s only an olympic distance
My only advice would be to do what you can, but prioritize sleep.
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Hey all, coming off of a few years of good riding and training. Our son is now 2 and my wife is pregnant with our second (boy) due in December. The older our first gets, the harder it is for me to be motivated to ride, longer rides with the club or events. Example; Sunday morning I had the bike ready and workout loaded to Wahoo when he wakes up and says, “Daddy no bike. Play together?” How can I go out for even just two hours after that.
Put my bike on the trainer and thought I’d get a workout in there instead. Never happened, like I said, not much motivation to train if group rides and events are hanging me up.
Anyone else experience this? Has been a real battle inside of my head for about a month now.
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I don’t have it the same with group rides etc as I have never got into that but we make it clear with our kids that daddy’s time on the bike is what ‘fills my cup’ and gives me the energy to play etc! Without something for you I would think your mental health will slowly start to take a slide and you won’t enjoy life as you do now, it’s about balance i think! Probably 5 hours per weekend is gone but being a role model for fitness and structure being a priority is good for your child too!
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Get up and out the door before the kids and wife wake up!
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I recently changed my week up entirely so that I dont plan anything on a Sunday so that it can be entirely devoted to the family, I was needlessly stressing myself out over the fact that I “needed” to get my bike workout completed. I am in the lucky situation where I can be flexible with work so I can get everything I want in during the day, I know that many are not in that situation though.
I find that special events are easier to work out. I can lay the ground work with the child, admittedly he is 3 and its easier than when he was 2, about the fact that I am going out and when it comes to the time there is less complaining.
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Haha this was a good strategy during the early summer months when the sun was out. Could upgrade the lights but dark early morning weekend rides bring about some vehicle concerns.
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Absolutely. My oldest is 2.5 and younger 1 yr. Did a 70.3 in July then cut everything down. It’s simply too much stress worrying about fitting in a workout with everything else I have on.
My wholehearted advice to you is, in the main, forget about long events. None of my sessions are over an hour and most are around 30 -45 minutes. My life had improved massively and I still feel fit and like I’m training plenty. Now I can’t run at lunch time and easily for 30 minutes in when they are asleep.
It’s really workimg for me anyway.
Yeah, I am canceling my UnPAved registration, just too logistically difficult for us. Might give Cross a shot this season since there are lots of local events that are short and the family could come watch.
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