Sleeping, Training and Family life

I can't offer any advice on sleep time because I have one of the most wacked sleeping schedules there is.  I work nights in Law Enforcement 14+ days a month and during the day as owner of a Construction Company.  Thankfully I am doing a lot more supervising and less work these days with three little girls and trying to fit training in the middle.

The biggest thing I have to overcome is the mental aspect of it.  You know it is Saturday morning in your mind and that you don't have a deadline to get to work so your body wants to sleep more.  On the weekend nights are you sleeping as well despite staying up a little later?  Are you a little burned out of IM training and therefore not wanting to get up to get that long workout in? 

I usually get shorted on sleep during the week so I try to sleep in on the weekends -- made it til 8:30 yesterday!  Don't know how you can go to bed at 10 and get up at 4:40 -- I can get away with that now and then but have to make it up later.  Maybe your body is just tired, especially w/ IM training, and knows you don't really have to get up around 5-6 am on the weekends.  I'd try sleeping a little later yet next weekend and see if that helps.

Hello

I can't say I have an answer but am interested in what everyone has to say!

My kids are young (6 &8). I am thinking that the way I manage this will change over time. Now I need to manage with my husband schedule and ensuring we have someone at home to watch the kids. I think in 5 years it wil change because I'll be travelling to kid activities more.

Catwoman - you seem REALLY dedicated already...4:40 weekdays! You go woman! 5-6 during the weekends.

Some thoughts:

 Do you give yourself a day off? Maybe even saying one of the weekends in a sleep in day would help. You gotta have a day off of training.

Do you have shorter day workouts? Maybe you can have these on the weekends. Then you can sleep in a little!

Best of luck...

ooooh.  tough one.  Like others, I sleep less during the week (up at 4:50am most days) and more on the weekends (up at 6:30 or 7:00am).  I try to catch a quick nap a few times a week, however the naps throw me off at night.  Even a 20 minute nap means I'm not tired at night and end up staying up later, which starts a vicious cycle.  I guess you have to look at maybe why you feel like staying in bed on the weekends.....is it b/c your body is tired and you really do need a few more hours of sleep, or is it b/c something about throwing off your routine just doesn't work well for you.  If it's the first one, could you push your weekend workouts back and start them at say 6:45 or 7am?  Or just tell the hubby you really need to be in bed by 10?  If it's the second and you are someone that really does better on a consistent routine, then I'm not sure you have a whole lot of options unfortunately.

I'm a morning person. Waking up at 4:40-4:45 is a perfect time for my body.  

Yes, I do have an off day on Mondays. I sleep til 6 on that day. But I feel really off for the rest of the day. It seems like the extra sleep messes up my body. Should I go ahead and get up at 4:45-5:00 and clean house or something?

I just need to find a way to balance my sleep/eating schedule with that of my husbands.  He gets up at 7:30 everyday. He mainly works out of the house and deals with clients in later time zones. So it isn't uncommon for him to still be working after 7 in the evenings. His later schedule throws off meal times for the rest of the family. I can't wait until 7:30 pm to eat. So the rest of the family eats around 5:30-6:00 and he eats later. His choice not mine. He is very supportive with the rest of my training. I don't feel like I can ask him to change what he does to fit my training schedule. I don't understand sleeping til 7:30 in the morning. But everyone else thinks my schedule is crazy too.  

We tolerated the schedule changes during HIM training. It is a long time til IMFL. I'd like to get a workable solution started ASAP.

I'm not a morning person, but am up by 5:00 a.m. every weekday morning due to wifey and her getting ready for work.  I usually don't sleep until after Leno's monologue, though, but that will change now that Conan will be taking over - I'll be getting to sleep earlier now!   Weekends are tough since the 3rd son gets up early.  I can't win.

BALANCE is the key.  I have the 3 kids in the mix.  BALANCE has been on the plus side so far.

It's nice when they're old enough to take care of themselves!

My main problem is staying awake in the evenings past 10. Even with a nap it is hard to stay up that late.  My husband is a night person. When I didn't work or train for triathlons I could nap for 2 hours during the day. Which would allow me to be awake on his time schedule.

We're going to have to coordinate our personal schedules before training really kicks in.

What is this "balance" you speak of?

Urgh!  I also have this problem.  Luckily my husband does not really mind what time I go to bed in the evenings as long as it is after 9pm.  He does have a problem with afternoon naps though.  It was our deal - he would only be happy with me doing IM again if I did not sleep in the afternoon.  TOUGH ONE!

I am up most days at 4am (weekends included) but will take two days during the week where I get up at 6.  We eat dinner together usually at 7:30 - 8 depending on when I get home from my evening training. 

I don't know how people with kids do it - I take my hats off to you all!

I'm not a morning person at all, but evening workouts make it tough in terms of balancing time with the wife and kids.  Even if I was a morning person, my wife is a bit of a night owl, and so I stay up as it's our only time of the day to catchup.

So for me - balance comes a bit at the price of sleep.  Even though I hate it, I do try to wake up early and get in some form of workout - but never in a month of Sunday's have I gotten up at 4:30am or tried working out after only 4 hours sleep.

I find that lunch hours have become primetime during the week.  I joined a gym 5 minutes away where I can swim, and have done most of my running indoors as well this winter.  It's never easy, but if I didn't sacrifice some of "my" time I'd end up quitting Tri's because I'd lose family time, which wouldn't be acceptable to me - and certainly not the wife.    (With that said - she still believes I train too much.  If only she knew what some of you do!!)