Training for an Ironman with a Business, a Newborn, and No Spare Time
People assume that because I'm training for an Ironman, I must have hours of free time to throw at it. I don't. I run a gym, I'm building an online coaching business, and I've got a newborn at home. Some weeks the gap between "ideal training week" and "the week I actually had" is enormous.
I want to be upfront about something before I go any further, because it matters: I don't have a traditional 9–5. I don't commute, I set my own hours, and I can move my day around in a way most people can't. That's a real advantage, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. So this isn't "anyone can do this exactly like me." It's "here's how I'm actually building an Ironman block around a genuinely full life; and here's what that actually means for you if your week looks different to mine."
The Honest Starting Point
If you're trying to train for an Ironman around a demanding job, a family, or both, the first thing to accept is that you won't get a perfect week very often. The athletes who actually make it to the start line in good shape aren't the ones with the perfect plan, they're the ones who protect the sessions that matter most and let the rest flex.
That's the mindset shift. Not "how do I fit in everything," but "what are the three or four sessions this week that actually move the needle, and how do I make sure those happen no matter what."
What I Actually Prioritise
With a newborn in the house, sleep is unpredictable and so is the start of my day. So my training week isn't built around rigid timings. It's built around protected non-negotiables.
For me right now, that means:
One long run and one long ride, locked in, planned around whichever days actually have the space. Not always the same day each week (The Cat & Fiddle is surprisingly quiet on a wednesday afternoon)
Swim sessions treated as the habit-builder, not the afterthought. Short and frequent beats occasional and long, especially when consistency is the actual deficit
Strength and conditioning kept short and purposeful, not a separate hour-long session that competes for time it doesn't have
Everything else: easy runs, extra rides, mobility? Flexed around whatever the week throws up
This is the bit people training around a family will recognise: it's not about training less intelligently, it's about training with fewer assumptions of what "should" happen and more focus on what actually needs to happen.
Where the Time Actually Comes From
Realistically, here's where I find the hours:
Early mornings, before the business or the baby need anything from me. This is the most reliable window I have, so the most important session of the week usually goes here.
Turning dead time into training time Zwift sessions instead of scrolling insta, runs that double as the only "me time" I get in a day. It's not about finding extra hours, it's about being honest about which hours already exist and aren't being used well.
Saying no to junk volume. I'd rather hit four high-quality sessions than seven mediocre ones squeezed in around everything else. Quality over quantity isn't a slogan here. It's the only way the maths works.
What This Means If Your Week Looks Different
If you've got a fixed 9–5, a longer commute, or less flexibility than I have, the principle is the same even if the execution looks different: identify the two or three sessions that actually drive progress, protect them like they're non-negotiable meetings, and let everything else be flexible.
This is exactly why generic training plans fail busy people. A plan that assumes you've got a clear, unchanging week doesn't survive contact with real life; a sick kid, a late meeting, a bad night's sleep. What does survive is a plan built knowing those things will happen, with the structure to absorb them without falling apart.
Why I Coach This Way
This is the entire reason I built my coaching around flexibility rather than rigid templates. Most of my online clients aren't full-time athletes. They're time-pressured, performance-driven people trying to do exactly what I'm doing: build something serious around a full life, not instead of one.
If that's where you're at — chasing a real goal without unlimited time to throw at it — apply for coaching here.