HAHA!!! Wait till you get out of college and have a "real" job and a family!!!! Seriously, get up earlier, go to bed earlier, train on the weekends and basically budget your time. You have to decide what is more important on a given day. Just remember the harder you study the better job you will get and the more "tri toys" you can afford.

Nell, I'm currently enrolled at PSU. You are correct, the balance can be difficult. This is a tricky question with a rather simple answer. First, before I try and solve your educational and athletic problems in this post, I have to mention that I don't WORK so that makes things a little easier. However, I am in the middle of my build for IM Lake Placid, so it evens things out slightly.

The best and most honest piece of advice I can give you? **Decide what are the most important thing(s) for you. You can't do everything well. I thought it was possible, and set out to prove the skeptics wrong. It did'nt work. In the end, I have decided that IM and the possibility of a Hawaii spot were my priorities. I have too much time invested in training to put it backseat to anything. I have excepted the fact that my grades, social life, and free time may suffer. I basically live in the classroom and the on the road, literally! I enjoy the solidarity and love excerise, so I'm in heaven, but this may not be the route for you. It depends on what you deem important.

If you are considering a half-IM you must realize the time commitment you'll have on your hands. Something will have to give.

As far as fitting in the workouts. Sometimes, you just have to get up before 6AM and beat feet. Or go to the pool friday night at 10pm when is a ghost town. Actually, I skipped classes today to do a 100+mi. ride and 4mi. transition run. Supposed to rain on the weekend. So, just find the time.

The greatest benefit to all this? You gain a tremendous amount of mental strength.

I agree with Jason... figure out what your priorities are. I'm a student, I have multiple part-time jobs and of course, I have to keep up with the training. While I am obviously in school to get a degree and further my education, my top priority is training and racing, and it really comes down to how good you are with time management, and how willing you are to not have much of a social life. The good thing about our sport is that if you find some training partners, then your workouts and races become your social life, so you've just consolidated two things into one!

Juggling can be hard at times, and I will occasionally drop a workout if I'm in a real time crunch for an assignment, but once I'm settled into a routine, it's usually pretty easy to keep up with work and training and everything else.

I agree with Brett, wait until you take the red pill and get to the real world.
You think it is tough to get you workouts in now?
Try getting in training with a 40-60 hour work week, sometimes on weekends, and raising a couple of kids.

I wish I had the time I did when I was "Busy" in college"

Planning is key.

Use the facilities you have at school. You should have a pool and gym facilities, a track and a campus to bike and run around. Plan your workouts around classes. Take naps.

However, Don't forget to have fun on some Thursday nights. :cool:

The "Matrix" had some cool ideas. :cool:

Good idea. Education should come first.

Most people doing triathlons are not making a living at it, even some who are good enough to be "professionals"

Good luck on your juggling. Every triathlete is a true multitasker.

Jason - I think that in part is going to depend on the job you want and what you are studying. I hope for positions like doctors they take how well they did in their classes and internships very seriously! There are some bits of jobs that you can't learn in the workplace. Dedication and discipline won't always be enough.

I agree that it's a balancing act, and cycles, and priorities. And keeping it fun, because as soon as things lose their fun you'll wish their hours had been spent elsewhere.

thanks everyone. Yeah, I can somewhat imagine how difficult it will be once I have a family. I have been raising my two younger siblings since I was 18. They are now finally getting to the point where they don't need me as much. But I still put them before school, housework, work, and training. Sometimes they are what gets me out of bed in the morning.

jason i understand what you are saying, academics are important but so are life experiences, contacts, acheiving goals etc., it's the whole picture not one isolated part.

i think the most valuable lesson for the workforce/real life is...learning how to "play well" with others. that cannot be taught-it has to be experienced. to get a job, do a job and keep a job you must learn how to interact with others. ever read that book, Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten?- it's so true!

lots and lots of playdates for my kids. lots of sports which require teamwork, discipline, and drive. those are the ingredients for success. oh yeah and straight A's of course! ;)

Yeah, I agree. I'm at the U of A right now, and believe me... medical school and a more-than-part-time job don't really accommodate anything else in your schedule. I've had some luck joining my school's triathlon club; it helps with planning training and actually setting aside time to do things. Luckily, most of our triathlons are in the summer too (because by October, it's sometimes already twenty below!).

I'll back the more time in college thing. I've returned to the world of higher education at 24 and I have much more time now then when I was employed full-time. I had no wife, no kids, no home, or property (appartment the way to go, no outside responsibilities) when I was working and I still have more free time now. This is true, even considering we were given 2hrs. a day during the work week for physical fitness. There just always seemed to be something that would come up to delete any and sometimes all of the free time on my schedule.

Having been in both environments fairly recently I can understand the arguement coming students. It is not easy, especially when you have high standards of performance in all your personal pursuits. However, college schedules are flexible (I think I made that clear in a earlier post...I skip class for workouts when necessary), you have options to make things work in your favor. Many times, outside of school, those options become far more limited.