Sam Long Mini Series on The Slowtwitch Podcast: Personal Life and Identity 

IRONMAN and 70.3 champion Sam Long, the top-ranked American in the PTO standings, recently joined Mark Goddard on The Slowtwitch Podcast to talk all things triathlon and beyond. In this clip ( which is the shortest), the first part of their chat, Goodard asked Long a couple of questions from fans on Slowtwitch. The first and main question was a classic for people living in the limelight: where would you be if you weren’t a professional triathlete? 

Long didn’t have to think all that hard about this question, quickly responding with a thoughtful answer.

“I’ve been able to reflect on this now,” he said, “and I think I would want to be a stay-at-home dad.”

He continued, noting that this is still very much a possibility down the road and that he would love to swap breadwinner for homemaker with his wife (and the mother of their son, Leo) — fellow triathlete Lara Gruden. 

“After triathlon, she’s got ambitions, she wants to be a realtor,” Long said. “I think it would be one of the greatest joys and greatest challenges to be a stay-at-home dad and put all the effort I’m used to giving [in triathlon] in to how to be the best parent possible and to keep the house as organized as possible.” 

Long added that he is aware that being a full-time parent is “so, so hard,” but he said he often finds himself wishing he could be more present.

“When I’m out training, I’m like, ‘Man, I’m doing this for my family, I’m doing this because I want to provide the best I can for my family,’ [but] maybe I should also just try and be at home more and spend more time with them.” 

He said “it’s a hard dynamic” to balance the financial needs (which he of course fulfills through long hours spent training, travelling, and racing) with the need and desire to be home with his wife and son as much as possible.

“What you really want to do is just, like, be there, you know?” Long said. 

This is the first of four parts of Long’s conversation with Goddard. Questions came for the Slowtwitch Community that where asked in the forum. Be sure to tune into the next three installments of this mini-series, in which Long will chat about the business side of pro triathlon, race strategy and competition, and training and performance. There is a lot to learn from these chats, so you will not want to miss a second of them.