Hi Marca and welcome to TE!

I have just done my first triathlon (and I'm now hooked) and I myself have a hard time fitting the training in my schedule. On the other hand, I just started swimming in November (never really new how to swim with my head in the water before) and, with some hard work, I finished with a mid-pack time (of the female group) for the swim portion of my first triathlon, which to me was an amazing accomplishment. So there's hope. Unless you care deeply about your times, you should consider going for the triathlon (sprint distance) already.

Regarding the schedule... I try to swim 2-3 times a week in the early mornings, depending on my meeting schedule (which also tends to use the mornings up). I cycle about 5 hours a week on average, sometimes more, consisting of two short rides during the week (second half of the day) and a long club ride or sometimes two during the weekend. I run when I can, when it rains so much that I don't want to go on the bike, etc., rarely more than 3 times a week, about 30 min to an hour each time. I have yet to run for longer than an hour, but I feel it coming, I'm starting to enjoy this.

I realize that's a lot of workouts. I have the chance to be a student, and don't have kids, so my schedule is really flexible.

Maybe you should visit http://www.beginnertriathlon.com/ I think there's training schedules available for your perusal there...

Enjoy!!!