Beginners Guide to Sprint Triathlon Training

A sprint triathlon is a short-distance triathlon consisting of a 750-meter swim, 20k-bike, and a 5k-run. Learn more about this distance and our top tips on how to ace your race!

Like any triathlon, training for a sprint triathlon combines the three disciplines of swim, bike, and run. It also allows you to enjoy the day, thanks to an attainable distance for each, while also building key triathlon skills such as handling transitions. And, if you’re not already very comfortable in either the swimming, biking, or running part of the event, going for a sprint triathlon is a great step to hone your skills in each of them.

What is a Sprint Triathlon?

The sprint distance triathlon consists of a 750-meter (820yards) swim, followed by a 20k (12.4 miles) bike, finishing with a 5k (3.1 mile) run. 
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This is one of the most popular entry points into the sport of triathlon because it isn’t overly long, doesn’t require copious amounts of training to complete, and makes for a fun morning of racing with friends. The average triathletes crosses the finish line in around 90 minutes and still gets to brag about completing three sports!

A general rule of thumb is that as you progress through your triathlon journey and want to challenge yourself further, the distances will more or less double from sprint, to Olympic distance, to half IRONMAN (70.3 miles), to full distance (also known as an IRONMAN, 140.6 miles).  

Triathlon Training: General Program Components

As you begin your sprint triathlon training, you should follow several principles. These will help you finish the race in good order and support longevity in the sport of triathlon. Our goal here is to create a positive experience in this sport, including many years of enjoyment!

Of course, you'll need to complete training sessions in swimming, cycling, and running to train for your first sprint event. You can get away with doing about 8 weeks of solid training to complete your first race, or even less than that (but with some specific focus, as we discuss below) if you’re already comfortable with each discipline.

How much do I need to train to finish a sprint triathlon?

That is a valid question, especially since many people think that triathlon training takes lots and lots of hours. The answer, however, may surprise you. Triathlon doesn't require training for dozens of hours per week, especially for competing in the shortest distance the sport has to offer. The truth is that we recommend you train for 4-6 hours per week if you want to simply finish the sprint triathlon. Training 6-7 hours per week will have you finishing strong, while any more than that, and you’ll be ready to compete for age group honors and beyond at your local sprint triathlon (or maybe even move up to the Olympic distance!).

How should I train for a sprint triathlon?

In terms of structuring your training, more isn’t always better. In fact, one study done at the University of Sao Paolo Brazil found that the group of athletes who trained the least for an Ironman distance race actually had the fastest times.  One author of the study, Dr. Rafaella Sinisgalli, believes that even at shorter distances athletes are training more than they need to, or more than their body can handle.

So, what does this mean in practice? A lot, roughly 75-80% of your total annual training time, should be low-intensity training to build your base during the off-season will allow you to really hit it hard during race season.

The key is to develop a bigger base during the off-season, performing low-intensity sessions to acclimate your body to the long endurance day of a triathlon. However, bear in mind that you don’t have to go crazy with this for a sprint triathlon, as you’re not preparing to be out for several hours!

Here’s an example of how the pros do it: professional triathlete and Australian Olympian Cam Wurf builds his base during the off-season with a significant amount of low-intensity training, something like 90% of the time. Then, come race season, he ratchets up the intensity to build fitness and increase his capacity for harder, sustained efforts required on race day.

Low-intensity training builds mitochondria, the powerhouse of our cells and the main energy producers in the muscles. And, the nature of low intensity allows you to do it for an extended period without becoming too fatigued. Also, high-intensity training teaches the mitochondria to work harder. You need both types of sessions and get that high-intensity training closer to race time, so you’re doing the more race-specific workouts when you need them the most. 

We advise you to use this calculator to get your training zones as you approach sprint triathlon training:
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The reason we use a pyramidal approach, rather than a polarized model where the training is either low intensity or extremely high intensity is that it splits up your training into zones. This method incorporates recovery throughout the week between sessions. It also allows you to hit the hard workouts with confidence.

That 80% of low-intensity work will be in Zones 1 and 2. Zone 3 is hard on the body because it creates a huge stress response on the body due to being over your aerobic threshold; you'll be building up a huge amount of lactic acid. However, you'll find loads of race pace and tempo training in Zone 3. I believe that this race intensity effort is key to getting comfortable with the idea of race intensity, but you shouldn’t train there too often. 

Zones 4 and 5 are used to build speed. You'll want to consider VO2 Max and Functional Threshold Power (FTP) while building intensity. You'll be training your body to go beyond what you think it’s capable of, getting fitter and faster!

In this pyramidal training philosophy, low intensity forms the bulk of the training, roughly about 70% to 80%. The moderate-intensity zone is where you need to be comfortable at racing, which is between about 10% and 15%. Finally, the high-intensity zones account for about 10% to 15% percent of your training load.

Recovery

As you see above, I firmly believe that race pace effort is essential so that people get comfortable with their race intensity. Generally speaking, more is more until it's not, and the “until it's not” is very important. More training is better until you start breaking down. And this is why recovery is a crucial part of your training. 

If you continuously increase your training load, you'll eventually find yourself in a position where you're unable to recover properly from one session to the next. In time, this compromises your recovery and your ability to perform your best for each session. So, in the end, this will harm your workout results.

There are a variety of ways to recover between workouts. The ones you should prioritize are:

• Sleep;
• Low intensity or total rest days; and
• Quality nutrition.

Sleep is the most important piece of good recovery. Your body repairs itself and rebuilds muscle while you sleep. Unfortunately, most athletes fail to get adequate sleep each night. The goal should be to shoot for 7 to 8 hours at a minimum. If you can get up to 10 hours of shut-eye, even better!

Some tips to improve your sleep are:

• Keep a normal bedtime routine with the same hours even on the weekends;
• Get off the screens (TV, smartphone, tablets, etc) two hours before; and
• Reduce caffeine and alcohol.

Low intensity or total rest days are essential. Without them, your performance will certainly suffer. By training easy or not training at all, your body is able to reduce the stress that accumulates from triathlon training. Additionally, it allows you to feel fresh for your upcoming workout sessions so that you can continue to build fitness.

Quality nutrition will help increase your recovery. Fueling before, during, and after training is critical. Outside of training, a diet which consists of mostly whole, minimally processed foods with ample protein is optimal.

Besides setting time aside for recovery and creating a balance between workouts and recovery periods, you also need to pay attention to stressors - i.e., any outside pressures and time commitments in your life outside of training. Recognize when they prevent you from recovering enough to improve your fitness.

Several indications of improper recovery include sore muscles, disturbed sleep, or lack of motivation for a second workout in the day. If you’re experiencing these symptoms often, you may have gone too far. At this point, you should consider scaling back the training load.

Mental Fitness

Triathlon is a challenge. That’s why many people seek them out because they are hard. At the same time, though, stepping outside of our comfort zone, even forcing ourselves there, is unnatural. Your ability to do so is called mental toughness.

It’s widely believed that you can, in fact, train mental toughness. It’s a valuable skill in triathlon because the more strenuous activity you can endure, the longer you can swim, bike, and run before giving up.

It's probably obvious that you can train your mental toughness by placing yourself in situations where you need to resort to it to finish an interval or a workout session. The more familiar you become with challenging physical and mental situations, the better you’ll be able to push through them. And, on race day, the more likely you are to keep pushing to the end. 

However, it’s worth repeating that you don’t want to “bury yourself” too often in training. Remember, 80% low intensity is key. There should be a few sessions with opportunities for high-intensity work in your training plan each week, which will help you test your mental fortitude. These include short intervals, moderately-intense tempo efforts, and long endurance workouts that are more draining mentally than physically.

As a rule, if you find yourself lacking even a little bit of motivation that's a sign that you need to peel back the training load and focus more on recovery.

Sprint Triathlon Training Plan for Beginners

Let’s move on to the specifics of your beginner sprint triathlon training plan for your 750-meter swim, 20k bike ride, and 5k run.

Swim

First and foremost, I recommend you focus on comfort and basic capabilities in the water. Only after that should you work on fitness and speed. 

The test that I use to determine your comfort in the water is this: Can you swim 400 meters or yards continuously without feeling tired, without feeling challenged, and without feeling out of breath whatsoever? If you can't do that yet, your immediate focus should be on breathing comfortably, floating, not sinking, and being able to swim straight while breathing.

Simple drills to improve your basic comfortability in the water include blowing bubbles, kicking with your hands on the side of the pool, and focusing on the exhale, then taking small little sips of inhale. By practicing this, you’ll learn to not hold your breath. 

Next, you’ll want to learn how to float across the pool like a log. Kicking drills will help you become more proficient in this. To start, you should kick first with fins and a snorkel, then remove the fins, then remove the snorkel, then bring back the fins and kick on your side with the fins and the snorkel and gradually progress through this kicking sequence of drills in a way that resembles actual swimming.

To swim straight, you’ll do a lot of these same kicking drills. However, you’ll add in some single-arm swimming or doing single-arm strokes for three strokes and then turning over on the third stroke and doing three strokes with the other arm. This will help you gradually build a swim stroke.

TRIATHLON SWIMMING FOUNDATIONS is our top rated book that has the exact method we recommend new triathletes take to develop comfort and capability in the swim.

Once you’re comfortable with swimming, you can build on this base with additional speed work and endurance, as you potentially move on to longer triathlons, too. 

Bike

When you prepare for a sprint triathlon, you can get started with just two bike workouts per week:

• One long bike workout should build up to a distance of 40-50 km. 
• One intense workout should focus on intervals building up from 15 seconds to two minutes. Once you get comfortable there, you can begin to build from two-minute intervals up to eight minutes. 

TRIATHLON BIKE FOUNDATIONS outlines in great detail these two bike workouts per week and what gear you should get in what order for your bike (along with pages and pages of other awesome tips)

Run

Run training is hard, but it's crucial because running is where you can undo all of your good training by having a terrible time on race day. 

Running as a weight-bearing exercise is going to drive your heart rate up more than biking or swimming. When your heart rate increases too often, you build up a lot of stress hormones. This increases the risk of injury, getting sick, and overtraining. 

Stress hormones also make it hard to perform well during your fast training. You won’t be able to push hard enough to actually generate a positive training response.

All this means that a lot of your run training needs to be low intensity. It doesn't really matter what the pace is. People might say, “Well, what happens if I'm walking? How is that building any fitness?” You're still doing weight-bearing exercise. You're still teaching your body to endure that weight.

The goal of low-intensity running is not to make you that much faster. It's to build a lot of mitochondria, which you do by staying in the right low intensity training zone. The goal is also to build durability, enabling you to continue in that upright running or walking fashion for an extended period of time.

While most of your runs should be low intensity, that doesn’t mean you should ignore the hard stuff either. Early on in your training, you should include sprints so that you can build the neuromuscular ability to turn your legs over quickly and unlock that ability to run fast. 

Gradually, you can ease into hill running of 8 to 10-second bursts to recruit a lot of muscle fibers. Then you can transition into short intervals of 30 seconds to 2 minutes, then longer intervals of 2 minutes to 8 minutes. 

Closer to your race and within the final 6 to 8 weeks especially, your longer sustained tempo runs should include higher-intensity efforts anywhere between 15-minute to 60-minute intervals. 

As for your longer runs, make sure to gradually increase the distance by 10% each week until you reach 7-10 km. Come race day, 5k will feel easy!

TRIATHLON RUNNING FOUNDATIONS is one of the best rated triathlon training books in the world with a 4.62/5-star rating on Goodreads (that's Harry Potter level!).

Strength training

Strength training is a critical part of any endurance training plan. It should be included throughout the entire program. Studies repeatedly support cutting back on your total amount of endurance training (swim, bike, run) and substituting it with strength training. You’re actually more likely to perform better than if you had done nothing but endurance training.

For example, strength training has been proven to increase runners’ speed and VO2 Max. Moreover, strength exercises help prevent injury by giving you the tools to better support your joints during weight-bearing workouts such as running. Other studies looking at endurance triathletes show the importance of strength training for developing exercise economy - i.e., making you more efficient, so you’re spending less energy when you’re racing. 

In a nutshell, strength training makes you stronger, more explosive, and more stable. It’s especially important for adult amateur endurance athletes because it prevents muscle loss, which is a major contributor to aging and poor hormones. 

Strength training should be intense and frequent outside of race-specific training. In our MOTTIV training app, we provide 30-minute sessions up to 3 times per week. These are intense and will leave you feeling fit, confident, and accomplished.

During race-specific training, we back off to just one strength workout per week, focusing more on muscle activation with lighter weights and more mobility. 

Mobility

Triathletes travel in a straight line, but we still need to be mobile. Incorporating something like yoga can have a profound effect on your fitness and stave off the aging process. Moreover, without mobility and agility training, we’re more susceptible to falls and broken bones as we get older. It sounds crazy, but a fall could not only take you out of your fitness but also worsen your quality of life going forward.

Endurance training, believe it or not, is a detriment to mobility because we are repeatedly in a single range of motion. Falling into that pattern of only traveling in a straight line makes us very one-dimensional. 

To combat the adverse effects of the repeated motions of swim, bike, and run training, we need to test ourselves laterally, side to side, or in different ranges of motion, along with our balance and quick ground reaction time. This improves our mobility so that we can maintain a high-quality life without risking injury as we age. 

So, add some stretching and mobility work to your sprint triathlon training plan to stay as mobile as possible.

In our MOTTIV Training App we have guided yoga workouts specifically designed for the needs of endurance athletes.

Sprint Triathlon Training Plans

With a good off-season and base-building that features plenty of low-intensity training, your in-season sprint triathlon preparation should focus on high-intensity workouts. This will be all the race-specific training you’ll need as sprint triathlon tends to be high intensity, after all!

Pacing for a sprint is roughly a nine out of ten. You’re really pushing just below your absolute max. I am not advising that you should train that way all the time, but keep this in mind when you’re visualizing your race pace. 

Race nutrition isn't much of a concern for a sprint triathlon because the race tends to be 90 minutes on average or less. However, you’ll want to maintain good nutritional habits while you're training, so here are some tips:

• Eat before workouts
• Eat carbs before the hard workouts, but restrict carbs prior to the super easy workouts
• Eat carbs plus protein within 30 minutes of a workout 
• Drink fluid with electrolytes at a rate of one bottle per hour 

I strongly encourage eating before your workouts and avoid fasted workouts because of the risk of developing relative energy deficiency syndrome (RED-S). You mostly hear about RED-S occurring in female athletes; however, males have trouble with this as well. Not consuming enough calories is one of the most significant issues that cause endurance athletes to have poor hormone issues, sleep issues, bone loss, muscle loss, poor performance, and a poor quality of life.

Therefore, I can’t stress enough how important it is to fuel appropriately. 

Training scheduling

The longer duration plans here of 12, 16, and 24 weeks can be used as sprint triathlon training plan intermediate and sprint triathlon training plan advanced.

In terms of building out your weekly training schedule, I recommend setting it up to work with your life and work commitments.

If this works for you, we recommend that Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are ideally your key, very intense, but shorter training days.

Then, move easier recovery workouts should be on Mondays and Fridays. These can be done at a lower intensity and frame the weekend nicely, providing a break from hard training from Tuesday to Thursday. Think of active recovery and lower intensity swims, bikes, and even runs. 

The weekend typically will be where you focus on the longer workouts. 

For your swims, during the general fitness building off-season and the base-building, before you get into specific race prep, workouts can last anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes, up to three times per week. 

For the bike and run, we’re targeting an over-distance goal of 40k to 50k on the bike and 7k to 10k on the run. You’ll reach this by starting wherever you are -- whatever a long bike and a long run are to you is fine. Start there and build up by 10% each week. Every third week, take a rest week where you do roughly 60% of your previous high and then build up by 10% the next two weeks from your last highs.

Beginner Sprint Triathlon Training Plan

5.75 average hours training per week. One workout per day. First option to reach the goal of "Finish feeling strong"; more training hours will be required to compete, less will be required if you just want to finish.

Starting from scratch, with a modest athletic background, we recommend taking six months to prepare for a sprint race to have the goal of finishing feeling strong; if your goal is to compete it or if you have zero athletic background it'll take longer, if your goal is just to finish or you have excellent athletic background it'll take less time.

Of course, you can race at any level of preparation, just make sure your expectations are in line with your total amount of training.

• WEEK 1
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    30 mins total, incorporate three sets of 5min increasing efforts while maintaining cadence of 80-95
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    37mins total, insert 2×10 minute tempo efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    700 meters total, incorporate sets of 100s at 85% effort and sets of 25s at 90% effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    56mins total inserting two sets of 10×20 second hard Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    700 meters total, incorporating sets of 100s at 80% effort, sets of 50s at 90% effort, and sets of 25s at 90% effort
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    45 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 2
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    30 mins total, incorporate 4 mins of high Zone 3 effort
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    43 mins total, insert 8×2 minute Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate one set of 700 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    50 mins total, inserting four sets of 4×15 second high power surges
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 3: Rest
•  Monday: Recovery Bike
•    30mins easy
•  Tuesday: Recovery Run
•    20 mins total incorporating several 30 second strides throughout the workout
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate one set of 700 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    50 mins total, inserting four sets of 4×15 second high power surges
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Brick: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 4
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    30 mins total, incorporating five sets of 4 min efforts building from Zone 2 to Zone 5
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    51 mins total, insert 10×2 minute Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1500 meters total, incorporate one set of 800 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    40 mins incorporating six sets of 2.5 minutes in Zone 4 in aero bars
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins
•    2. Run: 15min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 5
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    40 mins total incorporating 30 minutes of periods in and out of the aero position to practice technique
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    59 mins total, insert 12×2 minute Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1500 meters total, incorporate one set of 800 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    40 mins incorporating six sets of 3 minutes in Zone 4 in aero bars
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins
•    2. Run: 15min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 6: Rest
•  Monday: Recovery Bike
•    30mins easy
•  Tuesday: Recovery Run
•    25 mins total incorporating several 30 second strides throughout the workout
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1000 meters incorporating a single 400 meter effort at 70%
•  Thursday: Recovery Bike
•    45 mins in aero as much as possible
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters incorporating a single 500 meter effort at 75%
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
• Sunday: Main Run
•    60-75 mins
• WEEK 7
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    31 minutes total incorporating two sets of 16x 30 second hard efforts
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    51 mins total, insert 8×2.5 minute Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1350 meters incorporating a single 400 meter effort at 80%
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    40 mins with a 30 min main set incorporating several 30 second surges above race pace
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1100 meters incorporating two sets of 200 meters at 85%
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    30 mins total incorporating a few building efforts to above race pace
• WEEK 8: Taper
•  Monday: Endurance Bike
•    30 mins total incorporating 20 minutes in aero bars
•  Tuesday: Race Week Run
•    15 mins total in Zone 2
•  Wednesday: Race Week Swim
•    1000 meters incorporating 200 meter efforts at 70-80%
•  Thursday: Race Week Bike
•    20 minutes total incorporating three sets of 1 minute efforts above race pace
•  Friday: Race Week Swim
•    1100 meters incorporating two sets of 100 meters increasing effort to 90%
•  Saturday:
•    1. Race Day Eve Swim: 10 mins
•    2. Race Day Eve Bike: 20 mins
•    3. Race Day Eve Run: 10 mins
•  Sunday: RACE DAY!

• WEEK 1
•  Monday: Steady Bike  (33 mins total)
•    Repeat the following 8min sequence twice, all at high Zone 3, 2mins easy spin rest between: 2mins 80 cadence, 2mins 70 cadence, 2mins 60 cadence, 2mins 50 cadence
•  Tuesday: Intense Run  (32 mins total)
•    4x3mins at Zone 4 effort, with 2mins easy jog between.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim  (30 mins total)
•    Main Set: 6×100 at 85% effort with 10sec rest.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike  (38 mins total)
•    10min warm up building from easy to Zone 2. Include 4x20sec surges to high power and high cadence.
•  Friday: Steady Swim  (30 mins total)
•    Main Set: 400 at 80% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    45 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 2
•  Monday: Steady Bike  (33 mins total)
•    Repeat the following 8min sequence twice, all at high Zone 3, 2mins easy spin rest between: 2mins 80 cadence, 2mins 70 cadence, 2mins 60 cadence, 2mins 50 cadence
•  Tuesday: Intense Run (30 mins total)
•    4x3mins at Zone 4 effort, with 1.5mins easy jog between.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim (30 mins total)
•    Main Set: 6×100 at 85% effort with 10sec rest.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike (38 mins total)
•    Include10x30sec Zone 5, 30sec easy spin.
•  Friday: Steady Swim (30 mins total)
•    Main Set: 400 at 80% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 3: Rest
•  Monday: Recovery Bike
•    30mins easy
•  Tuesday: Recovery Run
•    20 mins total incorporating several 30 second strides throughout the workout
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate one set of 700 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    50 mins total, inserting four sets of 4×15 second high power surges
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 4
•  Monday: Steady Bike (35 mins total)
•    Repeat the following 8min sequence twice, all at high Zone 3: 1mins 80 cadence, 1mins 70 cadence, 3mins 60 cadence, 3mins 50 cadence, 2mins easy spin rest.
•  Tuesday: Intense Run (32 mins total)
•    4×3.5mins at Zone 4 effort, with 1.5mins easy jog between.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim (30 mins total)
•    Main Set: 500 at 90-75% effort.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike (37 mins total)
•    10x20sec Zone 5, 40sec easy spin.
•  Friday: Steady Swim (30 mins total)
•    Main Set: 2×400 at 85% effort with 60sec rest.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins
•    2. Run: 15min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 5
•  Monday: Steady Bike (35 mins total)
•    Repeat the following 8min sequence twice, all at high Zone 3: 1mins 80 cadence, 1mins 70 cadence, 3mins 60 cadence, 3mins 50 cadence, 2mins easy spin rest.
•  Tuesday: Intense Run (32 mins total)
•    4x4mins at Zone 4 effort, with 1mins easy jog between.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim (30 mins total)
•    Main Set: 500 at 90-75% effort.
• Thursday: Intense Bike (37 mins total)
•    10x20sec Zone 5, 40sec easy spin.
•  Friday: Steady Swim (30 mins total)
•    Main Set: 2×400 at 85% effort with 60sec rest.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins
•    2. Run: 15min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 6: Rest
•  Monday: Recovery Bike
•    30mins easy
•  Tuesday: Recovery Run
•    25 mins total incorporating several 30 second strides throughout the workout
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1000 meters incorporating a single 400 meter effort at 70%
•  Thursday: Recovery Bike
•    45 mins in aero as much as possible
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters incorporating a single 500 meter effort at 75%
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Brick Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    30 mins total incorporating a few building efforts to above race pace
• WEEK 7
•  Monday: Steady Bike (35 mins total)
•    2x10mins at top of Zone 3/bottom of Zone 4 done as 2.5mins of cadence at 50, 2.5mins of cadence at 60, 2.5mins of cadence at 70. 2.5mins easy spin.
•  Tuesday: Intense Run (32 mins total)
•    2x8min at hard Zone 4 effort, with 2min easy jog.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim (30 mins total)
•    RACE SIMULATION 750 TOTAL: Start swimming explosively from a jump or dive in, swim the first 100-200 at 90-95% race take out effort sighting 2x/25, swim the remainder of the 750 at 70-75% sighting 2x/25
•  Thursday: Intense Bike (34 mins total)
•    Repeat the following sequence five times with a 1min easy spin between: 3min building effort every minute from low to high Zone 4.
•  Friday: Steady Swim (30 mins total)
•    Main Set: 2×300 at 85% effort with 2mins rest.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Brick Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    45 mins
• WEEK 8
•  Monday: Steady Bike (35 mins total)
•    2x10mins at top of Zone 3/bottom of Zone 4 done as 2.5mins of cadence at 50, 2.5mins of cadence at 60, 2.5mins of cadence at 70. 2.5mins easy spin.
•  Tuesday: Intense Run (32 mins total)
•    2x8min at hard Zone 4 effort, with 2min easy jog.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim (30 mins total)
•    RACE SIMULATION 750 TOTAL: Start swimming explosively from a jump or dive in, swim the first 100-200 at 90-95% race take out effort sighting 2x/25, swim the remainder of the 750 at 70-75% sighting 2x/25
•  Thursday: Intense Bike (34 mins total)
•    Repeat the following sequence five times with a 1min easy spin between: 3min building effort every minute from low to high Zone 4.
•  Friday: Steady Swim (30 mins total)
•    Main Set: 2×300 at 85% effort with 2mins rest.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 65 mins total, Ride easy zones 1 or 2 for the majority of the ride
•    2. Brick Run: 25min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    45 mins
• WEEK 9: Rest
•  Monday: Recovery Bike
•    30mins easy
•  Tuesday: Recovery Run
•    25 mins total incorporating several 30 second strides throughout the workout
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1000 meters incorporating a single 400 meter effort at 70%
•  Thursday: Recovery Bike
•    45 mins in aero as much as possible
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters incorporating a single 500 meter effort at 75%
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Brick Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 10
•  Monday: Steady Bike (40 mins total)
•    2x10mins at top of Zone 3/bottom of Zone 4: 3mins of cadence at 50, 3mins of cadence at 60, 2mins of cadence at 70. 2mins easy spin.
•  Tuesday: Intense run (30 mins total)
•    15mins tempo run.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim (30 mins total)
•    Main Set: 4×100 at 85% effort with 10sec rest.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike (35 mins)
•    Repeat the following sequence four times: 2min at high Zone 4, 15sec building to even stronger Zone 5 effort, then jump into 15sec of absolute MAX effort, 2.5min easy recovery spin.
•  Friday: Steady Swim (30 mins total)
•    Main Set: 300 at 75% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins total, Ride easy zones 1 or 2 for the majority of the ride
•    2. Brick Run: 25min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 11
•  Monday: Steady Bike (40 mins total)
•    2x10mins at top of Zone 3/bottom of Zone 4: 3mins of cadence at 50, 3mins of cadence at 60, 2mins of cadence at 70. 2mins easy spin.
•  Tuesday: Intense run (30 mins total)
•    15mins tempo run.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim (30 mins total)
•     Main Set: 4×100 at 85% effort with 10sec rest.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike (35 mins)
•    Repeat the following sequence four times: 2min at high Zone 4, 15sec building to even stronger Zone 5 effort, then jump into 15sec of absolute MAX effort, 2.5min easy recovery spin.
•  Friday: Steady Swim (30 mins total)
•    Main Set: 300 at 75% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 75 mins total, Ride easy zones 1 or 2 for the majority of the ride
•    2. Brick Run: 30min run done immediately after a bike
•   Sunday: Main Run
•    60-75 mins
• WEEK 12: Taper
•  Monday: Endurance Bike
•    30 mins total incorporating 20 minutes in aero bars
•  Tuesday: Race Week Run
•    15 mins total in Zone 2
•  Wednesday: Race Week Swim
•    1000 meters incorporating 200 meter efforts at 70-80%
•  Thursday: Race Week Bike
•    20 minutes total incorporating three sets of 1 minute efforts above race pace
•  Friday: Race Week Swim
•    1100 meters incorporating two sets of 100 meters increasing effort to 90%
•  Saturday
•    1. Race Day Eve Swim: 10 mins
•    2. Race Day Eve Bike: 20 mins
•    3. Race Day Eve Run: 10 mins
•  Sunday: RACE DAY!

• WEEK 1
•   Monday: Steady Bike
•    30 mins total, incorporate three sets of 5min increasing efforts while maintaining cadence of 80-95
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    37mins total, insert 2×10 minute tempo efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    700 meters total, incorporate sets of 100s at 85% effort and sets of 25s at 90% effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    56mins total inserting two sets of 10×20 second hard Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    700 meters total, incorporating sets of 100s at 80% effort, sets of 50s at 90% effort, and sets of 25s at 90% effort
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Brick Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    45 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 2
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    30 mins total, incorporate 4 mins of high Zone 3 effort
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    43 mins total, insert 8×2 minute Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate one set of 700 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    50 mins total, inserting four sets of 4×15 second high power surges
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Brick Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 3: Rest
•  Monday: Recovery Bike
•    30mins easy
•  Tuesday: Recovery Run
•    20 mins total incorporating several 30 second strides throughout the workout
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate one set of 700 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    50 mins total, inserting four sets of 4×15 second high power surges
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Brick Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 4
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    30 mins total, incorporating five sets of 4 min efforts building from Zone 2 to Zone 5
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    51 mins total, insert 10×2 minute Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1500 meters total, incorporate one set of 800 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    40 mins incorporating six sets of 2.5 minutes in Zone 4 in aero bars
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•     1. Bike: 70 mins
•    2. Brick Run: 15min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 5
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    40 mins total incorporating 30 minutes of periods in and out of the aero position to practice technique
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    59 mins total, insert 12×2 minute Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1500 meters total, incorporate one set of 800 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    40 mins incorporating six sets of 3 minutes in Zone 4 in aero bars
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins
•    2. Brick Run: 15min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 6: Rest
•  Monday: Recovery Bike
•    30mins easy
•  Tuesday: Recovery Run
•    25 mins total incorporating several 30 second strides throughout the workout
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1000 meters incorporating a single 400 meter effort at 70%
•  Thursday: Recovery Bike
•    45 mins in aero as much as possible
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters incorporating a single 500 meter effort at 75%
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Brick Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 7
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    33 mins total. Repeat the following 8min sequence twice, all at high Zone 3, 2mins easy spin rest between 2mins 80 cadence, 2mins 70 cadence, 2mins 60 cadence, 2mins 50 cadence
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    32 mins total. 4x3mins at Zone 4 effort, with 2mins easy jog between.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set 6×100 at 85% effort with 10sec rest.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    38 mins total. 10min warm up building from easy to Zone 2. Include 4x20sec surges to high power and high cadence.
•  Friday: Steady Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set 400 at 80% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Brick Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
•  Saturday: Main Run
•    45 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 8
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    33 mins total. Repeat the following 8min sequence twice, all at high Zone 3, 2mins easy spin rest between 2mins 80 cadence, 2mins 70 cadence, 2mins 60 cadence, 2mins 50 cadence
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    30 mins total. 4x3mins at Zone 4 effort, with 1.5mins easy jog between.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set 6×100 at 85% effort with 10sec rest.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    38 mins total. Include 10x30sec Zone 5, 30sec easy spin.
•  Friday: Steady Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set 400 at 80% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Brick Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Saturday: Main Run
•    50 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 9: Rest
•  Monday: Recovery Bike
•    30mins easy
•   Tuesday: Recovery Run
•    20 mins total incorporating several 30 second strides throughout the workout
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate one set of 700 meters steady effort
•   Thursday: Intense Bike
•    50 mins total, inserting four sets of 4×15 second high power surges
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Brick Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 10
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    35 mins total. Repeat the following 8min sequence twice, all at high Zone 3 1mins 80 cadence, 1mins 70 cadence, 3mins 60 cadence, 3mins 50 cadence, 2mins easy spin rest.
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    32 mins total. 4×3.5mins at Zone 4 effort, with 1.5mins easy jog between.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set 500 at 90-75% effort.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    37 mins total. 10x20sec Zone 5, 40sec easy spin.
•  Friday: Steady Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set 2×400 at 85% effort with 60sec rest.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins
•    2. Brick Run: 15min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 11
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    35 mins total. Repeat the following 8min sequence twice, all at high Zone 3 (1mins 80 cadence, 1mins 70 cadence, 3mins 60 cadence, 3mins 50 cadence, 2mins easy spin rest).
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    32 mins total. 4x4mins at Zone 4 effort, with 1mins easy jog between.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set 500 at 90-75% effort.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    37 mins total. 10x20sec Zone 5, 40sec easy spin.
•  Friday: Steady Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set 2×400 at 85% effort with 60sec rest.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins
•    2. Brick Run: 15min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 12: Rest
•  Monday: Recovery Bike
•    30mins easy
•  Tuesday: Recovery Run
•    25 mins total incorporating several 30 second strides throughout the workout
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1000 meters incorporating a single 400 meter effort at 70%
•  Thursday: Recovery Bike
•    45 mins in aero as much as possible
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters incorporating a single 500 meter effort at 75%
•  Saturday: Main Bike
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Brick Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    30 mins total incorporating a few building efforts to above race pace
• WEEK 13
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    35 mins total. 2x10mins at top of Zone 3/bottom of Zone 4 done as 2.5mins of cadence at 50, 2.5mins of cadence at 60, 2.5mins of cadence at 70. 2.5mins easy spin.
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    32 mins total. 2x8min at hard Zone 4 effort, with 2min easy jog.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    30 mins total. RACE SIMULATION 750 TOTAL - Start swimming explosively from a jump or dive in, swim the first 100-200 at 90-95% race take out effort sighting 2x/25, swim the remainder of the 750 at 70-75% sighting 2x/25
•   Thursday: Intense Bike
•    34 mins total. Repeat the following sequence five times with a 1min easy spin between 3min building effort every minute from low to high Zone 4.
•  Friday: Steady Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set 2×300 at 85% effort with 2mins rest.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Brick Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    45 mins
• WEEK 14
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    35 mins total. 2x10mins at top of Zone 3/bottom of Zone 4 done as 2.5mins of cadence at 50, 2.5mins of cadence at 60, 2.5mins of cadence at 70. 2.5mins easy spin.
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    32 mins total. 2x8min at hard Zone 4 effort, with 2min easy jog.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    30 mins total. RACE SIMULATION 750 TOTAL - Start swimming explosively from a jump or dive in, swim the first 100-200 at 90-95% race take out effort sighting 2x/25, swim the remainder of the 750 at 70-75% sighting 2x/25
•   Thursday: Intense Bike
•    34 mins total. Repeat the following sequence five times with a 1min easy spin between 3min building effort every minute from low to high Zone 4.
•  Friday: Steady Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set 2×300 at 85% effort with 2mins rest.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 65 mins total, Ride easy zones 1 or 2 for the majority of the ride
•    2. Brick Run: 25min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    45 mins
• WEEK 15
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    40 mins total. 2x10mins at top of Zone 3/bottom of Zone 4, 3mins of cadence at 50, 3mins of cadence at 60, 2mins of cadence at 70. 2mins easy spin.
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    30 mins total. 15mins tempo run.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set 4×100 at 85% effort with 10sec rest.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    35 mins. Repeat the following sequence four times 2min at high Zone 4, 15sec building to even stronger Zone 5 effort, then jump into 15sec of absolute MAX effort, 2.5min easy recovery spin.
•  Friday: Steady Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set 300 at 75% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins total, Ride easy zones 1 or 2 for the majority of the ride
•    2. Brick Run: 25min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 16: Taper
•  Monday: Endurance Bike
•    30 mins total incorporating 20 minutes in aero bars
•  Tuesday: Race Week Run
•    15 mins total in Zone 2
•  Wednesday: Race Week Swim
•    1000 meters incorporating 200 meter efforts at 70-80%
•  Thursday: Race Week Bike
•    20 minutes total incorporating three sets of 1 minute efforts above race pace
•  Friday: Race Week Swim
•    1100 meters incorporating two sets of 100 meters increasing effort to 90%
•   Saturday: Race Day Prep
•    1. Race Day Eve Swim - 10 mins
•    2. Race Day Eve Bike - 20 mins
•    3. Race Day Eve Run - 10 mins
•  Sunday: RACE DAY!

• WEEK 1
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    30 mins total, incorporate three sets of 5min increasing efforts while maintaining cadence of 80-95
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    37mins total, insert 2×10 minute tempo efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    700 meters total, incorporate sets of 100s at 85% effort and sets of 25s at 90% effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    56mins total inserting two sets of 10×20 second hard Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    700 meters total, incorporating sets of 100s at 80% effort, sets of 50s at 90% effort, and sets of 25s at 90% effort
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Brick Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    45 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 2
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    30 mins total, incorporate three sets of 5min increasing efforts while maintaining cadence of 80-95
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    37mins total, insert 2×10 minute tempo efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    700 meters total, incorporate sets of 100s at 85% effort and sets of 25s at 90% effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    56mins total inserting two sets of 10×20 second hard Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    700 meters total, incorporating sets of 100s at 80% effort, sets of 50s at 90% effort, and sets of 25s at 90% effort
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Brick Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    45 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 3: Rest
•  Monday: Recovery Bike
•    30mins easy
•  Tuesday: Recovery Run
•    20 mins total incorporating several 30 second strides throughout the workout
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate one set of 700 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    50 mins total, inserting four sets of 4×15 second high power surges
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Brick Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 4
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    30 mins total, incorporate 4 mins of high Zone 3 effort
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    43 mins total, insert 8×2 minute Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate one set of 700 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    50 mins total, inserting four sets of 4×15 second high power surges
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Brick Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 5
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    30 mins total, incorporate 4 mins of high Zone 3 effort
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    43 mins total, insert 8×2 minute Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate one set of 700 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    50 mins total, inserting four sets of 4×15 second high power surges
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Brick Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 6: Rest
•  Monday: Recovery Bike
•    30mins easy
•  Tuesday: Recovery Run
•    20 mins total incorporating several 30 second strides throughout the workout
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate one set of 700 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    50 mins total, inserting four sets of 4×15 second high power surges
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Brick Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 7
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    30 mins total, incorporating five sets of 4 min efforts building from Zone 2 to Zone 5
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    51 mins total, insert 10×2 minute Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1500 meters total, incorporate one set of 800 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    40 mins incorporating six sets of 2.5 minutes in Zone 4 in aero bars
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins
•    2. Brick Run: 15min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 8
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    30 mins total, incorporating five sets of 4 min efforts building from Zone 2 to Zone 5
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    51 mins total, insert 10×2 minute Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1500 meters total, incorporate one set of 800 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    40 mins incorporating six sets of 2.5 minutes in Zone 4 in aero bars
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins
•    2. Brick Run: 15min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 9: Rest
•  Monday: Recovery Bike
•    30mins easy
•  Tuesday: Recovery Run
•    20 mins total incorporating several 30 second strides throughout the workout
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate one set of 700 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    50 mins total, inserting four sets of 4×15 second high power surges
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Brick Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 10
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    40 mins total incorporating 30 minutes of periods in and out of the aero position to practice technique
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    59 mins total, insert 12×2 minute Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1500 meters total, incorporate one set of 800 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    40 mins incorporating six sets of 3 minutes in Zone 4 in aero bars
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike
•    1. Bike: 70 mins
•    2. Brick Run: 15min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 11
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    40 mins total incorporating 30 minutes of periods in and out of the aero position to practice technique
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    59 mins total, insert 12×2 minute Zone 4/5 efforts
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1500 meters total, incorporate one set of 800 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    40 mins incorporating six sets of 3 minutes in Zone 4 in aero bars
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins
•    2. Brick Run: 15min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 12: Rest
•  Monday: Recovery Bike
•    30mins easy
•  Tuesday: Recovery Run
•    20 mins total incorporating several 30 second strides throughout the workout
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•     1300 meters total, incorporate one set of 700 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    50 mins total, inserting four sets of 4×15 second high power surges
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Brick Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    30 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 13
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    33 mins total. Repeat the following 8min sequence twice, all at high Zone 3, 2mins easy spin rest between: 2mins 80 cadence, 2mins 70 cadence, 2mins 60 cadence, 2mins 50 cadence
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    32 mins total. 4x3mins at Zone 4 effort, with 2mins easy jog between.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set: 6×100 at 85% effort with 10sec rest.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    38 mins total. 10min warm up building from easy to Zone 2. Include 4x20sec surges to high power and high cadence.
•  Friday: Steady Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set: 400 at 80% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Brick Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    45 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 14
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    33 mins total. Repeat the following 8min sequence twice, all at high Zone 3, 2mins easy spin rest between: 2mins 80 cadence, 2mins 70 cadence, 2mins 60 cadence, 2mins 50 cadence
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•     32 mins total. 4x3mins at Zone 4 effort, with 2mins easy jog between.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set: 6×100 at 85% effort with 10sec rest.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    38 mins total. 10min warm up building from easy to Zone 2. Include 4x20sec surges to high power and high cadence.
•  Friday: Steady Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set: 400 at 80% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Brick Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    45 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 15: Rest
•  Monday: Recovery Bike
•    30mins easy
•  Tuesday: Recovery Run
•    20 mins total incorporating several 30 second strides throughout the workout
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate one set of 700 meters steady effort
•   Thursday: Intense Bike
•    50 mins total, inserting four sets of 4×15 second high power surges
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Brick Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    30 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 16
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    33 mins total. Repeat the following 8min sequence twice, all at high Zone 3, 2mins easy spin rest between: 2mins 80 cadence, 2mins 70 cadence, 2mins 60 cadence, 2mins 50 cadence
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    30 mins total. 4x3mins at Zone 4 effort, with 1.5mins easy jog between.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set: 6×100 at 85% effort with 10sec rest.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    38 mins total. Include 10x30sec Zone 5, 30sec easy spin.
•  Friday: Steady Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set: 400 at 80% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Brick Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 17
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    33 mins total. Repeat the following 8min sequence twice, all at high Zone 3, 2mins easy spin rest between: 2mins 80 cadence, 2mins 70 cadence, 2mins 60 cadence, 2mins 50 cadence
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    30 mins total. 4x3mins at Zone 4 effort, with 1.5mins easy jog between.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set: 6×100 at 85% effort with 10sec rest.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    38 mins total. Include 10x30sec Zone 5, 30sec easy spin.
•  Friday: Steady Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set: 400 at 80% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins including intervals in the aero position
•    2. Brick Run: 20min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 18: Rest
•  Monday: Recovery Bike
•    30mins easy
•  Tuesday: Recovery Run
•    20 mins total incorporating several 30 second strides throughout the workout
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate one set of 700 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    50 mins total, inserting four sets of 4×15 second high power surges
•   Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Brick Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    35 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 19
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    35 mins total. Repeat the following 8min sequence twice, all at high Zone 3, 1mins 80 cadence, 1mins 70 cadence, 3mins 60 cadence, 3mins 50 cadence, 2mins easy spin rest.
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    32 mins total. 4×3.5mins at Zone 4 effort, with 1.5mins easy jog between.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set: 500 at 90-75% effort.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    37 mins total. 10x20sec Zone 5, 40sec easy spin.
•  Friday: Steady Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set: 2×400 at 85% effort with 60sec rest.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins
•    2. Brick Run: 15min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 20
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    35 mins total. Repeat the following 8min sequence twice, all at high Zone 3, 1mins 80 cadence, 1mins 70 cadence, 3mins 60 cadence, 3mins 50 cadence, 2mins easy spin rest.
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    32 mins total. 4×3.5mins at Zone 4 effort, with 1.5mins easy jog between.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set: 500 at 90-75% effort.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    37 mins total. 10x20sec Zone 5, 40sec easy spin.
•  Friday: Steady Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set: 2×400 at 85% effort with 60sec rest.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins
•    2. Brick Run: 15min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 21: Rest
•  Monday: Recovery Bike
•    30mins easy
•  Tuesday: Recovery Run
•    20 mins total incorporating several 30 second strides throughout the workout
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    1300 meters total, incorporate one set of 700 meters steady effort
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    50 mins total, inserting four sets of 4×15 second high power surges
•  Friday: Technique Swim
•    1150 meters total, incorporate sets of 200s at 85% effort, sets of 50s at 80% effort, and sets of 25s at 95% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 45 mins in Zones 1/2
•    2. Brick Run: 10min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    35 mins in Zone 2
• WEEK 22
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    35 mins total. 2x10mins at top of Zone 3/bottom of Zone 4 done as 2.5mins of cadence at 50, 2.5mins of cadence at 60, 2.5mins of cadence at 70. 2.5mins easy spin.
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    32 mins total. 2x8min at hard Zone 4 effort, with 2min easy jog.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    30 mins total. RACE SIMULATION 750 TOTAL - Start swimming explosively from a jump or dive in, swim the first 100-200 at 90-95% race take out effort sighting 2x/25, swim the remainder of the 750 at 70-75% sighting 2x/25
•   Thursday: Intense Bike
•    34 mins total. Repeat the following sequence five times with a 1min easy spin between 3min building effort every minute from low to high Zone 4.
•  Friday: Steady Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set: 2×300 at 85% effort with 2mins rest.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 65 mins total, Ride easy zones 1 or 2 for the majority of the ride.
•    2. Brick Run: 25min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    45 mins
• WEEK 23
•  Monday: Steady Bike
•    40 mins total. 2x10mins at top of Zone 3/bottom of Zone 4, 3mins of cadence at 50, 3mins of cadence at 60, 2mins of cadence at 70. 2mins easy spin.
•  Tuesday: Intense Run
•    30 mins total. 15mins tempo run.
•  Wednesday: Main Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set: 4×100 at 85% effort with 10sec rest.
•  Thursday: Intense Bike
•    35 mins. Repeat the following sequence four times, 2min at high Zone 4, 15sec building to even stronger Zone 5 effort, then jump into 15sec of absolute MAX effort, 2.5min easy recovery spin.
•  Friday: Steady Swim
•    30 mins total. Main Set: 300 at 75% effort.
•  Saturday: Main Bike + Brick Run
•    1. Bike: 70 mins total, Ride easy zones 1 or 2 for the majority of the ride.
•    2. Brick Run: 25min run done immediately after a bike
•  Sunday: Main Run
•    50 mins
• WEEK 24: Rest
•  Monday: Endurance Bike
•    30 mins total incorporating 20 minutes in aero bars
•  Tuesday: Race Week Run
•    15 mins total in Zone 2
•  Wednesday: Race Week Swim
•    1000 meters incorporating 200 meter efforts at 70-80%
•  Thursday: Race Week Bike
•    20 minutes total incorporating three sets of 1 minute efforts above race pace
•  Friday: Race Week Swim
•    1100 meters incorporating two sets of 100 meters increasing effort to 90%
•  Saturday:
•    1. Race Day Eve Swim - 10 mins
•    2. Race Day Eve Bike - 20 mins
•    3. Race Day Eve Run - 10 mins
•  Sunday: RACE DAY!

Ace Your Sprint Race

Coordinating fundamental off-season base training with the right amount of high-intensity work in-season, in addition to a balanced diet and careful attention to fueling, mobility, and recovery, will set you up to perform exceptionally well from your first sprint triathlon. Make sure to keep up with our advice on general triathlon training and check out specific tips for strength, bike technique, etc.