Training for the run is the key to crossing any triathlon finish line strong and confident, no matter what your starting fitness level is. Whether you’re aiming to complete a sprint or tackle a full-distance (aka Ironman) race, an informed and focused approach to run training will help ensure success. The run, which takes place at the end after the swim and bike in a race, is done in a state of mental and physical exhaustion, making it unique among the three disciplines. A strong run that you can be proud of requires strength, endurance, speed, and mental fortitude.

At MOTTIV, we specialize in guiding amateur endurance athletes to their first or fifteenth finish line. With our expertise, you can achieve your running and race-day goals step by step. Let's get started!

What You'll Learn in This Article

• Understanding triathlon distances from sprint to full-distance, as well as weekly volume for each distance
• Strategies for balancing running with cycling and swimming
• Gear essentials, including choosing the right running shoes
• Managing nutrition and hydration on the run
• Advanced insights for mental preparation and recovery strategies

Overview of Triathlon Run Distances: Sprint to Ironman

First, let's look at each race distance when it comes to the run leg so you know what you've signed up for. Here’s a breakdown:

• Sprint Distance: 5km (3.1 miles) run
• Olympic Distance: 10km (6.2 miles) run
• Half Ironman (70.3): 21.1km (13.1 miles) run
• Ironman: 42.2km (26.2 miles) run

Key Differences

Aside from the fact each race distance takes a different amount of time to finish, there are a couple of other key differences to note as far as how you excecute these races. The shorter races like Sprint and Olympic, require speed and efficiency, while long-course races require exceptional endurance and pacing strategies.  More to the point, if you tried to go the same pace in an IRONMAN that you do in an Olympic, you'd crash and burn.

Introduction to Triathlon Run Training

A well-structured run training plan that sits within your larger triathlon training plan provides benefits far beyond just improving your physical fitness and race readiness. A smart plan will benefit you in so many ways:

• Builds fitness to handle the demands of running after swimming and biking.
• Prepares your body for the unique challenge of running on tired legs (aka brick workouts, where you cycle and then run immediately after)
• Helps stave off injuries by progressing you gradually through longer distances.
• Ensures balance, not only among the three disciplines but with work, family, and other commitments.

Below, we'll tackle each of these important components of an effective run training plan.

The Role of Endurance

Endurance, or the ability to run steadily for long periods and across long distances, is the foundation of any run training plan, especially for triathletes who must perform after completing two other disciplines. Here are three ways you can build your fitness:

• Weekly long runs to gradually increase stamina (see below under "Sample Workouts")
• Frequent low-intensity running in zone 1 or 2 for aerobic development. Training zones can help you find the right intensity.
• Recovery weeks every third week to prevent overtraining.

Be sure to check out our book Triathlon Run Foundations for an even more thorough guide to run training, including form considerations, running drills, mental preparation, nutrition, and more.

The Importance of Brick Workouts

Performing a cycling session and then immediately transitioning to a run, the exact way you do in a multisport race, is a cornerstone of triathlon training. This is called a Brick session, or a Brick run. These sessions prepare your body for the unique challenge of running immediately after cycling, teaching your body to adapt from having the support of a bike underneath you to having all of your body weight supported by your legs.

The transition can feel awkward and taxing; people who don't prepare for the transition often come off the bike and have jelly legs or a "dead leg" feeling, and in some cases, they may feel faint. Regular brick sessions help you adapt and improve your performance on race day. In fact, the triathlon training plans we create for athletes in our MOTTIV training app recommend that triathletes do brick runs year-round because they're so effective for a very small amount of time spent, and offer such important skill development.

These sessions are important for many reasons:

1. Simulate race conditions: Bricks replicate the bike-to-run transition, a critical part of any multisport race.
2. Train muscle memory: Your body learns to adjust quickly from cycling to running, rerouting blood flow and activating different muscle groups.
3. Reduce the "dead legs" feeling: Without practice, the first few kilometers of the run can feel sluggish and heavy. Brick sessions alleviate this by conditioning your legs.
4. Build mental toughness: Running on tired legs challenges your resilience, helping you push through discomfort during the race.

How to Incorporate Bricks

For beginners:

• Start with short runs (5-10 minutes) immediately after your bike ride.
• Gradually increase duration to 15-30 minutes for sprint and Olympic distances.
• For long-course races, build up to 45-60 minutes of running after riding.

Sample Brick Session:

1. Warm-up: 10 minutes easy biking
2. Main Set:
   • 45-minute bike ride at moderate intensity (Zone 2)
   • Transition quickly to running gear
   • 15-minute easy run (Zone 2)
3. Cool-down: 5-10 minutes walking and stretching

Frequency and Progression

• Sprint: Perform bricks 1-2 times per week.
• Olympic: Include 2 sessions weekly, alternating intensity.
• 70.3 and Ironman: Add longer bricks, focusing on distance and pacing.

Weekly Training Volume: What to Expect for Each Distance

Your weekly running volume will depend on your target race. Following is a rough guideline for how much weekly volume you'll need to log in your run training. Remember, a good training plan progresses you gradually through the distances so that you don't get injured or burnt out!

• Sprint: 10-15 km (6-9 miles) per week
• Olympic: 20-30 km (12-18 miles) per week
• 70.3: 30-50 km (18-30 miles) per week
• Ironman: 50-70 km (30-43 miles) per week

Balancing the Three Disciplines

Triathlon training requires careful juggling of three sports. You need to assign specific days for each discipline in order to avoid overlap, though once you become more experienced and are doing more training for longer races, you will start to see days where you will run and bike, or swim and run, on the same day.

Simple Sample Weekly Schedule:

• Monday: Swim (technique-focused)
• Tuesday: Run intervals (speed-focused)
• Wednesday: Bike ride (easy effort)
• Thursday: Rest or yoga
• Friday: Swim (endurance-focused)
• Saturday: Long bike ride + brick run
• Sunday: Long run

Sample Sprint Training Plan

Sample Week 1: Getting Started

Training for your first triathlon? Remember, the first week sets the foundation. Here’s a sample schedule:

• Monday: Rest
• Tuesday: 20-minute easy run (zone 1)
• Wednesday: 30-minute bike ride (moderate pace)
• Thursday: Swim drills (focus on breathing and form)
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 45-minute long run (zone 2)
• Sunday: Short brick (30-minute bike + 10-minute run)

This quick overview is just a very basic idea of what you would want to do to start to prepare for your first triathlon.  But if you want expert guidance with absolutely everything taken care of for you, you can try out a free, personalized training plan in our app, written by coaches who know exactly what it takes for amateur, age-group runners to overcome challenges and reach their race goals.

Increasing Intensity: Tips for Higher Intensity Running

To build speed, incorporate interval training into your weekly schedule:

• Start with short intervals: 30 seconds fast, 2 minutes rest.
• Progress to longer intervals: 3-5 minutes at threshold pace with 1-2 minutes rest.
• Incorporate hill sprints to build power and strength.

Sample Run Workouts for Triathletes

Run training can be broken up into endurance-focused sessions, and other sessions focused on speed or intervals. Each of these has a specific purpose and develops different energy systems in the body.

The Long Run: Building Distance Safely

Long runs should focus on building stamina, not speed. Follow these tips:

• Start with a manageable duration that reflects your current fitness (e.g., 30 minutes).
• Gradually add duration, making sure not to increase by more than 10% each week.
• Incorporate stretching, rest, and other recovery modalities.

In order to see just how long your long run should be for each distance, take a look at the following list. This will help give you a suggested goal to work up to.

Over-Distance Guidelines:

• Sprint: Build to 7-9 km (4-5.5 miles)
• Olympic: Build to 14-16 km (8.5-10 miles)
• 70.3: Build to 22-24 km (13.7-15 miles)
• Ironman: Split runs totaling 4-5 hours (e.g., 3 hours + 90 minutes).

Interval Running: Adding Speed Work to Your Training

Incorporating interval running, or speed work, into your training plan is essential for building the ability to run faster over longer distances. Interval training improves your cardiovascular fitness, increases your running efficiency, and helps you sustain higher speeds during races.

Benefits of Interval Running:

• Improved fitness: Alternating between intense bursts and recovery periods trains your body to recover faster and maintain higher intensities.
• Enhanced running economy: Boosts your ability to run at race pace with less effort.
• Cardiovascular gains: Strengthens your heart and lungs, improving oxygen delivery to working muscles.

How to Incorporate Speed Work:

1. Start with Short Intervals:
   • Run for 30 seconds at a fast pace (zone 4-5).
   • Walk or jog for 2-3 minutes to recover.
   • Repeat 6-8 times.
2. Progress Gradually:
   • Increase interval duration to 1-3 minutes at threshold pace (zone 3-4).
   • Decrease recovery time to 1-2 minutes.
3. Add Tempo Runs:
   • Run 15-20 minutes at a steady, comfortably hard pace (just below race pace).
   • Use these to build your ability to hold a given pace for longer.
4. Include Hill Repeats:
   • Find a moderate hill and run up for 30-60 seconds at a strong effort.
   • Walk or jog back down to recover.
   • Perform 6-10 repetitions.

Sample Interval Session:

• Warm-up: 10 minutes easy jogging.
• Main Set: 8 x 400 meters at a fast pace, with 90 seconds recovery jogs.
• Cool-down: 10 minutes easy jogging.

By incorporating speed work regularly (once per week for beginners), you’ll build the necessary strength and speed to handle the demands of your upcoming event.

• Increase time by 10% weekly, with a 40% reduction during recovery weeks.
• Run at a conversational pace (zone 1 or 2).

Incorporating Strength Training into Your Routine

Strength training improves running efficiency and helps prevent injuries. Effective exercises for runners include:

• Lunges
• Deadlifts
• Planks
• Calf raises

We believe so strongly in strength training that our app has 25 hours of guided video strength sessions designed specifically for the needs of triathletes and runners. You can read all about strength training for runners here.

Running Gear 101

Now that you've got a handle on the training, let's take a look at another important part of the picture: your gear. From shoes to shorts, tops, and sunglasses, being comfortable in your training is essential to enjoying it and pushing yourself harder.

Choosing the Right Running Shoes for Triathletes

Your running shoes are critical for performance and injury prevention. Here are some factors you may want to consider:

• Shoe type (neutral, stability, or motion control).
• Cushioned versus minimalist, depending on your preferences and running gait, as well as shoe flexibility and heel-to-toe drop.
• Breathability and lightweight materials.

For a much more comprehensive article about running shoes, check out this blog post on our website.

Now, let's break down running gear into three phases, beginner, intermediate, and advanced, to help you get a handle on what you need and what you don't, depending on your level.

Phase 1: Budget-Friendly Essentials

• Shoes: Reliable running shoes from trusted brands.
• Attire: Comfortable running clothes suited for the local weather.

Phase 2: Moderate Investment

• Shoes: Lightweight, race-ready shoes.
• Accessories: Running-specific socks to prevent blisters and a heart rate monitor for pacing.

Phase 3: Advanced Optimization

• Shoes: Carbon-plated "super" shoes for energy efficiency.
• Extras: Compression gear for improved recovery and advanced GPS-enabled smart watches provide data and analytics. Use a heart rate monitor to ensure appropriate intensity for your fitness level.

Become a fitter and more efficient runner with our book, Triathlon Running Foundations, which covers everything you need to know about training and racing in this important triathlon discipline.

Unique Needs for Running Nutrition

Because of the demand that running puts on the body and intense energy needs, especially at the end of a longer race, fueling needs become even more important.

Consuming calories during endurance exercise is just as important as hydration. In other words: eating the right kind of fuel is just as important as drinking.

FOR WORKOUTS LONGER THAN 75 MINUTES: It is critical to take in calories if you want to maintain energy levels and prevent fatigue.

FOR WORKOUTS SHORTER THAN 75 MINUTES: Consuming additional calories beyond hydration is unnecessary because the stored energy from your pre-workout nutrition should be enough to last.

During exercise, the digestive system only has access to 20% of the blood flow that it usually has and functions at a reduced capacity, so it's important to consume easily digestible food and the right amounts, so you don't cause stomach problems.

What to Eat During Run Workouts

Here are some rules of thumb that can help you avoid common endurance nutrition mistakes.

• Liquid when running: Liquid calorie sources such as sports drinks, gels, or sodas are the most effective.
• Solids or liquids when cycling or swimming: Energy gels, bars, or chews specifically designed for endurance exercise tend to work well for most people.
• Real food for ultramarathons: Ultra-endurance athletes tend to prefer real foods. Studies have shown they need to consume as much as two times more than runners and triathletes during their races. Dried fruit, or portable fruit like bananas, pretzels, energy bars, rice cakes, and baby food packets are some of the most effective options for ultra-endurance events.
• Glucose vs. Fructose vs. Maltodextrin: Glucose has always been the preferred carbohydrate source for endurance athletes. Sports nutrition companies have found that mixing glucose and fructose allows athletes to consume more calories, but it also increases the likelihood of digestive problems. We recommend maltodextrin because it is the most easy-to-digest carbohydrate source; maltodextrin requires more fluid to digest, so it's important to monitor thirst signals and drink a little more than average.
• Mistake to avoid: An all-in-one nutrition product often results in nutritional race disasters (in other words, extreme stomach or gastrointestinal distress), so we do not recommend them. The problem with all-in-ones is that it's impossible to separate fluids and calories in these products. If you have stomach problems, it's not possible to switch to water to keep drinking, or if you're burping and need to stop drinking fluids, you'll also be taking in fewer calories and ruining your fuelling strategy.

How Much Should You Eat When Running

The recommended safe range for athletes to consume during intense exercise is around 60 grams of total carbs per hour. However, hydrogel companies say that 100-120 grams of carbs each hour is the ideal range that athletes should consume. Other companies mix glucose and fructose, so they can recommend consuming 90 grams of carbs per hour.

The problem with these recommendations is that these are just arbitrary numbers that are not personalized to you.

To determine the right amount of calories to consume, you can use this calorie calculator below that takes into account your weight, pace, and the type of endurance event. The calculator will calculate the number of calories burned and target replacing 25% of those calories, which tends to get most people in the right ballpark.

To determine the right amount of calories and what to consume during each workout, use the calorie calculator above and the table below. This strategy will keep your blood sugar high during intense efforts and low during endurance-building efforts to maximize workout effectiveness.

Understanding Electrolyte Needs

Proper hydration and electrolyte balance are essential for runners, especially in conditions that are hot and/or humid. A few of our favorite quick tips are as follows:

• Consume sports drinks or electrolyte tablets during long runs.
• Use gels or chews to maintain energy levels.
• Avoid overhydration to prevent hyponatremia.

Race Day Considerations

With all your training behind you, you're ready to give it your best on race day. Here are a few reminders for nailing your best run at your target event.

• Lay out all your gear the night before.
• Practice transition setups to save time.
• Stick to your nutrition plan during the race.

Strategies for Long Course Racing

For longer distances, there are some commonly used techniques you can practice. For example:

• Incorporate split long runs (splitting your distance up into two separate runs on the same day) to prevent overuse injuries.
• Practice fueling strategies during training sessions.
• Prioritize mental toughness through visualization exercises.

Mental Preparation for Race Day

The mental aspect of racing is as important as physical preparation, especially in high-pressure situations such as competing in an event like the world championships in Kona. Here are strategies to build confidence and focus:

• Visualization: Imagine completing your race smoothly and successfully.
• Positive Affirmations: Use encouraging self-talk during training and races.
• Pre-Race Routine: Develop and practice a calming routine to minimize race-day nerves.
• Mindfulness Training: Engage in practices like meditation to improve focus and reduce anxiety.

FAQ's on Triathlon Run Training

Q: What should my first training plan include for running?

A: Begin with a structured plan that includes three runs per week: one long, one interval session, and one brick.

Q: What's most important in a sprint training plan?

Focus on shorter, high-intensity runs combined with long runs that build stamina and aerobic fitness.

Q: How do I balance intensity and volume in my training?

Alternate high-intensity days with low-intensity recovery days. Use a 3:1 work-to-recovery week cycle.

Q: What is a good training plan for beginners preparing for a triathlon?

A: A beginner's triathlon training plan typically includes a mix of swimming, biking, and running. A sample 8-week sprint triathlon training plan usually involves two swims per week, one run, and bike rides that gradually increase in distance. Incorporating triathlon training tips can help optimize your schedule and improve performance.

Q: What types of workouts should I include in a sample resistance workout?

A: A sample resistance workout for triathlon training should focus on building strength in key muscle groups used during cycling and running. Exercises might include squats, lunges, and deadlifts. These workouts should be done 1-2 times a week to complement your other training and improve overall performance.

Q: What should wear for my first triathlon?

A: For your first triathlon, wear a comfortable tri suit that allows for quick transitions between swimming, biking, and running. Consider wearing triathlon-specific gear, such as water-resistant shoes and a swim cap. Following REI expert advice can help you choose the right equipment for your event.

Q: How important is it to follow a training schedule for my triathlon training?

A: Following a training schedule ensures you gradually build fitness, resilience, and strength without risking injury. A well-structured training plan helps balance the bike and run segments with swimming, ensuring you are adequately prepared for your race day.

Conclusion

Becoming a stronger runner in general and in the broader sport of triathlon is a journey that requires focus, consistency, and the right plan. By incorporating long runs, speed workouts, and brick sessions, you can build the skills needed to succeed in any triathlon distance.

Tools like the MOTTIV training app will help equip you to achieve your goals, no matter how scary. Start your training today and discover what you’re capable of!