Olympic Triathlon Training Plan

12 weeks·olympic·intermediate

Weeks: 12
Sessions: 104
Peak week: 8h 25; week 10
Long ride: 2h 00; week 10
Taper: 2 wk

BaseCutbackBuildPeakTaperRace

Heart-rate zones use the Karvonen formula from max HR 185 and resting HR 55. Enter yours to recalculate.

Week-by-week training plan
Wk	Focus	Sessions	Volume	Biggest session
01	Base: technique + aerobicLong ride 1 h 15 min	9 · 4 key	5h 00	Long ride 1 h 15 min
Tue Oct 6 Swim technique + aerobic 20 min 8 × 50 drill/swim 4 × 100 @ 1:52/100 yd, 15 s rest Wed Oct 7 Bike intervals 40 min 10–15 min warm-up 3 × 5 min Zone 3 (146–159 bpm), 3 min easy 10 min easy Thu Oct 8 Swim endurance 20 min continuous or broken 400s @ 1:54/100 yd · bilateral breathing, sighting every 6–8 strokes Thu Oct 8 Run + strides 30 min easy with 6 × 20 s strides Fri Oct 9 Endurance ride 30 min Zone 2 (133–146 bpm) · high cadence, flat route or trainer Fri Oct 9 Easy run 20 min Zone 2 (133–146 bpm) · about 10:25/mi Sat Oct 10 Long ride 75 min Long ride, Zone 2 (133–146 bpm) · fuel 60–80 g carbs per hour Sun Oct 11 Open-water / long swim 20 min continuous swim @ 1:51/100 yd · wetsuit if racing in one Sun Oct 11 Long run 45 min Zone 2 (133–146 bpm) · flat to rolling route
Weeks 2–12 locked Unlock the full plan. Every session, every week Paces and loads from your numbers PDF, calendar and Garmin export Re-plans when you miss a key session Billing period$79 / year$14 / month Annual works out at $6.58 a month Secure checkout with Stripe · Cancel any time
02	Base: technique + aerobicLong ride 1 h 15 min	9 · 4 key	5h 20	Long ride 1 h 15 min
03	Base: technique + aerobicLong ride 1 h 15 min	9 · 4 key	5h 50	Long ride 1 h 15 min
04	Recovery weekLong ride 1 h	9 · 2 key	4h 05	Long ride 1 h
05	Build: threshold + weekly brickLong ride 1 h 30 min	9 · 5 key	6h 20	Long ride 1 h 30 min
06	Build: threshold + weekly brickLong ride 1 h 30 min	9 · 5 key	6h 35	Long ride 1 h 30 min
07	Build: threshold + weekly brickLong ride 1 h 45 min	9 · 5 key	7h 10	Long ride 1 h 45 min
08	Recovery weekLong ride 1 h 15 min	9 · 2 key	5h 15	Long ride 1 h 15 min
09	Peak: race-specific bricksLong ride 1 h 45 min	9 · 5 key	7h 40	Long ride 1 h 45 min
10	Peak: race-specific bricksLong ride 2 h	9 · 5 key	8h 25	Long ride 2 h
11	Taper: less volume, keep intensityLong ride 1 h 30 min	9 · 5 key	6h 20	Long ride 1 h 30 min
12	Race weekRace	5 · 1 key	1h 55	Race

Your paces

Swim CSS: 1:45/100 ydcritical swim speed
Run easy: 10:25/mi
Run threshold: 7:53/mi
Run race pace: 7:43/miopen-run pace; expect 3–8% slower off the bike

Heart-rate zones · Karvonen

Zone 1: 120–133 bpmrecovery
Zone 2: 133–146 bpmaerobic base
Zone 3: 146–159 bpmtempo
Zone 4: 159–172 bpmthreshold
Zone 5: 172–185 bpmVO2max

The numbers

About this plan

This olympic triathlon training plan runs 12 weeks for an intermediate athlete, from 5 hours in week 1 to 8.4 hours in week 10. Week 6 is 6.6 h, split about 20% swim, 47% bike and 33% run across 9 sessions. 35 swims, 34 rides and 34 runs prepare you for 1500 m, 40 km and 10 km.

Zone 2 (133–146 bpm) carries the 2 h long ride of week 10; Zone 4 (159–172 bpm) is for the Olympic-distance triathlon intervals. 35 swims use a 1:45/100 yd critical swim speed; 6 bricks follow long rides.

Recovery weeks: week 4 (4.1 h) and week 8 (5.3 h). The 2 taper weeks go from 8.4 h to 1.9 h; the 70-hour block ends with run race pace near 7:43/mi.

Week 1 of 12 is 5 hours in 9 sessions; the biggest is Saturday's 75 min, and the key work is swim technique + aerobic, bike intervals and long ride.

The phases run base weeks 1–3 (5–5.8 h), build weeks 5–7 (6.3–7.2 h), peak weeks 9–10 (7.7–8.4 h), taper week 11 (6.3 h) and race week 12 (1.9 h).

Questions

FAQ

How many hours a week is this olympic triathlon training plan?

5 hours in week 1, 6.6 h in week 6, 8.4 hours in week 10; 70 hours in all.

What heart-rate zones does the olympic triathlon training plan use?

Zone 2 is 133–146 bpm and Zone 4 159–172 bpm at the default heart rates; your own recalculate all 12 weeks and 70 hours.

How many brick workouts are in the olympic triathlon training plan?

6 bricks across 12 weeks, the longest behind a 2 h ride.

What is the longest bike ride before the Olympic-distance triathlon?

2 h, in week 10, before a 2-week taper to 1.9 h.

Keep exploring

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