Last year was my first time training for anything longer that a sprint distance. I found a training plan online for free that I could work into my schedule. It worked well and I felt very comfortable going into my first HIM. This year I paid for a membership on another forum that offered a bunch of training plans. I'm using one for my base and another to more aggressively go after my training starting the end of this month. In talking with most of my local fellow athletes, it's a mix. My training partner follows mine very closely but not perfect. A few others use a coach, something I did consider for this year. And others just use group swim, bike, and runs for their training. The key is to find something that works with your schedule and goals. I tend to over-train according to my abilities, but this is because my life gets hectic and I won't beat myself up if I miss a couple of workouts.

For cycling - definitely trainerroad. It has helped me so much to be consistent, and has helped me improve my FTP
Running - BarryP. Best run plan by far. You can easily get some decent mileage in without the suffering.

During 'actual' race prep - Don Fink 'Be Iron Fit' helped me through my first few events. I still follow it to a point, but swap the mid week (Tuesday) run with a long run instead. And the shorter run with a bike on the weekend 'sunday'.

In addition, following a basic training week as outlined in the triathlons training bible, has helped.

I'm curious to know what a basic training week that includes trainerroad and the BarryP plan looks like. Seems like a lot of sessions if you are also swimming.

Me too. Was gonna give that a go in my off season but would really like to up my run fitness without sacrificing any bike ,swim sessions. As far as the OP's question, I use trainer road tri specific plan for bike and run. Currently finishing up the Guppy challenge for the swim workouts . When thats done I'll follow tr's swim workouts too. Ive have by far benefited more from TR than any other investment in this sport . And it was also one of the cheapest :-)

Yes, it is. Frequency requires some creativity in scheduling. But has great benefits.

You figure out ways to combine workouts for logistical benefits. So an AM workout might be a swim, followed by a quick rinse, throw on running gear and doing the short recovery run on a treadmill or outdoors at the YMCA or where ever you swim. That can be followed up with a short strength routine.

Or alternately, wear tri shorts, do a short run, then jump on the trainer. Combine recovery rides with recovery runs, short run then easy spin. Where I live, I could run 3 miles to the pool, swim, run 3 miles home. Why drive in a car for a 15 minute round trip, when you can run a 45 minute round trip instead.

Once it gets warm, I'll do open water swims then do double or triple brick workouts from the beach location which is also a great staging point for the best riding roads and good running routes.

The trick is spacing out the longer workouts. So you can do a longer harder interval ride, then 5-8 hours later do a medium run if you have a good base. OR alternately, medium runs are stand alone, and you do short runs with a swim or Trainerroad.

---

TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

The trick is to combine workouts. I'm using a modified version of the TrainerRoad High Volume Sprint Triathlon Plan. Here's what my week looks like:

• Monday: rest day
• Tuesday: AM: short run, 30 minutes of VO2 Max intervals on the bike, PM: swim
• Wednesday: AM: tempo run PM: swim
• Thursday: AM: short run, 2x20 @95% FTP on bike, PM: swim
• Friday: AM: medium run, PM: swim
• Saturday: AM: open water swim, short run
• Sunday: AM: long run, PM: 2 hour outdoor "spirited" bike ride

So that's only 3.5hours/week on the bike. Not a lot by any stretch. I spend about five hours in the pool/lake and I'd guess about 3.5hours/week of running at the moment though that will ramp significantly as the year goes on. So twelve hours per week of training spread across twelve sessions.

If I was following the TR plan correctly, Tuesday would be a one-hour low intensity "recovery" ride and so would Saturday (iirc). I've scrapped that as I'm just trying to hold the line with power output this year and focus on my run. Also keep in mind that I'm training for short course primarily and that I'm usually in the top 1% of bike splits at my races (...because of aero, not because of my engine lol :) so it's not like there's a ton of low-hanging fruit for me there.

For reference, my understanding of the BarryP plan is that the structure is roughly 1,2,1,2,1,3 / short, tempo, short, medium, short, long

If you are new to the sport, "off-the-couch" and have some serious plans, then the first 3 - 4 years it's about building volume though frequency in each sport.

At first figure out a plan that you can consistently get in at a minimum 3 sessions of each sport each week. Don't over-think it, in terms of the work-outs themselves - just get out the door and get them done. But to put a number on them "zone-2 to 3".

Just keep repeating this until you feel your start starting to plateau ( this will vary from person to person) - then it's time to get a bit more creative with some singe sport focus blocks.

---

---

Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Very easy to do, as some of the posts have already laid an out line. Something similar to this would work perfectly:

m: Swim
t: Trainer road Workout + short (20-30 min run) (All AM)
w: Medium run (50-60 mins AM), Swim PM
t: Trainer road Workout + short (20-30 min run) (All AM)
f: Medium run (50-60 mins AM), Swim PM
s: Trainer road Workout + short (20-30 min run) (All AM)
s: Long run (90+ mins AM)

Very easy, and manageable if you're an early riser. Added bonus, just throw in some 25-30 mins strength sessions after you medium run days.

The key is keeping the runs aerobic, no speedwork.
Then later in the season, drop add, change as you wish.

The subject title made me think immediately of Pro cycling!

---

29 years and counting