You could pay a coach several hundred dollars a month. However, this is what I would recommend: find local triathletes in venues such as masters swimming or group rides. Talk to them and learn what works for them. Most triathletes are happy to talk about triathlon for hours...you may get some good, free advice.

Since you are new to swimming, I’d recommend a masters team anyway.

Use a ratio of about 1 hour swim, 5 hours bike, 2 hours run if you have 8 hours. Adjust up or down based on the hours you have. If you really suck as swimming - increase that portion a bit and reduce the others.

http://www.trinewbies.com/tno_trainingprograms.asp


Good starting point to get an idea...


Personally, I like the trainerroad plans at the present. A good mix of workouts for all 3 disciplines.

First, give up on trying to know what to do before you even start. 99% of what you think you should do is probably wrong. Then, start slowly and see what pieces naturally fall into place to fit you. Build from there.

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Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com

Swim: You options depend on where you are. Getting some initial lessons from a competitive swim coach is a good idea, at least. Masters swim didn't fit with my schedule or location. So, I swim solo, and get private coaching a few times a year. I'm "mostly" self-taught...but, I've had some key individual instruction along the way---probably about 15 private coaching sessions total. I started with Total Immersion...which was good for teaching me basic body position. But, I spent too long doing it, and had to unlearn some of its habits. "FindingFreeStyle" has some online swim coaching options, too.

Run: How long have you been running? You say 6-7 miles a day...is that 3,4,5 or 6 days a week? Just the last week? How many miles per week do you average....for say the last 3-6 months? Have you run a race? What was your pace in that race?

Bike: How long have you been cycling? Are you totally new to that, too?

My general approach to structuring a week is, swim in the morning 3-5 times a week. Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri, (Sat). I don't really bother to de-conflict it with run/bike. Except that I never swim AFTER a run, because I tend to get hamstring cramps on the swim....usually about 3/4 through the workout after pushing off the wall. Ugh.

I run 6 days a week. typically at lunch. My day off is usually Tuesday, when I do my hard bike session. Long run is on Thursdays. I spread the long run 48 hrs away from my hard bike (Tuesday), and my long bike (Saturday).

I bike 4 days in the evenings after work. Hard on Tuesday. Long on Saturday. Then I fill in 2 more moderate rides on other days. These tend to float based on my evening schedule---since they don't tend to "conflict" with anything. I also try to only do big "all 3 sports" days 1-2 times a week (typically just one---2 is rare). So, I either Swim/bike, Swim/run, or run/bike most days.

_____Mon______Tue______Wed______Thu______Fri______Sat______Sun
AM...Swim.......Swim........-------.........Swim.......Swim.....(swim)......run
Lun...Run........--------.......Run...........R-Lng.......Run.......B-Lng......------
PM...------........B-Hard....Bike............B-easy.....------......R-short.... ------

The BOLD items are the ones I try to keep separated from each other by 48 hours.

All runs are "easy". Hard bike starts as 2x20, and progresses to 3x15, 2x30, 1x60 as the season moves along. I also start inserting a 45-75 minute race-pace effort at the beginning of my long-bike as race-day gets closer.

ETA: The above is JUST what I do. I'm not saying its optimal, or what you should do. I'm sure there are other better ways to skin the cat. But, it works for me.

Where are you located?

I'd suggest a local tri club if you have one around.

USA Triathlon has done some pretty good work in setting up their "Time to Tri" initiative.

It's designed for the beginner...

https://www.mytimetotri.com/

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"Good genes are not a requirement, just the obsession to beat ones brains out daily"...the Griz

I was in the same place a few years ago. Because you are starting so fresh, you will improve pretty dramatically simply through consistency and structured training. There an endless number of plans that would work, most important thing for you will be picking one and sticking to one. Pick a plan, maybe even something that seems “lighter” on the number of sessions or less “advanced” and see how it fits into your life. You don’t need a coach, but you do need to commit and trust the plan. Give it a period of time (12 weeks?), have fun, and then re-calibrate.

Some weeks it will feel like fitness comes in leaps and bounds, others incrementally and at the margins. But I can guarantee you will get faster through consistency. Commit to going HARD on the prescribed hard days, EASY on the easy days, and don’t fall into trap of trying to crush every workout. And then come back on this thread and let us know how it is going!!!