Olympic and Sprint Distance Triathlon Training

Training intelligently for short-distance triathlon racing is a challenging task. How do you fit all the sessions in? How do you order the workouts? How do you keep yourself from burning out, doing too much, or not doing enough?

Well, smarter people than me have said that making a good training schedule is more art than science. I think most of you have realized that I don’t market myself as a scientist!

The first table provided below is a summary of the different types of training sessions one would undertake in a season of triathlon training. The table includes examples and the phase that such training might take place. These are just general suggestions and everyone’s schedule should reflect their particular strengths and weaknesses. For example, a former collegiate runner might want to spend more time swimming and cycling and could get away with a minimum of run specific training.

The next few tables give example weeks for various levels of ability and period. I will continue to modify this file as I have time and as new ideas occur to me.

Key Sessions

Sport

Frequency

/ Week

Type

Example (not including warm up/ warm down)

Phase

Swim

 

 

 

 

S1

2-3

Lactate Threshold (LT)

20 x 100 at 90% on :10 rest

6 x 400 descend effort 1-3, 4-6 on :30 rest

Late Base / Build / Peak

S2

2

Aerobic / aerobic endurance (AeT)

4 x 500 at 75-80% on 1:00 rest

10 x 200 at 80% on :30 rest

Base / Build

S3

1

Any of the above can include a V02max sprint set somewhere in there

6 x 50 all out on 1:00 rest

10 x 50 all out 25, easy 25 on :30 rest

Build / Peak

S4

1

Recovery

16 x 100 at 70% on :15 rest

All

S5

All

Drills

All sessions some focus on form & drills

All

 

 

 

 

 

Bike

 

 

 

 

B1

1-2

LT

2 x 20 minute at threshold, 10 minute spin between

time trial up to 40k

5 x 4 min Z4, 4 minute spin between

Late Base / Build / Peak

B2

1-2

Skills/Strength

3 x 20 minute big gear w/ 10 minute spin between

5 x 5 minute climb (hill repeats)

10 x 1 minute one leg drills (each leg)

10 x 20 second jumps (sprints)

10 x 1 minute spin ups (high cadence)

All except Prep

B3

1

AeT

2-3 hrs steady state moderate pace

Base / Build / Peak

B4

1

Aerobic / long slow distance / recovery

2-5 hrs easy to moderate

 

All

B5

Optional

Short recovery

45 minute spin

All

B6

 

Hill work

Include hills in AeT and aerobic sessions

Base / Build

B7

Optional

V02max

10 x 1 minute sprint, 1 minute between

Build / Peak

 

 

 

 

 

Run

 

 

 

 

R1

1

LT

30 minute steady at LT

1 hr at LT minus 5bpm to 10bpm

4 x 1 mile at 10k-15k race pace, 3:00 rest

Run Season / Build / Peak

R2

1

V02max

 

8 laps on track, stride straights, jog corners

8 x 200 fast, full recovery

8 x 400 at 5k pace, 200 jog between

Build / Peak

R3

1

Long run

1-3 hrs at easy conversational pace (Z1, low Z2)

All except Prep

R4

1

AeT run

1-2 hrs at moderate aerobic pace

Base / Build

R5

1

Brick run

Run 10-45 minutes at various pace off bike

Base / Build / Peak

R6

2-3

Aerobic conditioning

Easy running

All

R7

1

Drills

Tack drills onto the end of an easy session

All

 

 

 

 

 

Strength

 

 

 

 

ST1

1-2

Core

Swedish ball, situps, machine assisted resistance training, hip abductors, isometrics, etcetera

All

ST2

1

Sport specific

One leg bike drills, stair running, hill running, swim cords, lats, quads, hamstrings, etcetera

All

Sample build week for experienced AG athlete with 15-20 hours to train

 

AM session

Lunch / PM session

Monday

S2, S5

R1

Tuesday

B2

S4, R6

Wednesday

ST1

S1, B3

Thursday

 

R2, R7

Friday

S1, S5, S3

B1, R5

Saturday

R3

ST2, B5

Sunday

B4, R5

 

Due to the nature of short course training, base periods will include more LT work than might be considered normal for IM or new athletes.

A base period week for the same athlete could be quite similar:

 

AM session

Lunch / PM session

Monday

 

S2, S3

Tuesday

 

R1

Wednesday

ST1

B4

Thursday

S4, R6

 

Friday

S5, B6

 

Saturday

R4

 

Sunday

B1

 

Clearly, there are a number of ways to construct both the base and build weeks, and as you can see these weeks did not include a day off.

Sample build week for newer AG athlete with 10 hrs to train

 

AM session

Lunch / PM session

Monday

 

S2, S3

Tuesday

 

R1

Wednesday

ST1

B4

Thursday

S4, R6

 

Friday

S5, B6

 

Saturday

R4

 

Sample base week for newer AG athlete with 10 hrs to train

 

AM session

Lunch / PM session

Monday

 

S2, S5

Tuesday

 

R1

Wednesday

ST1, S4

B4

Thursday

S4, R6

 

Friday

B6

 

Saturday

B3, R5

 

Sunday

off

 

Some general guidelines for OD and sprint specific training (my take on it anyway):

  • Put 48-72 hours in between LT run sessions
  • Put 24-36 hours in between LT run and bike sessions
  • Put 72-96 hours in between any V02max sessions (except swimming)
  • Don’t do more than 1 V02max session per week per sport
  • Increased Aerobic volume ­ = Better Results ­
  • Too much LT/V02 max = Results ¯
  • Not enough LT/V02 max = Results ¯
  • 1-2 bricks per week
  • Go easy on easy days, fast on fast days
  • Listen to your body and watch for signs of injury

Nutrition and sleep are different yet related subjects. Suffice it to say: Better diet = better athlete. Rested athlete = better athlete.

That’s all for now!

Marty Gaal – 03 July 2003