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How to train for a triathlon

This is an excerpt from Unlocking Triathlon by Alison Freeman.

Plan for Your “A” Race

With the puzzle of your season framework defined, we now place the first puzzle piece: the training plan for your primary, or “A,” race of the triathlon season. Triathletes look at their “A” race as the most important triathlon of the season, their biggest goal, the event at which they want to perform their best, or possibly all of the above. We’ll define your “A” race as your only triathlon, your longest triathlon, or – if you are doing multiple events at your longest distance – the first triathlon at your longest race distance. Identify your “A” race and the corresponding race week in your season framework, and then determine the start week of your training plan by counting back 11 weeks for a sprint-distance triathlon, 15 weeks for Olympic-distance, or 23 weeks for half-distance (12/16/24 weeks if you include the race week in your count; note that the training plan for a half-distance race will consist of the first 8 weeks of the Olympic-distance training plan plus the 16 weeks of the Olympic- to half-distance training plan). Schedule your training plan to start on the determined start week and end on your “A” race week.

Best-case scenario, planning your season is that simple. But because life almost never is that simple, let’s walk through the specific steps involved in addressing the most common complications: misaligned start weeks and interrupted weeks. Figure 10.1 illustrates, week by week, how a training plan puzzle piece can fit into your season puzzle using example scenarios that demonstrate training plans adjusted to accommodate a late start, an early finish, and an interrupted week. The following guidelines offer a detailed explanation of how to adapt your training plan to address each of those possible hitches in your season planning.

Handling Misaligned Start Weeks

With your training plan start week determined, we need to run an important plan check: Does your training plan begin before, at, or after your training season start week? If the plan begins at or after your season start week, you’re all set (Sample scenario 1a; figure 10.1). If, however, your training plan begins before your planned season start, you’ve got a choice to make. You can either (1) back up your season start week to align with your training plan start week or (2) modify your training plan using the following guidelines:

• If your current training volume across all three sports is similar to or exceeds the training volume in week 1 of your training plan, you can consider a late start, beginning the plan in week 2, 3, 4, or 5 (Sample scenario 1b; figure 10.1). (It is not recommended to begin a training plan after week 5; instead, consider a late start combined with an early finish.)
• If the training in week 1 of the plan exceeds your current training volume, you’ll be better off implementing an early finish, beginning the training plan in week 1 (Sample scenario 1c; figure 10.1). In that case, reschedule the training plan so its start week aligns with your season start week. Work through the plan as written through 3 weeks before race week, then execute the training plan during the final 3 weeks as follows:
  • Race week is always the final week of the training plan (week 12 or 16).
  • The week before race week is always the second-to-last week in the training plan (week 11 or 15).
  • If you are doing a half-distance race, 2 weeks before race week is always week 14 of the Olympic- to half-distance training plan.
  • If you are doing a sprint-distance race and week 8 falls 2 weeks before race week, or are doing an Olympic-distance race and week 12 falls 2 weeks before race week, skip that week and complete week 9 (sprint-distance) or 13 (Olympic-distance) instead (Sample scenario 1c; figure 10.1). Otherwise, complete whichever week of the training plan falls 2 weeks before race week.
  • If your schedule doesn’t allow you to complete the plan through week 11 (week 7 for a sprint-distance triathlon), consider combining a late start with an early finish to ensure sufficient fitness development for your triathlon.

Handling Interrupted Weeks

If your training plan will overlap an interrupted week, we need to account for that in your season plan:

• If the interrupted week falls on week 4, 8, 12, or the second- or third-to-last week of your training plan, you’re in luck – no modifications are necessary! Those are recovery weeks or taper weeks. You can simply do whatever training you can during that week, allowing the planned week to be interrupted, and return to your training plan as scheduled the following week (Sample scenario 1a; figure 10.1).
• If the interrupted week falls on any other week in the training plan, you’ll stay in touch with your fitness by doing whatever swimming, biking, and running you can during the interrupted week, and then return to your training plan the following week and repeat the training week you completed pre-interrupted week (Sample scenarios 1b and 1c; figure 10.1). You can achieve this by either backing up your training plan start week, possibly requiring a late start (Sample scenario 1b; figure 10.1), or by implementing an early finish (Sample scenario 1c; figure 10.1).

With your “A” race identified and the training plan scheduled and modified as needed to account for interrupted weeks and misaligned start weeks, you now have the most important puzzle piece of your training season set in place. If you have only one triathlon scheduled for the season, then your season plan is nearly finalized; you can jump ahead to learn about training plan levels. If you have more than one triathlon scheduled for the season, keep reading.

More Excerpts From Unlocking Triathlon

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