Sprint Triathlon
Beginner Training Plan
14 weeks
Intro
Grand Rapids Triathlon Sprint Distances are as follows:
Swim – 600 meters (656 yards or approx 13 laps in a 25 yd pool)
Bike – 20K (12.4 miles)
Run – 5K (3.1 miles)
Plan designed for beginner triathlete with basic swimming, cycling & running skills
Individuals starting this plan should currently be active 30 minutes per
day 5 times per week or average 2.5 hours of activity per week minimum
Training plan created by AthleticMentors USA Triathlon Certified Coaches
Personalized training plans and one-on-one coaching available
Contact Athletic Mentors online at www.athleticmentors.com
Contact Athletic Mentors via phone at 269-664-6912
Terminology
RPE – rate of perceived exertion; scale of 1–10 with 10 being max effort
See descriptions of scale on next slide
Brick –combination workout that moves from one discipline directly into the next
simulates race situation
Tempo – continuous effort in zone 3
Speedwork –repeats of short intervals in zone 4
Example: 0.25–0.5 mile for run, 1–2 minutes for bike, 25–50 yards for swim
Long Interval - repeats of long intervals in zone 3
Example: mile for run, 5+ minutes for bike, 100+ yards for swim
RPE Scale
Perceived
Effort
Description
10
Max Effort
Activity
Feels almost impossible to
keep going
Completely out of
breath
Unable to talk
9
Very Hard
Effort
Very difficult to maintain
exercise intensity
Can barely
breathe
Can barely speak a
single word
7-8
Vigorous
Activity
On the verge of becoming
uncomfortable
Short of breath
Can speak a sentence
4-6
Moderate
Activity
Feels like you can exercise for
hours
Breathing heavily
Can hold short
conversation
2-3
Light Activity
Feels like you can maintain for
hours
Easy to breath
Can carry a
conversation
1
Very Light
Activity
Anything other than sleeping
Training Zones
% of max
HR
Zone
RPE
Description
50-70%
1
2-3
long slow
70-80%
2
4-5
can exercise comfortably for an
extended period of time
80-90%
3
6-7
fast work that can be held for some
number of minutes
90-95%
4
8-9
short bouts of 1 - 5 minutes at high
pace
95-100%
5
10
all out effort; held for less than a
couple of minutes
Training Phases I - II
BASE PHASE
Spend most of training time in zone 2
Include a few 20-30 second hard efforts to 1 workout per discipline per week
Add a 3
rd
day of strength training if time permits
BUILD PHASE
Spend majority of time in zone 2
Add a tempo session or long interval session to 1 workout per discipline per week
Substitute a hill workout for 1 strength training day if desired
Training Phases III - IV
PEAK PHASE
Spend less than half of training time in zone 2
Maintain tempo session or long interval session for each discipline per week
Change second workout per week for each discipline to speedwork
Substitute a hill workout for 1 strength training day if desired
TAPER PHASE
Increase intensity of workouts
Cut training volume in half
Allow for full recovery between intervals
WEEKS 1 - 3
Week 1 - BASE
Week 2 - BASE
Week 3 - BASE (recovery)
Mon
OFF
Mon
OFF
Mon
OFF
Tue
Run
0:15
Tue
Run
0:20
Tue
Run
0:20
Strength Train
0:30
Strength Train
0:30
Wed
Swim
0:20
Wed
Swim
0:20
Wed
Swim
0:20
Thu
Bike
0:20
Thu
Bike
0:25
Thu
Strength Train
0:30
Strength Train
0:30
Strength Train
0:30
Fri
OFF
Fri
OFF
Fri
OFF
Sat
Run
0:15
Sat
Run
0:20
Sat
Swim
0:20
Sun
Bike
0:20
Sun
Swim
0:20
Sun
Bike
0:30
Weekly Total
2:30
Weekly Total
2:45
Weekly Total
2:00
WEEKS 4 - 6
Week 4 - BASE
Week 5 - BASE
Week 6 - BASE (recovery)
Mon
OFF
Mon
OFF
Mon
OFF
Tue
Run
0:25
Tue
Run
0:30
Tue
Run
0:25
Strength Train
0:30
Strength Train
0:30
Strength Train
0:30
Wed
Swim
0:20
Wed
Swim
0:25
Wed
Swim
0:20
Thu
Bike
0:30
Thu
Bike
0:40
Thu
Bike
0:30
Strength Train
0:30
Strength Train
0:30
Fri
OFF
Fri
OFF
Fri
OFF
Sat
Run
0:20
Sat
Run
0:25
Sat
Run
0:30
Sun
Bike
0:30
Sun
Bike
0:35
Sun
Swim
0:20
Weekly Total
3:05
Weekly Total
3:35
Weekly Total
2:35
WEEKS 7 - 9
Week 7 - BUILD
Week 8 - BUILD
Week 9 - BUILD
Mon
OFF
Mon
OFF
Mon
OFF
Tue
Run
0:35
Tue
Run
0:40
Tue
Run
0:30
Strength Train
0:30
Strength Train
0:30
Strength Train
0:30
Wed
Swim
0:25
Wed
Swim
0:30
Wed
Swim
0:25
Thu
Bike
0:55
Thu
Bike
1:00
Thu
Strength Train
0:30
Strength Train
0:30
Strength Train
0:30
Fri
OFF
Fri
OFF
Fri
OFF
Sat
Run
0:30
Sat
Run
0:40
Sat
Swim/Bike Brick
(0:15/1:10)
1:25
Sun
Bike
0:40
Sun
Swim
0:30
Sun
Bike/Run Brick
(1:00/0:30)
1:30
Weekly Total
4:05
Weekly Total
4:20
Weekly Total
4:50
WEEKS 10 - 12
Week 10 - BUILD (recovery)
Week 11 - PEAK
Week 12 - PEAK
Mon
OFF
Mon
OFF
Mon
OFF
Tue
Run
0:25
Tue
Swim
0:30
Tue
Run
0:30
Strength Train
0:30
Strength Train
0:30
Strength Train
0:30
Wed
Swim
0:25
Wed
Run
0:30
Wed
Swim
0:30
Thu
Bike
0:40
Thu
Swim
0:30
Thu
Bike
0:40
Strength Train
0:30
Strength Train
0:30
Fri
OFF
Fri
OFF
Fri
OFF
Sat
Swim
0:25
Sat
Bike/Run Brick
(1:05/0:20)
1:25
Sat
Swim/Bike Brick
(0:20/1:00)
1:20
Sun
Bike
1:00
Sun
Bike/Run Brick
(1:00/0:25)
1:25
Sun
Bike/Run Brick
(0:55/0:25)
1:20
Weekly Total
3:25
Weekly Total
5:20
Weekly Total
5:20
WEEKS 13 - 14
Week 13 - TAPER
Week 14 - TAPER
Mon
OFF
Mon
OFF
Tue
Swim/Bike Brick (0:20/0:30)
0:50
Tue
Bike/Run Brick (0:30/0:10)
0:40
Wed
OFF
Wed
OFF
Thu
Run
0:25
Thu
Swim/Bike Brick (0:10/0:20)
0:30
Fri
Bike
0:30
Fri
OFF
Sat
OFF
Sat
Bike
0:20
Sun
Bike/Run Brick (0:30/0:25)
0:55
Sun
GRAND RAPIDS TRI
RACE DAY
Weekly Total
2:40
Weekly Total
1:30