TRAINING PLAN

New year, new you? Then why not start the transformation by doing your first tri? And you can start right here with our 12-week training plan to complete your first sprint…

It’s a new year and you’ve decided triathlon will be your next adventure. Welcome to the world of multisport. No doubt you’re targeting a sprint-distance tri to start. A sensible choice. It’s a great introduction to triathlon and will help take you forwards within the sport. The sprint-tri distances appear achievable when taken on their own, and many people will have completed these distances and more at some point. But the key is training for all three disciplines and finally putting them together for an event.

This plan will guide the novice triathlete through 12 weeks of training all the way to race day when you tackle the 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run. It’s designed to be manageable for those who are tight on time, so none of the sessions are exhaustive or unnecessarily long. We begin with five days of sessions per week for the first six weeks, and then when you’re ready to increase the training volume, it steps up to five or six days per week. Essential to the execution of your race is having the confidence you can complete the race distances, therefore the plan gradually builds so that you eventually complete them. To measure performance, we’ve included some time-trial sessions where you race against the clock to see how fast you can do the swim, bike and run. These tests will help you gauge the effort you can use on race day and give you an idea of how long the race should take.

The plan also includes regular bike/run sessions, known as brick sessions, to familiarise you (and your legs) with that feeling of running immediately after cycling. I can’t emphasise enough how much these workouts can help you prepare for a race, and how you can fine-tune your effort on race day based on them.

You may need to include some open-water swimming practice, so this plan has fitness sessions to prepare you for the 750m swim. If your race is in open water, you must practise in a wetsuit in lakes, rivers or the sea.

Finally, if you’re transitioning to triathlon from one of the single endurance sports you may choose to spend more time working on your new disciplines to bring them up to your existing level. Enjoy the new world of triathlon!