In this plan Personal Trainer and British Triathlon Level 3 coach in training Simon Olney will help you train for your first sprint duathlon event. That is a 5KM run followed by a 20KM bike and finally a 2.5KM run.

This plan is written for the athlete who wants to do well at their first event, not just get round. Compared to the eight week plan this has an extra four weeks which is more performance focused, with the rides going all the way up to two hours, and the runs just over an hour, to really boost aerobic fitness. There are also slightly harder intervals, making for more complete race preparation.

For this plan you do not need an indoor trainer, as all the workouts are based on heart rate. If you have an indoor trainer however you are welcome to use it on days which are less than suitable for outdoor riding.

If you do not have a heart rate threshold value, you will need TrainingPeaks to detect one by going out for a cycle or run for 20 minutes as fast as you can, and following the prompts in the notification section to apply your heart rate threshold.

It's impossible to write a plan which is perfect for everyone, so don't worry too much about taking an extra day off if you need one, or even going a bit longer on some of the workouts if you feel they are too easy. Just be conscious of the workouts in the coming days.

If you have any questions about this plan before or after purchase, feel free to drop me an E-mail at Simon@phazontriathlon.com