Intermediate- 16 weeks- 10+hrs per week- What to Expect
This program is designed for intermediate triathletes who can commit 10+ hours per week. This program takes a balanced approach to the different energy systems meaning you will experience workouts at both ends of the intensity spectrum from low intensity/recovery to endurance and higher intensity workouts. Note that the cumulative time indicated in the program summary includes the mobility sessions. In the first week of the program the total time for swim, bike and run is slightly below 10hrs. Also note that the recovery weeks are below 10 hours.

This program is suitable for someone who is looking to prepare for an Olympic distance triathlon but is also suitable for a sprint distance triathlon.

The program is progressive meaning the training load increases each week. This program runs on a four-week training cycle whereby the program progressively builds training load for three weeks with every fourth week focusing on recovery.

The workouts are very simple and aim to give the intermediate triathlete a taste of the various types of workouts that are beneficial for triathlon.

This program uses RPE or rate of perceived exertion as the primary effort indicator. If you do know your own threshold numbers in swim, bike or run please use them accordingly. The RPE numbers indicated are as a percentage of your best effort. As a general rule we have used 65% as a rough aerobic threshold or first ventilatory threshold and 85% as a rough anaerobic, lactate or second ventilatory threshold. Understand that these thresholds are not always one and the same but these RPE indications should get you to the right place.

The higher intensity workouts are primarily delivered via shorter interval sets utilizing hilly terrain in order to help bring the intensity up organically.

In this program you will sometimes see indications for indoor and outdoor bike rides. These workouts are comparable and will achieve the same objective. Similarly, you will also see indications for pool or open water swims. You do not need to do both of these workouts rather they present a choice depending on your preference or what you have available.

The endurance workouts in this program see a nice progression from a 1 hour 30min bike ride in week 1 to a 4 hour bike ride in week 15. The long endurance runs follow a similar progression starting at 60 minutes in week 1 building to a 2 hours in week 15 (remember that weeks 4, 8, 12 and 16 are recovery weeks).

On the recovery weeks you will see an indication to do a 400m TT (time trial) swim. This is simply for your own reference so you can see the progression.

Supplementing the swim, bike and run workouts are upper and lower body mobility routines that can be done as optional recovery and injury prevention sessions. These are available in the designated workout blocks via a link to a thorough PDF.