Hello there! This is a 12-week training plan to prepare you for your first sprint triathlon (500-800 yard swim, 12-13 mile bike, 3 mile run). The main goal is for you to enjoy the race and cross the finish line confidently.

Each week has 5-6 training sessions and 2 rest days, one of which can be used for cross-training. The total training time per week ranges from roughly 3 to 6 hours and training sessions start around 25 minutes and build up to ~70 minutes mixing a variety of workout types, like intervals of different lengths and base sessions. You should be able to swim, bike, and run/jog for ~20 minutes.

This plan includes structured workouts based on the athlete’s heart rate. To take full advantage of this plan, the triathlete should use a heart rate monitor and get an idea of what is the lactate threshold heart rate (LTHR). This can be done in one of two ways:
-1 (recommended): On a flat road, warm up with 10 minutes of easy jogging and then accelerate. Keep it up until your heart rate stabilizes. That heart rate is your LTHR
-2 (can be used to cross check): Determine your maximum heart rate using the following formula: MaxHR = 207 - (0.7 x age). Then, multiply this number by 86%: LTHR = MaxHR x 0.86
Once you have your LTHR, you can input it into your TrainingPeaks profile as shown here: https://help.trainingpeaks.com/hc/en-us/articles/204073584-How-To-Set-Thresholds-And-Calculate-TrainingPeaks-Zones. These workouts can be downloaded to a variety of devices, which will guide you through the training session indicating segments’ duration and target intensity (more info on device compatibility here: https://help.trainingpeaks.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000325647-Structured-Workout-Export).

I’d love to hear what you think or if you have any questions, feel free to email me at mpina.leap@gmail.com.

Enjoy the journey!
Coach Mac