Below are one-week samples of Joe’s two most popular half-distance triathlon training plans (one for base and one for build-peak-race periods). Most of his plans are 11 to 12 weeks long. For suggestions on how to choose the right plan for you see “How to choose a training plan”.
Half-Distance Tri Base Period
(UNDER 50) 9–14 hrs/wk. (Power-based) Workout Builder Format
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Week 12
Monday
Strength Maintenance (SM), 2 sets. 30 minutes.
Warm-up 5–10 minutes. Then do 2 sets of Strength Maintenance (SM) phase weight lifting. First set is light (12 reps with 15RM load). Second set is heavy heavy (3–6 reps with 6RM load). Cool down 5–10 minutes spinning in easy gear/resistance at high rpm. For details on strength training, go to Chapter 13 in The Triathlete’s Training Bible.
Tuesday
Run. AE1. Easy Run HR/pace. 30 minutes.
Run in heart rate or pace zone 1 on a mostly flat, soft surface such as on a trail or in a park. VERY easy. Best done alone. If feeling very tired, shorten this run or don’t do it.
This should be a very easy (low TSS) day. Be ready for weekend testing.
Swim. SS1. PDLC Form work. 30 minutes.
For 30 minutes swim 25 repeats moderately fast while focusing on only Posture, Direction, Length, or Catch. (20–30 sec. rest after each)
See Chapter 12 in The Triathlete’s Training Bible for details on PDLC.
Wednesday
Bike. AE1. Easy Ride, Power. 1 hour, 30 minutes.
Ride in power zones 1–2, but mostly 1 zone. Flat course or indoor trainer. Low effort, light on pedals. Comfortably high rpm.
Thursday
Run. AE1. Easy Run, HR/pace. 45 minutes.
Run in heart rate or pace zone 1 on a mostly flat, soft surface such as on a trail or in a park. VERY easy. Best done alone. If feeling very tired, shorten this run or don’t do it.
Swim. SS1. Drills, 6×50. 20 minutes.
OPTIONAL workout: Warm-up + drills for your technique limiter. Then do 6×50 fast form (on 90 seconds). Long, easy cool down. FORM!
OR ALTERNATIVE PDLC SWIM (your choice). For 30–45 minutes, swim 25 repeats moderately fast while focusing on only Posture, Direction, Length, or Catch. (20–30 sec. rest after each)
Friday
Bike. AE1. Easy Ride, Power. 1 hour.
Ride in power zones 1–2, but mostly 1 zone. Flat course or indoor trainer. Low effort, light on pedals. Comfortably high rpm.
Saturday
Run. AE2. Aerobic Threshold (AeT) Steady State, HR+ pace. 1 hour, 15 minutes.
May be done outdoors or treadmill. Warm-up 15 minutes. Then on a mostly flat course run 50 minutes at 30 bpm (+/- 2bpm) below your 5a zone (FTHR). Focus on good form with a comfortably high cadence and somewhat flat footstrike (not heavily on heels or toes). Cool down in heart rate or pace zone 1 for the remaining portion of this session. If using a GPS device (recommended), afterwards determine your 30-minute Efficiency Factor (EF). EF should gradually increase over several weeks. (EF is shown on the analysis feature of TrainingPeaks for this workout.)
Swim. T3. Test set 2400y. 1 hour.
BT: Warm-up: 200 building speed on each 50 (slow-mod-faster-fastest). Rest 30 sec. Then 4 x 400 (10 sec. recoveries) building speed on each 100 (slow-mod-faster-fastest). Recover 10 seconds after last one. Then swim a 500 time trial. All out. Your average 100 pace for this is your T-time for future workouts. Then swim easy, 100 cool down. (2400m/y)
Sunday
Bike. AE2. AeT Steady State HR+ Power. 3 hours.
BT: Warm-up about 20 minutes. Then ride 2.5 hours steady at about 30 beats per minute (+/- 2bpm) below the lowest HR in your 5a zone (LTHR). Observe power at this effort if you have a power meter. What was your normalized power (NP) for the steady state portion? Divide NP by average HR for the hour to find your efficiency factor (EF). Over time, as you repeat this workout, your EF should rise. Easy cooldown.
Half-Distance Tri Build-Peak-Race Period
(UNDER 50) Power 16 hrs/wk
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Week 5
Monday
Strength Maintenance (SM), 2 sets. 30 minutes.
Warm-up: 5–10 minutes. Then 2 sets of SM weight lifting. First set is light (12 reps with 15RM load). Second set is heavy (3–6 reps with 6RM load). Cool down 5–10 minutes spinning in easy gear/resistance at high rpm. For details on strength training, go to Chapter 13 in The Triathlete’s Training Bible.
Tuesday
Run. ME3. Cruise Intervals on Hill (4×4 min.), HR. 45 minutes.
BT: Cruise intervals. Warm-up about 10 minutes. Then on a moderately steep hill (about 4–6% grade) that takes about 3–5 minutes to run up, do 3–4 intervals. Get in about 15 minutes of total uphill interval time. Build to heart rate zone 4 by the top on each. Perceived exertion by half way up should be about 7 on a 10 scale. Recovery is your descent time. Jog easily and walk coming back down after each. Do a short cooldown. Good form!
Bike. AE1. Recovery Spin, Power. 1 hour.
Very easy recovery spin on a mostly flat course (or on indoor trainer) in small chainring. Power in zone 1. Light on the pedals. Comfortably high rpm focusing on pedaling skills.
Swim. AE3. Short intervals/recoveries 2700y. 1 hour.
(You may substitute a masters swim workout.)
Warm-up:
200 free, 100 drill (your choice).
4 x 100 done as 25 freestyle, 25 R arm only, 25 L arm only, 25 free.
6 x 100 Odds (1,3,5): 25 drill, 25 R arm only, 25 L arm only, 25 free. Evens (2,4,6): 25 swim, 25 drill, 25 pull, 25 swim.
Main set:
Try to make the times for these as consistent as possible. Recoveries are in seconds within parentheses.
8 x 100 @ T-pace (10 sec. rest after each).
8 x 50 @ T-pace (10 sec. rest after each).
Cooldown:
200 easy.
Total—2700
Wednesday
Bike. AE1. Easy Ride, Power. 1 hour.
Ride in power zones 1–2, but mostly 1 zone. Flat course or indoor trainer. Low effort, light on pedals. Comfortably high rpm.
Run. AE1. Easy Run, HR. 1 hour.
Run in heart rate 1 on a mostly flat, soft surface such as on a trail or in a park. VERY easy. Best done alone. If feeling very tired, shorten this run or don’t do it.
Swim. SS1. PDLC Form work. 30 minutes.
For 30 minutes swim 25 repeats moderately fast while focusing on only Posture, Direction, Length, or Catch. (20–30 sec. rest after each). For details on PDLC, go to Chapter 12 in The Triathlete’s Training Bible.
Thursday
Bike. ME1. HIM Pace Rehearsal (Brick), Power. 1 hour.
Race Effort Brick
BT: Bike 1 hour. Do a 30–40 minute warm-up in which you gradually raise intensity from zone 1 to 2. Near the end of the ride include 6 miles (10km) at half IM race effort or power. Then transition quickly to the following run.
Run. ME1. Tempo Run HIM HR (brick). 30 minutes.
After a quick transition from the bike, run on a flat to gently rolling course (or treadmill) for the prescribed time steadily at heart rate 3 zone. Stay relaxed and start slower than you think you could maintain for the entire race. Focus on good form! Cool down by walking after the run.
Swim. ME1. Ladder down 2350. 1 hour.
(You may substitute a masters swim workout.)
Warm-up:
6 x 50 done as 25 drill of choice, 25 building speed
Main set:
500 at T-pace (50 sec. rest)
5 x 25 fast (20 sec. rest between)
400 at T-pace (40 sec.)
4 x 25 fast (20 sec.)
300 at T-pace (30 sec.)
3 x 25 fast (20 sec.)
200 at T-pace (20 sec.)
2 x 25 fast (20 sec.)
100 at T-pace
Cooldown:
200 easy drills and swims of your choice.
Total—2350
Friday
Run. SS2. Strides, 6–8 count steps RPE. 45 minutes.
Advanced strides (this is best outdoors but may be done on a treadmill). Warm up with easy running for 15–20 minutes. On grass or other soft surface, run fast for 6–8 times for 30 steps each time counting only left- (or right-) foot steps. Goal = 19–20 seconds for 30 steps. That means you’re running at around 90 rpm. Focus on one aspect of your form (such as foot placement or good posture) on each stride. During the recoveries, skip 60 times—30 skips each leg alternating. (See The Triathlete’s Training Bible for details on skipping.) Also include walking in recoveries. Cool down in zone 1 to finish off the planned duration for this workout.
Swim. AE1. Aerobic intervals/PDLC 1500y. 45 minutes.
(You may substitute a masters swim workout.)
Warm-up:
100 swim easy, (10 seconds rest), 50 moderately fast, (10 seconds rest), 100 swim moderate, (10 sec. rest), 50 swim moderately fast, (10 sec. rest), 100 swim build speed, (10 sec.), 50 swim fast.
Main set:
For the first set decrease times with each work interval. All aerobic—easy breathing.
4 x 100 moderate (10 sec. rest between).
Rest 2 minutes.
300 slow and easy. Form!
6 x 25 relaxed speed (15 sec.)
Cooldown:
200 easy swim.
Total: 1500
OR ALTERNATIVE PDLC SWIM (your choice)
For 30–45 minutes swim 25 repeats moderately fast while focusing on only Posture, Direction, Length, or Catch. (20–30 sec. rest after each)
Saturday
Bike. ME1. Tempo Intervals (3 x15 min.), Power (brick). 1 hour, 30 minutes.
On a mostly flat road or indoor trainer, warm-up for about 20 minutes. Then do 3 x 15 minutes at power zone 3. Recover for 2 minutes after each interval by pedaling easily in zone 1. Cool down for the remainder of the ride in zone 1.
Quickly transition to the following run.
Run. ME1. Tempo Run HIM HR (brick). 30 minutes.
After a quick transition from the bike, run on a flat to gently rolling course (or treadmill) for the prescribed time steadily at heart rate 3 zone. Stay relaxed and start slower than you think you could maintain for the entire race. Focus on good form! Cool down by walking after the run.
Swim. ME1. Sub-T-pace 2700. 1 hour.
(You may substitute a masters swim workout.)
Warm-up:
200 easy swim.
6 x 50 done as 25 drill (your choice), 25 swim easy.
Main set:
1 x 800 at T-pace + 5 seconds per 100.
(30 sec. rest)
8 x 100 (40 sec. between) descending (faster on each one). Start easy and finish at T-pace on last one.
12 x 25 form fast (20–30 sec.) focusing on your form limiter (Posture, Direction, Length, or Catch).
Cooldown:
5 minutes very easy.
Total: 2600–2700
Sunday
Bike. AE3. Endurance Ride, Power. 3 hours.
This is an aerobic endurance maintenance workout. Ride only in power zones 1, 2, and 3 as you feel at the time. This should be a comfortable effort. Power and effort will rise somewhat on uphills but no higher than zone 3.