Triathlon Training Plans

As I wrote yesterday, I spent part of this week trying to figure out how to design a training plan for the coming triathlon season to meet my body's obvious need for longer, slower training.  The results are below.

The basis for this plan comes from Team Oregon and their article "SLOW DOWN! and Run Your Best 10k Ever!"

Team Oregon offers coaching in Portland, Atlanta, and Kona.

As I mentioned yesterday, I just bought a new heart rate monitor, and afterwards I decided to do a little research to find out where I should set the training zones.  The standard answer, of course, is that you should run your long runs at approximately 80% of your max heart rate, but I wondered if maybe I should consider the thing a little more closely.  "SLOW DOWN!" offered an answer to the question and then added a 10K training plan on top.  I really liked that plan, so I adapted it for Olympic Distance triathlon using the points system.

Dan's Olympic Triathlon Training Plan
Week	Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat		Run Miles	Total Pts	% Increase
Discipline	Ride	Run	Swim	Run	Rest	Rest	Swim	Run
1	20	2	2000	3	0	0	1000	5	10	134
2	24	2	2000	3	0	0	1200	6	11	144	7%
3	24	2	2400	4	0	0	1400	6	12	154	7%
4	24	2	2400	4	0	0	1600	6	12	156	1%
5	28	2	2400	4	0	0	1800	7	13	166	6%
6	28	3	2400	4	0	0	2000	7	14	172	4%
7	28	3	2400	5	0	0	2000	7	15	176	2%
8	32	3	2400	5	0	0	2200	8	16	186	6%
9	32	4	2400	5	0	0	2200	8	17	190	2%
10	32	4	2400	4.5	0	0	2400	8	16.5	190	0%
11	40	4	2400	4.5	0	0	2400	10	18.5	206	8%
12	40	4	2400	4.5	0	0	2400	10	18.5	206	0%
13	40	4	2400	4.5	0	0	2400	10	18.5	206	0%
14	40	4	2400	4.5	0	0	2400	10	18.5	206	0%
15	40	4	2400	4.5	0	0	2400	12	20.5	214	4%
16	20	2	2000	2	0	0	1000	0	4	110

Notes:

 -- Orange shaded workouts are interval training sessions.

 -- I commute 11 miles per day by folding bicycle.  This is assumed 4x per week (44 miles total).  Missed commuting mileage should be made up on Sunday long rides.

Having done that, I then decided to write a plan for a friend's workout group.  She and a group of ladies have decided to try to run their first Sprint next year.  I don't know that they necessarily need my help with designing their plans, but here's my recommendation:

First-Time Triathlete's Sprint Triathlon Training Plan
Week	Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat		Run Miles	Total Pts	% Increase
Discipline	Ride	Rest	Swim	Run	Run	Rest	Swim	Run
1	8	0	0	2	1	0	0	2	5	28
2	10	0	300	2	1	0	300	3	6	40	43%
3	12	0	400	2	1	0	400	3	6	44	10%
4	14	0	400	2	1	0	400	3.5	6.5	48	9%
5	15	0	500	2	1	0	500	4	7	53	10%
6	16	0	500	3	1	0	500	4	8	58	9%
7	18	0	600	3	1	0	600	4.5	8.5	64	10%
8	20	0	700	3	1	0	700	5	9	70	9%
9	20	0	800	3	1	0	800	5	9	72	3%
10	22	0	800	3	1	0	800	6	10	78	8%
11*	24	0	1000	4	2.5	0	1000	3	9.5	82	5%
12	14	0	600	2	0	0	400	0	2	32

Notes:

* Your Week 11 Saturday workout (orange-shaded) should be a ride/run brick.  Ride 14 miles and run 3.  Swim 1000 yards on Sunday.

Questions?  Thoughts?

What did I leave out?