Half Olympic Triathlon Training - Novice

A training program has to be developed to meet the individual needs of the athlete and take into consideration many factors: gender, age, strengths, weaknesses, objectives, training facilities etc. As all athletes have different needs, a single program suitable for all athletes is not possible. The program supplied here is just an example and will require updates to meet your specific aims and objectives.

Any application of this training program is at the athlete's discretion and risk.

Before You Start

Before starting any training, it is recommended you have a medical examination to ensure it is safe for you to do so.

Overview of the Training Program

The seasons training plan is based on six phases where each phase comprises a repeated four-week program. The workload in the first three weeks of the four-week program increase each week (easy, medium, hard) and the fourth week comprises active recovery and tests to monitor training progress. The four-week cycles aim to:

Build you up to a level of fitness (3 weeks)
Test, recovery and adjustment of the training program (1 week)
Build you up to a higher level of fitness (3 weeks)
Test, recovery and adjustment of the training program (1 week)
Build you up to an even higher level of fitness (3 weeks)
and so on

Remember a training program is athlete specific and the results of the tests in the fourth week can be used to adjust the training in the next four-week cycle to address any limitations.

The content and quantity of training in each week and phase will depend on many factors. The Planning page provides an insight into the process of data gathering and preparing training programs

Example Training Plan & Programs

The objective of each phase, with links to examples of a season's training plan and four-week training programs for phases 1, 2 and 3, are as follows:

Training Plan - General overview of the season by phases
Phase 1 - General development of strength, mobility, endurance and basic technique
Phase 2 - Development of specific fitness and advanced technical skills
Phase 3 - Competition experience - the achievement of qualification times for the main competition
Phase 4 - Adjustment of the technical model, preparation for the main competition
Phase 5 - Competition experience and achievement of outdoor objectives
Phase 6 - Active recovery - planning preparation for next season

The content of the four-week programs in phases four and five depends very much on the athlete's progress and competitive races. Your aim in these phases is to address any limitations the athlete may have to bring him/her to a peak of performance for the major competition in phase five.

Training Activities

The following are links to the appropriate page for the activities identified in the training programs.

Training Pace

The intensity of each session is given in terms of a percentage of the event distance target time. e.g. run for 40 minutes at race pace +15%. If the athlete's target time for the 5 km is 18 minutes, then at race pace + 15% their time for 5 km would be 21 minutes 10 seconds (18 ÷ 0.85). This equates to running at 4 minutes 13 seconds pace per kilometre and in 40 minutes you would cover approx. 9.5 kilometres

Page Reference

If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is:

MACKENZIE, B. (2007) Half Olympic Triathlon Training - Novice [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/triathlon/ohnovice.htm [Accessed