Have a Question About Our Training Plans?

Answers to FAQs About Training Plans

Please see below for answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about our training plans or contact us directly.

Choosing Your Plan

What is the best training plan for me?

We created a variety of triathlon and run training plans with plan variations to meet the different needs of our clients including: IRONMAN Triathlon®, IRONMAN 70.3 Triathlon®, International & Sprint Triathlon and Running Races from 5k to marathon.

Our NOVICE training plans start out at less weekly training volume and have fewer and shorter intervals than the EXPERIENCED athlete training plans. If this is your first race a this distance, you may want to consider this plan.

Our EXPERIENCED athlete training plans are for the experienced athlete who is looking to improve his or her time.

As a woman, you may want to consider one of our training plans for WOMEN which were designed by Krista Schultz, MEd, CSCS.

For the 40+ year old athlete, we also offer MASTERS athlete training plans that are designed to be challenging for the experienced athlete.

For the 55+ year old athlete, we offer SENIOR athlete training plans that include a recovery (easier) week every other week. You also have the option of choosing one or two days off per week.

Designed for time-limited triathletes, our new MINIMALIST training plans prepare you for your IRONMAN 70.3 or IRONMAN race with less training.

What are the minimal fitness requirements to start a plan?

The minimum stated physical requirements will very by race distance, plan duration and athlete level. Each plan will specify the minimal physical requirements in the plan’s description on TrainingPeaks.

We recommend that you consult with your physician prior to starting any exercise program.

What if I need a training plan longer than 24 weeks?

We set the maximum length of our training plans at 24 weeks (6 months) because we feel that this is an ideal build up period for a single event.

However, because many athletes have a training and racing season longer than 6 months, we’ve designed our training plans to be bundled together. Please contact us to help you bundle our training plans so you can best meet your goals.

What if a plan is not available for my race?

If a race-specific plan is not available, we have plans for AQUABIKE, EXPERIENCED, MASTERS (40+), NOVICE and WOMEN athletes that can be set to start or end on any race date. All of our plans are reusable for future races, too.

What is your relationship with TrainingPeaks?

We are a separate business entity from TrainingPeaks. Along with many other coaches, we use the Training Peaks online platform to coach our clients as well as to create and sell our online triathlon and run training plans. We chose TrainingPeaks because of the tools they have available to help our clients be successful when using our plans, plus they are headquartered about 5 miles from where we live so we’ve had a chance to meet with key staff in person. We continue to use them because of their outstanding customer service.

What if I have a full time job or other commitments - will a training plan still work?

Yes, we recognize that you will have other commitments outside of your training and that you’re going to miss some of the workouts. We provide guidance in our accompanying training plan guide for what you should do when you miss a workout.  As a rule of thumb, if you can complete 70-85% of the given workouts per week, then you’ll be successful.

We are excited to introduce our new MINIMALIST training plans for Full and Half distance triathlons, which are designed prepare you to be successful in your races…without doing excessive training.

Using Your Plan

How do I load my training plan into my Training Peaks calendar?

To load your training plan into your TrainingPeaks calendar:

  • First, login to TrainingPeaks.
  • Click the Training Plan icon (looks like a binder) on the left side of your screen.
  • Click on the training plan you would like to apply to open the plan summary.
  • Within the plan summary, scroll down to find the date picker then set either the start date or end date to load the plan into your calendar.
  • More detailed instructions on applying / unapplying plans are available on TrainingPeaks.
Where can I find videos of the swim drills in my plan?

You can find videos of all the swim drills plus other training tools in the online resources section of our website.

How do I print out a hard copy of my training plan?

You can print out specific blocks of weeks of your online training plan from within TrainingPeaks by selecting the “Print” option for your browser window when your training calendar is open in TrainingPeaks.

To print out more calendar weeks at one time, compact the weeks on your screen by clicking on the 3 small horizontal bars on the upper right side of the calendar then selecting “Compact View.”

Scroll forward in the plan to print out later training weeks. Many browsers (including Safari and Firefox) will allow you option to save the training weeks in a .pdf format from the print preview window.

What if I need to move workouts around in my plan?

TrainingPeaks will allow you to “drag and drop” workouts if you have a paid Premium TrainingPeaks membership. Unfortunately, if you only have a free Basic TrainingPeaks membership, you won’t be able to “drag and drop” workouts but a workaround is to print out a hard copy of your plan then make notations of any changes on the print out.

Does it matter what I order I do my workouts in?

If you have more than one workout scheduled in your training plan, it does not matter which order you do the workouts in. You can also separate them into different parts of the day if that makes more sense for your schedule.

The one exception is triathlon BRICK workouts (bike immediately followed by run workout). The run should start within 5 minutes of finishing the bike in order to simulate a bike to run transition in a triathlon.

How do I set my intensity training zones?

We created field tests that you can use to determine and set your training zones for your swim, bike and run workouts.

Can I upload my Garmin, power meter or heart rate monitor workout data?

Yes, TrainingPeaks is compatible with most devices (VIEW list of devices) and will allow you to upload your performance data to be viewed in charts and analyzed.

How do I modify my training plan for shorter events leading up to my goal event?

We created taper and recovery guidelines that you can use to modify your training plan for taper and recovery weeks for your other events.

Where can I find the TrainingPeaks mobile app?

Click HERE for more information about the TrainingPeaks mobile app.