First Time Finisher Training Plans
International (Olympic) Distance Plan – Week 5
Week 5 takes a slight jump in training time to a total of 6:15 hours and a total of 2700 yards swimming. You’re close to swimming a mile with each swim session and you’ll find that your improvement in skills and fitness start coming more rapidly. The numbers listed for bike & run are total minutes of cycling or running. The Swims are listed in yards and suggested practices are linked below. There are now 8 weeks remaining until the Pittsburgh Triathlon. Over the next two weeks we’ll continue increasing the distances for your training days and on week 7 we’ll introduce bricks.
| Day | Run | Bike | Swim | Core |
| Monday | 15 min | |||
| Tuesday | 1200 yds | |||
| Wednesday | 60 min | 15 in | ||
| Thursday | 40 min | |||
| Friday | 1500 yds | 15 min | ||
| Saturday | 105 min | |||
| Sunday | 50 min | |||
| Weekly Total | 90 min | 165 min | 2700 yds | 45 min |
Runs 1 & 2:
The short and long run this week are building from the distances in week 3, with week 4 (last week) having been a rest week. You should feel refreshed and rejuvenated for these runs and be able to run 3 miles or 5 k continuously without any difficulty.
Bike #1 & 2:
The long light in the spring & summer evenings makes these bikes a great after work activity for up to an hour or so. On the weekend feel free to add some additional distance, but don’t increase more than 10 % over your week 3 distances if you are new to cycling.
Swim 1: Practice International E– Pick your favorite, or one you want to work on a little more
Swim 2: Swim Workout Olympic Triathlon “F” – Pick your favorite, or one you want to work on a little more
Core/Flexibility: I’ve grouped these together but in reality both Core Strength & Flexibility are ultimately key elements of a successful training plan. For just starting out, see if you can incorporate 15 minutes 2 – 3 thee times per week. I like to do 10-15 minutes of Sun Salutes as soon as I get dressed in the morning before starting other activities. Here is a video of the basic sun salute. Perform 3-4 of these to start your day, and it will take only 10-15 minutes.
