The plan operates on a four-week cycle meaning there will be three weeks of progressive training load followed by an easier/adaptation week. The last four-week cycle (weeks 9-12) will see 2.5 weeks of progressive load followed by a 10-day recovery/taper phase.

Many of the workouts in this training plan are repetitive and progressive. This is by design. The goal is to establish a routine that
you can be consistent with. Often simplicity is the best course of action.

This training plan has been built using Rate of Perceive Exertion or RPE for short. The RPE scale is 1-10 whereby 1 is very easy and 10 is best effort. When designated for a workout, RPE ratings apply to the main set—please do warm-ups and cool downs easy. RPE 3-5 activation sets in the warm-up should be done with higher RPE to warm up for the set that is coming. A RPE of 8-8.5 can be roughly correlated to your Functional Threshold Power or FTP on the bike and your running threshold effort or pace.

The workouts, with some higher intensity on the bike and run, are designated to be done on hilly terrain. If you don’t have access to hills, the workouts can be done on flat terrain using the same RPE scale.

Where there are two workouts a day, these can be done at opposite ends of the day. The Saturday bike/run is a brick workout—do the run immediately after the bike. The easy swim on Saturday can be done either immediately after the brick or a little later.

On the Saturday before race day there are two options for the swim—one done in your normal setting/pool and the other is an open water option should you wish to use the race venue.

12 Week Training Program

Photography credit: Harmony IRONMAN 70.3 Calgary

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Nutrition Tips

Nutrition is incredibly important during longer events. Everyone is different but there are some simple guidelines you can follow. My recommendation is to start with these numbers and troubleshoot from there. You may find this is too much or too little so adjust accordingly. All of your longer weekend “race simulation” workouts should include nutrition practice as well.

Aim for the following:

• 500-1000 ml of fluid per hour 
• 50-75 g carbohydrate per hour
• 500-1000 mg sodium per hour

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Athletes will often equate making technical adjustments with copious amounts of drill work and slower swimming. Drills are useful in their capacity to elicit a specific feeling or put us in a favourable position, but drills for the sake of drills are not always productive.

A far better strategy is to identify the modifications you need to make, incorporate specific drills into the warm up that help reinforce it, and then swim rigorously with a full stroke keeping those adjustments in mind. It is also highly advisable to spend some time with a coach so you can receive feedback.

One of the most effective ways to pattern a technical change is to include short interval workouts with frequent rests. This strategy allows your body to continually re-engage with the improvements you are trying to make. By doing short intervals (25’s, 50’s and eventually 100’s) with regular rest and a specific technical focus, you stand to gain more than by doing longer intervals where your stroke falls apart and you ingrain poor muscle patterns.

During these training sessions your focus should be on fixing one or two specific aspects of your stroke until they become a repeatable habit that you can sustain under increasing levels of aerobic distress.

As the new techniques become easier to sustain, you can start building up your fitness level. Incorporating longer work intervals is the most obvious strategy but you can also keep the work interval the same and while shortening the rest interval. Both of these approaches will help you build fitness around your improved stroke. Ultimately the goal is to swim for longer durations while maintaining the changes you wish to make. Repetition with great stroke mechanics is the key.

Another strategy is to utilize tools like fins or pull buoys. Swimming with fins is a great way to encourage leg and lower body engagement while giving you increased propulsion and speed. This can help sustain technical changes because it takes the pressure off actually staying afloat and moving forward.

Swimming with a pull buoy can help in a similar way by making sure your hips are in a favourable position. However, like drills, tools should not be relied on too heavily and should only be used to elicit a specific feeling or help facilitate a specific change.

There are no set rules for weekly swim mileage and frequency. However, the more exposures you can create without getting injured while allowing enough space to recover, the better.

Typically an individual swim workout should be in the 2,000-4,000 meter range. A good rule is to aim for a minimum of three exposures per week and if you are really looking to improve aim for five to six exposures. Weekly mileage can be anywhere in the 10,000-20,000 meters range depending on what you have time for and it should be done progressively in the beginning so you can recover from the gradual increase in load.

5 Steps to Maximizing Pool Time

Step 1
Identify the adjustments you need to make with the primary objective being to move faster through the water with less energy and increased efficiency.

Step 2
Identify a couple of drills that will specifically help elicit the desired change and incorporate these into your warm up. Use fins during this step to help facilitate the drills and assist you in practicing new stroke mechanics.

Step 3
Swim as often as you can and start with short intervals and regular rest so you are able to continually return to the stroke mechanics you are hoping to pattern.

Step 4
Gradually make changes in the workouts that will help you build fitness around your new stroke. This can include increasing the work interval length, decreasing the rest interval length or increasing the rate of speed with which you execute the new mechanics.

Step 5
Once successful, find new areas that can be improved upon. The best strategy is to reconnect with a coach who can confirm your progress or lack thereof.

Swim Workout

This is a very simple workout structure you can implement several times a week. The main set intervals can range from 25 meters to 100 meters based on how long you can maintain the stroke mechanics you’re aiming for.

The rest interval does not need to be fixed initially but as your stroke improves and as your fitness increases, you can be more disciplined with a structured set that challenges your ability to maintain a specific pace while adhering to great stroke mechanics.

Warm up

• 300 m choice
• 200 m kick
• 8 x 50 m  [25 m drill (specific to your needs) then 25 m swim on 10-15 seconds of rest, with or without fins]
• 100 m easy back/free

Main Set

• 10 – 20 x (25 m, 50 m, 75 m or 100 m) swim on as much rest is needed to maintain great stroke mechanics. As your fitness improves you can be more disciplined with a specific pace time that allows for 10-15 seconds of rest between intervals.

Cool down

• 200 m kick
• 300 m choice