An Advanced 8-Week Olympic Triathlon Training Plan for Your Fastest Race Yet

Ready to get faster? This high-performance plan is for you.

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You’ve got a few years of triathlon under your belt and are looking to go from finisher to faster. We’ve got a training plan for you!

This 8-week Olympic triathlon training plan is designed as a complete program, and includes a strength workout that’s built into the plan. This plan should not present a massive uptick in your typical training volume. If it feels like a large jump, then stick for now with our 8-week Olympic-distance development plan before you progress.

Both plans use effort notes that are based on perceived exertion or your feeling of how hard you’re going. As you get more advanced, you can fine-tune that effort with heart-rate zones, pace, or power.

Along with a workout key for the training plans, generic warm-ups for each sport are listed in the box below. If you’re looking for training plans for other distances, be sure to check out the PDF plans for our Triathlete members and our interactive 10-week 70.3 training course.

8-Week Olympic Triathlon Training Plan

Warm-Ups

2 x [4 x 25 progress effort 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%]

Key

Week 1: Intro Week

6 x 100 easy, 10 sec. rest.

2 x 100 fast, 25 sec. rest.

50 easy and smooth

90 sec. as: 15 sec. max effort sprint into 75 sec. best sustainable pace, with 4 min. easy recovery between rounds

3 x (12 x 25 fast, 400 smooth) with snorkel, buoy, band

STRENGTH: Core + Activation Work KB: Ride ~2 hours including

MS: 2 x 15 min. as 10 min. strong but smooth, 5 min. hard effort.

5 min. easy spin @ 95 RPM between rounds

2 @ 75%, 85%, 90%, 95% effort with 20-40 sec. rest

20-40-60-40-20 sec. with 60 sec. easy jog recovery

Week 2: Building

Change cadence every other rep.

4 min. easy recovery between each

50, 100, 150, 200, 250 and back down. Increase effort on the back half.

STRENGTH: Full strength KB: Ride 1.5-2 hours including:

15 min. strong endurance pace ~65-75 RPM,

8 min. lighter endurance at choice RPM,

4 min. building to race pace.

Spin easy 5 min. then repeat.

3 @ 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95% effort with 20-40 sec. rest.

Week 3: Building

4 x 100 fast, best effort you can hold, 10 sec rest.

400 smooth pull between rounds

5 x 1 min. hard @ high RPM. 1 min easy spin.

5 min. smooth effort between rounds

8 x 50 as 25 fast/25 easy on short rest

SB: Easy bike, 90 min. KB: Ride up to 2.5 hours including

2 x 5 min. building to 80% effort,

4 min. @ 85-90% effort,

1 min. best effort then 20 min. build effort by 10 min. to finish @ goal race pace for last 10 min. all @ choice RPM.

Finish with: 2 x 100 fast on 1 min. rest

Week 4: Transitional Week

2 x 300 with buoy @ 80% effort, 30 sec. rest

2 x 100 swim @ 90%, 45 sec. rest

3 min. easy riding @ choice RPM,

2 min. hard effort at

50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 and back down.

Increase effort on the back half

SB: Easy bike, 90 min. KB: Lighter 2-2.5 hr ride including

5 min. smooth riding @ 100+ RPM

5 min. stronger @ choice RPM

3 @ 95% effort, with 20-40 sec. rest

Week 5: Race Simulation

300 with paddles, 30 sec. rest

20 x 25 @ 90%, ~5-7 sec. rest

KB: 3 x 2 min. as:

20 sec. max effort,

1 min. 40 sec. @ best sustained pace,

4 min. recovery between efforts

SS: Technique swim: 2 x (12 x 25 fast, 2 x 400) with snorkel, buoy, band STRENGTH: Full strength KB: Ride ~2 hours including:

20 min. @ strong endurance pace @ ~65-75 RPM,

10 min. lighter effort @ choice RPM,

8 min. building to race pace,

easy spin 5 min. then repeat

4 x 25 max effort on 20 sec. rest.

4 x 50 fast on 30 sec. rest.

8 x 25 max effort on 20 sec rest.

4 x 100 fast on 1 min. rest

BR: 3-4 x 1K @ race pace, 2 min. easy between KR: 60 min. smooth endurance run including

4 x 5 min. @ race pace with 3 min. easy walk/jog between

Week 6: Sharpening

4 x 100 steady with buoy @ 70% with 20 sec. rest,

300 with paddles + buoy @ 70%,

8 x 50 strong @ 85% with 10 sec. rest,

300 with paddles + buoy @ 70%,

10 x 25 @ 90% with 15 sec. rest

5 min. @ race pace with cadence below 70 RPM,

4 min. recovery between

SS: 3 x (8 x 50 fast, 400 smooth) STRENGTH: Full strength KB: ~2 hr. ride including

MS: 2 x 15 min. building efforts as

10 min. below race pace, 5 min. @ race pace,

5 min. recovery between rounds

4 x 50 fast on 20 sec. rest,

2 x 100 @ 85% on 20 sec. rest.

200 @ 90-95%, holding pace from 100s, 50 easy

Finish with 5-10 min. of drills to prepare for tomorrow

2 x 6 min. building by 2 min. to strong pace, 3 min. easy running between

1-2-3-2-1 min. @ race pace with equal time recovery jog between

Week 7: Race Prep

300 smooth with paddles on 30 sec. rest,

40 x 25 @ 90% on ~5-7 sec. rest

2 min. strong @ 95 RPM,

4 min. choice RPM,

90 sec. strong @ 95 RPM,

3 min. choice RPM,

1 min. hard @ 95 RPM, 2 min. choice RPM,

45 sec. hard @ 95 RPM,

1 min. choice RPM,

30 sec. Sprint @ 95 RPM

SS 3 x (8 x 50 fast, 400 smooth) SB: Easy spin, 50-60 min. KB: ~2 hr. ride including

3 x 5 min. strong building 1-3 with #3 as best effort, 4 min. spin between, then 10 min. building from strong effort to race pace

14 x 25 all fast on 20 sec. rest.

6 x 50 building effort every 2 intervals (70%/80%/90%)

14 x 25 all fast on 20 sec. rest

6 x 400m (or ~90 sec.) @ race pace into 8 min. at/ just above race pace

Week 8: Race Week

MS: 8 x 100 as2 @70%, 2 @ 80%, 2 @ 85%, 2 @ 90%,

30 sec. rest between

MS: 3 x 4 min. progress effort each interval as:

#3. Build to best effort

2 min. easy spin between each then into 5 min. at race pace (by feel, no data)

SS: Longer progressive building effort swim. 45 min. SB: Easy bike spin, 45-50 min. OPEN-WATER PREP SWIM: Warm-up for 10-15 min. then

30 strokes race effort, 30 strokes smooth, 20 strokes race effort, 30 strokes smooth, 10 strokes above race effort, 30 strokes smooth

Trust in your preparation, be patient, and have fun out there!

6 x 30 sec. pickups, 30 sec. easy

BR: 15-20 min. easy jog PREP BIKE: Ride ~20-45 min., include 4 x 3 min. builds, spinning up to quick cadence.

Spin easy 2 min. between efforts