Olympic Triathlon Training Program - Elite

The following is an example of an elite athlete's Olympic Triathlon Training program (phase 3). Before starting any training, you must have a medical examination to ensure it is safe for you to do so.

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

Key to notations and terms used

m = metres

k = kilometres

hrs = hours

min = minutes

secs = seconds

Rep = repetition

pb = "personal best" time for Triathlon	5 × 200m = 5 repetitions of 200 metres
tpb = "target personal best" time for the Triathlon event

Phase 3

Each training session should include an appropriate warm-up before the session and a cool down after the session.

Week 1

Day	Develop	Session	Effort	Recovery
Day	Develop	Session	Effort	Rep	Set
Monday	Specific Strength & Endurance & Transition	Weight Training Run - 40 min 200m Swim, 200m transition, 5 mins Bike	tpb+5% tpb
Tuesday	Specific Endurance	Swim - 30 mins Run - 40 mins Bike - 2 hrs Fartlek	tpb+5% tpb+5%
Wednesday	Specific Strength	Weight Training
Thursday	Specific Endurance	Swim - 30 mins Run - 40 mins Bike - 2 hrs Fartlek	tpb+5% tpb+5%
Friday	Specific Strength & Endurance & Transition	Weight Training Swim - 30 mins 15 min Bike, 100m transition, 1 km Run	tpb+5% tpb
Saturday	Specific Endurance	Swim - 30 mins Run - 40 mins Bike - 2 hrs Fartlek	tpb+5% tpb+5%
Sunday	Rest

Week 2

Day	Develop	Session	Effort	Recovery
Day	Develop	Session	Effort	Rep	Set
Monday	Specific Strength & Endurance & Transition	Weight Training Run - 40 min 300m Swim, 400m transition, 5 mins Bike	tpb+5% tpb
Tuesday	Specific Endurance	Swim - 30 mins Run - 40 mins Bike - 2 hrs Fartlek	tpb+5% tpb+5%
Wednesday	Specific Strength	Weight Training
Thursday	Specific Endurance	Swim - 30 mins Run - 40 mins Bike - 2 hrs Fartlek	tpb+5% tpb+5%
Friday	Specific Strength & Endurance & Transition	Weight Training Swim - 30 mins 15 min Bike, 100m transition, 2 km Run	tpb+5% tpb
Saturday	Specific Endurance	Swim - 30 mins Run - 40 mins Bike - 2 hrs Fartlek	tpb+5% tpb+5%
Sunday	Rest

Week 3

Day	Develop	Session	Effort	Recovery
Day	Develop	Session	Effort	Rep	Set
Monday	Specific Strength & Endurance & Transition	Weight Training Run - 40 min 400m Swim, 800m transition, 5 mins Bike	tpb+5% tpb
Tuesday	Specific Endurance	Swim - 30 mins Run - 40 mins Bike - 2 hrs Fartlek	tpb+5% tpb+5%
Wednesday	Specific Strength	Weight Training
Thursday	Specific Endurance	Swim - 30 mins Run - 40 mins Bike - 2 hrs Fartlek	tpb+5% tpb+5%
Friday	Specific Strength & Endurance & Transition	Weight Training Swim - 30 mins 15 min Bike, 100m transition, 3 km Run	tpb+5% tpb
Saturday	Specific Endurance	Swim - 30 mins Run - 40 mins Bike - 2 hrs Fartlek	tpb+5% tpb+5%
Sunday	Rest

Week 4

Day	Develop	Session	Effort	Recovery
Day	Develop	Session	Effort	Rep	Set
Monday	Endurance General	Swim - 30 min Fartlek
Tuesday	Strength Specific & Endurance General	Weight Training Bike - 2 hrs Fartlek
Wednesday	Endurance General	Run - 40 min Fartlek
Thursday	Strength Specific & Endurance General	Weight Training Bike - 2 hrs Fartlek
Friday	Endurance General	Swim - 30 min Fartlek
Saturday	Rest
Sunday	Rest

Minor Race

In the event of a minor race in this period, then for the week of the race, the training will be as follows:

Day	Race on Sunday	Race on Saturday
Monday	Training as normal	Training as normal
Tuesday	Training as normal	Training as normal
Wednesday	Training as normal	Training as normal
Thursday	Swim - 30 min Fartlek Run - 40 min Fartlek	Swim - 30 min Fartlek Run - 40 min Fartlek
Friday	Weight Training Run - 8 x 400m @ tpb-5% with full recovery	Rest
Saturday	Rest	Race
Sunday	Race	Swim - 30 min Fartlek Bike - 2 hrs Fartlek

Major Race

In the event of a major race in this period, then for the week of the race, the training will be as follows:

Day	Race on Sunday	Race on Saturday
Monday	Swim - 30 min Fartlek Bike - 2 hrs Fartlek	Swim - 30 min Fartlek Bike - 2 hrs Fartlek
Tuesday	Swim - 2 x (200m @ tpb-5% + 200m @ tpb) with full recovery Run - 40 min Fartlek	Swim - 2 x (200m @ tpb-5% + 200m @ tpb) with full recovery Run - 40 min Fartlek
Wednesday	Run - 8 x 400m @ tpb-5% with full recovery Bike - 1 hr Fartlek	Run - 8 x 400m @ tpb-5% with full recovery Bike - 2 hr easy
Thursday	Swim - 2 x (200m @ tpb-5% + 200m @ tpb) with full recovery	Swim - 30 min easy Bike - 2 hrs easy
Friday	Swim - 30 min easy Bike - 2 hrs easy	Rest
Saturday	Rest	Race
Sunday	Race	Swim - 30 min easy Bike - 2 hrs easy

Page Reference

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

MACKENZIE, B. (2007) Olympic Triathlon Training - Elite - Phase 3[WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/triathlon/oeph3.htm [Accessed 22/7/2025]

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