Hey guys,

I was curious if you know of any free triathlon training programs online for the beginner. I've been looking around and haven't really found anything that even compares to the marathon training programs out there. So I was curious if any of you had found something kinda like the C25K outlines for training.

Thanks!

I found this : Beginner Triathlete

A lot of good info to be had there. I used the beginner sprint plan and altered it a bit later on. It was one of the free plans. That site is a great resource.

I used the 3x balanced program on BeginnerTriathlete.com too my first season. Highly recommend their free training programs (and if you end up hanging out there on the boards at all I have the same user name there) Anyway it got me from 240lbs when I began running to 185lbs and I did my first Olympic distance tri with flying colors my first season.

There are books out there too with training plans I think one of the titles is something like "Training plans for multi-sport athletes"

This season I'll be training with a group so I'll be using whatever plan they give me.

Thanks for the link. I've been looking through the plans and there definitely are some pretty good ones.

Idealmuse, which group are you training with? I'm seriously considering signing up with Team in Training for LLS since it seems like a good cause and my friend in California did it and had a great experience. Do you know anything about them?

It'd also be for an Olympic distance one in late April and I'm kind of worried about the 4 hour time limit. I can do all the distances separately with plenty of time to spare, but together, I'm not so sure. We'll see what happens.

augeremt I just left a comment on your blog BTW.

Last summer I trained with a womans only group and this summer I'm actually training for an Ironman with a group that is especially geared to Ironman Wisconsin run by a training center here in Chicago called Wellfit. (Yes, Ironman is an insane stretch for me)

TNT - I know people that have trained with them and have been quite happy but I think it depends on your particular group and group leader so you might want to see if you can find people in your area who've used them.

If it makes you feel better I did my first Oly in 3:33 and I'm quite slow especially in the run and swim. 4 hours is plenty unless your very very overweight (and you're not) especially if you can already do the distances now.

The key to getting through it is to not burn yourself out on the bike because you'll have nothing left for the run!

Wow, Ironman. That's great! To think way ahead with big lofty dreams, that is my ultimate goal, but I figure I should start off with something smaller and build (slowly) towards it. The marathon part at the end scares me the most, but maybe by the end the run won't bother me so much psychologically.

I was thinking TNT mostly because I like the idea of the group and coaches. Also, it's for a very good cause (I'm a sucker for these things...can't you tell by the Habitat reference in the blog?) and it's usually geared towards pseudo-beginners, and I am one. So it'd be nice to get the idiot's guide to triathlon coaching.

There must be other things out there. How did you find your groups around your town? There may obviously be other alternatives so I should look into them before committing to this thing. But I generally like the idea.

This is my 3rd season. Building slowly is a very good idea. Normally they suggest at least having done a half before a full, but I wanted to be really challenged and finally lose the rest of this weight.(fear motivation? lol).

The marathon scares me a bit too as I haven't run more then 10 miles yet. I'm under no illusion I'll be able to run the whole thing. If it were a stand alone marathon maybe, but not an IM marathon.

Training with a group is great way to start out. Its nice having someone who knows what they are doing to ask questions with, and it's nice just having people who are in the same boat as you. Plus they usually do a mock Tri so you get to practice transitions etc before the fact.

To find training programs/groups in your area I'd find out if there is a local tri-club and ask them they will likely know. I think I found the ones in my area that way. I'm in Chicago though so there seem to be more options. You could also try a google search and see if you find any that way. Lastly on BegginnerTriathlete.com forums there is a forum for each state. You can ask there.

Let us know if you end up signing up. There are a few of us in the Triathlon thread in the exercise forum here on 3fc, although it's winter so there isn't much talking going on at the moment.

awesome site. thanks!

While not free, I have a book that is excellent for triathlon training for people who want every workout prescribed. It also has different plans for each distance as well as 10 different skill levels per distance. For example, I opened it up this morning and was instructed to do a tempo ride, 2 x 12 minutes at tempo for a total 1 hr ride. It explains each type of workout in detail and incorporates speed, endurance, and recovery styles of training. Plans are 12, 16, 20, 24 weeks for sprint, oly, half, and ironman respectively. It is a fantastic guide. Cover price is 20 but it is 10 bucks on Amazon

Triathlete Magazine's Essential Week by Week Training Guide by Matt Fitzgerald

lobon, I stumbled upon that same book in the library the other day. How do you like it so far? I really like that there are so many skill levels for each distance, and that I can make my workout as flexible as I'd like, while still having structure. Looks awesome to me. Has it worked for you?

i've really liked it. I'm the type of person that doesn't want to think about what I have to do or plan my workout. I am primarily a runner trying to get into multisport (too bad I don't really know how to swim) so I love that I can do level 4 for my cycling/running but go to level 1 for for swims. I have made huge improvements so far and my friends have done 2 sprint tris based on this guide