Driffield Triathlon Beginners 6 Week Training Programme

This programme has been compiled by a British Triathlon Level 3 coach, and is intended to help a complete novice of reasonable fitness to achieve their goal of completing a Sprint Distance Triathlon.

WEEK FOUR
This week we introduce our first back to back session. Triathletes call these sessions brick sessions and they are designed to give your body the confidence to keep going when it is starting to tire.

Swim
If your swimming is going well try to complete at least one continuous swim of more than race distance this week. Say 500-600m (20-24 lengths). This is a great confidence booster.
If you can’t manage 500m, try for 2 x 250m with a couple of minutes rest in between. For the second swim complete a steady 10 minute warm up swim followed by 5 x 100m at your expected race pace. Take 45-60 seconds rest after each 100m

Cycle
This week you should try to familiarise yourself with the Triathlon cycle route. Chose a quiet time and please take care at the road junctions. On race day there will be traffic warning signs and race marshals, but in training you are on your own. Wold Road has a long steady uphill section. Remember to use the gears on your bike, maintain a constant pedalling rate (80-90 pedal revs per minute) and pace yourself. For your second ride this week we introduce a brick session. Simply ride for 15 minutes followed immediately by a short 5 minute run. Then repeat a second 15 minute ride and a second 5 minute run. This needs some careful planning as you have to plan where to leave your bike. Best bet is probably to go to and from home. Try to make the changes from cycling to running as quick as possible. If you use special bike shoes, practise changing into running shoes as quickly as possible.

Run
One of your runs this week is the brick session.
For the second run try to complete race distance of 5km at your expected race pace.

This is a good solid weeks training and because of the brick session you get two days off. Split up the rest days (train for 3 days, rest 1 day, train for 2 days, rest 1 day)