Written by Overview
Welcome to Week 7!
(8 weeks to go)
We will rotate through the 3 specialty weeks again: Long Bike, Long Run, and Brick (Bike + Run combined) with slightly increased hours. This week features a longer bike.
Topics & To-Dos
- Bike skills–Climbing: Regardless if your race is hilly, learning to climb well on the bike is a great skill to improve. If you don’t have hills in your area, these skills also can be used on an indoor trainer.
- 1) Move back. Sit further back on your saddle than normal to better engage leg and hip muscles
- 2) Hand position. Position your hands flat on your top bar (not the brake hoods) to allow you to sit further back and open up the diaphragm to breathe easier.
- 4) Relax your fingers, and rest your hand on the top bar–no need to grip it. Relax your shoulders
- 5) Foot drop. Drop your heel down when pressing on the pedal to give you better leverage on an incline
- 6) Cadence and steady effort. Keep a steady 60-80 cadence, depending on steepness. Drop your gears down enough to pedal as easy as possible in this range
- 7) Sit and Stand. Sit as much as possible for efficiency, but practice getting up and out of the saddle for accelerating or to give a break during long climbs. Before standing, move 1 gear harder to compensate
- 8) Shift as often as needed. Get used to using all your gears to keep a steady cadence and effort. (of course depending on steepness, we all run out of gears 🙂
Total Hours: 6h:15m
Swim: 1:15
Bike: 2:20
Run: 1:30
Strength: 1:10
MONDAY
Run 0:40
Endurance
- Warm up: 10 minutes starting in Zone 1, then into Zone 2
- Main: 30 minutes Zone 2 with 20 second strides every 5 minutes
Strength 0:35
- Whole body: 6-8 exercises, 2-3 sets each. See the Strength section in the Training Plan Overview for options.
TUESDAY
Bike 0:50
Endurance
- Warm up: 10 minutes starting in Zone 1, then into Zone 2
- Main:
- 15 minutes steady Zone 2
- 10 minutes climbing as: 2 x (3 min climb low cadence, Zone 3, 2 min recovery, Zone 1). Use the techniques listed in the Overview section above
- 10 minutes steady Zone 2
- Cool down: 5 minutes easy
WEDNESDAY
Swim 1100m, about 0:35
Endurance, shorter sets
- Warm up: 3 x 50, Zone 1-2
- Main:
- 9 x 100, Zone 2, rest 30-60 seconds between each.
- For each 100, focus on your catch during the first 50 and pull during the 2nd 50 (catch and pull were introduced in Weeks 3 and 5)
- Cool down: 1 x 50, relax Zone 1
THURSDAY
Run 0:50
Endurance
- Warm up: 10 minutes starting in Zone 1, then into Zone 2
- Main: 40 minutes steady Zone 2
Strength 0:35
- Whole body: 6-8 exercises, 2-3 sets each. See the Strength section in the Training Plan Overview for options.
FRIDAY
Swim 1300m,
about 0:40
Endurance, longer sets
- Warm up: 4 x 50, Zone 1-2
- Main:
- 1 x 150, 1 x 700, 1 x 150, Zone 2, rest 30-60 seconds in between
- Cool down: 2 x 50, relax Zone 1
SATURDAY
Bike 0:90
Endurance
- Warm up: 10 minutes starting in Zone 1, then into Zone 2
- Main:
- 80 minutes steady moving from lower Zone 2 into upper Zone 2/lower Zone 3 in the last 10-15 minutes. Include some low to moderate hill work if available
SUNDAY
Day Off, or 
Hike/Walk, or 
Yoga/Mobility
Training Zones
Use this chart as a guide for how hard to work in each training session. This plan uses Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) or “feels like” to judge effort.
For those who want to train with heart race for the run and and heart rate and/or power on the bike, download an extended template here.
