"Sprint Triathlon Training plan 3x"

Hi and Welcome!

I modified the Couch to Sprint for my initial training, and was able to complete two tris this past season.  However, since I always felt that I could do a little more, I tried to push the intensity or volume a little more.  Now I'm ready to take on some longer distance tris, and I'm working on increasing my base in each discipline.  So, yes, they do work - don't feel that you have to follow them exactly though.  If you're feeling tired, take an extra rest day; if you're feeling particularly energetic, it won't hurt to do a little more, go a little faster, etc.

i guess like most others mentioned, this is just a simple base builder that really works well.  please note that these plans don't focus on speed or getting you faster at all...thats done on purpose.  i feel, beginners need to stick with the slow, endurance (especially if new to multisports) to build a safe base.  if you try to start working in speedwork in your first season on a body that has little base, your gonna be more prone to injury.

i see from yor logs that you can run 25min no problem, bike an hour, swim 30minutes.  do the olympic if you feel the sprint is below your current athletic levels.  you will have plenty of time to train for it for a few 2005 races and may be more challenging.

on the other hand, if you want competitiveness in the sprints this upcoming season, and have somewhat consistently ran, bike and swam this year - a coach or a 'paid' plan could help you reach your personal goals faster.  these here are generic, cookie-cutter plans that are good for most who want to finish the first triathlon without puking up a lung.  a custom plan will more identify your limiters and can get you to your personal, peak levels faster - but they come with a price.

a thing to look forward to, we are developing a more 'intense' sprint plan that will be ready by the years end.  it will be 20 weeks long and will work on increasing speed, and using periodization for maximum performance.

good luck

i built swiming endurance like this: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=122

econway has an excellant treatise on it at: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=256

our other writers have some good articles at: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/index.asp?catid=19

basically i used the 'switch to my rest stroke technique' for my first tri years ago instead of actually resting between laps as i was stubborn.  i had to prepare to swim a mile and damn if i was gonna practice with actual rests.  it worked but not necessarily the best.  econway uses several seconds of real rest between certain yardages...this is the better way to go in retrospect.  this is how i swim now and how most structure there routines - with rest.

log the swims with the minutes you actually swam - especially if your caluclating a pace.  although im lazy and still add in my rest stops - they only add a couple minutes to the time.

good luck.

I don't know where you live, but from my experience on the east coast, there are relatively few women under age 25 doing tri's (particularly the smaller local races).  Even if there were, you might want to reconsider any lofty goals on your first tri and just concentrate on enjoying yourself.  Anything can happen in a tri, even in a sprint.  Don't worry about placing until you get your feet wet, so to speak.  Best of luck in training!

Sharon

i think a couple of members got coaching through www.markallenonline.com  with excellant results... www.trainingpeaks.com (formerly trainingbible) has some online plans that other members have used.

we dont offer that yet as we r still building the logs to do this in the future.