Welcome to your 80/20 polarised Half Distance Cascais Triathlon training plan
This plan is designed to get you to the start line feeling strong and prepared. Cascais offers a beautiful Bay swim, Rolling bike, and a Rolling run.
Starting with a swim in the most spectacular bay in Portugal, with an emotional start at sunrise, surrounded by supporters. A unique feature of a loop in a F1 circuit will boost your power through a stunning race course. A vibrant Triathlon celebration, over one of the most stunning courses ever designed for a Triathlon.
This plan is 18 weeks with a general phase of 9 weeks, a specific phase of 7 weeks and a 2 week taper.
Polarised training is a model which means you will spend 80% of your time training at a moderate intensity and 20% at a high intensity. Polarised training plans generally outperform other training methods and help prevent injury.
In the specific phase, the weekend swim and bike or bike and run workouts are scheduled on the same day and should be done back to back as a "brick" session to simulate the demands of half distance racing.
On weekdays during the specific phase, bike and run workouts scheduled on the same day are optional bricks. These sessions are good opportunities to practice pacing and nutrition and to test out race equipment so that these things are familiar on race day.
There is an optional Sprint or Olympic Distance practice race or race simulation in week 15
In the general phase there are sessions in HR Zone 3 and above to develop speed, muscular endurance and aerobic capacity.
This plan is for first time half distance athletes who prefers a Low Volume plan to fit in with their work/life situation. It can also be used by a first timer who wants low volume.
You should be able to swim and run comfortably for 45 minutes and cycle for 60 minutes and complete at least 4 hours of aerobic exercise over seven days.
The weekly training load starts at 6 hours in week 1 and peaks at 11 hours in week 16.
🏊 🚴♂️ 🏃 🧱 18 weeks of swim, bike, run & transition (Brick) sessions
🏋️ S&C to help prevent injury from a NASM Certified Personal Trainer
📹Links to videos that will help you complete the sessions. Swim Drill videos, S&C exercises and more
📊 Bike sessions include Power profiles that you can download and use with your indoor trainer (Zwift, Wahoo, Rouvy etc) & Garmin, Coros, Polar etc
⌚ Run session have Power structured session for use with STRD, Garmin, Coros, Polar etc
🌊Swim sessions are heart rate and RPE based.
My name is Karen and I live in Malaga, Spain where I coach and run Triathlon training camps all year round (ChiliTri). Karen is an IRONMAN® Certified Coach and British Triathlon Federation Level 3 Coach. I also work as a Coach Educator & Assessor for the British Triathlon Federation, helping to develop the next generation of triathlon coaches in the UK.
Karen has an MSc in Sports Perofrmance Coaching.
Good luck with your training and Cascais event!
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I’m Karen Parnell, British Triathlon Level 3 Coach & Tutor, IRONMAN U Coach & MSc in Sports Performance Coaching. With certifications spanning NASM PT, WOWSA Level 3 Open Water, 80/20 Endurance, & World Triathlon Female Athlete Coaching, I bring proven expertise across all aspects of swimming, cycling & running.
My passion is helping athletes like you reach your race goals through a holistic approach that blends smart training, tailored nutrition, strength/mobiity, recovery & mental strategies.