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Summit Triathlon Base Block: Intro to Structured Training + Free 30-min Coach Video Call

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Summit Triathlon Base Block: Intro to Structured Training + Free 30-min Coach Video Call

Includes Structured Workouts

Structured Workouts automatically sync with compatible devices and guide you through workouts in real time.


Learn More about Structured Workouts.

Author

Dr Leighton Wells, PhD (Sport Science), MAppSpSci

All plans by this Coach

Length

3 Weeks

Includes Structured Workouts

Structured Workouts automatically sync with compatible devices and guide you through workouts in real time.


Learn More about Structured Workouts.

Plan Description

Train on the evidence.

Evidence-based coaching, from a coach who helped build the evidence.

Not sure this is the right plan for you?

Book a free 15-minute call with Leighton and talk it through. No pressure and no sales pitch, just a straight answer on which plan fits the time you actually have. Book a free 15-minute call

60% off every Summit plan until 30 September. Use code 60PERCENTOFF at checkout.

Every session is a structured workout, so it pushes straight to your Garmin, Wahoo, Polar or Coros watch with the intervals and targets already built in.

Go to sample weeks and training-load structure ↓

Between races, most triathletes either drift or keep smashing themselves. This is the third option: a three-week block that holds your engine, restores your rhythm and rebuilds the strength habit, so your next build starts from freshness rather than fatigue. It is also priced as a first taste of structured triathlon training: the same session design, coaching notes and sport-science standards as every Summit race plan, in a block you can try for the cost of a race-day breakfast.

WHAT'S IN EVERY SUMMIT PLAN

Coaching built in, not just a list of workouts.

HR-anchored to your own threshold
Targets are set from your own heart rate, so they scale to you, not a generic chart.
About 80 percent easy
Most of your training kept genuinely easy, with a smaller, sharper share of hard work. Endurance research links the strongest results to more easy training, not more hard.
Structured to your watch
Every swim, ride and run downloads to your device and guides you in real time.
A weekly coaching note
Plain English, every Monday: what matters most and what to drop when life is loud.
Three doses every week
Full, reduced and minimum, so a hard work or family week never derails the plan.
A day-one guide and workbook
The reasoning behind every session, with every term defined in full.

THE INTENSITY THAT GETS YOU THERE

Most of your training, easy.

A big aerobic base with a smaller, sharper dose of hard work. The distribution the research ties to the strongest endurance results, and the right dose for a block whose job is to hold fitness, not force it.

Easy ~80%Hard

Polarised training has the strongest evidence, so these plans are built that way. Pyramidal training is also effective, so in one-to-one coaching the balance is tailored to your stage of training and your life load.

Endurance research links the fastest race times to more easy training, not more hard (Muniz et al., 2024, Sports Medicine →).

Dr Leighton Wells

PhD · MAppSpSci · TrainingPeaks Level 2 · 7× Ironman finisher · research on 34,731 training sessions

HOW IT IS BUILT

What it is built on

Built the way the evidence says a transition block should be: mostly-easy aerobic work to hold the engine, one quality run per week, and every energy system touched lightly rather than hammered.

The run week obeys a hard Summit rule: volume and intensity never rise together. Week 1 re-opens tempo, Week 2 sharpens with a 400/800/1200/800/400 speed pyramid while the long run holds flat, and Week 3 pairs the long-run peak with gentler hill strength. The 10x200 swim benchmark runs in Weeks 1 and 3, a built-in progress check with no formal test.

Two full-body strength circuits each week, taught exercise by exercise, and a genuine rest day every week, explained on the day. Run it once between races, or stack two or three rounds into a 6 to 9 week base: the restart at 8.5 hours after each 10-hour peak is the deliberate step-back that makes repeats safe. It is built to the same standards behind every Summit plan.

THE SUMMIT COACHING CYCLE

Coach yourself the way we would.

This is the rhythm we run in one-to-one coaching, and we encourage you to run it yourself when self-coaching. The plan prescribes the training; you measure, monitor and manage, week to week, and each step feeds the next.

PMeMoMa
PPrescribe
The plan designs each week with intent, built on the method above.
MeMeasure
Capture every session, and just as important, how it actually felt.
MoMonitor
Watch the trends, your fatigue and your life load, not just one session.
MaManage
Adjust, progress or back off, then it feeds into the next week.

THE AUTHORITY BEHIND YOUR PLAN

Peer-reviewed research
Published in leading sport-science journals.
University educator
Teaches coaching, training load and exercise science in university sport-science programs.
Invited presenter
For AusTriathlon and TrainingPeaks.
European College of Sport Science
Presented at its 30th Annual Congress in Rimini, Italy (July 2025), a leading international sport-science congress.

“The empty day is where the week’s work becomes the week’s gain.”

From the plan's rest-day coaching notes

ENDURANCE RESULTS FROM SUMMIT ATHLETES

Real results, from real endurance athletes.

50-min 70.3 PB, and a first Ironman finish

“I reduced my Ironman 70.3 PB by 50 minutes in less than 12 months with Leighton, and he coached me to my first Ironman finish.”

Andrew Hyde · First Ironman finish
40 minutes off a 70.3

“Exceptional, personalised service. Leighton provides great insights and really knows what endurance training is all about. I reduced my Ironman 70.3 time by 40 minutes.”

Scott Hunter · Ironman 70.3 athlete

Before you start

This plan assumes you already swim, ride and run. Full weeks are 8.5, 9.25 and 10 hours; the built-in Minimum dose weeks run closer to 3 to 4 hours. It is not a couch-to-tri plan. When you are ready for a race build, the Summit Ironman 70.3 Foundation plan is the natural step up, or go straight to one-to-one coaching.

FROM PLAN TO COACHING

This block is a taste. Here is where it leads.

When you are ready for more, step up to a full Summit race or base build and, when you move to monthly one-to-one coaching after it, your first month is free. Or pair an advanced Summit plan with one-to-one coaching from the start, and your first month of that guidance is free. Either way, coaching picks up from where this block has taken you, with your training built and adjusted around you, week to week.

Rather skip the second plan? You can go straight to one-to-one coaching with Dr Leighton Wells, PhD (Sport Science), MAppSpSci, at any time.

Free email support, with every plan

Stuck on a session, or a term in the plan? Email leighton@summittriathloncoaching.com.au and ask. You get a real answer from a real coach, not a help desk.

GO DEEPER

Planning your season around this block: the Australian triathlon race calendar →

The science behind how I coach: the Summit method →

Ready for the next rung: one-to-one coaching with Summit →

Delivered through TrainingPeaks and loads into your calendar from your chosen start date. Train to your own limits and seek medical advice before starting a new program.

How it Works

Load Your Plan

Quickly view upcoming workouts in the TrainingPeaks app.

Workout and Analyze

Upload completed workouts from your favorite tracking app or device.

Track Your Progress

Get feedback, stay on top of your training and perform at your best.

Learn More

Training Plan Sample Week

Stats

Average Weekly Breakdown

Workouts Weekly Average Longest Workout
Run x3
02:60:00 01:45:00
Strength x2
01:20:00 00:40:00
Swim x2
01:22:00 00:50:00
Bike x2
03:33:00 02:30:00
Workouts Per Week Weekly Average Longest Workout
Run
02:60:00 01:45:00
Strength
01:20:00 00:40:00
Swim
01:22:00 00:50:00
Bike
03:33:00 02:30:00

Training Load By Week


Dr Leighton Wells, PhD (Sport Science)

Summit Triathlon Coaching

I coach triathletes, runners and IRONMAN athletes who want training that fits real life, not just a race calendar. I’m a sport scientist with a PhD in Sport Science, a Master of Applied Sport Science and a seven-time IRONMAN finisher, so it’s evidence-based but lived-in. We read your data and how training is actually landing, keep most of it genuinely easy, and progress in steps you can absorb. If you want a coach who listens, adapts and explains the why, I’d love to work with you.


  • This plan includes a Free Basic TrainingPeaks Account.
  • Access your training plan anywhere on the TrainingPeaks mobile and desktop apps.
  • Track your performance with robust data tracking and detailed graphs.
  • Plan for your event in the TrainingPeaks calendar.
  • Track your weight, sleep, hours, fatigue and stress while you train.
  • Completed workouts sync with popular apps like Garmin and Wahoo. Learn More
  • If plan includes Structured Workouts, then planned workouts sync to compatible devices and guide you through workouts in real time. Learn More

Refund Policy

This plan is protected by our Refund Policy and may, with the author's approval, be exchanged for a plan of equal value from the same author.

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