While it's nice to make your triathlon debut at a sprint-distance event, it's not always convenient or possible. For example, a nearby town or city might host a great Olympic-distance race and the date of the event fits nicely into your busy calendar. Although the event sounds like a lot of fun you wonder, "Do I have the time to train for that event? Can I really complete an Olympic-distance race or am I fooling myself?"

It doesn't take as much time to train for an Olympic-distance event as you might think. With a solid training plan, you can successfully complete the event.

This 12-Week training plan is for beginning triathletes looking to comfortably complete their first Olympic distance event (0.9 miles of swimming, 24.8 miles of cycling and 6.2 miles of running.) The athlete using this program can currently swim 50 meters without stopping and ride an indoor or outdoor bike for 30 to 60 minutes. There are currently two options included within this plan for the running portion ? a run description and a description for a combination of running and walking.

The largest week of training volume is approximately 7:00. This volume of training can easily fit into the busiest of schedules. This training plan originally appeared in the February through April 2002 issues of "Triathlete" magazine.

--------------------

Training volume: