Beginner Half Ironman Training Plan (20 Weeks)

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If you’ve been doing sprint or Olympic distance triathlons for a while, you may be thinking about taking the plunge and tackling a 70.3. It’s definitely a great way to challenge yourself in your triathlon journey. With this free beginner half ironman training plan, you’ll be sure to cross that finish line successfully!

You can scroll to the bottom of this post to view and print the training plan, but be sure to read over these important tips and key workout descriptions prior to starting training.

This training plan was produced in partnership with Jon Fearne of E3Coaching. If you’re an intermediate or advanced athlete that needs a little extra guidance, feel free to reach out to them.

Disclaimer: This post was done in collaboration and reviewed by Chrissy Carroll, USAT Level I Triathlon Coach and RRCA Running Coach. It is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as individual training advice. Consult a doctor prior to starting any new exercise program.

Who is this training plan for?

This plan is ideal for those looking to complete their first half ironman, which consists of:

This plan is geared towards beginners; it is not meant for advanced athletes looking to PR.

Ideally, you will have either previously taken part in sprint or Olympic distance races. However, you can still complete this plan if you have never done a triathlon but have a solid background of swim, bike, and/or run.

What level of fitness do I need to start?

In order to begin training, you should currently be exercising at least 3 to 4 hours per week regularly. You should be free of any injuries that affect your ability to train.

You should also have the following base for each discipline:

Schedule Overview

This plan is spread across the 20 weeks to allow you to progress while minimizing the risk of overtraining and injury.

You are looking at between 5 and 6 days a week of training sessions. The plan follows a common pattern where there is a 3-week build in training, followed by a recovery week.

As far as the week itself, you can move sessions around within the week as needed to fit around work and family. However, when possible try to leave the weekend sessions as-is on the schedule. They’re focused on endurance and recovery and work well in the order listed.

What are the yellow highlighted training sessions?

On most weeks of the plan you’ll notice one highlighted session. This is your “I need to miss a session” session. Life can sometimes get in the way and I believe in removing stresses caused by missing a session (guilt and stress can add fatigue; we don’t want that).

Why aren’t there more swim workouts?

As most of a half ironman race is made up of the bike and run segments, the workouts are more heavily weighted towards those disciplines for this beginner plan. Remember, the purpose of this plan is to just get you across that finish line successfully (not necessarily to have you breaking records).

This plan assumes basic distance swimming ability, and includes 1 to 2 workouts each week to improve distance capacity and form.

However, if you currently feel swimming is your “weak link”, you can adjust the plan to include an extra swim each week. Or, take a few weeks prior to starting this plan to work more heavily on swimming (perhaps doing 3 days a week of swimming) – then begin this plan.

Zone-Based Training Guidelines

This plan uses zone-based training guidelines. Please read this section so you understand how to set your zones. Note that you can use RPE as an alternative if you prefer that to zone-based training.

Step 1: Lactate Threshold Field Test

The very first workout in this plan is conducting a lactate threshold field fitness test. This will allow you to set your heart rate zones for the rest of the plan.

Here’s how to do your running LT field test:

Warm up at a comfortable pace for 10-15 minutes. After you warm up, complete a 30-minute run at the best possible speed you know you can maintain for all 30 minutes.

Use your heart rate monitor to calculate the average heart rate from minute 10 to minute 30 of this run. (Yes, this means you ignore the first 10 minutes of data). If you don’t have a heart rate monitor, take your heart rate manually at 10 minutes and again at 30 minutes, then take the average.

The average heart rate you’ll take during this time is your threshold heart rate.

If you’d like, you can also do a biking field test, as the numbers can vary a bit from biking to running. (You don’t have to do this; it’s just an option).

Here’s how to do a biking LT field test:

Find a route that you can ride continuously on without stopping (uninterrupted path or on a trainer). Warm up for 10-15 minutes, then ride as hard as you can for 30 minutes.

The average heart rate or power during this 30 minutes can be used to set zones.

Step 2: Set Zones

Then, use these calculations to create your heart rate zones for this plan given your threshold heart rate above.

(Note that different coaches use different methods to determine zone training. That means if you look at different training plans, the specific zone numbers may vary a bit. Just keep that in mind if you’re comparing workouts from different plans.)

Much of the training in this plan occurs in Zone 2, known as Base Training. This is your endurance realm; you build your engine here. When working in this zone you are able to hold a conversation.

From there, the next level is tempo training. This is the high end of endurance, normally just below or around threshold. After that is submaximal training, used in this plan as wake up intensity sessions.

Alternative method: RPE

If you don’t have a heart rate monitor or don’t want to measure heart rate, you can train by using the RPE (rate of perceived exertion) listed next to the zones above. On a scale of 1-10, where 1 is laying on the couch and 10 is an all-out sprint, you can get a feel for where each of these workouts should fall.

Workout Descriptions

In a second, you’ll see a breakdown of discipline specific workouts. First, there are a few workout terms that apply to multiple disciplines:

Run Workouts

Most runs in the plan are easy to understand time-based runs with a particular zone (generally zone 2). There are a few other workouts you’ll see:

Bike Workouts

Similar to the runs, many bike workouts are simply time-based with a particular zone. You may see workouts that call for a mixture of zones.

Here are some other workouts you might see: