How to Prepare for an Olympic Distance Triathlon

Podcast

May 18, 2023

How to prepare for an Olympic distance triathlon: race-ready bike sessions, running off the bike at 10K pace, a proper warm-up and even pacing.

Get Fast Podcast, Ep 172, with Gerard and Jordan Donnelly

An Olympic distance triathlon is a 1.5 km swim, a 40 km ride and a 10 km run. The types of training are much the same as for a half or full Ironman. What changes is the race-ready work: bike sessions at your race power, faster running off the bike, a proper warm-up and careful execution, because the race is intense from start to finish.

How is the training different from longer races?

Swim. The sessions don't change much. You still do endurance work, such as 400s, 800s and 1 km reps with some 200s, and VO2 work with 25s, 50s and 100s. In summer, practise outdoors in a lake, river or ocean like the one you'll race in. Sessions are shorter overall than for an Ironman, with less time spent on warm-up, drills and cool-down.

Bike. The high-intensity sessions stay much the same across every distance. The endurance ride doesn't need to be as long as it would for a 70.3 or Ironman, although extra time on the bike in the right zones is encouraged.

About six weeks out, the program switches to race-ready sessions. TriVelo calls this the Hour of Power, because you're riding at race intensity for the length of your race. You break the 40 km into intervals at your race power and lengthen them as race day gets closer, for example:

6 x 10 minutes
3 or 4 x 15 minutes
fewer, longer blocks closer to race day

The aim is to get your body used to holding race power for the whole distance. In each session, try to nudge the number up. If you're meant to ride 190 watts, see how you go at 192 or 195. Training is where you find out what happens when you push past your range.

Why does running off the bike matter more here?

Gerard thinks the 10 km is the hardest run in triathlon, and Jordan agrees it's one of the toughest. A sprint is 5 km of pain. In an Olympic you have to match that intensity for twice as long, while a half or full Ironman is run at a lower intensity.

The goal is to get your 10 km off the bike as close as possible to your fresh 10 km time, so the run training gets more specific:

After race-ready bike sessions, run 5 to 8 km at your 10K race pace.
Midweek, add 2 or 3 km at 5K race pace after a hard bike session.
Once your hill strength work is done earlier in the program, add pace work such as 2 km and 1 km repeats or fartlek.

That faster running is only for athletes who have been running uninjured for a long time. If you're newer or prone to injury, your goal is to get every run in without breaking down, with the right shoes and strength work. You'll still get intensity from the bike and swim, and Gerard says many athletes have run well on race day without doing any hard running intervals.

How should you warm up?

Gerard thinks the warm-up matters more at Olympic and sprint distance than in a 70.3 or Ironman, because the swim starts at a higher intensity.

Swim for at least five minutes before your start, with some hard 30-second efforts.
If you can, spin on a trainer for 10 minutes.
Then run for five to ten minutes, with three 20-second stride-outs.

You'll usually rack your bike on race morning, unlike an Ironman, so plan your timing around registration, racking and a longer warm-up.

How should you pace the race?

Swim evenly. Gerard says almost everyone goes out too fast, and he still does it himself. If you want to get onto faster swimmers' feet in the first 25 to 50 metres, practise hard 25 m efforts in training first. Otherwise, swim your own even pace.

On the bike, start conservatively for the first few kilometres after the swim, settle at your number and hold it. Don't try to finish faster, because you still have to run. Execution can blow you up quickly at this distance. If you get excited early and push too much power, you could end up riding 60 or 70 watts lower than you should.

Gerard weighs how he feels equally with his data. If the numbers you planned feel unattainable on the day, change your plan instead of forcing them. Jordan learned the cost of riding blind when his bike computer mount broke while travelling. He did nine one-minute hill repeats by feel. His times were similar, but the data showed bursts of 550 to 650 watts in efforts averaging around 380 to 400. He used far more energy than he needed to.

What about nutrition?

Because the race is shorter, the carbohydrate you take on the bike should carry you through the run. Jordan's example: a gel has about 40 grams of carbs, so one early in the ride and one near the end might be enough. Don't take it in the last few minutes before getting off, because a lot of people get a stitch. If your 10 km will take you more than an hour, you might need to top up on the run.

Practise this in your race-ready sessions, at race intensity. Gerard's rule is that less is better, because you can always top up.

Who is the Olympic distance for?

Gerard loves it. Most people can do one, it's a real sense of achievement, and it suits athletes who don't have time for a half or full Ironman. You can race one every four weeks over summer without burning out.