Olympic triathlon training plan: a 12 to 16-week structure

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An Olympic triathlon training plan for someone who has already done a sprint usually takes 12 to 16 weeks. It builds on the same pattern of swims, rides and runs, with longer sessions, a weekly long ride and run, regular bricks and open-water practice. What follows is a structure to adapt, offered as general guidance rather than a guarantee.

What changes from sprint to Olympic

The Olympic distance is the standard distance in British Triathlon's rules: a 1500 m swim, a 40 km bike and a 10 km run, with a minimum age of 17 as at 31 December. Every leg is twice the sprint distance, and the race lasts long enough that pacing becomes a real skill. Going too hard on the bike is an easy way to spoil the run. Our page on the Olympic triathlon covers the format in more detail.

Three things deserve most of your extra training time:

• Swimming 1500 m continuously and comfortably, in open water if your race is there.
• Riding for well over an hour at a steady effort you can hold, then running.
• Running 10 km off the bike without fading badly in the second half.

If you have a medical condition or have been inactive for a while, see your GP before you start hard training. The step up in volume is a good moment to check.

How the Olympic triathlon training plan is structured

Both versions use the same four phases. The 16-week version gives four extra weeks to the base phase, which suits you if the swim or the 10 km run is a big step, or if your weeks are often interrupted.

Within each phase, use a lighter recovery week every third or fourth week, cutting session length by roughly a third. This is where your body catches up with the work.

Weekly hours as guidance

There is no single right number. As a rough guide, plan for around five to eight hours a week in the base phase and around seven to ten hours in the heaviest build and race-specific weeks. Start at the bottom of a range you can sustain with work and family, and only move up if you are recovering well.

A typical week has seven to nine sessions: two or three swims, two or three rides, two or three runs, with one of the rides and runs joined as a brick in later weeks. If you only have six hours, keep the long ride, the long run, the brick and two swims, and drop the extra easy sessions first.

Sample week (build phase)

This is one way to arrange a build week at around eight hours. Shorten each session in proportion if your available time is lower.

Keep the long run and the long ride on different days, and avoid placing your hardest bike and run sessions back to back. If you add a third swim, make it an open-water session at a supervised venue in summer.

Key sessions

The long ride

The long ride builds the endurance you need to finish the bike leg with something left for the run. Ride most of it at a steady, conversational effort, sometimes called zone 2: low enough to talk in short sentences. Over the weeks, add a block in the second half at your expected race effort. For uninterrupted riding in East London, the Lee Valley VeloPark road circuit is a 1-mile floodlit closed circuit in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Booking is required up to 7 days ahead and helmets are mandatory. Pay and ride was £7.60 when checked on 6 October 2026; prices change.

In UK age-group races where drafting (riding close behind another rider to save energy) is not allowed, British Triathlon's rules set a draft zone of 12 m from the front edge of the front wheel, with a maximum of 25 seconds to pass through another rider's zone. World Triathlon's rules also make standard-distance age-group racing draft-illegal. Practise riding alone at a steady effort, because that is what race day asks of you.

The brick

A brick is a bike session followed straight away by a run. In the Olympic plan it is usually the long ride with a 15 to 20-minute run off the bike, or a shorter ride with race-pace blocks followed by a run at race pace. It trains your legs to cope with the change and lets you rehearse T2. Our guide to the brick workout has sessions for both sprint and Olympic distance.

Open-water practice

Swimming 1500 m in open water is a different task from 60 lengths of a pool: no walls, other swimmers, sighting and a wetsuit. Practise only at supervised venues, and never in the Thames, canals or docks outside organised sessions. The West Reservoir Centre in Hackney is open all year round with a mandatory tow float provided; the course shrinks as the water cools. At the London Royal Docks, Love Open Water requires a tow float for all swimmers and a bright hat. Its page says the venue was reopening in summer 2026, so check whether it is running. Our guide to open water swimming in London lists the options.

Under British Triathlon rules for swims up to 1500 m, wetsuits are mandatory below 15.9 °C and, for ages up to 59, forbidden above 22 °C. Train in the wetsuit you will race in so the fit and the feel are familiar.

The long run

The long run builds towards 10 km and a little beyond, at an easy effort. It is what lets you run the second half of the race rather than survive it. Keep most of it easy and add a short steady section at the end in the race-specific phase.

Indoor sessions

A turbo trainer makes the midweek bike efforts easier to fit in on dark evenings, and lets you do a brick at home by putting your running shoes by the bike.

The race-specific phase

In the last few weeks before the taper, the training should look more like the race. Do one rehearsal session: a continuous open-water swim close to 1500 m, then a ride of an hour or more with race-pace blocks, then a run, all in race kit. Practise eating and drinking on the bike as you plan to on the day, and walk through your transition routine. Our guide to sprint triathlon training explains the basic building blocks if you want a refresher.

How to taper

For an Olympic-distance race, a taper of one to two weeks is common. In the first taper week, cut your total time by around a third; in race week, cut it by around half. Keep short efforts at race pace in each sport so you stay sharp, and make the last two days very easy or complete rest. The fitness you have built does not disappear in a fortnight, and feeling restless is normal.

Use the time to check your bike, confirm your wave start time and transition layout from the race briefing, and pack the night before. Do not try new kit or new food on race day.

See triathlon kit at Decathlon

Frequently asked questions