Triathlon Plan v1 — 5150 Kraichgau

Weekly Schedule · Base Phase (Wk 1–10)

Mon

Strength
Upper ⚡

Tue

Swim
Drills

Wed

Bike
Zone 2

Thu

Run
Run-walk

Fri

Strength
Lower

Sat

Long
Aerobic

Sun

Rest
+ mobility

▶ Start here (this week) Everything stays easy and in Zone 2 — conversational, nasal breathing, the same discipline from your strength plan. The goal of the first block isn't speed, it's building an aerobic engine and fixing your freestyle. Increase total volume by no more than ~10% per week.

⚡ Why squash is out (and what replaces it) Dropping Thursday squash frees the day for running — your biggest fitness gap. You lose squash's interval and agility stimulus, so from the Build phase we add one weekly tempo/interval session on the bike or run to get that high-intensity dose back. Strength drops to 2 full days (upper + lower) plus an optional 15-min power/core primer on Sunday = your "third lift."

Core Principles

🩺

Zone 2 is the medicine

The bulk of your week is easy aerobic work (120–135 bpm). It builds endurance and is one of the best non-drug tools for your 130/88 — triathlon training and your BP goal pull the same direction.

🏊

Swim technique > swim distance

Your freestyle efficiency is the single highest-ROI project in the plan. Frequent short technique sessions beat occasional long grinds. Book 2–3 lessons or a video analysis in the first month.

🦵

Run durability is earned slowly

At 80.9 kg with powerful but un-run-conditioned legs, your main risk is overuse injury from ramping too fast. Run-walk first, easy pace always, two runs a week before three.

🚴

Sort the bike in weeks 1–3

Start cycling fitness on a spin bike or trainer immediately so you lose no time, but get a road bike sorted within three weeks. Prioritise a relaxed fit — kinder on both comfort and blood pressure.

🫁

BP rules carry over

Exhale steadily, never hold your breath, warm up before anything hard. Keep logging waking readings — if they trend up for two straight weeks after a volume jump, back off and check with your doctor.

How to read thisTap any day to expand. Strength days (Mon, Fri, Sun) now list every exercise with sets × reps; swim and run carry their first-4-week progressions. Paces are deliberately easy — the base phase builds the engine, not the top end.

💪

Monday

Strength — Upper + Power

~40 min + 15 min Zone 2

⌄

Condensed from your v5 plan for triathlon: intensity stays, frequency drops to 2 days. Pulling is prioritised over pushing — the swim is a pull, and rowing holds your posture together in the aero position. Open with the power primer while fresh. Everything 6–10 reps, exhale on effort, no breath-held grinders.

Plyo Push-Up ⚡ POWER

Explosive, hands leave the floor. Full rest — primes the nervous system.

3 × 5

Flat Barbell Bench Press

Main press. 2s down, exhale up, stop 1–2 reps shy of failure.

3 × 6–8

Assisted Pull-Up / Lat Pulldown

Your swim muscles. Least assistance that lets you finish clean.

3 × 8

Bent-Over Barbell Row

Flat back, pull to lower chest. Builds the aero-position posture.

3 × 8–10

Seated DB Shoulder Press

Back supported (BP-friendly). Stop short of lockout.

3 × 10

Face Pull

Rotator-cuff & rear-delt health — protects the shoulder for swimming.

3 × 15

Pallof Press + Hanging Knee Raise

Anti-rotation core finisher, 2 rounds. Breathe continuously.

2 rounds

📈 Add load while every rep stays fast and clean. Finish with 15 min easy Zone 2. If the next day's endurance feels flat, cut the last accessory here first.

🏊

Tuesday

Swim — Technique & Drills

30–40 min · short reps, long rests

⌄

This is a skill session, not a workout. Swim 25 m at a time with plenty of rest, rotating drills. Efficiency now saves you minutes on race day.

Wk 1: catch-up drill + kick with board — 8×25 m, rest as needed
Wk 2: add single-arm drill + bilateral breathing — 10×25 m
Wk 3: 6×25 m drills, then 4×50 m smooth swim
Wk 4: 4×25 m drills, then build toward 100 m continuous

📈 Book 2–3 lessons or a filmed stroke analysis in month one. Milestone: 400 m continuous & relaxed by end of Base.

🚴

Wednesday

Bike — Zone 2 Endurance

45–60 min · conversational

⌄

Steady, easy spinning — you should be able to hold a conversation the whole time. Spin bike or trainer is completely fine until your road bike arrives. Smooth cadence (85–95 rpm), no hard efforts.

📈 Add ~5 min each week. By end of Base you're riding 75 min easy without fading.

🏃

Thursday

Run — Easy Run-Walk

20–30 min · very easy pace

⌄

Replaces squash. Keep it genuinely easy — if you can't talk, you're going too hard. Soft surfaces (trail, grass, track) are gentler on your joints at this stage.

Wk 1: run 1 min / walk 2 min × 7 (~21 min)
Wk 2: run 2 min / walk 2 min × 6
Wk 3: run 3 min / walk 1.5 min × 6
Wk 4: run 5 min / walk 1 min × 4

📈 Milestone: continuous easy 5 km by ~Wk 8–10. Never add distance and intensity in the same week.

🦵

Friday

Strength — Lower (reduced)

~35 min + 15 min Zone 2

⌄

Trimmed from your v5 lower day — your legs now run and ride too, so volume is lower and nothing grinds. Single-leg work and calves are the priority: they're exactly what keeps a new runner injury-free. Keep the squat controlled, never to failure.

Low Box Jump ⚡ POWER

Soft, silent landings. Step down, never jump down.

3 × 5

Barbell Back Squat

Exhale up, 6–10 reps only, no maximal singles or belted grinders.

3 × 6–8

Romanian Deadlift

Hamstrings & glutes — your actual run engine. Flat back, hinge.

3 × 8

Bulgarian Split Squat

Single-leg strength & knee stability. Bodyweight first, then load.

2 × 8 / leg

Single-Leg RDL

Balance, ankle & hip control — mimics the run stride. Light.

2 × 8 / leg

Calf Raise + Tibialis Raise SUPERSET

Shin-splint insurance — the #1 new-runner injury. Full range.

3 × 15+15

📈 Finish with 15 min Zone 2. If Saturday's long session suffers, cut a set here first — never from Saturday.

⏳

Saturday

Long Aerobic Session

60–90 min · the week's key builder

⌄

Your longest, most important aerobic session. Alternate weekly: one Saturday a long easy ride, the next a long run-walk. From the Build phase this becomes your brick (ride straight into a short run) — the skill that makes race day feel normal.

📈 Ride grows toward 2 h; run-walk toward 8–10 km. Fuel these once they pass ~75 min (see Fuel tab).

🧘

Sunday

Rest + Mobility

optional 20 min easy swim / 15 min core

⌄

Real recovery comes first — this is where adaptation happens. If you feel good and want your "third lift," do this quick power/core circuit (2 rounds, ~15 min). Otherwise: an easy technique swim, mobility from your v5 cool-downs (hips & T-spine), or nothing at all.

Cable / Band Rotational Chop ⚡ POWER

Explosive hip rotation, light and snappy.

2 × 5 / side

Pallof Press

Anti-rotation hold. Breathe continuously — zero breath-holding.

2 × 10 / side

Dead Bug

Deep core, lower back flat. The most BP-safe core move you have.

2 × 8 / side

Suitcase Carry

Grip, obliques, posture. Walk tall and level, one side at a time.

2 × 30 m / side

📈 7–9 h sleep is part of the plan. If you're beaten up, skip this entirely — that's a valid choice, not a missed session.

Your Heart-Rate Zones

Age 34 · estimated max HR ≈ 186 bpmFrom 220 − age (Tanaka's formula gives ~184 — same ballpark). Solid estimates for training. Send a resting HR from a watch and I'll switch these to the more precise Karvonen method.

Z1 · Recovery93–112

50–60% · very easy, nose-breathing · warm-ups & cool-downs

Z2 · Endurance ★112–130

60–70% · fully conversational · where most of your plan lives

Z3 · Tempo130–149

70–80% · short phrases only · Build-phase tempo work

Z4 · Threshold149–167

80–90% · a few words · intervals, short & sparing

Z5 · VO₂max167–186

90–100% · can't talk · rare, brief race-specific efforts only

🗣 The talk test is your backupNo watch needed: full sentences = Zone 2, short phrases = tempo, single words = threshold. If an "easy" day creeps above ~130 bpm, slow down even if it feels too easy — that restraint is what builds the engine.

Where each zone shows up

🟦

Zone 2 — nearly everything

Every easy swim, bike and run, plus the 15-min finishers after lifting. The entire Base phase is Zone 2.

🟨

Zone 3–4 — later, sparingly

Tempo and interval work enter in the Build phase — this is the intensity squash used to give you. Little and well-spaced.

⬜

Zone 1 — around the edges

Warm-ups, cool-downs and true recovery days. Never feel guilty about time spent this easy.

⏱ Keep it honestThese are age-estimates, not measured. Given your exercise BP history, don't do an all-out max-HR test unsupervised — recalibrate only from a watch's recorded max over time or a supervised test. When the number and the talk test disagree, trust the talk test.

31-Week Roadmap → 9 May 2027

Weeks 1–10

Base

Build the aerobic engine and fix freestyle. Mostly Zone 2. Get the bike sorted. End targets: swim 400 m continuous, run 5 km continuous, ride 75 min easy.

Weeks 11–22

Build

Longer rides and runs, first bricks, and one weekly tempo/interval session (the intensity squash used to give). End targets: swim 1000 m, run 10 km, ride 2 h.

Weeks 23–29

Race-Specific

Race-pace work, 2+ open-water swims, and full brick rehearsals at race distance (40 km ride → 10 km run). Dial in fuelling and transitions.

Weeks 30–31

Taper

Cut volume ~40–50%, keep a little intensity to stay sharp. Sleep, eat, arrive fresh and slightly impatient. Race Sunday 9 May.

Now → Race Benchmarks

Swim, continuous~25 m scrappy→1.5 km efficient

Run, continuous<3 km run-walk→10 km

Bike, longest ride—→2 h (40 km easy)

Brick (bike→run)none→40 km + 10 km

Open-water swimsnone→2+ before race

Waking BP average~130/88→trending <125/80

Weeks are approximate — anchor backwards from race day. If you start later than early October, compress the Build phase, never the Base.

🥗 Your vegetarian base already fits Dal, paneer, quinoa and Huel give you excellent protein for recovery. Endurance adds two shifts: more carbohydrate, and fuelling during longer sessions.

🍌

Don't train long fasted

A banana or ½ Huel 45–60 min before any session over an hour. Carbs are now performance fuel, not something to minimise.

🥤

Fuel sessions over ~75 min

Practise eating on the move — dates, banana, or a gel — roughly 30–60 g carbs per hour. Train your gut now so race day isn't an experiment.

🩸

Check iron / ferritin

Vegetarian + endurance is the classic low-iron combination, and low ferritin quietly wrecks endurance. Get a blood test early and recheck mid-plan. Keep B12 supplemented.

💧

Hydration & electrolytes

Your 3–3.5 L/day habit stays. Add electrolytes on long sweaty rides and runs — and remember endurance sweat loss changes your old evening-sodium caution on those days.

BP During Endurance Training

📉

Zone 2 lowers BP

Steady easy aerobic volume is working in your favour here. The more of your week is genuinely easy, the better your numbers should trend.

📈

10% rule

Raise weekly volume gradually. Big sudden jumps are what stress the cardiovascular system — and the main cause of injury too.

📝

Keep the waking log

If readings trend up for two straight weeks after a volume increase, hold volume and speak to your doctor. The log is how you catch it early.

⏱ Medical note You're already cleared for exercise, but since BP is a flagged metric and this ramps you toward race-level endurance, have a quick word with your doctor before the bigger volume jumps and get explicit clearance to race. Sensible, not alarmist.