Blog 4: Everything Triathlon
Part 4: Training Smart Across Three Disciplines — Load, Periodization & the Brick Session
Welcome back to Everything Triathlon. We've covered the unique injury environment of multisport in Part 1, the specific injuries that derail triathletes in Part 2, and the physical preparation work in Part 3. Now we get into training structure. How to build a triathlon season that gets you to the start line healthy and the finish line strong.
This is where most self-coached triathletes leave the most on the table. Not in the pool or on the bike or on the road, in how those three things are organized together over time.
The Core Problem: Three Sports, One Body
When I look at training plans for triathletes who come in injured, the pattern is almost always the same:
each individual discipline looks reasonable in isolation. The swim load is fine. The bike load is fine. The run load is fine. But the total load, all three combined, accounting for how each affects recovery for the others, is too high or organized in a way that is not optimal.
The body doesn't recover from swim, then bike, then run in separate compartments. It recovers from all of it together. A hard bike session the day before a long run doesn't give the legs a rest. It means the long run starts already compromised.
Triathlon Load Management Principles
These apply regardless of your distance or experience level:
Track total training stress, not just hours: A 90-minute hard bike session creates more recovery demand than a 90-minute easy swim. Use perceived exertion or heart rate data to weight sessions by intensity, not just duration. As a coach and athlete I like using technology to help with this but it does not replace how you actually are feeling!
The run is the last to increase: because it creates the highest impact load and is performed in a fatigued state, run volume should be the most conservatively managed of the three disciplines. When in doubt, protect the run.
One hard day per discipline per week: If you do more than this without exceptional recovery capacity is how overuse injuries accumulate. Easy sessions should be genuinely EASY, not moderately hard. Too many athletes do their 'easy' training WAAAY too hard.
Deload every third or fourth week: reduce total volume by 25–30% while maintaining some intensity. This is when adaptation actually happens. Skipping deload weeks is one of the most reliable ways to end a triathlon season early. In my training and life I usually deload after 3 hard weeks on the 4th week of training which helps keep my training fresh, strong and consistent.
Account for life stress: race season coinciding with a difficult period at work or at home means training load needs to adjust. The body pools all stress together regardless of its source.
Periodizing a Triathlon Season
A simple framework that works across distances:
(Reminder that this is just an example. For a plan for you reach out about our coaching packages!)
Base phase (10–16 weeks):
Building aerobic foundation across all three disciplines at low intensity. High volume, low intensity. Strength training is a priority here. This phase is where injury resilience is built. Rushing through it is why people get hurt in the build phase.
Build phase (6–10 weeks):
Introducing race-specific intensity. Threshold sessions, tempo runs, interval work on the bike. Volume stays high but intensity increases. This is the phase that builds fitness — and the phase where load management becomes most critical.
Peak phase (2–4 weeks):
Highest quality training with beginning volume reduction. Race-specific brick sessions, open water swims if available, race-pace work. The fitness is already built; the goal now is to sharpen it.
Taper (1–3 weeks depending on distance):
Significant volume reduction while maintaining some intensity. Sprint and Olympic athletes typically taper 7–10 days. The legs should feel fresh and a little antsy at the start line, not depleted.
Off-season transition (4–8 weeks):
The phase almost every triathlete skips and almost every triathlete regrets skipping. Active recovery, addressing any niggles from the season, rebuilding any strength deficits, and resetting mentally before the next build begins.
The Brick Session: How to Use It Without Breaking Down
The brick session is the signature training unit of triathlon
A bike session followed immediately by run, simulating the race transition.
Done right, it's one of the most powerful training tools available. Done wrong, it's one of the most reliable injury generators.
How to use brick sessions intelligently:
Start with short run legs: The first few brick sessions of a build should have very short run segments (5–15 minutes). The neuromuscular adaptation to running off the bike takes time to develop. Don't try to do a long run off a long ride in your first brick of the season.
Monitor run mechanics under fatigue: The brick run is where mechanical breakdown is most visible and most dangerous. If your form falls apart in the first kilometre off the bike, the distance is too long for where you are in your build.
Use them strategically, not constantly: One brick session per week during the build phase is usually sufficient. Two per week can be appropriate in peak training but requires careful management of total load.
The T2 activation habit: A few quick glute activation movements in transition before the run segment helps reawaken the posterior chain. Triathletes who do this consistently report significantly better early run feel.
Up Next — Triathlon for Life
The training structure is in place. The final part of Everything Triathlon is the one I'm most personally invested in — how to keep racing for as long as you want to, what changes as you age and how to adapt, and the habits that separate triathletes who race into their 60s from those who burn out in their 40s. See you in Part 5.
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If your training feels unsustainable or you keep hitting the same injury wall every season, the structure is usually the problem — not the fitness. I work with triathletes to build seasons that actually hold together. Book an assessment at Endurance Therapeutics with Dr. Keirstyn today and let's sort it out!
📍 Endurance Therapeutics | Oakville, Ontario
📞 905-288-7161