I would go with this approach. If you are truly starting from scratch, even a single session with a coach will be far more impactful than muddling through until you can swim 300m continuously—as you said, that’ll just make you form bad habits and working up even to 300m will take far longer than if you work on technique from the get go.
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I appreciate the guidance. My major barrier to taking this approach is the cost. Masters groups and/or 1:1 coaching can be incredibly expensive and i’d like to ensure i’m in a position to take advantage of what i’m paying for.
A bit of, not getting a running coach when I really need a walking coach type of situation.
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With swim, ideally we would all move into a monastery by a lake and swim five times a day etc. I think that reality is what defines your approach. I’ve taken a job next to the national aquatic centre so getting a swim in is easy. When I started iirc I had a gym membership so about fifteen minutes away. Then as I moved up to iron distances I had a long drive/ride to work and found some lake swimming opportunities en route.
I guess I was lucky, or my dad’s keenness that I know how to avoid drowning, and it didn’t take much for me to get mid pack swim results without much training. I think I swam once or twice a week, barely ran but killed myself on the bike. TR was eventually a relief when I switched to indoors, which was saying something back then.
Which is all to say;
- Prioritise logistics - your easiest swim venue is the answer, and that answer will ultimately determine frequency and consistency too.
- Don’t write yourself off yet, it always feels hard and like we could be much better. But yood enough is good enough.
It’s injury risk-free training, and it’s fun to learn new skills. You sound like a pretty solid bike runner so you’ll want to minimise any deficit in the run in the coming years 
I tried a few cheap gym swim lessons and learned nothing. I read a lot, stuff like swimsmooth, I tried gym master sessions which were rough but didn’t teach me anything. I finally tried swim lessons with a real coach at a real swim club and it was night and day. Wow. Sad that it took me nine years to have the guts, so if you are thinking of getting instruction I would definitely recommend finding a tri swim coach attached to a real, registered swim club.
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Excellent advice, Joe. I’ve had a surprisingly difficult time when researching tri specific coaches. Probably easier via word of mouth. Local Tri coaches and good SEO do not go hand in hand…
Venue is absolutely the important part. I’ve got a cheap rec center 10 min from me or could swap to a gym that’s a 5 min walk from my office. All the pieces are there, just not me, yet!
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Long-ish time lurker here, just signed up somewhat impulsively for IM Lake Placid July 2025. Never done a triathlon.
This spring 2024 ran 3:01 marathon. Off running til Sept. Current FTP ~370 and a few good years of around 500hrs training ( bike >>> run). Pretty good diesel engine on the bike from randonneuur/ultra background. Weight around 85kg (191cm tall).
No real swimming background. Looking for lessons/master’s group to develop some kind of technique. Right now this feels v intimidating and the YouTube drills are not cutting it
Training goal is a very low 10+ hrs a week. Doing TR LV. Hoping to stretch this to 15 but 10 as a floor.
Young kids, busy early career, you know the drill.
Hoping in the pool twice - stretch to three?
Then 3x run and 3x bike. Good quality/clear goal every session. Going to have to do a lot in the morning before kids up which I’m telling myself is good race day prep. I’m in Canada and hoping come spring can build in a 2hr total bike commute.
Not yet sure what a realistic target goal would be, but posting here to join the accountability crew and pick your brains as July approaches. Nervous and excited!
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Same spot as me, but you’re fitter and have kids making life harder. Best of luck!
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Thanks! You too
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Welcome back, sounds like you’ve got the engine it’s a matter of stretching it out and pacing/feeding yourself for IMLP. 
3/3/3 is a great base if you can do it. Bon chance.
Also newbie ( 3 months in now more or less ). Cyclist for past 10 years ( FTP around 270 @71kg). Granfondo rider so endurance pretty Well developed. Used to be soccer player so running Will be doable but did not run for 7 years so it’s a lot of work getting the legs adapter to running again… Currently around 3,4 rund a week.
Swim is most difficult to learn but I like it at the moment. Started around 2:20/2:30/100m, now around 1:55/2:00/100m so seeing some progress. Get a snorkel, Fins, buoy, … That can help.
70.3 planned in July. But in May have a 1k swim, 100k bike and 10k run triatlon also. Should be good to dial in some learning practices.
I use TR tri plan and I like the structure.
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Hi all, has anyone successfully navigated a massive step up in volume?
Having a chat elsewhere about 20 hour weeks, would be interested if anyone has stories (doesn’t have to be 20 hours!)
I stepped up my bike volume Q1 and Q2 this year, 50% and it only gradually moved the needle and not to new heights.
Agree. I’ve been doing tri’s for almost a decade now. I did 1 swim session with a coach and that single hour gave me more improvement in my swim time than 5 years of swimming prior. I now just put in the time at the pool and focus on the things the coach told me to do and accept that the swim is what it is. For reference, I’m a 1:35/100 swimmer in the pool. Not fast by any means, but I always felt like if I could get there I would be happy. So here I am, smiling.
I’ve done 2 70.3’s using TR, and I felt that the plans were adequate. I did my first full IM last fall using TR. I did tweak some of the weekend longer distance stuff, but used TR for probably 90% and I had a good race. I’d love to get a coach, but that’s not in the cards right now. I think for the value, TR makes it pretty easy and it works.
My only advice would be to listen to your body. I switched to a masters plan last year (I’m 45) and that helped a ton. I still had days where I felt worn out or tired and just ditched the prescribed workout and did an easy ride/run.
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I did almost exactly this for my first full last fall and it was successful. I swam 3x per week for the first 4 months, then had to switch to only 2x per week for the last three months. After the switch all swims were 3000 yds, and I felt good at my race.
Once you get into the specialty phase the hours will go up. I was doing 14-16 those weeks, unless it was a recovery week. That only lasted for about 8 weeks, but those last 8 weeks were tough. I had to take some days off work. Doing a long bike Sat, and a long run Sunday was rough. I found doing on long workout Fri, an easier workout Sat, and the other long workout Sun was great. If you can swing the time off work.
It was an amazing experience that you’ll never forget, enjoy the journey!
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But for more normal people, this is not slow also? I started 3 months ago and I am now around 7:39 for 400m and 3:28 for 200m. That is way more slower than you. I would be thrilled with a 1:35/100m :-).
You did HV or LV plan? I am 47. And did cycling for last 10 years around 12h a week. I have now used the adapted half tri plan for my goal in july 2025. Maybe I should also use a master plan?
But I don’t do any intensity in my runs because I still need to adapt to running back again.
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That’s fair. Maybe a bit more context would help. I swam when I was kid (5-10), not a lot but that probably did help. When I started doing triathlon about 8 years ago I felt like I was in pretty good shape. My first trip to the pool was humbling. I couldn’t swim a full length without dying. I spent the first couple months working on being able to swim a 1600. After that I spent the next several years at a 1:50/100 pace. Slowly I got that down to a 1:45/100, but then got stuck there. Two years ago I had one swim session with a coach. That literally took 10 seconds off my 100.
I did the LV plan for both 70.3 and FD IM. Master plan as well. I felt like the master’s plan really helped me with recovery. Like you, I didn’t do any intensity on my runs for my first 70.3. I have injury issues with my right foot. I got that sorted out and did a bit of intensity last year for my FD IM, but any time I felt tired running intensity was the first thing to go. For the last several years, when I take a break from running I come back using run/walk intervals. It takes about 6-8 weeks to get fully back to running. I try to progress them so I have minimal (if any) soreness. It’s painfully boring, but has kept me from being injured so I stick with it. This will be my first year I won’t stop running for a few months. Trying to keep 8-12 miles per week during my off season so I don’t have to start from scratch again next year.
Ah ok. So there is still hope for me 
. In school as a kid we did swim so it is not that I had to start from scratch or that I could only swim a couple of lanes. But 3 months ago I did CSS test in (8:46/4:07). So already 1:08 and 39s faster. So if takes years to get some faster swimming, maybe have still some progression in me…
That run/walk tip is maybe not a bad idea because I have an injury now, and I only feel it when I run, not when walking or other stuff. Very hard to diagnose. Doctor said adductor but I can’t locate the pain and almost all motions are possible, no pain. Only when running.
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From 9 to 10 hours 2018
to 15 to 17 hours in 2019 - 2020 and first half of 2021 yes.
My watts/kg which had been stuck at 3.6 to 3.9 w/kg for almost a decade jumped to ~4.5 w/kg. These increased hours were almost bike only, when I introduced more running I ate more and gained weight but still stayed about 4.1 w/kg for a number of months.
Note I did some back to back 20 hour weeks and when 4.5w/kg was really struggling to not lose anymore weight. Also this wasnt noodling around, it wasnt Z1, it was mainly estimated LT1 around 0.77 - 0.8 IF and also High SST / Threshold three times a week, with VO2max very 3 weeks. 100 milers every 4-5 weeks. Other weekend where 120 - 150 miles over Saturday and Sunday.
In Autumn 2021 I reduced the bike hours and started learning to swim, my w/kg hasnt been north of 3.6 w/kg since then, I was only doing 4 hours bike and more swim and run.
I hesitated to reply because there was lots I had to do to make it happen, which would take longer than I have to explain and might not be relevant to most.
Since time swimming and no living the monk life have hurt my bike numbers but my run has improved significantly.
Not sure I could get over 4w/kg again, and I not sure I want to do all the other stuff that it requires to even attempt to do so. Sleep, diet, anything to avoid stress, lots of lying down, anything to avoid illness (I wasnt ill or injured for almost 2 years which was a massive part of it.)
I could probably do 16-18 hours with lots of Z1 with todays lifestyle but Im not sure that would move the needle that much. In my experience its that around LT1 stuff that really works along with some threshold LT2
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Sent you a PM. Doesn’t add much.
It was a jump in hours if you look year to year but actually it was a measured ramp up. Devil is in the detail.
I might discuss this further elsewhere where I discuss my goal and reflect on whats worked in the past.
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Wowser! Practically doubling your hours is certainly an extreme example. And relatively speaking high intensity too.
I think I’ve got a sleep and nutrition plan that could support it, so I’m playing with plan builder a lot to see what it thinks I should do vs what I want to do … s what I will actually do!
How are everyone’s race calendar and goals looking for 2025?
This is my current thinking:
26 April - B - Gran Canaria
(3 Weeks)
17 May - A - Ironman Lanza
(8 Weeks)
13 July - B - Ironman 70.3 Swansea
(2 Weeks)
27 July - A - Ironman Leeds
(7 Weeks)
14 Sep - A - Ironman WC Nice (if I get a slot
Or
13 Sep - Challange Almere (project sub 8)
Maybe aim to slot in another middle but main focus on full racing.
Lanzarote is the main A+ goal. Was 1.5% from the podium & 2.8% from the win this year.
On paper does not seem so much, but gains always get harder to find. + depends on who shows up.
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