Timing my Training Plan

Do the first week twice or the week before the taper twice.

I wouldn't worry about it. I pretty much always leave a week of "slack time" in there just in case I miss a week's worth of workouts. It's bound to happen somewhere in a 3-6 month period--minor illnesses or injuries, unexpected work or family commitments or travel, etc. Sh... happens.

As for resting before race day, there's no law that says you need to rest completely for a certain number of days. Most people follow a kind of "taper" schedule where they ease off the volume in the last few weeks (to recover from hard training), but still do some shorter workouts that are a mix of recovery and race-pace efforts. The goal is to be race-ready without wearing yourself out. Taking several days completely off tends to leave one feeling kind of "flat" and doesn't tend to result in an ideal race.. For most of my races, I've taken a day off after my last long/hard ride or run (about a week before the race), done light training with a few race-pace pickups in each sport for the rest of the week, and often taken the day two days before the race off (especially since I usually travel to my races--this is generally a travel day). The day before I usually do a light effort in all three sports, maybe 15-20 minutes each--an easy 2-mile jog with some strides, ride my bike a few km. to make sure everything's working, get in the water and swim a km. or so with a few faster 25's. For a first-timer in a sprint, this might be even shorter.....the goal is just to make sure all systems are go!

Thank you for the good advice. Good to know it's ok to be a little flexible.

Thanks!!