Training Programs to Use

Personally, I would find a good book at the basic principles of endurance training.

This info will follow you as you progress through the sport.

Joe Friel has some books good enough to provide a base of knowledge.

+1 on Joe Friel, I've started reading his guides and they're solid advice!

Joe Friel's books are good for building a knowledge base--agree! I still use his checklists for racing (and have been in the sport for over a decade now). In my early years in the sport, I made a lot of use of the free programs on this site (plus there are more available with a paid Bronze or Silver membership for a pretty nominal fee). I found them generally well-designed with a good balance of training across the three sports, and used them with some success for races ranging from sprint to half-ironman distance. I did need to tweak them a little for my personal strengths, weaknesses, and time constraints. They are great for getting started.

If you want a more personalized approach, Training Peaks has a feature that allows you to find a coach, for a fee. Personally I think this is more useful after you have been in the sport for a while and have some idea of your strengths, weaknesses, and goals, and what type of expertise and level of support you are looking for in a coach.

Hi!
Please check out our Training Plans here (https://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/trainingplans-list.asp)
We also have a Custom Training Plan Creator that makes a plan for you based on your current pace and abilities at each of the three sports. For example, if you need a lot of extra training in swimming, you can indicate you want a swim focus and you'll receive a plan with extra swim workouts.

We also have training logs that your plan will sync with. You can input your workouts by hand, or have your fitness watch upload to our site automatically.

+1
I used many of these for my first spring and half ironman. Stick to the plan and modify the second time around, based on your needs.

I am interested in using the free plans on this site. I am particularly interested in the Olympic-2X balanced 20 week program. However, I would like to know if these plans are heart rate zone and power watt base driven? Any suggestions or help would be appreciated

i like ur article

I used the Beginner 1/2 Iron plan here and LOVED it. At a whopping 48 years old and a single parent with a kiddo with special needs I was still able to follow and fit it all in without having to spend time looking in many different places. This was my one stop for info and I finished in better than the time I hoped for and felt great even after the race. Was back on the road within just a couple of days. Was using the Beginner IM plan last year and was loving that too, but thanks to COVID no race. I'm back again hoping for the best.

I love the plans here and am more than happy to pay for the maintainence plans here for the off season. Encouraging, thorough, and provide tips for how and where you can tweak them to fit "real life" when stuff goes sideways and stern warnings what things are non-negotiable.