Sprint Triathlon — Training plan
The shortest of the classic formats, and the one people underestimate: it is short enough to be raced hard from the first stroke to the last kilometre.
Swim
750 m
Bike
20 km
Run
5 km
Sessions / week
6–10
The short answer
Leo builds the week from the legs of the race: at least two swims and two rides, plus the runs you already do. It reads your running frequency from your history rather than asking you to pick one, and keeps it between two and four — on a sprint, your running frequency is not what limits you.
The legs of the race
These are the standard distances of the format. When the event you name has a course of its own, Leo reads its legs instead and sizes the plan on those — the standard distances are the fallback, not the rule.
| Leg | Standard distance |
|---|---|
| Swim | 750 m |
| Bike | 20 km |
| Run | 5 km |
Sessions per discipline
| Discipline | Per week | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Swim | 2+ | The floor this format owes you. More if you already swim more. |
| Bike | 2+ | The floor this format owes you. More if you already ride more. |
| Run | 2–4 | Read from your own running history, not from a box you tick. |
No discipline goes beyond 4 sessions a week and the week never exceeds 10. If you tell Leo how many sessions your life allows, that number wins over everything above: the disciplines your race actually contains are simply served first.
Who this format is for
A first triathlon, or a season opener for someone who races longer later in the year. You need to be able to swim the distance without stopping, ride safely in a group and run off tired legs. None of that requires a club licence or a race bike.
How the bike is written
A sprint bike leg is a threshold effort from start to finish, so the bike work is written at threshold. This is the one format where the ride is not a long steady base session with a hard bit in it — it is twenty minutes of being uncomfortable, rehearsed.
The long ride
The long ride exists, but it stays modest and it stops well below what a longer format would ask. Leo caps it by format, then walks it up from what you already ride rather than from what the format allows — it never adds more than a quarter to your current longest ride in one step.
Where the bricks sit
The brick is the long-ride day with the run bolted onto the end, and on a sprint the run part is short on purpose. You are not building fitness there, you are teaching your legs what the first kilometre off the bike feels like so that it does not surprise you on race day.
The swim, in metres
Two swims a week, in metres. Until you have a critical swim speed on file, they are steady aerobic sessions and Leo slips a two-distance pool test into the plan rather than waiting for you to think of it. Once the test exists, the same two swims come back with real target paces per 100 m.
The last weeks
Short races do not need a deep taper, and Leo does not give them one: volume comes down across the last week or two while the sharp work stays. The long ride is cut like everything else, and the day before the race is a short spin rather than a last rehearsal.
What you need
A watch that records swimming and cycling, access to a pool, and a bike you trust. A power meter is optional: without one, your rides come prescribed by heart-rate zone and effort.
What this plan will not tell you
Leo does not estimate an overall triathlon time, and it will not on this page either. Projecting a finish across three disciplines, two transitions, a course profile and the conditions of the day is a different job, and we would rather leave the box empty than hand you a number you would pace your race off. Leo also does not model your cycling power without a power meter, and does not coach your swim technique from a video.
Frequently asked questions
What are the distances of a sprint triathlon?
750 m / 20 km / 5 km: 750 m of swimming, 20 km on the bike and 5 km of running. If your event has a course of its own, Leo sizes the plan on its real legs rather than on these.
How many sessions a week does Leo plan?
At least 2 swims and 2 rides, plus 2–4 runs taken from your history. No discipline goes beyond 4 sessions and the week never exceeds 10.
Do I need a power meter?
No. Without an FTP your rides are prescribed by heart-rate zone and effort, accounting for the fact that cycling heart rates run lower than running ones. Give Leo an FTP and the same sessions come back in watts.
Does Leo give a predicted finish time?
No. Race projections exist for running distances only. Leo projects neither an overall triathlon time nor per-leg splits.
Can a sprint be my first triathlon?
It is the usual way in, yes. The condition is the swim: be able to cover the distance in a pool without stopping before you enter an open-water race, because open water is harder than the same distance in a lane.
Do I need a triathlon bike?
No. On this distance the bike leg is short and the time lost to equipment is small next to the time lost to a bad transition or a run leg you never rehearsed. Ride what you own.
There is no generic plan to download here
Everything above describes how Leo builds the block, not a fixed grid of weeks. The long ride starts from your own longest recent ride, the run frequency comes from your history, and the swim targets appear once you have a critical speed on file. A grid printed on a web page would know none of that.
Put your race in the calendar
Connect your training, name the race, and Leo sizes the block on its legs and writes the swims, the rides and the runs around it — then adjusts every week from what you actually did.
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Other triathlon formats
Keep going
General information, not medical advice. Consult a sports physician for injury or health concerns.