A Look Inside the Training Plan with Pro Triathlete Justin Park

Do you want to train like an elite or pro athlete? We asked a few of our elite team and sponsored pros to share some of their favorite workouts. 

 

First up, is professional triathlete, Justin Park. He shares a favorite swim, bike, and run workout. Proceed with caution!

 

 

This one takes some serious focus, but it's one that will give you a VERY clear indication of where your swim fitness is and how you will perform on race day. Warm up 1-1.5K with a mix of easy swimming, drills and kicking. Finished with a few shorter, sharper efforts (25s or 50s) to get ready for the main set.

1 x 200 all-out (100% effort) on an interval that gives you 0:40-0:45 rest (I use 2:45 for SCY)

6 x 300 steady effort at race pace on an interval that gives you 0:20-0:25 rest (I use 3:40 for SCY)

The goal is to really push the opening 200 to mimic the hectic (and usually fast) nature of the start of a swim, but then still be able to settle in at a strong, solid pace. The goal for the 300s is to equal split all of them (each 300 within 1-2 seconds of each other). I repeat this workout every 3 weeks (off of an easier day before to really be fresh and push it) in the final 15 weeks leading into my peak race of the season; however, it can be used year round simply as a practice of pace change and even splits.

This workout can be done within a large variation of ride duration (anything between 2-5 hours). It's a blend of strength and aerobic threshold work, and it truly builds the requisite durability to not only ride well but also run strong off the bike.

Main Set

5 x 16 minutes as 8 minutes @ 65-70rpm and 85% of threshold / 8 minutes @ 88-92 rpm and 85% of threshold

The goal is to hold the same wattage over a low cadence and something that more closely mimics race cadence. The transition from low-to-high cadence will definitely take some practice, but the body does adapt. You can also start at shorter intervals (e.g., 5 x 8 minutes as 4/4) and increase the interval length by 2 minutes each successive week.

Run Workout:

Assuming an athlete is durable enough to handle it without injury, building run speed parallels the concept of "a rising tide floating all ships." The faster your top-end speed is, the faster all of your relative paces become. Even though I now focus on the 70.3 distance, I still do this workout that was built for my ITU days at least 3-4 times in the final 12 weeks of my peak race of the season. Warm up as necessary, and include drills/dynamic mobility/strides. I typically require a longer warm up, so I usually run at least 4-5 miles easy before beginning this session.

4-5 x (400m @ 3K race pace -- 200m easy active recovery -- 200m @ mile race pace (or faster) -- 200m easy active recovery)

The goals is to really push the pace all the way through (the 200m splits during the 400s should only be 2-3 seconds slower than the stand-alone 200m) and see if you can maintain that speed throughout. Start with 2 rounds in your first speed session and build to 4 rounds. Or, if truly durable, 5 rounds...but BE CAREFUL.