Triathlon Library

The Costco of training plans: hundreds of options from beginner sprint to full-distance. Quality varies wildly; read the reviews before you commit.

If you have been doing too much medium-effort "junk miles," this is the correction. Polarized training in practice: 80% genuinely easy, 20% actually hard, nothing in between.

The home base for That Triathlon Show. If you want to go deeper on the science behind the podcast, the articles and coaching programs are where to start.

Hands training decisions to an algorithm, which sounds dystopian until you realize most athletes make worse decisions themselves. Popular with data-driven age-groupers who want to stop guessing.

Joe Friel wrote the book on triathlon training. Literally. The blog is where he keeps updating his thinking as the science moves. Worth bookmarking if you want the source, not the summary.

Coach Phil Mosley's plans are what "no-nonsense" actually means: structured around real athlete schedules, not theoretical perfect weeks. Less hype than the big platforms, more usable in practice.

Tells you exactly how much the wind will cost you on race day, in watts, not vibes. Enter your course, your CdA, and your target power; it tells you where to push and where to back off.

The closest thing to a cheat code for the bike leg. Upload your course, input power and aero data, and it outputs the pacing strategy that loses the least time. Used by pros; accessible to anyone with a power file.

Sweat testing and personalized electrolyte plans, because "drink when thirsty" fails at mile 70 of a 70.3. Their free Sweat Test is the right place to start if cramping or bonking is a pattern.

Syncs to your TrainingPeaks load and adjusts your nutrition targets to match that day's actual effort, so you're not eating the same breakfast before a 2-hour brick and a rest day.

Registered dietitian and Ironman athlete Taryn Richardson cuts through the supplement noise with actual evidence. If your race nutrition plan is currently "hope for the best," start here.

The suits at the top of the sport. They handle Olympic qualification, the WTCS race calendar, and the official rulebook that race directors everywhere are technically supposed to follow.

Required for most sanctioned U.S. events, and it covers third-party liability, which is why race directors require it. The annual membership is cheaper than the day-of fee at registration.

National federation for Canadian triathletes. Membership required for sanctioned races across all provinces. Also where national team selection, rankings, and development programs live.

The long-course behemoth. Coeur d'Alene and Victoria are the PNW's flagship races, and you almost certainly know someone who has done one or is planning to.

The independent long-course alternative to IRONMAN. Challenge Roth regularly draws 250,000 spectators and is genuinely one of the best race experiences in the world. Worth putting on the bucket list before someone buys it.

The PTO's premier race series: 100km distance, top pro fields, prize money that actually pays rent. The broadcast production is genuinely good, which is a low bar in this sport but they clear it.

Elimination format, short and brutal, and genuinely exciting to watch. The format that actually makes non-triathletes pay attention, which is harder than it sounds.

The pros organizing themselves. Prize money, rankings, athlete welfare, and the Collins Cup. Their live coverage has become the best in the sport, which is notable because it started from basically nothing.

Off-road triathlon: open water swim, mountain bike, trail run. PNW terrain is basically purpose-built for this format. The Whistler and Bonner County races are the standouts in the region.

515km over three days: 10km swim plus 145km bike, then 276km bike, then 84km run. Finishing requires a support crew as much as fitness. The sport's final boss level.

The podcast for athletes who want to actually understand why the training works, not just follow a plan. Episodes routinely run 90+ minutes and still feel short, which is a sign the content is earning the time.

Two coaches talking honestly about what training actually looks like for real athletes with real jobs, not the idealized version. Less science, more "here's what we've seen work at IRONMAN."

Long-form interviews that take the age-group experience seriously. Not just "go faster" but what the sport means to people doing it. Good for long rides when you want something with weight.

Useful even if you're not on the TriDot platform. Covers training methodology and race execution with the "why does this work" content that makes a long trainer session easier to justify.

Solid interviews with a UK sensibility: more self-deprecating, less motivational-poster energy than some American tri media. Laura Siddall and friends; worth a listen if you're tired of relentless positivity.

IRONMAN's official podcast. Interviews with pros, age-group qualifiers, and the occasional celebrity who once did a triathlon. Peaks during Kona and 70.3 Worlds season.

The podcast arm of That Triathlon Life. Pro perspectives mixed with age-group reality, which is a more honest combination than most. Good for the "what does race week actually feel like for these people" content.

Matt Dixon coaches both pro and age-group athletes. Skips the fluff and gets to "here's what to actually do" quickly. Useful for time-crunched athletes who want real answers without a 30-minute preamble.

Former World Triathlon champion who interviews without the PR filter. Pros actually say things here. One of the better windows into what the sport's top athletes are thinking.

Reviews a GPS watch the way a forensic accountant reviews a spreadsheet: every function tested, every claim verified, no PR copy. If a product survives intact, it's probably actually good.

Slowtwitch's tech section is where bikes and aero equipment get the treatment they deserve: frame geometry, wind tunnel data, and component deep-dives that go further than any print review.

Automated drafting detection: a transponder on your bike, a sensor on the bike ahead, a penalty tent if you sit in too long. Worth understanding how it works before it shows up at your race.

The BBC of tri YouTube: broad, well-produced, covers everything from beginner technique to pro race breakdowns. The algorithm will pull you in eventually; start with intention.

Lucy Charles-Barclay trains for Kona while Reece films it. Swim-focused content from one of the sport's best swimmers, plus the unglamorous reality of full-time pro triathlon.

British pro who documents training without the polish. Actual data, actual fatigue, actual decisions under pressure. A useful window into what serious long-course training looks like daily.

Raw, unfiltered training logs from one of the sport's best bike splitters. Watching him push through a genuinely bad training day is oddly motivating. No polish, no PR filter.

One of the more entertaining personalities in the pro field. Blends genuine training insight with actual comedy, and doesn't take himself too seriously, which is rarer in this sport than it should be.

The finish line footage is legitimately moving. Kona broadcasts are an annual tradition. It's where you go when you need to remember why you signed up in the first place.

The best place to watch elite draft-legal pack racing, which is a very different sport from age-group triathlon. The Olympic distance format is genuinely exciting once you know what you're watching.

Justine and Jackson Laundry document the pro triathlon life with more honesty than most, including the travel chaos, the bad races, and what it actually costs to chase a start line on the other side of the world.

Triathlon Taren rebranded to MōTTIV but the content is the same: age-grouper focused, occasionally chaotic, and genuinely useful for athletes figuring out how to train around a real life.

High-touch, data-driven coaching led by Natasha Van Der Merwe; known for 'new school' high-volume methods and technical transparency.

Reading these before a hard race is oddly useful. The sport humbles everyone eventually, and these stories normalize struggling in a way that the highlight-reel content rarely does.

Fjord swim, 180km bike up a mountain, 42km run to the summit of Gaustatoppen. Entry by lottery. It looks as hard as it sounds. Peak "what am I doing with my life?" race inspiration.

Derek Murphy uses GPS data forensics to catch course-cutters at every level. He's caught a lot of them. Grimly entertaining to read, and a good reminder that the data always knows.

Fan archive of older Cervélo P-series frames. Useful for dating a used bike purchase, and older Cervélos still show up in PNW transition areas more often than you'd expect.

Official rules: chug a beer, run a lap, repeat four times, no vomiting. There are actual world records. This is what happens when endurance athletes get bored and start applying rigor to bad ideas.

Deep archive of triathlon's early decades. Original Hawaii Ironman footage, early race results, and the context for understanding why the sport developed the way it did.

Bob Babbitt is one of the sport's original journalists. His interviews with Dave Scott, Mark Allen, and Julie Moss are essential watching for anyone who wants to understand where this all came from.