Eagleman 70.3Sub-6:00

You haven't swum or ridden yet, so this plan prescribes swim/bike sessions by time and effort, not pace or power — there's no baseline to calculate that from. Once you're comfortable (around week 4–6), do a simple benchmark: a 300–400m swim time trial and a 20–30min steady bike effort. That gives you real numbers to train off going forward.

A "brick" is a short run done immediately after a bike ride — it teaches your legs to run on the specific tired, wobbly feeling cycling leaves behind, which running alone never trains. It starts small (10min) on the Saturday ride in week 24 and builds to 40min by week 37, the plan's race-simulation day.

Every 4th week, volume drops about 25%. This isn't a reward — it's when your body actually adapts to the preceding 3 weeks of load. Skipping these is one of the most common ways first-time triathletes get hurt.

You're getting sized at the bike shop shortly — get the frame size and initial fit confirmed there before the first ride. An hour of professional fit now is cheaper than a knee or back problem 20 weeks in.

The numbers here follow a standard progressive-overload structure, not a physiological test of you specifically. If a session leaves you unusually sore, sick, or exhausted, take an easy day or repeat the prior week's volume rather than pushing through — adjusting the plan to your actual recovery is expected, not a failure to follow it.