Triathlon Season Plan Calculator
Plan your triathlon race season with A/B/C race scheduling, periodized training volume, taper timing, and recovery weeks.
About this calculator
Periodization is the practice of deliberately varying training volume and intensity over a season instead of grinding at one pace year-round, and this calculator splits your season into four blocks: roughly 32% base, 32% build, 22% peak/race, with whatever weeks remain (at least 2) going to recovery. Each phase carries its own share of your stated peak weekly hours — base sits at 65%, build climbs to 85%, peak hits 100%, and recovery drops to 45% — so the season isn't a flat ramp but a series of loading waves. Layered on top is race classification: A-races (your 1-3 season goals) get a full 2-3 week taper, with the shorter taper reserved for athletes running multiple A-races since there's less time to spare between them; B-races get a quick 3-5 day taper; C-races get none, since you train straight through them as tempo efforts or dress rehearsals.
The calculator also estimates how many C-race slots realistically fit by dividing the post-base portion of your season into 4-week blocks and subtracting the A- and B-races already scheduled. A structural quirk worth knowing: scheduled recovery weeks (every 3-4 weeks) are computed independently from the recovery phase at season's end — they represent two different things, cyclical deloads sprinkled through training versus the dedicated wind-down after your final race, so don't expect them to reconcile to the same total. Total and average weekly hours are rough training-load estimates for budgeting your calendar, not a substitute for how your body actually responds week to week.
Inputs
Results
Total season hours
213
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter your Season Length in weeks (from start of base training to final race).
- Set the number of A-Races (1-3) and B-Races (0-6) in the season.
- Enter your Peak Weekly Hours at your training peak.
- Review the season phase breakdown: Base, Build, Peak/Race, and Recovery phases with weekly hour targets.
- Check Total Season Hours, average weekly hours, scheduled recovery weeks, and spacing between A-races.
How the result changes with Season length (weeks)
| Season length (weeks) | Total season hours |
|---|---|
| 14 | 104 |
| 21 | 164 |
| 42 | 317 |
| 52 | 397 |
What each input means
- Season length (weeks)
- Total weeks in your triathlon season from base training start to final race.
- A-races (1-3)
- Number of peak-priority goal races. Full taper and recovery around each.
- B-races (0-6)
- Number of important secondary races. Partial taper with minimal recovery.
- Peak weekly hours
- Maximum training hours per week during your peak training phase.
What each result means
- Total season hours
- Estimated total training hours across the entire season.
- Base phase (weeks)
- Weeks of aerobic base building at the start of the season.
- Build phase (weeks)
- Weeks of increasing intensity and volume.
- Peak/race phase (weeks)
- Weeks of peak fitness and race execution.
- Recovery phase (weeks)
- Weeks of reduced volume for adaptation.
- Base hours/week
- Weekly training hours during base phase.
- Build hours/week
- Weekly training hours during build phase.
- Peak hours/week
- Weekly training hours during peak phase.
- Recovery hours/week
- Weekly training hours during recovery weeks.
- A-race taper (weeks)
- Recommended taper duration before each A-race.
- Total races
- Total number of races across the season (A + B + C).
- C-race slots
- Number of training races you can fit into the schedule.
- Avg weekly hours
- Average training hours per week across the season.
- Recovery weeks
- Number of scheduled easy/recovery weeks (every 3-4 weeks).
- Weeks between A-races
- Spacing between A-races (0 if only one A-race).
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersSeason length (weeks) = 28, A-races (1-3) = 1, B-races (0-6) = 2, Peak weekly hours = 10 = 4 input(s) provided
- Calculate Total season hoursTotal season hours = round(213 = 213
- Calculate Base phaseBase phase = round(seasonLengthWeeks * 0.32)9 = 9
- Calculate Build phaseBuild phase = round(seasonLengthWeeks * 0.32)9 = 9
Engine last updated . Checked against 2 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are 'scheduled recovery weeks' and the 'recovery phase' shown as different numbers?
They're computed independently and represent different things: scheduledRecoveryWeeks is floor(seasonLengthWeeks / 4) — a recurring easy week dropped in roughly every 3-4 weeks throughout training — while recoveryPhaseWeeks is whatever's left over after subtracting base, build, and peak from your season length, representing the dedicated wind-down after your final race. They aren't meant to reconcile to the same total.
Why does a season with 2 or 3 A-races give me a shorter taper than a season with just one?
Taper length is set to 3 weeks when aRaceCount is 1, but drops to 2 weeks whenever you schedule 2 or more A-races. With multiple peak goal races in one season there's inherently less calendar room between them, so the calculator shortens the taper window to fit — it's a scheduling compromise, not a claim that multi-race seasons need less recovery.
How is the number of C-race slots calculated?
It takes the weeks remaining after your base phase, divides by 4 (one C-race opportunity per roughly 4-week block), then subtracts however many A-races and B-races you've already entered, floored at zero. It's an estimate of how many low-pressure training races realistically fit around your priority races, not a hard scheduling constraint.
Why does training volume vary so much between phases if my 'peak weekly hours' input stays the same?
Peak weekly hours is treated as a ceiling, not a constant: base phase trains at 65% of it, build climbs to 85%, peak phase hits 100%, and recovery drops to 45%. This wave structure is the actual mechanism of periodization — each phase intentionally under- or over-shoots your peak volume so your body has room to adapt before the next load increase.
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