Half Ironman (Half Distance) Training Plans

4.7out of 5TrainingPeaks rating across every level of the 80/20 Half Distance plan.

Trust the easy days. About 80 percent of your 70.3 training stays easy, so every key session lands fresh. Four levels, coach support included.

Join Team 80/20 Buy a single plan from $89.95

Every plan and TrainingPeaks Premium, as low as $16.58/month when paid annually. 30-day money-back guarantee.

TrainingPeaks lists these plans as Half Distance, so that is the name you will see at checkout.

Coach email support
Free switch to another level
Never expires
Syncs to Garmin, Wahoo, Zwift, Apple Watch and more

Half Ironman athletes on 80/20

Sixteen athletes on our Wall of Fame have taken 9 to 55 minutes off their 70.3 best using 80/20, and 22 more finished their first.

“I've successfully lowered my Ironman 70.3 time by nearly 40 minutes through 80/20. Don’t be afraid to go slow when you’re supposed to!”
Damon Lebeouf
IRONMAN 70.3 or equivalent
“Used an 80/20 plan for Ironman 70.3 Bintan in Indonesia and it went perfectly. Sometimes I had doubts that the training was too light or intense, but I kept repeating to myself "Trust the plan" and I ended up having an amazing race--much faster than expected!”
Sergio Real
IRONMAN 70.3 or equivalent
“Using your Level 3 Ironman 70.3 Plan I have gone from the bottom third to the top third in my age group at the half-Ironman distance.”
Michael Shulman
IRONMAN 70.3 or equivalent
“The results were amazing. I shed 27 minutes out of my 70.3 personal best and felt so strong and confident during the race that at times I thought the pace and time my watch was showing me was wrong!”
Carlos Salgado
IRONMAN 70.3 or equivalent
“I used the 80/20 plan to prepare for my first triathlon, which was also an Ironman 70.3. I was worried about injuries, available time, and being in shape to go the distance. All this worry for no reason, as the plan worked me up to the correct endurance levels without too many stresses on my aging body, and my plan did not overtake my life.”
Pat Donohue
IRONMAN 70.3 or equivalent

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Choose your plan and level

Pick the level that matches the training you can sustain today, not the one you hope to reach. If it turns out wrong, we switch you to another level at no cost. Still not sure? Try the plan finder.

Best value

Every plan on this page, and every other 80/20 plan

Team 80/20 Gold includes TrainingPeaks Premium and Mind of Matt, as low as $16.58/month when paid annually. 30-day money-back guarantee.

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Half Distance

80/20 Triathlon

4.7TrainingPeaks rating

The plan most of our 70.3 athletes choose. About 80 percent of your training stays easy, so the hard sessions count.

18 to 21 weeks · Heart rate, pace and power

Help Me Choose

Which level is right for you?

Norwegian Half Distance Triathlon Plan

Norwegian Training

The Norwegian method. Hard work concentrated into controlled threshold sessions, wrapped in easy volume. No lactate meter required.

19 weeks · Heart rate, pace and power

Choose your level

Every plan includes

Every workout on your TrainingPeaks calendar, synced to your watch
Your zones built into each session
Works with a free TrainingPeaks account, no Premium needed
Coach email support for as long as your plan runs
A free switch to another level if yours is wrong
Lifetime access, the plan never expires

Why 80/20 works for the half Ironman

The hardest part of 80/20 training is trusting the easy days. They feel too slow to matter, yet they are what lets you absorb the volume a half Ironman takes and still arrive fresh for the key sessions. Every session lands on your TrainingPeaks calendar with your zones built in, a coach answers your questions by email, and Team 80/20 includes every plan on this page.

Brad Jansen raced Ironman 70.3 Geelong at 42. At 55 he went back to the same course on our Half Distance Level 2 plan and finished 65 minutes faster. His Zone 1 and 2 sessions felt almost comically slow, and he doubted they were doing anything. They were building his aerobic engine without digging him into a recovery hole, which is the whole point of 80/20.

The taper matters as much as the build. Coach Jim Vance looks for a 5 to 7 percent drop in chronic training load over the final 10 to 14 days of a 70.3 build, winding down rather than shutting down, and our plans have that taper built in. There is more in our triathlon articles.

What a week looks like

Take a typical Level 2 week. Day 1 is your rest day and Day 7 usually carries the longest workout. Between them sit three swims, three rides, three runs and a brick, and most of that time is spent in Zones 1 and 2.

Your Running Foundation sessions ask for discipline. Stay in Zones 1 and 2 even when you feel fresh, and save the energy for the harder work, such as Cycling Cruise Intervals for muscular endurance. Every rest week includes a test, so your zones keep up with your fitness, and every session syncs from TrainingPeaks to most watches and bike computers.

Read the workout code glossary

Half Ironman training plan questions

How many weeks is a half Ironman training plan?

Our 80/20 Half Distance plan runs 18 weeks at Levels 0 and 1, 19 weeks at Level 2 and 21 weeks at Level 3. The Norwegian Half Distance plan runs 19 weeks at every level. If your race is closer than that, email a coach before you start and we will tell you where to begin.

How many hours a week do I need to train for a half Ironman?

On the 80/20 Half Distance plan your weekly training averages about 6 hours at Level 0 and 11.1 hours at Level 3, and peak weeks run from 10 to 15 hours. Matt's rule is to train at the highest volume at which you consistently feel good, so pick the level whose average you can hold most weeks.

Is there a half Ironman training plan for beginners?

Yes. Level 0 is built for first-timers, with two swims, two rides and two runs in a typical week and two days off. Twenty-two athletes on our Wall of Fame finished a first 70.3 using 80/20. If you are torn between two levels, start with the lower one, and if it turns out wrong we switch you at no cost.

Should I train by heart rate or power for a 70.3?

Use whatever you race with. You pick at checkout, heart rate, pace or power for the run and heart rate or power for the bike, in any combination. If you have the choice, make power or pace your main guide and heart rate the check, since heart rate lags behind changes in effort and rises with heat and fatigue.

What if I miss a week of half Ironman training?

Pick up the schedule where you are rather than trying to make the workouts up. That holds for a missed session or two when you are healthy. After a longer gap, especially for illness or injury, ease back in over a few days first. If the plan no longer fits, email a coach and we can move you to another level.

Does it include strength training?

Not in the plan itself. Strength comes as a separate Half Distance Strength Training Plug-in, matched to your level and to the plan's weeks so the sessions fit around your key workouts. For a fuller gym program there is Half Distance Premium Strength. Team 80/20 includes both, along with every other 80/20 plan.