Once you have CSS, FTP, and FT set (test, Triathlon Training Zones Explained) and your Race Target Pace, the next question is how to build the plan that will take you to the next level.
Race-day fitness is rarely accidental. It comes from structured planning and discipline: different stress and stimulus, progressive load, planned de-load, recovery weeks, a peak-volume block, then Peak and Race week so you arrive fresh.
I built WattX’s structured plan around that model because your race plan should not be a flat calendar of “kind of hard” sessions. Periodization gives each block a job; without it, athletes repeat the same week until something breaks.
Season structure
Season Structure
Your training plan is the full arc from plan start date to race day. The plan is split into phases (mesocycles) and weeks (microcycles).
The plan duration is driven by the race date provided when setting your plan.
Sessions map to Workout Intensities Explained and Triathlon Training Zones Explained. Brick Session Explained scales as you move closer to your race.
Recovery weeks
Recovery Weeks
Every fourth week is a planned de-load — not random easy days. Without that rhythm, fatigue outruns adaptation.
On WattX
What Your Race Plan Includes on WattX
When you use your WattX Race Plan PRO, you answer questions about your A-race — distance, race date, your average training volume over the past four weeks, race target time, and maximum weekly availability. WattX builds the plan backward from race day and fills your plan page with real weeks and sessions.
Once your training plan is live, you access your dedicated plan page. You see where you are in the block (phase and week), what to train this week, and structured swim, bike, and run sessions with targets in min/100m, watts, or min/km. Recovery weeks, brick sessions, and test protocols are placed in your session feed. You log test results so your training zones always reflect your current fitness.
Your WattX Race Plan PRO is built from your race date and volume. On your plan page, see weeks to race, the current phase, and exportable sessions for this block — not a blank calendar.
Phases
What Each Phase Does
Aerobic engine — easy volume, technique, durability.
Light Bike-Run Bricks. Sets the ceiling for threshold and Race Pacing Targets.
Add quality — threshold, sweet spot, VO₂, longer bricks.
Base converts to simulator-ready fitness.
Highest training volume of the plan.
Long sessions carry the week. Absorb load before pulling back.
Less volume, more race-specific work.
Simulation bricks, Long-Course Nutrition Explained rehearsals. Flat legs can be normal — fatigue leaving.
Shed fatigue; short openers only.
70.3: 3 wks · IM: 4 wks · Olympic/sprint: race week. See Race Week Explained.
Feedback loops
Thresholds and Feedback Loops
Each six-week cycle in base and build staggers field tests in your plan feed — bike, then run, then swim on different weeks (not three tests in one week). Log results on our test tool — see How to Test Your Thresholds for protocols.
After each race, log the race: Race Analysis Explained compares execution to your plan, suggests threshold updates when the result is trustworthy, and lets you sync proposed thresholds so your profile stays up-to-date.
The WattX Race Plan PRO turns your race date and calibration into phased weeks, recovery rhythm, and a session feed on your plan page.
If a structural injury changes swim, bike, or run, that is separate from illness — see Returning From Injury for the full walkthrough.