Training Plans for Multisport Athletes: Your Essential Guide to Triathlon, Duathlon, Xterra, Ironman & Endurance Racing Paperback – Unabridged, January 1, 2007

If you're looking for a scientifically-proven collection of training schedules for the sports listed on the cover than this is the book for you. This quickly covers the theory behind effective training and then presents a number of training schedules based on your sport and time available. My first Ironman training schedule I got off the web and although it worked I was never quite sure of the purpose of each day's exercise, how it fit into the schedule for the week, and how that week fit into the overall plan and although I finished I was not happy with the results. Gale's training programs are scientifically proven and you'll understand what each session is for and why you're doing it.Another thing I liked is she addresses a lot of common questions athletes in training have, such as "If I skip a day do I make it up and how? How can I insert a race into my training schedule?" and others. She also addresses nutrition with actual formulas that you can use to calculate how many carbs, protein and fats you should consume everyday and immediately after exercise for optimal performance and recovery.I was not used to workout codes (example "Swim 1:00 E(FORM)") which took some getting used to, and there are explanations in both the front and the back of the book so it requires some thumbing through while getting used to it, but as you ramp up on the syntax all that goes away. Not a big deal but I think it could have been consolidated better.Also - if you are a triathlete I would highly recommend getting her companion book Workouts In A Binder for swimming. The swim workouts in the book are almost non-existent and the Binder is basically a must have. Although I think the book itself should include more workout routines for swimming I would have bought the Binder anyway; it has a lot of different workouts that keep swimming challenging and fun and its waterproof so you can keep it with you in the pool.(I also got the water/sweat-proof Workout In a Binders for indoor cycling by Friel and Run Workouts by Bobby McGee to compliment this book. In terms of "meshing" with Gale's book the cycling binder works well but the running does not. The running book is fine by itself for running but I could not "make it fit in" for triathlon training.)Overall I love this book and paired up with the Swim and Indoor Cycling binders they are now my IM training bible.

I bought this book after doing multisport for a few years. Being a disproportionately bad runner compared to my cycling and swimming, I knew I'd need to find a training plan that would help me improve. I'm awfully glad I picked up this book. The author has a great variety of plans for those just starting out in multisport to those looking to make the jump from international distance to Ironman.I personally chose the 27 weeks to a half-ironman plan. The plan is incredibly time-consuming (on average about 12 hours a week). The exercises and drills are fun and challenging. I've already noticed a huge difference with the integration of her drills. The weight lifting is a critical part of this training, and the phases keep things pretty interesting.On the downside, I wish she offered more information on Aquabike. USAT has begun pushing this a lot, and I hope she'll consider it for the next edition. The chapter on nutrition was somewhat obvious, I'd highly recommend buying a book on nutrition to go along with this book.I'd definitely recommened this book regardless of your level of fitness. I think next year I am going to try to the Joe Friel book, but I'm certainly happy I picked this one up this year.

This book was really the foundation for my training for a recent 1/2 ironman triathlon. I'm a casual athlete and this book gave me all the information needed to step up to the next level and do better than I ever imagined possible. It has relatively brief sections on nutrition, how to train (levels of exercise and such), weight training, specific run, bike, and swim workout, stretching, and a good section on how to modify the plans in the book, but the bulk of the book is training plans for various levels of athlete's for specific goals - everything from a first sprint triathlon to a competitive ironman, with plans for duathlons and other types of multisport athlets. I followed a 13 week plan for a 1/2 ironman and, even never having done a triathlon before, exceeded all expectations with this plan. Don't get me wrong - it wasn't by any means easy, and for almost all of the 13 weeks my body was feeling a bit beat up, but come race day I performed better than I had in any of my training workouts. I can't recommend this book enough.The book does stay at a fairly high level. It takes more of the "trust me this will work" approach. If you're interested in the theory behind the book or want to spend time developing a HIGHLY tailored plan, I would recommend Joe Friel's Triathlete's Training Bible ... , but for most people this is too much information. Both books are based on the same training methodology and the authors work closely together.The one thing that this book doesn't cover that many triathlete's need help with is how to swim correctly and easily. For this I would recommend one of Terry Laughlin's books ... . Spend a couple months doing his drill progression and swimming will be the least of your concerns in a triathlon.In short, this is a phenomenal traing tool that will help all levels of athletes reach their and exceed their goals in a large variety of multisport events.