The Triathlete's Training Bible

I love this book. There are very few books where I own all editions, and this happens to be one. The work is comprehensive, covering all aspects of season planning, training, racing and the ancillary work necessary to become a great athlete. I think the strongest component of the book is the season planning. Most books just place things in a "base, build, taper" method without explaining why each should be done. This, however, brings me to my main beef of the book. There are many ways to logically plan a season, but this illustrates just one method. The book forces the athlete onto one methodology, and everything is based around this one method. I believe the logic is much the same for each method; you build your basic capacities and then you build your capacities most specific to your goal race to an ideal level to compete well. There are many different ways to complete this process. This book does an excellent job of describing the logic behind one method, but leaves out some key paragraphs that would enable an athlete to prepare their plan around other models. The model the book prescribes (increasing basic capacities before advanced capacities and a more or less linear advancement of intensity) is effective - and probably the most universally effective - but there are other ways to build a season!! The other problem with the book is the lack of progression with the ancillary training. The drills and weight sessions will be, in many cases, too advanced for many athletes at the beginning. The drills are more the problem, but in some cases it will be the weights. It's not a huge beef, but I'm a fan of progressively building into higher level drills if you can't handle them to start with!! All in all, a great book. It is one of the most complete training guides for the triathlon, and triathlon books are among the best guides to endurance training!!

I thought this book was really great, particularly for the price. It's jam-packed with really useful information. This book is about how to structure your life around being a triathlete. It's about how to work up a training plan for each year that will help you achieve your goals and reduce your "limiters" - those parts of your triathlon you might not be strong. It goes into incredible detail about how training works, particularly the ideas of periodization and building fitness by varying intensity and volume, and the idea of the three basic parts of fitness (force, speed, and endurance). It talks about identifying your limiters and developing plans to fix them. It also goes into great detail about the differences between training for a sprint triathlon and an Ironman triathlon (it's not just "more hours"). It goes into some detail about how to race, what nutrition and hydration you'll need to bring along, checklists for things to bring and all that - probably stuff you've already got a handle on. It has some information about nutrition outside of racing but it is mostly just an overview. It has essentially no information at all on technique, though - don't buy this book thinking it will make you a better swimmer. Other than that there's really nothing negative to say about the book. It's very well-laid-out, lots of charts and sample training plans. It doesn't over-explain things but doesn't gloss over them either - it's a good balance. IMPORTANT: This book isn't a "My First Triathlon" book. It's not a "Triathlon for Dummies" book. As the intro says, it's basically a cheap replacement for a triathlon coach. If you've signed up for your first sprint triathlon and you just want a couple of not-too-detailed training plans to get you into shape to finish it, this isn't the book for you.

This is a well written triathlon book by Joe Friel that has a lot of useful information for the beginner to the seasoned triathlete. That being said, I felt that the book would benefit the seasoned or serious triathlete most. In preparation for my first full season of triathlon (mostly sprints), I purchased this book in hopes of providing me with a solid base and a training plan. I'm not in excellent physical shape or a gifted athlete in any sense, and that's why I needed and wanted a book that could give me guidance. The book is broken into sections and chapters. It goes into details of everything you need to know about triathlon. For the average age grouper that is not super competitive and don't have tons of hours to spend on training, this book goes into much more detail than what you need. But for the serious athlete, this book will motivate and give you the training strategy that will most benefit. Friel uses periodization training in this book; breaking the year into different periods such as Prep, Base 1-2-3, Build 1-2-3, Peak, Race, Transition. This is very useful information that will give the athlete the program to be in the best racing shape during your important races. So why the 4 star? I read and took notes of the book. When I got to the Weekly Training Planning, I was ready and expected the book to "guide" you in one way or another to set up a training plan. But after reading that chapter, I was quite confused on how to plug the different workouts(listed in the appendix) into each day. I was confused on what the intensity and duration for each workout should be for me as a beginner. Basically I felt that the book "left me hanging." I reread the chapter a few more times thinking that I missed something. There were plugs all throughout the book about Friel's training website Trainingpeaks. I checked out the site hoping to find a training plan on there I could use. Friel charges $99 for almost all of the 12-week training plan. Hmm..... Even with the above complaint I learned a lot from Friel's book. The seasoned athlete will probably know enough to use the training plan set forth by Friel. But for the beginner triathlete in their first couple of seasons I suggest Friel's other book "Your First Triathlon."

This is an incredible book. I wish there had been a resource like this back in 1982 when I completed my first sprint triathlon. The introductory chapters are a lot of work to read, but pay off when getting into the meat of the book when developing a plan(s) to prepare for upcoming races. I find myself underlining this, and highlighting that as well as taking notes on thoughts, issues, concepts that I want to refer back to later on in the book. I completed my first triathlon in 2012 after a 26-year break from the sport. "Life" got in the way of committing to this "way of life" that is triathlon and the half-ironman distance that I completed has motivated me to look at training in a different way. Oh yea, I will be turning 60 years old in 2013, and will be back for the half-ironman as well as two other races. I see this book preparing me for the races I am going to compete in, in 2013. I would love to have a coach, but as an age grouper, and not being able to afford a coach, I see this book being pivotal in preparing me. I have looked at many other Triathlon training books, but this is indeed The Bible. Great job to Joe Friel in writing this book. This is a must have for anyone serious about succeeding and having fun training and competing in Triathlons.

I'm the kind of guy who will sit down at Barnes and Noble for an hour and speed-read all of the books of a given category before buying, and I did the same for triathlon. This is by far the most comprehensive and well-put-together book in my opinion. As a serious collegiate triathlete, this book has all of the great details that will combine to give me a breakthrough in all 3 triathlon disciplines and a much smarter and structured training plan. Very well organized and not terribly dense. The beginning triathlete with little desire for top-3 age group finishes or better might find that it feels like a college textbook, but it hits all of the right subjects(and all race distances) at just the right depth for me. Worth every penny!

I'm only 75 pages into this book so far. However, I am amazed at the depth of detail that there is to know and consider for training. I haven't read a lot of books on training but was told this is the best and I have nothing to compete with that comment in my reading so far. Very good read for someone who is serious about training and triathloning. There is also a wealth of knowledge for people who are doing sports training (run, bike, swim) but focusing on one of the three, or combined. I'm excited to finish - it's all useful and helpful information. No fluff, and well written.

I am a beginner in triathlon so I felt like I needed a comprehensive one-stop resource. I had already read Friel's "Your first Triathlon" and, while it was a useful introduction, I felt as though it was a little too "light". It was written for absolute beginners with the goal of simply finishing the race. Wanting more, I decided to buy this book. Well, it certainly provided the info I was looking for and then some! In fact, I found myself skipping large portions of the book because some of it was just too in depth for my level. I really like that it is based on the latest scienctific principles but it got a little boring at times. Also, if you have a job, it may be difficult to remain as dedicated to the training schedule as Joe would like you to be. However, it really does have tons of great info and would be useful even for beginners as a resource but it's probably more geared towards intermediate to advanced athletes.

I used Joe's cyclists training bible The Cyclist's Training Bible to help my training schedule and I think it is the single most important thing I have done for my bike racing. The cycling book is approachable for both beginners and advanced racers, but it you are in your first year of bike racing you are not ready for Joe's training schedule yet. (Read it for next year, but just try not to burn out your first year...) I bought the tri bible for my wife, and from flipping through it I'd say it is the same book, but with two more sports. That being said, I only race bikes (no tris) but Joe's cycling bible really taught me how to train and set up a schedule to build up to target races. I think that you have to approach these books knowing that they are written for people who are serious about training for their sports and committing to the lifestyle. Joe teaches you what to do to be the best racer you can be, but to do that you are going to have to follow his training cycles and peaking schedule. By far the most informative book on training I have come across.

I am a self-coached triathlete that just started a couple of years ago. I wish this book was my first purchase. I have an aversion to books with the word "Bible" in it, just like I do "Dummies" type books, as I generally find books with titles like this are shallow in depth, but this book has been very helpful in teaching me about the concepts of periodization, which I lack. Furthermore, I overtrained and caused a lot of injury this year, and a common recurring theme in this book is about training at the right intensities and volumes to prevent that. I could have saved myself a lot of grief if I learned the lessons in this book earlier. This should be every new triathlete's first book purchase.

Il manuale, che consiglio sempre di prendere in lingua originale sia per risparmiare sia per non perdere qualcosa nella traduzione, e' esattamente quello che cercavo. Una guida completa dalla a alla z valida tanto per i neofiti della trplice disciplina quanto per gli atleti piu' evoluti.

Pour qui s'interesse à l'entrainement depointe, même si l'édition date déjà un peu, il y a une quantité impressionnante d'informations précieuses pour être optimal dans sa planification et dans chaque séance... A lire absolument!!!

Excellent book quality and fast delivery.

Excellent book! This was my first triathlon book and it's a really good start. It's also very helpful while I'm training. It really does a great job, no matter if you are a beginner or an elite athlete. A must read for every serious triathlete!