Build your Dirty Yeti plan
Your coach opens with the Dirty Yeti set for October 2, 2027, asks about your week and your fitness, then writes every session of your triathlon plan. Free, and you can start as a guest. About 49 weeks to go.
Start your Dirty Yeti plan- Formats
- Short Yeti, Long Yeti, Short Yeti Duathlon, Long Yeti Duathlon, Short Yeti Aquabike, Long Yeti Aquabike
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Field
- Capped at 200 participants
- Taper starts
- September 23, 2027
Dirty Yeti distances
- Short Yeti 0.2 mi swim, 14 mi bike, 3.8 mi run
- Long Yeti 0.3 mi swim, 28 mi bike, 7.6 mi run
- Short Yeti Duathlon 18.8 mi, 1,460 ft of climbing
- Long Yeti Duathlon 36.6 mi, 2,910 ft of climbing
- Short Yeti Aquabike 14.2 mi, 1,460 ft of climbing
- Long Yeti Aquabike 28.3 mi, 2,910 ft of climbing
Course
The Dirty Yeti course
Everything starts and finishes at the beach at Salt Fork State Park in eastern Ohio, which bills the race as the state's only gravel triathlon, duathlon and aquabike. Triathletes swim a counter-clockwise rectangle in the reservoir (250 m for the Short Yeti, 500 m for the Long Yeti), while duathletes open with a 1-mile out-and-back trail run.
Read the full course notes
The bike is a 14-mile loop of gravel and park roads through the valleys of Salt Fork, ridden once for the Short Yeti and twice for the Long Yeti; more than half of it is unpaved and the official route map shows about 1,450 feet of climbing per lap. The run is a 3.8-mile single-track loop along the reservoir and through the forest (one lap short, two laps long) with roughly 300 feet of climbing per lap, and aquabike athletes finish after the bike. The field is capped at 200, so the day feels friendly and low-key from the first wave to the last finisher.
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Formats
- Short Yeti, Long Yeti, Short Yeti Duathlon, Long Yeti Duathlon, Short Yeti Aquabike, Long Yeti Aquabike
- Field
- Capped at 200 participants
- Race-day conditions
- Early October mornings at Salt Fork are usually cool, around 40–55 °F at the 8:30 a.m. start, warming into the mid 60s by early afternoon, with valley fog or a passing shower possible. HFP Racing follows USA Triathlon rules (wetsuits allowed at 78 °F or below, with the official reading taken 60 to 90 minutes before the start), and early-October reservoir water is usually well under that line, so a wetsuit is the norm. Pack arm warmers or a light layer for the first gravel descents after the swim.
What to train for
The bike is the heart of this race: ride gravel or dirt roads every week, building to about 1.5 hours for the Short Yeti or 2.5 to 3 hours for the Long Yeti, with repeated short climbs and relaxed practice on loose descents.
Run on single-track at least once a week with quick, light steps over roots, and add a weekly brick of 45 to 60 minutes of gravel riding followed by 20 to 30 minutes of trail running.
Open-water swims of 250 to 500 m with sighting, ideally in your wetsuit in cool water, will make the start feel easy. Duathletes should rehearse a relaxed 1-mile opener so the closing trail run still has legs.
Sample week
A sample Dirty Yeti training week
A week from the middle of the build, about six weeks out. Your plan sets the real distances and paces from your own fitness and adjusts them every week as you train.
- Monday
- Swim, 45 min: drills and technique
- Tuesday Key session
- Bike, 1 h with climbing repeats
- Wednesday
- Swim, 45 min: steady intervals at race effort
- Easy run, 40 min
- Thursday Key session
- Run, 40 min with tempo segments
- Friday
- Rest, or 20 minutes of mobility
- Saturday Key session
- Long ride, 1 h 30 min, then a 20 min run off the bike
- Sunday
- Long run, 1 h easy
Your build to race day
Taper
Tapering for the Dirty Yeti
Start the taper seven to ten days before race day. Trim the volume in all three sports, keep short race-pace efforts in each, and do one last short brick so running off the bike still feels familiar. The course is hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar. With the race on October 2, 2027, your taper starts around September 23, 2027.
Also in Claude
Ask Claude for this plan
Add AthleteSpace to Claude once, then paste this prompt and put in your own numbers.
Build me a triathlon season for the The Dirty Yeti Gravel Triathlon, Duathlon & Aquabike on October 2, 2027. I train about [hours] hours a week, [days] days a week.
Dirty Yeti training questions
How long should I train for the Dirty Yeti?
Most athletes give a triathlon sixteen to twenty weeks of focused training on top of an existing base. The coach counts back from your actual race date, so if you have less time than that it builds the best plan the remaining weeks allow rather than pretending you have longer.
What is the Dirty Yeti course like?
Hilly. Everything starts and finishes at the beach at Salt Fork State Park in eastern Ohio, which bills the race as the state's only gravel triathlon, duathlon and aquabike.
How cold is the water at the Dirty Yeti?
Early October mornings at Salt Fork are usually cool, around 40–55 °F at the 8:30 a.m. start, warming into the mid 60s by early afternoon, with valley fog or a passing shower possible. HFP Racing follows USA Triathlon rules (wetsuits allowed at 78 °F or below, with the official reading taken 60 to 90 minutes before the start), and early-October reservoir water is usually well under that line, so a wetsuit is the norm. Pack arm warmers or a light layer for the first gravel descents after the swim.
When should I start tapering for the Dirty Yeti?
Start the taper seven to ten days before race day. Trim the volume in all three sports, keep short race-pace efforts in each, and do one last short brick so running off the bike still feels familiar. The course is hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar. With the race on October 2, 2027, your taper starts around September 23, 2027.
Do I need an account to get a Dirty Yeti training plan?
Start as a guest and save a free account later. Your coach writes your triathlon plan and adapts it every week as you log your training. No card.