Build your Cascais 70.3 plan
Your coach opens with the Cascais 70.3 set for October 23, 2027, asks about your week and your fitness, then writes every session of your 70.3 triathlon plan. Free, and you can start as a guest. About 52 weeks to go.
Start your Cascais 70.3 plan- Formats
- 70.3
- Terrain
- Rolling
- Taper starts
- October 11, 2027
Cascais 70.3 distances
- 70.3 1.9 km swim, 90 km bike, 21.1 km run
Course
The Cascais 70.3 course
The one-loop 1.9 km swim starts at sunrise from Praia da Ribeira and follows the sheltered Cascais bay to the fortress by the Clube Naval, followed by a steep 250 m run up to transition on the Citadel Platform. The single-loop 90 km bike runs along the Guincho coast road and climbs to Malveira da Serra (4.75 km at about 4.8 %), crosses the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park by the Lagoa Azul and laps the Estoril Formula 1 circuit before heading along the coast toward a turnaround in Lisbon, past Belém and the Jerónimos Monastery and under the 25 de Abril Bridge.
Read the full course notes
Bike climbing totals 771 m, most of it in the first 30 km, with the coastal second half close to flat. The two-loop run follows the Guincho road out along the coast toward Cabo Raso and back into Cascais through the marina, with 127 m of climbing and big crowds to the finish.
- Terrain
- Rolling
- Formats
- 70.3
- Race-day conditions
- IRONMAN expects the water in Cascais bay to be 17–19 °C in October, and recent race days measured 17–18 °C, so this is a wetsuit swim: wetsuits are mandatory below 16 °C and legal up to 24.5 °C. Air usually runs from about 15–16 °C at dawn to the low 20s °C in the afternoon, often with plenty of sun. The Guincho coast is known for wind, which shapes both the bike and the exposed run out toward Cabo Raso.
What to train for
The first 30 km set the tone: a 4.75 km climb at close to 5 % and a steep, technical descent from Sintra, so practise sustained climbing at 70.3 power and confident descending.
After that, the long coastal stretch rewards a solid aero position and steady power into changing wind.
Train the run for wind too: each loop out along the Guincho coast has a headwind half, so do tempo runs on exposed roads and pace by effort. Swim regularly in open water in your wetsuit so the 17–19 °C bay feels routine.
Sample week
A sample Cascais 70.3 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, 1 h: drills and technique
- Tuesday Key session
- Bike, 1 h 15 min with threshold intervals
- Wednesday
- Swim, 1 h: steady intervals at race effort
- Easy run, 50 min
- Thursday Key session
- Run, 50 min with tempo segments
- Friday
- Rest, or 20 minutes of mobility
- Saturday Key session
- Long ride, 3 h, then a 30 min run off the bike
- Sunday
- Long run, 1 h 30 min easy
Your build to race day
Taper
Tapering for the Cascais 70.3
Start the taper ten to fourteen 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 rolls, so keep one short session on undulating ground in the first taper week. With the race on October 23, 2027, your taper starts around October 11, 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 70.3 triathlon season for the IRONMAN 70.3 Portugal-Cascais on October 23, 2027. I train about [hours] hours a week, [days] days a week.
Cascais 70.3 training questions
How long should I train for the Cascais 70.3?
Most athletes give a 70.3 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 Cascais 70.3 course like?
Rolling. The one-loop 1.9 km swim starts at sunrise from Praia da Ribeira and follows the sheltered Cascais bay to the fortress by the Clube Naval, followed by a steep 250 m run up to transition on the Citadel Platform.
How cold is the water at the Cascais 70.3?
IRONMAN expects the water in Cascais bay to be 17–19 °C in October, and recent race days measured 17–18 °C, so this is a wetsuit swim: wetsuits are mandatory below 16 °C and legal up to 24.5 °C. Air usually runs from about 15–16 °C at dawn to the low 20s °C in the afternoon, often with plenty of sun. The Guincho coast is known for wind, which shapes both the bike and the exposed run out toward Cabo Raso.
When should I start tapering for the Cascais 70.3?
Start the taper ten to fourteen 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 rolls, so keep one short session on undulating ground in the first taper week. With the race on October 23, 2027, your taper starts around October 11, 2027.
Do I need an account to get a Cascais 70.3 training plan?
Start as a guest and save a free account later. Your coach writes your 70.3 triathlon plan and adapts it every week as you log your training. No card.