Build your IRONMAN Wales plan
Your coach opens with the IRONMAN Wales set for September 19, 2027, asks about your week and your fitness, then writes every session of your full-distance (140.6) triathlon plan. Free, and you can start as a guest. About 47 weeks to go.
Start your IRONMAN Wales plan- Formats
- Full
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Taper starts
- September 1, 2027
IRONMAN Wales distances
- Full 3.8 km swim, 180.2 km bike, 42.2 km run
Course
The IRONMAN Wales course
The day starts on Tenby's North Beach with a two-lap sea swim of 3.8 km, followed by a 1 km run from the sand up the famous zig-zag ramp to transition in the Seafront Car Park. The 180 km bike is two loops through the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park: the first, longer loop heads west into the prevailing coastal wind, and both laps then take on the hillier eastern section.
Read the full course notes
The key climbs come twice: the 4.4 km drag into Cross Hands (about 111 m of gain) and the short, steep pull from Wiseman's Bridge up to Saundersfoot, which kicks above 20% and is lined with cheering crowds. Total climbing runs well past 2,000 m, and athletes voted it the second-best bike course in the world in 2025. The marathon is four hilly loops that run out of town and back through Tenby's medieval walls, with tens of thousands of spectators packing the streets.
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Formats
- Full
- Race-day conditions
- IRONMAN lists the average water temperature as 17 °C, so a wetsuit swim is all but certain (wetsuits are allowed up to 24.5 °C). Air temperatures typically range from about 15 °C to 20 °C, with Atlantic wind and showers always possible, so pack arm warmers and a gilet for the bike and be ready for swell off North Beach.
What to train for
This is a strength course: you will ride Cross Hands and Saundersfoot twice, so train repeat climbs of 4–6 minutes at threshold plus short, seated-then-standing efforts up 10–20% ramps.
Ride long hilly sessions of 5–6 hours and practise keeping your power in check on the first loop, when the crowds and the wind tempt you to overcook it.
Build a hilly long run of 2–2.5 hours with deliberate downhill running, since the four-lap marathon never stays flat for long. Swim in the sea with some chop at least a few times before race day, and practise the 1 km run up from the beach to transition.
Sample week
A sample IRONMAN Wales 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 15 min: drills and technique
- Tuesday Key session
- Bike, 1 h 30 min with climbing repeats
- Wednesday
- Swim, 1 h 15 min: steady intervals at race effort
- Easy run, 1 h
- Thursday Key session
- Run, 1 h with tempo segments
- Friday
- Rest, or 20 minutes of mobility
- Saturday Key session
- Long ride, 5 h, then a 45 min run off the bike
- Sunday
- Long run, 2 h 15 min easy
Your build to race day
Taper
Tapering for the IRONMAN Wales
Start the taper two to three weeks 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 September 19, 2027, your taper starts around September 1, 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 full-distance (140.6) triathlon season for the IRONMAN Wales on September 19, 2027. I train about [hours] hours a week, [days] days a week.
IRONMAN Wales training questions
How long should I train for the IRONMAN Wales?
Most athletes give a full-distance (140.6) triathlon twenty-four to thirty 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 IRONMAN Wales course like?
Hilly. The day starts on Tenby's North Beach with a two-lap sea swim of 3.8 km, followed by a 1 km run from the sand up the famous zig-zag ramp to transition in the Seafront Car Park.
How cold is the water at the IRONMAN Wales?
IRONMAN lists the average water temperature as 17 °C, so a wetsuit swim is all but certain (wetsuits are allowed up to 24.5 °C). Air temperatures typically range from about 15 °C to 20 °C, with Atlantic wind and showers always possible, so pack arm warmers and a gilet for the bike and be ready for swell off North Beach.
When should I start tapering for the IRONMAN Wales?
Start the taper two to three weeks 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 September 19, 2027, your taper starts around September 1, 2027.
Do I need an account to get a IRONMAN Wales training plan?
Start as a guest and save a free account later. Your coach writes your full-distance (140.6) triathlon plan and adapts it every week as you log your training. No card.