Build your St. Louis Triathlon plan
Your coach opens with the St. Louis Triathlon set for June (an estimate until the date is announced), asks about your week and your fitness, then writes every session of your Olympic-distance triathlon plan. Free, and you can start as a guest. About 33 weeks to go.
Start your St. Louis Triathlon plan- Formats
- Olympic, Sprint, Olympic Aquabike, Sprint Aquabike, Olympic Duathlon, Sprint Duathlon
- Terrain
- Flat
St. Louis Triathlon distances
- Olympic 0.9 mi swim, 24.9 mi bike, 6.2 mi run
- Sprint 0.5 mi swim, 12.4 mi bike, 3.1 mi run
- Olympic Aquabike 25.8 mi
- Sprint Aquabike 12.9 mi
- Olympic Duathlon 34.2 mi
- Sprint Duathlon 17.4 mi
Course
The St. Louis Triathlon course
Everything happens at Creve Coeur Park on Creve Coeur Lake in Maryland Heights, and the race doubles as a USA Triathlon Missouri state championship. The swim is a time-trial start, four athletes every three seconds seeded by pace, with the sprint wave (750 m) going first and then the Olympic (1500 m on the course map).
Read the full course notes
The bike leaves the park on Marine Avenue for an out-and-back on the Maryland Heights Expressway (MO 141) with a U-turn at the far end: one 12.4-mile lap for the sprint and two for the Olympic, with only about 280 feet of climbing per lap on the route file. Both runs are flat out-and-backs on the trail around the lake, 3.1 and 6.2 miles, with aid stations along the way. The swim depends on Missouri's water quality test, and in 2026 the event ran as a bike and run when the lake did not pass, so keep your run fitness sharp either way.
- Terrain
- Flat
- Formats
- Olympic, Sprint, Olympic Aquabike, Sprint Aquabike, Olympic Duathlon, Sprint Duathlon
- Race-day conditions
- The race allows wetsuits at 78 °F and below, optional without awards up to 83.9 °F, and announces the call at 5:00 a.m. Late June around St. Louis usually brings about 70 °F at dawn, highs in the upper 80s and thick humidity, which is why the swim starts at 6:45 a.m. There are no aid stations on the bike, so carry two bottles and an electrolyte plan.
What to train for
A flat highway out-and-back is all about steady power, so build to 3 x 15 minutes at Olympic effort in your aero position with no coasting, and practice slowing, U-turning and sprinting back up to speed.
With a time-trial swim start you begin in clear water: practice a smooth first 200 m at race pace and then settle into rhythm.
Do weekly bricks into 20 minutes at 10K pace on flat paths, and run some sessions in morning humidity to dial in your drinking. If the swim is ever cancelled, the bike and run you built will carry the day.
Sample week
A sample St. Louis Triathlon 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 threshold intervals
- 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
Taper
Tapering for the St. Louis Triathlon
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 flat, so pacing decides the day: rehearse your goal pace in short segments during race week.
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 Olympic-distance triathlon season for the Lou Fusz Subaru St. Louis Triathlon in June. I train about [hours] hours a week, [days] days a week.
St. Louis Triathlon training questions
How long should I train for the St. Louis Triathlon?
Most athletes give a Olympic-distance triathlon twelve to sixteen 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 St. Louis Triathlon course like?
Flat. Everything happens at Creve Coeur Park on Creve Coeur Lake in Maryland Heights, and the race doubles as a USA Triathlon Missouri state championship.
How cold is the water at the St. Louis Triathlon?
The race allows wetsuits at 78 °F and below, optional without awards up to 83.9 °F, and announces the call at 5:00 a.m. Late June around St. Louis usually brings about 70 °F at dawn, highs in the upper 80s and thick humidity, which is why the swim starts at 6:45 a.m. There are no aid stations on the bike, so carry two bottles and an electrolyte plan.
When should I start tapering for the St. Louis Triathlon?
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 flat, so pacing decides the day: rehearse your goal pace in short segments during race week.
Do I need an account to get a St. Louis Triathlon training plan?
Start as a guest and save a free account later. Your coach writes your Olympic-distance triathlon plan and adapts it every week as you log your training. No card.