Endurance training

Endurance training for every event.
Open water, road, trail, triathlon.

Pelaris programs endurance training across open-water swimming, marathon and ultra running, triathlon, swimrun, and cycling events. Periodised on named methodologies, adapted to your event date, your weekly hours, and your logged fatigue. Free tracking sits underneath.

Start training See events supported

The four disciplines

One endurance engine, four expressions of it

Aerobic capacity is the shared foundation. How it gets expressed in the water, on the road, or on a bike changes the volume math and the session shapes. Pelaris knows the difference, and periodises each discipline against its own demand curve.

Open water swimming

From your first 5km crossing to 15km channel swims. Pelaris programs pool and open-water sessions around your event date, with pacing, sighting drills, and cold-water acclimatisation scheduled alongside strength and recovery.

Marathon and ultra

Beginner marathons through 100km ultras. Periodised base, build, peak, taper on named methodology (Pfitzinger, Hansons, Daniels, 80/20, Lydiard). Long-run progressions respect cumulative fatigue, not a static weekly template.

Multisport

Triathlon, swimrun, aquathlon, aquabike. Three-sport periodisation that sequences swim, bike and run sessions so interference is minimised and brick work lands at the right phase of the block.

Cycling endurance

Century rides, gran fondos, ultra-cycling events. Zone-based programming on a chosen methodology (Sweet Spot, Polarised, Coggan, Traditional Base) with FTP-driven intensity scheduling and event-day fueling prep.

Events supported

From your first 5k to a channel crossing

Every event type below has a dedicated training hub. Pelaris reads your event date at intake and works backwards, so a beginner marathon and a sub-2:50 build use the same methodology library with different volumes, paces, and peak weeks.

Open water swim

5km, 10km, 15km channel, Rottnest, Cole Classic, English Channel

Swimming training hub

Marathon + ultra

First marathon, sub-3:00, sub-4:00, 50k, 50-mile, 100k, 100-mile

Marathon training hub

Triathlon

Sprint, Olympic, 70.3, Ironman, Xterra, ultra-triathlon

Triathlon training hub

Cycling endurance

100km sportive, gran fondo, audax, 24-hour events, multi-day tours

Cycling training hub

Swimrun

ÖTILLÖ, coastal swimrun sprints, SwimRun World Series

Hybrid athlete framework

Ironman

First 70.3, Ironman, Ironman World Championship qualification

Ironman training hub

Plan the block, hit the event

Horizon shows base, build, specific and taper for the full 16-20 week endurance arc. Weekly hours climb, then retreat. Race day sits as the peak, not the end.

Pelaris Horizon view for an endurance training block, base build specific taper phases visible across a 16-week arc
Horizon. An endurance block laid out base, build, specific, taper.

Periodisation

An 18-week arc, phase by phase

The arc scales: a first 10km is six weeks, a first marathon is 16, an Ironman build is 24-28. Same four phases, different lengths, methodology-appropriate volumes throughout.

Weeks 1-6

Base

Aerobic base building. Easy-pace volume, technique work, and the unglamorous foundation every serious endurance block rests on. Pelaris defaults most of your weekly hours here because the adaptation window for aerobic capacity is wide and the work is recoverable.

Weeks 7-12

Build

Threshold and sub-threshold work layered on the aerobic base. Long runs, open-water endurance sets, sweet-spot intervals on the bike. The volume stays high; intensity climbs carefully.

Weeks 13-16

Specific

Race-pace work, brick sessions, course-specific simulation. For open-water swimmers this is where cold acclimatisation lands. For marathoners this is the dress-rehearsal long run at goal pace. For triathletes, the full race-simulation brick.

Weeks 17-18

Taper

Volume drops 40-50 percent over 10-14 days, intensity maintained. Sleep targets rise, nutrition locks in, race-day logistics rehearse. Fresh body, sharp head, no new stimulus.

Questions

Endurance training, answered

Does Pelaris program for open water swimming specifically? +
Yes. Open-water-specific sessions (sighting drills, bilateral breathing, pack swimming, cold-water acclimatisation, tidal pacing) are programmed as their own session types with methodology-appropriate volumes. If you are targeting a 5km, 10km, or 15km event, the block structure reflects the demand of that specific distance. We have Total Immersion and Swim Smooth methodologies in the methodology library.
What marathon methodology does Pelaris use? +
Whichever one fits you. The generator picks between Pfitzinger, Hansons, Daniels, 80/20, Lydiard, Maffetone, and Hal Higdon based on your experience, weekly availability, and goal time. Each methodology is implemented end-to-end, not as a template name with generic sessions underneath. See the marathon training hub for the long version.
Can I train for an ultra while keeping a full life? +
Yes, and it is one of the harder problems Pelaris is built for. 50k and 100k prep does not require the 18-hour weeks the ultra-running mythology suggests, provided the weeks you do have are periodised correctly. The app protects your long-run progression, schedules strength and mobility on the days you can spare them, and drops volume proactively when fatigue signals climb. Hybrid athlete framework covers the weekday/weekend split model in detail.
How does Pelaris handle triathlon interference? +
Swim, bike and run sessions are sequenced so key sessions in one discipline never land the day after a hard key session in another. Brick workouts are scheduled at the correct block phase (build and specific, not base). Strength sits in off-days at lower-loaded sessions to preserve the ground reaction force for running without killing your legs for bike watts. The concurrent training guide explains the interference rules in detail.
Is the free tier enough for endurance training? +
Yes for tracking, no for programming. The free workout tracker logs every swim, bike, run, and strength session forever with no cap. The AI program generation that writes the actual endurance program is the paid tier. Many endurance athletes use Pelaris just for tracking across disciplines, which is fine.
What about short-course racing, 5k and 10k? +
Pelaris supports these but the dedicated hub is the marathon training page, which covers the shorter distances as base blocks toward a marathon or as stand-alone 12-week builds. If you just want a 5k PB in 12 weeks, tell the app that in intake.
Do you handle cold-water swimming and channel crossings? +
Yes, with appropriate caveats. The program includes cold-water acclimatisation sessions, long open-water volume blocks, and taper-week protocols for events like an English Channel, Cook Strait, or Rottnest crossing. Medical clearance for cold-water events is on you; we program the fitness, not the physiological risk assessment.

Commit to an event. Let Pelaris write the block.

Marathon in six months, Rottnest in twelve, first triathlon in eighteen. Tell the app; it writes the 16-28 week arc.

Start training

Related

Rate my program Methodology library Hybrid athlete Concurrent training Free workout tracker Hyrox training