PulseLab is an AI-powered training app for endurance athletes. It reads your sleep, HRV, energy, and training load every morning to calculate a PULSE Score (a 0-100 daily readiness number), then adapts your training plan overnight so you train at the right intensity.

What is the PULSE Score?

The PULSE Score is a daily readiness score from 0 to 100. It combines seven inputs: sleep quality (20%), HRV (20%), energy level (15%), soreness (15%), training load (15%), nutrition (10%), and training streak (5%). Scores above 80 mean you are ready to push hard. Below 50, Coach Zo will ease back your session or insert a rest day.

Coach Zo is PulseLab's AI coaching layer. It adapts your training plan each night based on your PULSE Score, sends proactive fatigue alerts, answers your training questions, and delivers a Monday Briefing every week reviewing the previous week and previewing the next.

Is PulseLab only for triathletes?

No. PulseLab is built for all endurance athletes: triathletes, marathon runners, ultramarathon runners, duathletes, open water swimmers, gravel cyclists, and trail runners.

How does PulseLab differ from TrainingPeaks or Garmin Coach?

TrainingPeaks and Garmin Coach give you a fixed plan. PulseLab's plan changes every night based on how your body actually recovered. If you slept poorly or your HRV dropped, Coach Zo adjusts tomorrow's session before you even wake up.

How much does PulseLab cost?

The Athlete plan is $14.99 per month with a 14-day free trial and no credit card required. The Coach plan is $4.99 per month and supports up to 20 athletes. The first 500 members receive founding pricing locked for life.

When does PulseLab launch?

PulseLab is currently in private beta with a public launch planned for 2026 on iOS and Android. You can join the waitlist now at pulselab.fit.

GuideApril 19, 2026

How to build a triathlon training plan

A step-by-step guide to building a triathlon training plan around your race date, real schedule, and current fitness. How each phase works and how long it should be.

By PulseLab · April 19, 2026

Triathlon training is harder to plan than running because you have three disciplines fighting over the same recovery budget. Most amateur athletes who blow up at goal races didn't fail to train enough. They trained the wrong distribution, or kept pushing when the plan said go hard and their body said otherwise.

Start by picking your race and counting backwards. A 70.3 (half Ironman) needs 16-20 weeks. A full Ironman needs 24-30 weeks if you are training 8-12 hours per week. Sprint or Olympic distance athletes can get away with 8-16 weeks. Lock the date, then build from there.

Phase structure

Base (weeks 1-6): almost entirely Zone 2. Low intensity, high frequency. The point is building aerobic capacity without digging a fatigue hole that limits the harder phases later. Boring but it works.

Build (weeks 7-14): threshold and race-pace work starts. Brick sessions begin here (bike followed immediately by a run). Volume should still increase no more than 10% week-on-week.

Peak (weeks 15-18): highest training load. Sessions start to look like race day: open water swims, long rides at race power, long runs. You will feel tired. That is the point.

Taper (final 2-3 weeks): volume drops 40-60%, intensity stays. Most athletes feel flat in week one of taper and panic. Do not add extra sessions. Your body is absorbing the training you already did.

Discipline distribution

Cycling is the biggest slice of race time in a 70.3 (around 50-55% of total finish time) and also the most recoverable discipline to train frequently. A reasonable 10-hour week: swim 2-3 times (2.5 hours), bike 3 times (4.5 hours), run 3 times (3 hours). Adjust toward your weakest discipline.

The part most plans skip

A fixed plan is a starting point. If you slept badly for three days and your HRV is tanked, Thursday's threshold run should not happen as written. Most apps leave that call to you. PulseLab handles it automatically. The PULSE Score reads HRV, sleep quality, and training load each morning and adjusts the next session before you open the app.

Step-by-step guide

1.
Choose your race and work backwards
Lock in your goal race date. A sprint triathlon needs 8-12 weeks. Olympic distance needs 12-16 weeks. 70.3 needs 16-20 weeks. Full Ironman needs 24-30 weeks. Count backwards from race day to find your plan start date.
2.
Assess your current fitness baseline
Run a 30-minute time trial in each discipline. Note distance covered, average heart rate, and perceived effort. This gives you zone boundaries and sets realistic targets for each phase. Do not skip this step.
3.
Structure your phases
Divide your plan into Base (aerobic foundation, Zone 2 dominant), Build (threshold work, brick sessions begin), Peak (highest load, race-pace work), and Taper (volume drops 40-60%, intensity stays). Each phase should be 20-30% of total plan length.
4.
Set weekly discipline distribution
For a 10-hour week: swim 2-3x (2.5h total), bike 3x (4.5h total), run 3x (3h total). Cycling is most recoverable so it takes the largest share. Adjust ratios based on your weakest discipline.
5.
Cap weekly volume increases at 10%
Never increase total training load by more than 10% week-on-week. Research consistently shows this threshold is where soft tissue injury rates increase significantly. Insert a recovery week (reduce volume 30-40%) every third or fourth week.
6.
Add adaptation: respond to how your body actually recovers
A fixed plan assumes you recover identically every week. You do not. Track HRV and sleep quality daily. When recovery is poor, reduce intensity or add rest. PulseLab does this automatically. The PULSE Score adjusts your plan overnight based on 7 recovery inputs.