Debbie Todd discusses her training regimen as she looks to defend her Danskin triathlon title

Debbie Todd competes in eight triathlons a year, entering each race with the same lighthearted goal -- just to have fun. The 55-year-old says that winning, which she does regularly in her age group, is incidental.

"Of course, I never want to finish last," says Todd, who lives in Celebration, Fla. There seems to be little danger of that. The 5-foot-1 paralegal won in her age group at the Tri America Clermont Olympic Distance Race in April 2006, and a month later, took home her third Danskin Sprint Triathlon win in her age group in Orlando.

Now, Todd is training to defend her Danskin title at Disney World on May 13. "That run is all through the Magic Kingdom and when they talk about Disney World being the happiest place in the whole world, it's true," says Todd, who finished the half-mile swim, 12.4-mile bike and 3.1-mile run in 58 minutes flat last year. "I smile through that whole race, except when I'm swimming. Just because it's very hard to swim and smile--you choke."

With the help of Training Peaks, an online training service, Todd has tailored a daily workout plan that lets her tackle an assortment of triathlons. Here is her typical weekly regimen:

MONDAY: Todd is up at 4:30 a.m. to grab a cup of coffee and head to a spare bedroom where she has hooked up a windtrainer cycle to a computrainer, a computer fitted with software that simulates outdoor courses. Today, Todd selects a hilly program and bikes for 90 minutes. Much of Todd's training takes place on the bike, because that portion of each triathlon is her toughest event. Hills are her greatest challenge, "because I'm tiny," says Todd. By 6:15, she's off the bike, whipping up a smoothie before heading to the shower and work.

TUESDAY: Todd starts the day at 4:45 a.m. with an hour of yoga, popping in a DVD of "Rodney Yee: Yoga Conditioning for Athletes." She performs yoga to maintain flexibility. After work, she changes into her running gear to practice hill strides. Because there are virtually no hills in the town of Celebration, Todd runs to a bridge overpass and sprints up the steepest part of the structure and then walks back down. She does the routine eight times and jogs home. The 30-minute workout is three miles from start to finish.

WEDNESDAY: When she turned 45, Todd started taking Wednesdays off from training. "It used to be I could work out seven days a week, but as I've gotten older, I've needed a day off so I can relax a little bit and let my legs recover," Todd says.

THURSDAY: This is a combination day, or a brick workout. Todd gets on the windtrainer around 4:30 a.m. for an hour of hills and then puts on her running shoes for a 30-minute run. On the run, she starts out slow and then works up to a medium pace. "The object of the brick is just to get your body used to biking and then running because that's the toughest transition (in triathlons)." That evening, Todd does her weekly strength-training workout at home, where she has a bench, dumbbells, free weights and a ball. Her goal is simply to maintain the strength she has, not body build. Using weights that range from eight to 25 pounds, Todd focuses on her upper and lower body, doing three sets of 10 repetitions each of bench presses, shoulder presses, bent-over rows, triceps presses, leg extensions and leg curls. Then, she turns her attention to her core, doing two sets of 15 repetitions of a variety of crunches and other abdominal exercises. Todd finishes by holding in a plank position on the ball for 60 seconds.

FRIDAY: Rising early as usual, Todd programs the windtrainer for a 60-minute easy ride -- mostly flat with just a few hills. She keeps the workout light to "aim for the weekend."

SATURDAY: Todd meets with some training partners at an Olympic-sized pool for an hour and 15 minutes of swimming, which is Todd's best triathlon event. She swims a total of 2,800 meters, including warm-up and cool down periods. Then, the group goes out for an hour-long run through the neighborhood, doing tempo intervals. Todd runs at her nine-minute mile race pace for six minutes and then slows down and recovers for three minutes. She does four intervals and walks the rest of the way home.

SUNDAY: Todd heads to the pool again this morning. She swims a total of 3,100 meters, doing pyramid intervals -- 100 meters, 200 meters, 300 meters, 400 meters, 500 meters, 400 meters, 300 meters, 200 meters, and 100 meters -- to work on speed and endurance. Afterward, Todd and her training partners take a 32-mile bike ride.