Reddit reviews The Triathlete's Training Bible

If you want a reference for this, Friel does pretty good work:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BUWY74M/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

I just finished Ironman Texas a couple weeks ago with about 5 months of training so I was in about the same situation you are in. I just happen to come from a cycling background instead of a swimming one.

It seems like you like to read and learn, so my first bit of advice is to pick up a: The Triathletes Training Bible by Joel Friel. Some people will disagree with parts of it, but the information in there is good. Hell, if you can't afford the book, I will buy you a copy.

Next thing to do is to ignore a lot of the workouts in the thread. What you need right now, and for the next 5 months, are not workouts, but a plan to help you survive. And just to be clear, survival is nothing something to be ashamed of. Read the book, set your race date, and start stepping back and create your periodization plan. After that, then think about what kind of workouts fit into those days. This is a long term deal.

Finally, please learn about your strengths and weaknesses. What your background gains you and what it lacks. For example, as somebody coming from a cycling background, I had poor upper body mobility which bleeds into my running and swimming efficiency, thus I substitute one of my strength days for a mobility day. I also have to be careful about accumulating damage from running, so I do more short runs with a single long run every week.

Check out /r/triathlon for more info, and I'd be more then happy to answer any more questions about crash course IM racing.

Edit: Just noticed that you are from the SD area! That makes it a bit easier because the Tri Club of SD is a good resource. Hook up with your local tri group and get some help. You will be amazed at the number of helpful people =D