01/01/04 Barbara's New Year's Day IM Practice

This is a 5100-yard practice, but you can make it shorter just by eliminating one or more of the main sets. WARMUP: 500With fins.I like to warmup with fins because they get the blood flowing in my legs and they make me feel fast and fluent – always a great feeling to carry into the rest of the workout. Since this is an IM practice, and I want to get my body warmed up for short-axis movements AND long-axis movements, so let’s alternate50 of any short-axis drill (breast or fly) and50 of any long-axis drill (free or back).The final 100 will be an IM.MAIN SET #1: 1200Swim three rounds of the following:3 X (25 FLY + 25 BACK + 25 BODY-DOLPHIN BREAST) + 100 FREE1st Round: Fins and fistgloves2nd Round: Fins and nekked hands3rd Round: Fins and paddlesYour focus on this set is TRANSITIONS. You’ll be making what feels like a zillion transitions between short-axis strokes and long-axis strokes. You’re going from rotating your body around a long axis (head to tailbone) to rotating your body around a short axis (hip to hip). The faster and more smoothly you can switch “body gears,” the better you’ll be as an IM swimmer. You should also focus on cranking it out on the final 100 FREE. Glenn and Dave prefer a fin called the PDF (and those are fine to use in this practice), but I love the TYR fins. They help me achieve the wave motion on my breast and fly. For paddles, I prefer the Zura Team Paddle because they’re small (they don’t stress my shoulders the way large-surface paddles do) and inexpensive. But you should use whatever paddles you are comfortable with. Fistgloves are fistgloves; there’s only one brand. If you haven’t tried these, I’d highly recommend them. They take away sensation and surface area in your hands. As a result, your body automatically searches for a more efficient way to swim. You start using your forearms to grab water. You start to rotate more. You WANT to streamline! If you don’t have fistgloves, just swim with your hand in a fist – but tuck your thumbs INSIDE your fingers so you won’t be tempted to cheat!MAIN SET #2: 1200Swim 4 rounds of the following:4 X 25 on approx. :20 RI Focus on breakout that sends you FORWARD not UP.2 X 50 on approx. :20 RI Focus on fast, tight turns.1 X 100 IM on approx. :25 RI Focus on transitions.1st round: Fly2nd round: Back3rd round: Breast4th round: FreeMAIN SET #3: 1000 Use a kickboard for the kick 50s.Take approximately :15 RI after each of the 50s.The focus throughout is on fast turns and smooth transitions from one stroke to another.1 X 50 Dolphin Kick1 X 50 FL1 X 50 FLY/BACK1 X 50 BACK/BREAST1 X 50 BREAST/FREE1 X 50 FLY/BACK1 X 50 Flutter Kick 1 X 50 BACK1 X 50 BK/BR1 X 50 BR/FR1 X 50 FL/BK1 X 50 BK/BR1 X 50 Breast Kick1 X 50 BR1 X 50 BR/FR1 X 50 FL/BK1 X 50 BK/BR1 X 50 BR/FR1 X 50 Flutter Kick1 X 50 FRMAIN SET #4: 1000With fins.Swim 4 rounds of the following:1 X 25 Fly1 X 50 Back/Breast1 X 75 Back/Body-Dolphin Breast/Free1 X 100 IMTake approximately :10 RI on the 25s; :15 RI on the 50s; :20 RI on the 75s; and :25 RI on the 100s.WARMDOWN: 200No fins.8 X 25 IM orderSwim this as SILENT. Listen to all the parts of your body and swim as quietly as you can. Take 5 to 7 bobs as recovery between each 25.TOTAL YARDAGE: 5100