More Pace Work

The clock is ticking on the Kingdom swim, and while I've been spending more and more time in the open water, we can't always just hop in the bay.

Here's a set from a recent pool session that I enjoy.  I've also posted this little video showing an ever-so-slight variation to the stroke.  I'm determining that I'll probably use two strokes for the 10-mile swim.  The first 50 feels just a bit longer and stretches out, the second 50 allows the hand to fall more directly into the catch.  This is something I did in the recent 5-mile swim in Greenwich, so I'm kinda liking it. 

Set:
1 x 50 on :45 - set your pace
1 x 100 on 1:30 - maintain your pace
1 x 150 on 2:15 - continue to maintain pace and stroke rate.
Repeat this set 3 times

4 x 100 on 1:20 - set your pace
3 x 200 on 2:40 - maintain your pace
2 x 300 on 4:00 - continue to maintain pace and stroke rate.
1 x 400 on 5:20 - swim this as easy as possible, using short turns, focus on breathing out and working toward NO work with the arms (check the time when you finish and see how close you are to the pace you've already set.  You may be surprised)
Repeat twice.

- Learn about open water swimming from National Champ Fran Crippen