Swimming Set of the Week - October 21, 2011

Got a late-season Ironman or Half IM or open-water swim coming up?  This week's set will help you hone many important open-water skills while getting in some yardage and having fun.  

For great footage on how to practice your open-water technique in a pool environment, pick up a copy of Go Swim Triathlon Skills with Sara McLarty or Go Swim Open Water with Fran Crippen.

Total Yardage:  6400

WARMUP:  400

WARMUP SET:  200

Form a single-file draft line and swim 200, changing position after each 50.

MAIN SET:  5600

Place an exercise mat or 2 kickboards behind your lane.

5 X 400

     1st 100 is straight swim with bilateral breathing

     2nd 100 don't use the walls

     3rd 100 sight at least once per length

     4th 100 is straight swim

Start each 400 with 5 pushups (modified pushups are OK).  Then dive into the water and swim UP TEMPO to the other end.  This is not an all-out sprint!  Keep it fast but under control.  After 25 yards, settle into a pace you think you could sustain for the duration of your swim event, e.g., 30 minutes to several hours.    Check your pulse immediately after each 400.  You should be in your aerobic zone, and not at threshold.  If you are above aerobic zone, slow down on your next swim!  Let your heart rate come down to approx. 100 before starting your next set of pushups.

200 recovery, anything but freestyle (fins/kicking are OK)

5 X 200

These are really 225s.  Start each 200 by swimming UP TEMPO to mid pool and swim single-arm free around an imaginary buoy in the middle of the lane.  Swim back to your starting point.  Push off right away and swim a 200 at your sustainable, aerobic pace.  Check your pulse immediately after each swim to make sure you're staying aerobic.

200 recovery, anything but freestyle

10 X 100 FRIM (IM, substituting freestyle for butterfly).  

Swim each breaststroke length with your head out of the water (practice breaststroke sighting).

200 recovery, anything but freestyle

5 times through:

3 X 50 at aerobic pace on a sendoff that gives 5-10 seconds rest

1 X 50 (25 kick on your back as if you were eating/drinking in the water + 25 build) on your sendoff plus 30 seconds.

WARMDOWN:  200 easy, anything by freestyle