Swimming Workout of the Week - April 25, 2014

Depending on how you approach this set, it can help you prepare for a longish open-water swim…or for the swim portion of a sprint triathlon.

MAIN SET FOR OPEN-WATER SWIMMERS:  30003 X (10 X 100); descend 1-5 and 6-10 within each round of 10 X 100

#1-10 are swim#11-20 are pull#21-30 are swim

The fine points:

• Choose a sendoff/turnaround that is approx. 15 seconds more than your target pace for your long swim.  E.g., if your target pace is 1:30/100, then your sendoff would be 1:45.   Your sendoff might be different on the pull 100s.
• Take an extra 30-60 seconds rest between rounds to regroup and change equipment
• Choose one or two focus points and work them a BIT MORE to get your descends.  On the pull 100s, when you don’t have your kick to aid your descend, you’ll need to focus on things such as body and head position, streamline pushoffs, arm cadence, and pointing your toes.
• Try to descend each swim by just 1 or 2 seconds rather than by 2+ seconds.  E.g., if your target pace is 1:30, your descends might look like this:

#1 = 1:32

#2 = 1:31

#3 = 1:30

#4 = 1:29

#5 = 1:28

#6 = 1:32

etc.

MAIN SET FOR SPRINT TRI:  30003 X (10 X 100); take an extra 30-60 seconds rest between rounds

Round #1 = swim on a sendoff that is approx. 15 seconds above your target race pace.Descend your time every two 100s to faster than your target race pace.

Round #2 = pullDescend your time every two 100s.

Round #3 = swimDescend your time 1-5 and 6-10.  Descend by just 1-2 seconds.