Building your ability to sustain your threshold pace in a swim is an important capability for triathletes and open-water swimmers. These sessions further develop that ability by progressing your fitness by completing reps at a fast pace that you can sustain. This session will benefit triathletes of all distances, as well as other open-water swimmers.
Each Saturday I will post a Swim Session, and most weeks I will load three options up for you to do. Option A is for swimmers who are after a workout between 1,000 & 2,000 metres. Option B is for swimmers who are after a workout between 2,000 & 3,000m and Option C will be greater than 3,000m.
Read this article here for an explanation of Swim Intensity.
The inspiration for these workouts comes from an article on the Arena Swim Blog. You can read the article here.
Option A
- 300 WU;
- 200 30RI;
- 2x 100 20RI;
- 3x 50 15RI;
- 2x 100 20RI;
- 200 30RI;
- 300 CD (1,550)
Option B
- 300 WU;
- 300 30RI;
- 2x 200 20RI;
- 3x 100 15RI;
- 4x 50 10RI;
- 3x 100 15RI;
- 2x 200 20RI;
- 300 30RI;
- 300 CD (2,800)
Option C
- 300 WU;
- 400 30RI;
- 2x 300 20RI;
- 3x 200 15RI;
- 4x 100 10RI;
- 3x 200 15RI;
- 2x 300 20RI;
- 400 30RI;
- 300 CD (4,200)
For the Warm Up (WU) start with a 300m swim. During the warm-up feel free to stop and stretch as needed. It doesn’t need to be a continuous swim.
This workout is made up of a series of sets, starting (and finishing) with the longest rep, but only one rep. As you progress through each set the repetition distance within each set initially gets shorter with an increase in the number of repetitions completed (with a correspondingly shorter rest). Once you reach the middle set, the reps get longer (with less reps to complete and a correspondingly longer Rest Interval (RI)).
The first set is made up of a 200m (Option A), 300m (Option B) or 400m (Option C) with a 30 second Rest Interval (RI).
The second set is made up of two reps of 100m (Option A), 200m (Option B) or 300m (Option C) with a twenty second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.
The third set is made up of three reps of 50m (Option A), 100m (Option B) or 200m (Option C) with a fifteen second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.
The next set is not done by Option A, but Options B & C complete four reps of 50m and 100m respectively with a ten second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.
The following set is also not done by Option A, but Options B & C repeat three reps of 100m (Option B) or 200m (Option C) with a fifteen second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.
The next set is done by all Options and is a repeat of the second set: two reps of 100m (Option A), 200m (Option B) or 300m (Option C) with a twenty second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.
And then the final set which is a repeat of the first set: 200m (Option A), 300m (Option B) or 400m (Option C) with a 30 second Rest Interval (RI).
For the Cool Down (CD) swim 300m. Unlike the previous sets which have to be freestyle, the Cool Down (CD) (like the Warm Up (WU)) can be any stroke you wish to swim. You can also stop and rest after any length. I encourage you to stop and stretch during the cool-down.
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi Coaching.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.
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