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 Richard Murray’s YouTube video about his training camp at Chojo.
Option A
- 600 WU;
- 10x 50 Drill/Swim;
- 2x 200 Paddles 30RI;
- 300 Swim;
- 4x 50 Sprint 20RI;
- 100 CD (2,100)
Option B
- 700 WU;
- 12x 50 Drill/Swim;
- 500 Swim;
- 2x 200 Paddles 30RI;300 Swim;
- 4x 50 Sprint 20RI;
- 100 CD (2,800)
Option C
- 800 WU;
- 14x 50 Drill/Swim;
- 6x 100 Pull 20RI;
- 500 Swim;
- 2x 200 Paddles 30RI;
- 300 Swim;
- 4x 50 Sprint 20RI;
- 100 CD (3,600)
The workout is made up of six (Option A), seven (Option B) or eight (Option C) sets, including the Warm Up (WU) and Cool Down (CD). Each set gets 100m shorter than the previous set.
For the Warm Up (WU) start with a 600m (Option A), 700m (Option B) or 800m (Option C) swim. During the warm-up feel free to stop and stretch as needed. It doesn’t need to be a continuous swim.
The second set is made up of ten (Option A), twelve (Option B) or fourteen (Option C) 50m reps. These reps are made up of 25m Drill, followed immediately by 25m Swim prior to taking any rest.
Use a combination of these drills:
- Kick On Side (KOS) – left-hand side
- Kick On Side (KOS) – right-hand side
- 6/1/6
- 6/3/6
The next set is for Option C only. It is a set of six reps of 100m using a Pull Buoy. Take a twenty-second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.
The following set is for Options B & C only. It is a single rep of 500m swum solidly.
The remaining sets are for all options. It is made up of two, 200m reps using hand-paddles. Take a 30 second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.
Next up is a 300m solid, continuous swim.
The final set prior to the Cool Down (CD) is four reps of 50m sprinting. Take a twenty-second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.
For the Cool Down (CD) swim 100m. 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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