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2013-02-08 10:41 AM


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Subject: Oly tri: swim workout design

I am currently training for an Oly and following some injuries I am only swimming as of right now. I swim 4 times a week, getting in about 10k-11k meters. I donot really have any background in swimming, been following TI for little bit more than a year, but due to travelling and illnesses never managed to be consistent and get in more than 3-4 weeks of training before being interrupted for periods of 1 week up to 3 months....

I started doing 10*100m intervals once a week, followed by 10*50m. As I am trying to further increase the volume, should I start building towards 20*100, or instead stick with 10*100 and focus on swimming faster and shortening the rest periods, so that eventually my current speed will feel easier. For endurance I did 10*200m this morning. Should I convert this set to a 5*400m so it is more specific to building endurance? I kept the intervals shorter in distance so it is more interesting and I can focus better on my technique.

I guess I fear that my swim workouts lack a specific purpose and I will get locked into one speed, while of course just swimming in general should make me a faster swimmer, as I am still working on my left arm catch, rythm, kick, and just technique in general. My 1000m TT time should now be somewhere around 17:00, as I have not done one in 2 months or so.

My other two sessions have me do lots of drills, followed by 50s, like skate and catch up for streamlining, and then doing 8*50m of swimming with particular focus on streamlining. They give me about  1500m of actual freestyle swimming, the whole session being around 2500m. In the interval and endurance sessions I do not do any drills and just swim from somewhere between 2800-3100m.

Hope all this makes sense,

your insights are much appreciated

Max



2013-02-08 12:09 PM
in reply to: #4614421

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Subject: RE: Oly tri: swim workout design

I would switch it up. Don't feel like you have to do it one way. Maybe one week, do some longer sets and then another workout concentrate on fast 50s and 100s. I don't like to do too much involving sets longer than 200 as I go into la-la land. 

Try out all the workouts you listed above and mix it up. Throw in some drills, kick, pull, etc.

Def try to shorten your rest - ideally it should be 10 seconds or less. Don't spend a lot of time hanging out at the wall. 

That is a ton of swimming though so it sounds like you're putting a ton of work in.

2013-02-08 1:42 PM
in reply to: #4614421

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Subject: RE: Oly tri: swim workout design
Tysk-Ironwill - 2013-02-08 9:41 AM

I am currently training for an Oly and following some injuries I am only swimming as of right now. I swim 4 times a week, getting in about 10k-11k meters. I donot really have any background in swimming, been following TI for little bit more than a year, but due to travelling and illnesses never managed to be consistent and get in more than 3-4 weeks of training before being interrupted for periods of 1 week up to 3 months....

I started doing 10*100m intervals once a week, followed by 10*50m. As I am trying to further increase the volume, should I start building towards 20*100, or instead stick with 10*100 and focus on swimming faster and shortening the rest periods, so that eventually my current speed will feel easier. For endurance I did 10*200m this morning. Should I convert this set to a 5*400m so it is more specific to building endurance? I kept the intervals shorter in distance so it is more interesting and I can focus better on my technique.

I guess I fear that my swim workouts lack a specific purpose and I will get locked into one speed, while of course just swimming in general should make me a faster swimmer, as I am still working on my left arm catch, rythm, kick, and just technique in general. My 1000m TT time should now be somewhere around 17:00, as I have not done one in 2 months or so.

My other two sessions have me do lots of drills, followed by 50s, like skate and catch up for streamlining, and then doing 8*50m of swimming with particular focus on streamlining. They give me about  1500m of actual freestyle swimming, the whole session being around 2500m. In the interval and endurance sessions I do not do any drills and just swim from somewhere between 2800-3100m.

Hope all this makes sense,

your insights are much appreciated

Max



You've created a far better plan than many have.

Keep the drill and drill/50s session in weekly if you think that much drilling is still helping. Sounds like you could probabaly cut back on some of the variety of drills and cone down the focus each week to an element of your swimmign you'll work on for 1-2 week stretches, then rotate focuses. This will give you permission to do less drill & more swim but still be focused.

For the itnerval sessoin you mention, there is no magic, but the better you can sustain technique and pace over longer intervals the more prepared you'll be. The way to do this is to A) count your strokes B) hit your traget pace c) shorten rest This way whether you are doing 50s or 500s, you'll still be focusing on a distnace based stroke. If your SPL goes up 1-2 from beginning towards end of set, that's common and normal. If it goes up 3, 4 or more strokes then your imprinting something you don't want. It's another indicator of when to change focus or inturrupt your 'scheduled program' and sub in shorter repeats or add longer rest.

I have a few TI focused plans available if you are interested, let me know.
2013-02-08 5:30 PM
in reply to: #4614421

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Subject: RE: Oly tri: swim workout design

I train by myself without coach or teammates most of the year, and I really like using the workouts on this site:  [email protected].  It's free online workouts from a master's program in Florida run by a pro triathlete. She usually posts three a week--one has with a distance/endurance focus, one more of a speed focus, and one a technique focus. They seem oriented toward triathletes and I've found them excellent prep for sprint, Oly, and HIM distance swims. There are three levels; the C level is usually about 2500m; B is 3000-3800m; A for fish/Ironman. C, or B for a long swim, might suit your purposes; you can adjust send-off times as needed. My speed right now is probably similar to yours as coming off an injury; in shape I'm maybe a minute faster at 1000m. I usually do the B workouts as is on weekends (when I have more pool time) and C with a somewhat faster sendoff during the week (when I can only get in about 2500m).

I generally work the technique stuff into a drill set at the beginning rather than doing a whole session of it, then have one session with shorter, faster swimming; and one longer endurance-focused swim. The third swim varies depending on other training and what I'm preparing for--might be a longer continuous swim, repeats at race pace, or strength focus (pulling with paddles, IM and fly, etc.)  I like the site better than a book as there's always something new coming every week, and if I don't like it, I can pick and choose from past workouts on her blog. I'm trying to develop a system where I print them out, paste them on index cards, and file according to type of workout--can then put them in baggies to use and re-use..

2013-02-09 5:18 AM
in reply to: #4614421

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Subject: RE: Oly tri: swim workout design

Tysk,

I have a lot of swimming background, but only a tiny bit of swim coaching background, so take this with a grain of salt.

I swim 3 times a week and I organize the workouts like many organize their run workouts. Each day I start with kick 300 and pull 500. On Mondays I do sprints which would be 2 x 8 x 100. I sometimes do 50s or 200s on this day for variation. I do the 100s on 1:50 but make them a hard effort whatever that is for you. Cool down at the end each day. Wednesday I do middle distance which would be 4 x 400 or 2 x 800. On Friday I do 1600 swim. The longest swim distance I will do in a race is probably 800 so I like having a really solid 1600 in my back pocket for confidence. If you are doing longer distance in races, I would go longer on the distance day. You can fill up the extra yards with drill sets. I also occasionally do some underwater 25s with as few breaths as possible to build lung capacity.

 

Hoosierman

2013-02-09 7:57 AM
in reply to: #4614421


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Subject: RE: Oly tri: swim workout design
The workouts from Sara Mclarty are also posted on Triathlete.com under the training/swimming section.


2013-02-10 11:10 AM
in reply to: #4614421


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Subject: RE: Oly tri: swim workout design

Thanks a lot for all the help and info!!!

I think I will just start cutting down resting time of my intervals and get the volume increase from additional sets of 50s or in my endurance sessions. I am really busy right now so I have not had a chance to look at the link yet but I will do that as soon as possible. In the meantime I should probably not overthink it and just SWIM!

 

2013-02-10 11:23 AM
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Subject: RE: Oly tri: swim workout design
I love this website!! Thanks for the tip!! Just what I needed.
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