New "Swim Speed Workouts" by Taormina - 1st 2 weeks free...

I just bought the book and have found it extremely useful.  I read it through and am now loaning it to a friend.  But I really like all the pictures in the book.  I'm such a visual person.

jami

I read Swim Speed Secrets and really like the concept but had a hard time figuring out when/where to incorporate everything.

I've done two of these workouts and I'm SORE in all the right places (probably for the first time ever).  I guess I'm lazy and don't wanna come up with a plan.  I just want to read a card, watch a video (before going to pool) and do it.

I did buy the Halo Swim Trainer (the kit that you can add to a bench - it's cheaper than the full on version by a lot).  The tubing really helps.  I find sheer swim specific strength (in the lats) is my problem.  The tubing works that area better than pull ups and machines for me!

Andi

Click on the link above for first 2 weeks of workouts.  Appears to be consistently be 3 workouts/week with 2 in the 2K+ range and the 3rd workout over 3k.  Easy to scale from what I've seen.

I'm only doing sprints this year so I'm doing everything in the 2K-2.5K range, and no more!

Andi

I was lucky enough to score one of the first Swim Speed Workouts at a swim clinic Sheila put on in January.  I just learned to really swim two years ago, using another popular swim learning method.  That program/method got me swimming and able to complete up to HIM distance.  My problem was I was/am slow.  I decided to try and fix that this year.  I read Swim Speed Secrets and liked most of what was in there, but I have to admit I thought the "feel the water" part was a bit hokey.

I am now a believer.  I learned more about swimming effectively in one morning at the clinic than I have over the past two years of reading and practicing.  I now understand and appreciate the "feel the water" part, and have worked hard on re-learning my catch.  Doing so has eliminated the swimmer's shoulder I was getting when I put in long sets, and has done a good job of starting to drop my times.  I'm still slow, but I see glimmers of improvement every session. 

I am on week six of Swim Speed Workouts and think they are great.  It is designed for three sessions per week, and each day's workout comes on a water-resistant 4X8 card.  I simply pull out the right card, drop it into a ziplock bag (cause I'm a worrier), and everthing for my workout is all there on the card.  You will need access to a kickboard and pull-buoy to follow the program.  Days 1 and 2 are around 2200 yards/meters with a bonus set of 400-600 yards/meters if you want.  Day 3 (She-Ra days) are longer and harder, at around 4000 yards/meters with a bonus set of around 500 yards/meters.  She highly recommends using elastic bands for out-of-water strength training, and each session has a recommended band workout.  Swim Speed Workouts  also comes with cards showing how to do each of the drills she uses such as horizontal sculling, catch-up drill, etc.  There is a learning curve on the swimming lingo for those of us non-competitive swimmers, but it not too hard to learn.  In my opinion, this is a well thought out and easy-to-use program aimed directly at triathletes who have little swim background. 

The toughest thing for me so far is Sheila sets the workouts with different speeds depending on what you are doing (i.e. 60-70% effort for 100 yards warm-up, etc.)  Unfortunately, I appear to have only one gear (slow) so the effort levels kind of frustrate me.  I certaintly work harder for those sets that call for it, it's just my swimming stinks enough that I don't see a speed increase with the harder work.  In fact, sometimes I find that swimming harder slows me down!  I have a fairly good idea why this is going on (catch and other parts of form are breaking down under the strain), but it is still frustrating.  Someday I may develop a second, or even a third gear.  Miracles have been known to happen

Anyway, I am LOVING this workout program.  Before this I was just slogging out long yardages and hoping I was doing enough to improve.  This program keeps each workout fresh, interesting, and makes the pool time fly by.  It seems to be slowly improving my times, and I even see flashes of excellence when I manage to bring it all together.  Starting in mid-January, according to Mr. Garmin I was doing a steady 2:15 - 2:20 per 100 yards and I could do that for a long time (i.e. HIM distance).  Today I am down to 1:55 - 2:00 per 100 yards pace for long distances, and I have put occasional sets of 300-400 yards at around a 1:35-1:40 per 100 yards pace. 

If you have not figured it out already, I am a fan.  Highly recommended for those without a coach and trying to figure out this funny swim thingy.

Nice write up!  I just got the full program today and it looks fantastic.  I lvoe the tubing cards and drill cards.  Very comprehensive.  I got the book last summer and bought the halo ST (the kit that you put on a bench).

I have a coach who is fab but plan to do these swim workouts in addition.  (Swimming 5 days per week.)

And I totally know what you mean: I have a very hard time swimming several paces but this week I've really learned to SLOW DOWN when I am supposeed to and that has seemed to help me speed up.  It's hard though!  This week I did my set of 50s - 3X50 (4X through) and each 50 was 2 seconds faster than the last in the set.  That almost never happens with me!

I'm also very sore from the strength - even in my forearms!  Sculling is hard when done right!

Looking forward to seeing some results.

Andi