General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Who's Up for the Birthday Challenge? Rss Feed  
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2015-03-26 5:57 AM

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Official BT Coach
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Subject: Who's Up for the Birthday Challenge?

Oh my gosh! Talk about a blast from the past. I saw this article on Triathlete.com and it brought back painful memories - http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/08/training/birthday-swim-workout_103873.

Back when we did this it wasn't a challenge. It was a 100 x 100 workout we did twice a year as the final Saturday workout before we began to taper for the National Championships.  Before long-course nationals we did it in a 50-meter pool, prior to short-course nationals we were in a 25-yard pool. Our format was a bit different than the website's, in the 50-meter pool we did it like this (short-course intervals were 10 seconds less):

1 - 5 @ 2:00 warm-up
6 - 10 @ 2:00 easy/hard build
11 - 20 @ 1:50
21 - 30 @ 1:45
2-minute nutrition/hydration break
31 - 40 @ 1:40
41 - 50 @ 1:35
51 - 60 @ 1:30
2-minute nutrition/hydration break
61 - 70 @ 1:25
71 - 80 @ 1:20
81 - 90 @ 1:15
91 - 95 @ 1:10
96 - 100 @ 2:00 cool-down

The week before this workout, we did 80 x 100 in our specialty stroke or as Individual Medley for those of us that were IM specialists with a similar challenging interval. Ahhh, those were the days!

I don't imagine many swim teams are doing this workout any longer however I can't imagine a better final preparation for an Ironman swim. It would absolutely get you ready mentally and if you are able to get through this workout, the 3.8K/2.4 mile IM swim would seem like a warm-up!

So who's up for the challenge?



2015-03-26 6:07 AM
in reply to: k9car363

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Elite
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Subject: RE: Who's Up for the Birthday Challenge?

Been there, done that.  No thank you!!!  

2015-03-26 6:54 AM
in reply to: k9car363

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Member
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Exton, PA
Subject: RE: Who's Up for the Birthday Challenge?
I vaguely remember this but with out the 2 min hydration breaks in there.

I think my mind has blacked out those memories as too painful.
2015-03-26 7:00 PM
in reply to: k9car363

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Master
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Subject: RE: Who's Up for the Birthday Challenge?
Not sure I've ever done it (I have done a 10K continuous swim a couple of times as part of a charity fund-raiser, which is a lot easier for me than 100 repeats with intensity), but there are two guys at my local pool (in Oregon) who do this (or a similar 100X100 workout) every year on the morning before New Years Eve. Maybe burning off the eggnog in advance?
2015-03-27 12:19 AM
in reply to: k9car363

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Veteran
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Subject: RE: Who's Up for the Birthday Challenge?
NY challenge this year. Done it umpteen times... waiting for a good reason.
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