This week's swim is a special one to me. It's a good swim and a challenging one if done honestly, but it's not some magical set. In terms of the details, it's just a solid set. The reason it's special is that it's the last swim I did just hours before heading to the hospital for the birth of my son, Kellan, just about two weeks ago. Being the last swim I did before becoming a dad means it will always be a memorable one.
This main set take discipline. Doing this set as I've laid out is very different than just swimming the distances. Being able to swim each rep at the appropriate pace is key to making this swim a success. The 300 and 200 should be fairly difficult. They should be done at about the effort level you'd exert during the beginning of a race. The 600 and 400 in isolation are not so tough. However, in the context of this set they will be. In fact, I sometimes find them more difficult than the shorter but faster swims. The challenge is not slowing too much on these. It's tempting, after the harder efforts, to back the pace off too much in the longer stuff. However, that's not how the swim is designed. Really, there should only be roughly 5 seconds per 100 difference in the paces between your strong and steady efforts. I like to do the 300 and 200 at ~1:11-1:12/100 and the 600 and 400 at ~1:15-1:16/100. The key here is to be able to maintain the steady pace after having already done a stronger effort. It's as much a mental exercise as a physical one (though by the end of the set it's also a physical challenge!).
Swimming this set the proper way is great practice for executing on race day. The first 300 simulates the start of the race where the effort level is higher than ultimately hold. Once through that surge you'll settle in and swim a more reasonable pace. Again, the trick here (and during a race), is to avoid backing off too much. Your pace should settle, but not sag so much that you're just cruising along. The second strong effort, the 200, can simulate a turn buoy or a surge by the competition. And, finally, the 400 at the end allows you to settle in again after that surge without letting the pace drop off too much. Awareness and execution are key. Go into this workout with a plan and stick to it. It if doesn't work, attempt to figure out why. It's much better to evaluate why it didn't work now than it is following a race. I'm always happy to help troubleshoot should you find this a tough set to manage.
Warm Up
- 300 cruise
- 300 as 100 back, 100 kick, 100 back
- 4x75 strong on 15" rest
- 100 choice
Drill Set
- 2x200 as 25 drill/25 cruise
- 2x100 cruise
Main Set
- 300 strong on cruise pace sendoff
- 600 steady on cruise pace +15"
- 200 strong on cruise pace sendoff + 5"
- 400 steady on cruise pace + 10"
- 100 recovery
- 10 x 50 strong on cruise pace + 5"
Cool Down
- 100 choice
- 4x50 choice
* Sendoffs: To calculate your sendoffs use your cruise pace/100 and add any time where it is noted. Remember, your cruise pace is the pace you can swim all day without issue.
Here is an example of how I would calculate my sendoffs for this set. My cruise pace is roughly 1:20. Therefore, my 300 sendoff would be 4:00 (3x1:20). My 600 sendoff would be 8:15 (6x1:20 + 15"). The 200 is 2:45 (2x1:20 + 5") and the 400 is 5:30 (4x1:20 + 10"). For the 50s I would halve my 100 pace of 1:20 to get :40 and add 5 seconds for a sendoff of :45. A common mistake is for athletes attempting to calculate these sendoffs is to add 15" to each 100 and end up with an incredibly long recovery. If I were to do that with the 600 I would get 9:30 which is 1:15 more than the appropriate sendoff. That's a massive difference and using the wrong sendoff voids a lot of the work being done in a set like this. It is important to just add the set amount of time on top of the calculation made with your cruise pace.
Beginners or developing swimmers: This is a difficult set for beginning swimmers to execute. I wouldn't prescribe this workout to a swimmer who didn't have the ability to change paces and hold those paces over longer distances. If you do not believe you have more than one gear in the water it would be more beneficial to you to just swim the distances with ~20-30 seconds rest between. If the distances seem unmanageable you can also break them up. For example, you might do 2x150, 2x300, 2x100, 2x200, 100, 10x50. You'll still cover the distance, but you have the benefit of more manageable distances with an increase in overall rest. As I say each week, if you are having trouble fitting this into your training plan simply let me know and I will point you in the right direction.
I always encourage comments on and the sharing of these workouts. Post them on Facebook, tweet them on Twitter, take them to your master's team, email them to your training partners. I want people to see and use these sessions!
Finally, if you have something you want to see in the swim of the week please let me know. If there's something you are struggling with in racing or training I would love to try to help by designing a session or two to help! Simply reach out with your ideas and I'll see what I can come up with.
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