Over the coming 12 weeks, I will post a series of workouts building your swim fitness as you prepare for either Challenge Wanaka (18 Feb) or Ironman NZ (04 Mar). I am multiple Iron-distance finisher including doing both these events in 2011 (the year of the wind in Wanaka and the year of the rain in Taupo).
12 weeks out from Challenge Wanaka started the week of Monday 28th November. For those of you doing Ironman NZ two weeks later, your sessions will commence the week of Monday 12th December.
This is the second week, you can find the first week’s sessions here.
Each week will have three pool sessions for you to complete. I also encourage you to get in the open water once a fortnight to develop those skill sets. This can either be part of a triathlon or as a group open water swim. The pool-based sessions work well when completed on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday or on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Session One
This session is also heavily focused on your technique and developing it, through the inclusion of drills.
- 400m Warm Up;
- 12x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
- 200m Easy swim focusing on Tech;
- 12x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
- 200m Easy swim focusing on Tech;
- 12x 50m (25m Drill/25m Swim);
- 200m Easy swim focusing on Tech;
- 200m Cool Down;
Start by swimming 400m for a warm-up. Keep a nice steady pace and feel free to pause occasionally to stretch or grab a quick drink. The idea of the warm-up is to get the blood flowing and muscles loosened up before some of the more intense sets later in the workout.
The set after the warm-up includes 12 repetitions of 50m. This 50m is done continuously with the first 25m done as a drill before going straight into the final 25m of regular swimming. Pause after each rep and have a short rest while you focus and mentally prepare for the next drill. Here are some drills that you can include in your programme. Complete each drill twice:
For the drill, set wear a pair of short fins. These will provide you with a small amount of momentum whilst you are focusing on what the upper body is doing. I recommend Finis Zoomers.
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