The 150s are a challenging distance to swim. As it isn’t often swum in training (nor racing) the body doesn’t know how to pace them properly, so you get challenged differently from normal. This session is perfect for Ironman and Olympic distance triathletes or people doing longer Ocean Swims.
Each Saturday I will post a Swim Session, most weeks I will load three options up for you to do. Option A is for swimmers who are after a workout between 1,000 & 2,000 metres. Option B is for swimmers who are after a workout between 2,000 & 3,000m and Option C will be greater than 3,000m.
Option A
- 200m WU;
- 8x 50m Drill/Swim;
- 5x 150m 30sec RI;
- 200m CD (1,550m);
Option B
- 200m WU;
- 8x 50m Drill/Swim;
- 8x 150m 30sec RI;
- 200m CD (2,000m);
Option C
- 600m WU;
- 12x 50m Drill/Swim;
- 12x 150m 30sec RI;
- 200m CD (3,200m);
Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) covering 200m (Options A and B) or 600m (Option C). During the warm-up feel free to stop and stretch as needed. It doesn’t need to be a continuous swim.
Next up is a drill set of eight repetitions (Options A and B) or twelve repetitions (Option C) of 50m Drill/Swim, where you do a drill for the first 25m of the repetition and then normal swimming for the next 25m swimming. Feel free to use fins whilst doing the drill/swim set. Do the drills below twice through for Options A and B, and three times through for Option C:
I wrote an article about swimming drills previously. Click here to read and watch it.
Coach Ray’s Top 3 Swimming Drills to Get You Swimming Smooth
After the drills take the fins off.
For the Main Set, you will do five (Option A), eight (Option B), or twelve (Option C) reps of 150m. Take a 30-second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.
For the Cool Down (CD) swim 200m. Unlike the previous sets which have to be freestyle, the cooldown (like the warm-up) can be any stroke you wish to swim. You can also stop and rest after any length. I encourage you to stop and stretch during the cool-down.
You can repeat this session in a few weeks’ time and track your progress by measuring how much faster you are now swimming the distance.
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi Coaching.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.
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If you enjoyed this workout, I published a similar session 12 months ago.
Saturday Swim Session – Utilising Drills To Swim Faster In The Long Term
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