Saturday Swim Session: Ironman 70.3 Swim Success – Week 2

The opening leg of an Ironman 70.3 is an important part of the event. If you swim well you can set yourself up for a good bike and run. Being able to swim efficiently and smoothly will enable you to stay fresh and get onto the bike in a good position. This series of workouts will set you up for success.

Normally each Saturday I will post a Swim Session, and 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. This series of workouts, the sessions are all targeting athletes looking to improve their Ironman 70.3 swim with limited time. There are three sessions, and I encourage you to do two to three of them each week.

Read this article here for an explanation of Swim Intensity.

Session 04

  • 400 WU;
  • 8x 50 Drill/Swim;
  • 2x 800 60RI;
  • 200 CD (2,600)

Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) covering of 400m. 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. There are eight, 50m repetitions made up of 25m Drill, then straight into 25m normal swimming. Feel free to use fins whilst doing this set.  Do the drills below twice through:

  1. Kick On Side (KOS) left side 
  2. Kick On Side (KOS) right side 
  3. 6/1/6 
  4. 6/3/6

The main set is made up of two, 800m reps. Take a one minute Rest Interval (RI) between reps.

For the Cool Down (CD) swim 200m. Unlike the previous sets which have to be freestyle, the Cool Down (CD) (like the Warm Up (WU)) 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

Session 05

  • 600 WU;
  • 12x 25 Drill;
  • 12x 100 15RI;
  • 12x 25 15RI;
  • 200 CD (2,600)

For the Warm Up (WU) start with a 400m swim. 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. There are twelve, 25m drill repetitions. Feel free to use fins whilst doing this set.  Do the drills below three times through:

  1. Kick On Side (KOS) left side 
  2. Kick On Side (KOS) right side 
  3. 6/1/6 
  4. 6/3/6

There are two main sets. The first is made up of twelve, 100m reps. Take a fifteen second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.

The second main set has twelve, 25m reps each with a fifteen second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.

For the Cool Down (CD) swim 200m. Unlike the previous sets which have to be freestyle, the Cool Down (CD) (like the Warm Up (WU)) 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

Session 06

  • 600 WU;
  • 8x 50 Drill/Swim;
  • 2x
    • 400 30RI;
    • 4x 100 10RI;
  • 200 CD (2,800)

For the Warm Up (WU) start with a 600m swim. 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. There are eight 50m repetitions made up of 25m Drill, then straight into 25m normal swimming. Feel free to use fins whilst doing this set.  Do the drills below twice through:

  1. Kick On Side (KOS) left side 
  2. Kick On Side (KOS) right side 
  3. 6/1/6 
  4. 6/3/6

The main set is made up of two Broken 400‘s. A Broken 400 is made up of two parts. The first part is a swimming 400m continuously before taking a 30 second Rest Interval (RI). The second part is a set of four, 100m efforts, with a ten second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep.

For the Cool Down (CD) swim 200m. Unlike the previous sets which have to be freestyle, the Cool Down (CD) (like the Warm Up (WU)) 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.

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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