Sustained speed is essential for endurance success – without it you’ll only swim at the one speed. Sessions like this one, challenge your ability to swim at a sustained speed. The short rest allows you to swim at a faster pace than you would otherwise sustain. This session will benefit triathletes of all distances, as well as other open-water swimmers.
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.
Read this article here for an explanation of Swim Intensity.
The inspiration for these workouts comes from a training plan promoted by Tour de Cure, an Australian charity raising funds for Cancer Research.
Option A
- 200 WU;
- 2 sets of:
- 10x 100 15RI;
- 50 Bk 60RI between sets;
- 200 CD (2,450)
Option B
- 200 WU;
- 3 sets of:
- 10x 100 15RI;
- 50 Bk 60RI between sets;
- 200 CD (3,500)
Option C
- 200 WU;
- 4 sets of:
- 10x 100 15RI;
- 50 Bk 60RI between sets;
- 200 CD (3,550)
For the Warm Up (WU) start with a 200m. During the warm-up feel free to stop and stretch as needed. It doesn’t need to be a continuous swim.
For the main set there are two (Option A), three (Option B) or four (Option C) sets.
Each set is made up of ten, 100m reps. swim these as fast as you can sustain with only a fifteen second Rest Interval (RI) after each rep. Between each set swim a relaxed 50m Backstroke with a 60 second Rest Interval (RI) prior to the following set.
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 (CD).
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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Download the Garmin (.FIT) files for this workout for FREE
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