Think Running a 10k is Hard? Try Swimming One!

Brutal. Challenging. These are words that describe how world-class athletes train. Fran Crippen was one of the best in the world, and what he excelled at was swimming distances that would turn most of us into a quivering pile of mush.Think about 10k. Think about swimming 10k. Kind of frightening, isn't it? But he excelled at it. Unfortunately, in a tragic event in a 10k race in water that was warm enough to cause competitors to suffer heat-related issues, Fran Crippen died last month. But he left a legacy of videos, interviews, and workouts that challenge any swimmer to aim for excellence in the sport.

Since my Master's swimmers are taking on the challenge of a five-mile swim across part of Crater Lake this summer, I'm starting to challenge them with distance sets and workouts that are increasingly difficult. This Saturday's workout has to stand as one of the hardest we've ever done, and I found myself in the pool once again wondering why the heck I would write something so hellish on our workout board! When it was done, just about every muscle in my body was fibrillating and twitching. So this is one to use if you really want to challenge yourself. Instead of drafting behind each other, we swam side by side in the lanes to push each other to go our hardest.

This workout is a variation on the Fran Crippen workout recently posted on GoSwim.tv:

Warm Up

4 x 75: 50 Drill, 25 Swim
200 Swim
4 x 75: 50 Drill, 25 Swim
200 Pull
4 x 100 Kick IM Order
50 EZ

Main Set
#1: 

All at anaerobic threshold +  (we swam these at a near-sprint):

25 on :30
50 on :60
75 on 1:30
50 on :60
50 on :60
75 on 1:30
25 on :30
25 on :30
50 on :60
25 on :30
50 on :60
25 on :30
25 on :30
 


50 EZ

Set #2:


4 x
(300 @ aerobic (distance) pace
rest 5 seconds
50 @ anaerobic threshold+
rest 10 seconds
)

50 EZ

Repeat Set #1 at nearly all-out (if anything, we went harder the second time through)

25 on :30
50 on :60
75 on 1:30
50 on :60
50 on :60
75 on 1:30
25 on :30
25 on :30
50 on :60
25 on :30
50 on :60
25 on :30
25 on :30

150 EZ

Total Yardage: 4350

The Ironmom Extra Mile:  Here's a great article from distance swimmer Terry Laughlin with tips and experienced advice on how to become a better distance swimmer.