Back to the Pool: Today's Workout

All good things must come to an end, and that includes open water lake swimming season. So it was with a heavy heart that I returned to the pool this week, and I needed a good workout to see me through it. This one goes by fast, and challenges you with lots of different speeds and times. So if you're in need of a little indoor lap swimming boost, try this workout on for size:

WARMUP/TECHNIQUE

300 Swim
6 x 50 Kick - focus on keeping your feet close together and touching your big toes together with each kick
6 x 50 Drill/Swim - touch toes every kick and feel your rhythm (also helps eliminate any scissor-kicking)


4 x 75 Build each (get faster each 25)
12 x 50 Drill/Swim in IM Order


MAIN SET
This set is continuous, no rest other than what is in the intervals. Go through all five rounds of the set without stopping. The 25s and 50s should increase in speed from a Distance Pace in the first round to All Out in the last.

5 X
(
2 x 25 @ :30
1 x 50 @ 1:10
1 x 100 - Distance Pace @ 1:30
1 x 200 Pull - Smooth @ 3:20
)

200 Cool Down

Total: 4000 yards

Swim Workout: Thanksgiving Leftovers

What is so great about a Thanksgiving meal that you can't get on any other day? It's not the turkey or the pumpkin pie, or your grandma's red jello with colored marshmallows. You can have any of those any day of the week. It's the variety of food at the table, the sheer numbers of dishes. The different smells, flavors, textures, spices. And of course the company, whether family or friends.

Variety is not just the spice of life at the holiday table, but in the pool as well. All too many swimmers do endless variations of sets that look something like:

2 x 400
2 x (2 x 200)
2 x (4 x 100)

etc. etc. etc. Boring!

So I like to create or find ways to make my swim sets interesting for my Masters group. Often that means varying the length, timing, interval, stroke, or speed, throwing in drills or kicks or fun stuff like making them all get out of the pool to do pushups and situps. I got lucky this weekend because I got up late on Saturday morning realizing I hadn't done my research and written up a good workout for the gang. I say "lucky" because GoSwim.tv has an excellent bunch of swim workouts already written up and one of them was just what I was looking for. I added and changed a few things here and there, so this workout, like a good Thanksgiving dinner, has a little bit of everything. It went by fast, we were never bored, and it kept us on our toes. I called it "Thanksgiving Leftovers"

WARMUP:   1500

300 Swim, 200 Kick, 300 Drill/Swim by 50's, 300 Pull
 
16 X 25 with fins on :30, swum as 4 X the following:
     1 X 25 1Left/1Right/1 whole-stroke Fly
     1 X 25 1L/1R/2 whole-strokes Fly
     1 X 25 1L/1R/3 shole-stroke Fly
     1 X 25 dolphin kick on your back

MAIN SET: 2300

4 X 200 on approx. 25 seconds rest
#1 and #3 are pull; descend time on #3
#2 and #4 are 50 kick/50 swim/50 kick/50 swim; descend time on :34

8 X 25 on :30
Odd 25s:  Low Stroke Count Freestyle
Even 25s:  Low Stroke Count Breaststroke

12 X 50 on 1:00
Three rounds of:
2 X 50 backstroke
2 X 50 Freestyle

8 x Two-turn 50s:
Start in middle of pool, swim toward one wall and do a good flip. Sprint the next 25, do another good flip turn, glide back to middle of pool.

75 easy
75 FAST
75 easy
75 FASTER


WARMDOWN:  200
4 X 50 pull on easy sendoff

TOTAL:  4000 yards

Bored In the Pool? Try These Workouts

I have to admit it: I'm allergic to being bored in the pool. Every summer after coming in from fabulous months of swimming in blue lakes under an open sky, I look at that 25 yard length of enclosed water and shudder. So I have to get really creative with my fall swim workouts so that I don't go absolutely bat-shit crazy in my first month or two swimming indoors.

Here's a couple of my recent Masters Workouts to get you back into the swing of indoor swimming. Both of these will kick your butt if you do them right (go HARD when it says Hard, go DISTANCE PACE instead of Easy when it says Distance Pace):

WORKOUT #1:

WARMUP:
300 Swim
100 Kick Fly, 100 Pull
100 Kick Back, 100 Pull
100 Kick Breaststroke, 100 Pull
100 Kick Flutter, 100 Pull

MAIN SET:

4 x 225 @ 3:30:      Odds: Straight @ Distance Pace
                               Evens: Break at 150 for 10 seconds, go hard on the final 75

6 x 125 @ 2:00       Odds: Straight @ Distance Pace
                                Evens: Break at 75 for 10 seconds, go hard on final 50

8 x 75 @ 1:15         Odds: Straight @ Distance Pace
                                Evens: Break at 50 for 5 seconds, go hard on final 25

200 Pull
100 EZ

TOTAL: 4150 Yards


WORKOUT #2:

WARMUP:
300 Swim
300 Drill/Swim/Kick by 25s
200 Pull
200 Drill/Swim/Kick by 25s

MAIN SET:

3 x ( 4 x 100:  
        #1:  25 Fast/75 Distance Pace (DP) rest :30
        #2:  50 Fast/50 DP r. :30
        #3: 75 Fast/ 25 DP r. :30
        #4: 100 Fast, r. :60
      )

3 x ( 3 x 100:
        #1: 25 Fly, 50 Free, 25 Back r. :30
        #2: 25 Back, 50 Free, 25 Breast r. :30
        #3: 25 Breast, 50 Free, 25 Fly, r. :60
       )

3 x ( 2 x 100:
       #1: 25 Kick Hard, 50 Distance Pace, 25 Kick hard on back, r. :30
       #2: Build 0by 25s to ALL OUT r. :60
      )

3 x 100: #1 SLOW, #2: MEDIUM, #3: FAST  @ 2:00

200 EZ

4200 Yards

Three Long Course Swim Workouts

The summer is almost upon us, at least it felt that way today. And for some of us that means access to 50 meter pools (outdoors is a real bonus). Sometimes workouts designed for a 25 yard or 25 meter pool don't work all that well in a long course pool (how exactly do you do a 100 IM? What about those 25 yard sprints?), so I like to think up some good ones especially tailor-made for the long course. Here's this week's 50-meter workouts. Don't worry, if you have a 25 yard or 25 meter pool, you can do these workouts there too!

Long Course Workout #1:

WARMUP:

300 Swim

8 x 50: IM Order: Kick 1^st half of the 50 then switch to Swimming

300 Pull

4 x 100: Closed-Fist Drill 1st 50/Swim 50

======

4 x 100 @ 2:00 interval: At a distance pace. Note your average pace for these and use it in the following set as your DP:

600, rest :60

Broken 600: 3 x 100 at DP, rest :15

                     2 x 100 at DP – 5 seconds, rest :15

                     1x 100 at DP – 10 seconds

EZ 50 Recovery

400, rest :60

Broken 400: 2 x 100 at DP, rest :10

                     2 x 100 at DP – 5 seconds, rest :10      

150 EZ

4000 Total

Long Course Workout #2:

WARMUP:

200 Swim, Kick, Drill, Pull, Swim

3 x 150 Build each (start slow and get faster throughout the 150)

======

14 x 50 @ 1:00

    Odds: Sprint

    Evens: Recovery

EZ 200

14 x 50 @ 1:15

    Odds: Stroke

    Evens: Freestyle

EZ 200

14 x 50
    Odds: Catch-up

    Evens: Work on 2-beat kick

EZ 200

4150 Total

Long Course Workout #3:

WARMUP:

500 Swim

200 Breaststroke

500 Pull

200 Breaststroke

======

3 x 800, rest :90, Each Faster

200 EZ

4000 Total

And There Was Much Rejoicing

The ancient peoples had ceremonies to mark the turning of the season:  celebrations of spring planting, the solstice, the harvest festivals.

For me, the season turns on one day: the day the outdoor pool opens. Despite yesterday's rainstorms, today was all sunshine as the long course (50 meter) lap lanes beckoned. I jumped on my bike and rolled out of the driveway at 6:50 a.m. and was sitting in the outdoor hot tub "warming up" by 7:15. By 7:30 I had 50 meters of glorious lap lane all to myself.

When the lifeguards came around to tell us the lap swimming was over at 8:30, I was reluctant to leave my lane, I was having so much fun.I was picturing them with one of those Vaudeville Stage Hooks, dragging me out of my lane.



So in case you want to share in the fun, here's my first long course workout of the season:

Warmup: 200 Each SKPDS (swim, kick, drill, pull, swim)

10 x 100:   Odds: 50 of Catchup Drill, 50 Swim focusing on glide and distance per stroke
                   Evens: Fast Distance Pace

6 x 250:  #1 Slow, #2 Medium,#3  Fast, #4 Slow, #5 Medium, #6 Fast  on the 4:20 interval

4 x 100 1st 50 stroke (other than crawl)

200 EZ

=======
4100 long course meters
                  

Are We There Yet? Another Killer Distance Workout

In preparation for our long distance swims this summer, we've had some doozies of workouts lately. Here's the one I wrote up for Saturday. Previous to this, I don't think I've swum over 5,000 yards in, well, many many years, except for our annual New Year's "Year in Fifties" Swim. But this workout was 5700 yards, and let me tell you I ate about half a chicken, a bag of salad, and 3 bananas when I got home and I was still hungry as a horse.

Warmup:

2 x (100 each: Swim, Kick, Drill, Pull)
4 x 75: build each (each 25 faster within the 75)

===============
2 X:
(
900, rotate lane leader every 75 (we had five people in our lane, so this gave each of us a small drafting break)
600, alternate by 50's swimming with fists closed, and swimming with hands open
400 Pull
200 Fast
50 EZ
)

200 Cool Down

Triathlon Swimmer's Dream Set

What's better than looking at one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World? Why swimming across it, of course! A group of my Master's swimmers are planning a five mile swimming odyssey from Wizard Island (that thing that looks like a wizard's hat in the middle of the lake). So, to get us ready for this Herculean aquatic task, I'm preparing a series of distance workouts that would test any swimmers' mettle. Coincidentally, these sets are all great for triathletes as well, especially those with an Ironman in their future. Here's the set of the day, my all-time favorite distance set.

WARMUP:

200 Swim
10 x 50 : 25 Drill (Superman Catch-up)/25 Swim concentrating on arm entry in front of shoulders (no crossing over midline)
300 Kick
4 x 75 Powerup (Get faster in each by 25s)

MAIN SET:

3 x    (   500
             50 EZ
          )  @ 8:30 interval . Descend the 500s (each one faster by 10 seconds)

Rest 60 seconds


3 x    (   500
             50 EZ
          )  @ 8:30 interval . Descend the 500s (each one faster by 10 seconds)
Make this second set of 500's faster than the first

100 Cool Down

4600 Yards

My lane really cranked on these, doing them in about 6:49, 6:42, and 6:33 for the 500s. In the lane next door, our resident All-American Master's swimmer Chris, who happens to be 70 years old this year, turned in a smoldering 6:23 for the fastest 500!! I hope if I keep swimming until I'm his age, I can do that.

Girrrl Power and Triathlete's Dream Set

For the first time ever, we had more women than men at the morning Master's swim practice this a.m. So awesome! For many many years I was the only woman in the pool with the Master's, and while I adore all the guys I swim with, I have to admit it's really cool to have some girrrl power in the pool! Some of these ladies are smokin' strong too, and with any luck we'll be able to field a great relay team at the Association Championship meet in April.

Today's workout was a toughie, designed to get people ready to swim long with a strong pace, this is a great set for triathletes or open water swimmers, as well as people aiming to swim the 500, 1000, or 1650 in a meet.


Warmup:

200 each: Swim, Kick, Drill, Pull
4 x 75 Build Each

Main Set:
5 X 500  + 100 EZ 
Before each 500, do 10 pushups on deck then get a hard start and really push the first 25.  After the first 25, settle into a sustainable, aerobic pace.
#1:  Swim
#2:  Pull buoy.  Breathe every 3 the whole way 
#3:  Swim, faster than #1
#4:  Pull buoy.  Same breathing pattern as #2.
#5:  Swim, aim for fastest split of the day


100 EZ

4200 yards

Kill Yourself in the Pool: Swim An Entire Swim Meet

I gave them fair warning. I threatened to do this last year. Half of our Master's team went off to a swim meet in Portland this weekend. The rest of the swimmers who showed up for practice today were met with quite a workout!

Here's what I came up with: We're going to swim the entire siwm meet. Every event, in order. Lots of groans. Especially when they realized the last event is the 1000 Free. Oh yeah, and there's a 400 IM in there, and a 200 Fly, and a 500 Free. Oh yeah.

Today's workout: "The Swim Meet":

Warmup: 150 Swim, 150 Kick, 150 Pull

500 Y     Free
100 Y     Back
200 Y     Fly
50 Y     Breast
100 Y     Free
200 Y     Breast
50 Y     Fly
400 Y     IM
100 Y     Breast
200 Y     Free
50 Y     Back
200 Y     IM
100 Y     Fly
200 Y     Back
50 Y     Free
100 Y     IM
1000 Y     Free

Swim Pacing and Sprint Faster: Saturday Swim Workouts

I didn't post last week's Saturday Master's workout so today you get a "two for one" deal and I'll post this weeks as well.

Since we're entering swim meet season for the Master's, you'll notice that I'm working on some very specific stuff in these workouts, namely pacing, starts, turns, and sprinting. Let's start with pacing. Do you know your paces for different speeds? Can you accurately set out to swim a specific pace and nail it within a second or two? A lot of swimmers could use more work on pacing, especially if they want to swim a distance event (whether in a swim meet or a triathlon). There's nothing worse than setting out at too fast a pace for a Looooongggg swim and feeling dead by halfway through. So this first workout puts some very specific work on knowing your exact paces down to the second.

In the main set, you will pick your absolute fastest pace for the given distance, then calculate out your paces from that. For instance, the 9 x 50. If your fastest 50 was going to be 35 seconds, and you have nine 50s at one second increments, that means your 50's will be at 44, 43, 42, 41, 40, 39, 38, 37, 36, & 35 seconds. For the 75's, if your fastest is a :58 and you have seven of them at 2 second increments, your 75's will be at 1:10, 1:08, 1:06, 1:04, 1:02, 1:00, and :58. The first ones will feel VERY slow. The later ones will feel very fast!

WORKOUT #1: Know Your Paces

Warmup:
2 x

(200 Swim
4 x 75--> 50 Drill/25 Kick)

4 x 75 Swim: Build Each

=========
Main Set:
9 x 50--> Descend in 1 second increments, rest :10
7 x 75--> Descend in 2 second increments, rest 10
5 x 100--> Descend in 3 second increments, rest 10
3 x 125--> Descend in 4 second increments, rest 10
1 x 150--> ALL OUT

Rest 1:00 in between each set
=========

200 Pull
5 x 50 --> Work starts and turns
5 x 50 ALL OUT @ 1:00
200 EZ

WORKOUT #2: Sprint Fast, Now Sprint Faster

This workout concentrates on getting some yards in the different strokes. At the end, just when you're good and tired, you get a killer sprint set that will knock your socks off.

Warmup:
200 Swim
4 x 50 with good long underwater dolphin kick off the wall
4 x 75 IM kick (dolphin, back, breast by 25s)

200 Swim
4 x 50 backstroke with good long underwater dolphin kick off the wall
300 Pull
============
Main Set:
4 x

(50 Fly @ 1:00
100 Free Smooth and steady @ 1:45)

 4x

 (50 Backstroke @ 1:00
100 Free Smooth and steady @ 1:45)

4x

(50 Breaststroke @ 1:00
100 Free Smooth and steady @ 1:45)

Now:

ALL HARD:

25 rest :30
25 r. 10 + 50 r. 45
25 r. 10 + 50 r. 10 + 75  r. 60
25 r. 10 + 50 r. 10 + 75 r. 10 + 100

WOW!

4 x 50 Starts and Turns
200 EZ

Saturday Swim Workout: The AMRAP

I learned of the term AMRAP in the Crossfit gym, perhaps it originates there, or maybe it predates Crossfit. In any case, it's a very useful tool to have in your arsenal. AMRAP stands for "As Many Rounds As Possible" and a typical AMRAP workout has a time period (20 minutes or 30 minutes) and a list of exercises (with the number of reps of each) that makes up one round. One great thing about the AMRAP is that you know how long you're doing it for. Usually not more than 30 minutes, so you know you have a defined ending point. Another great thing is that AMRAPS are very trackable and measurable. If you did 15 rounds this time, and 18 rounds in three months with the same AMRAP workout, you know you're faster, stronger, etc.

If you know me, you know I'm all about things that are measurable and trackable. I like know if what I'm doing is making an improvement in my fitness. And if I'm coaching someone, I want to know if I'm helping them to get better. So the AMRAP is a perfect tool. Plus, they make you push yourself hard, and that's usually a good thing.

So today's Master's Swim workout was an AMRAP. And just for kicks and grins, I made my swimmers get out of the water and do pushups in every round. A lot of our team is going to be training for some long swims this year, including a 10k competition. The pushups in this workout help simulate the type of arm fatigue that you feel in very long distance swims. I was pleased to note that a lot more of the swimmers could do decent pushups than the last time I inflicted something like this on them!

Here's the workout:

DRILL: One-arm crawl. Emphasis on keeping the non-stroking arm straight and steady, turning head to breathe instead of picking it up, and hand entry on the stroking arm.

Warm Up
4 x 75 D/S/D (that's 25 Drill, 25 swim, 25 Drill)
100 Slow Corkscrew – concentrate on Body Position
4 x 75 IM Order Drills
100 Corkscrew
4 x 75 S/D/S

Starts and Turns

10 x 50: Start Hard, good push off the wall, underwater dolphin, Good turn, cruise back

30 Minute AMRAP:

Swim 100
Pull 75
Kick 50
Pushups on deck: 5


Cool Down

EZ 100

6 x 50 Starts and Turns

EZ 100


Total Yardage:  2100 + AMRAP (8 rounds would be 1800 for a total of 3900 yards)

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.

Halloween-Theme Swim Workout

Here's my swim workout for the Masters this weekend, on a theme of Halloween. Fun! 

DRILL: One-arm Free, other arm trailing

Warmup:

2  X  (200 S, 100 Dr  100 K  200 P)

===========

3 x

(

100 Hard

100 Alternating stroke/Free by 25s

100 Legs: Kick

100 Light and Easy

100 Over/Under

100 Wait 10 seconds then sprint to catch the next person

100 Easy

100 Each Stroke Once (IM)

      100 Nearly All Out

      )  r. 15

200 Cool

4100 yards

Saturday Swim Workout: Mind Games

I have to admit, I like tricking my brain. I like playing little mind games that make my workouts go by easier or quicker, even if they're not really easy or quick. That's one reason I like to throw in sets with odd numbers of yards, so that we end up on the other end of the pool frequently. For some reason, it's easier to swim a 225 than a 250, even if it's all just mental.

So with that in mind, here' the swim workout I gave my Saturday Masters this week:

Drill of the Day: 10-stroke catchup. Take exactly 10 strokes of catch-up per 25 yard length. This translates to a actual stroke count of about 13 - 16. If you're under 5'4", you can extend this to 11 - 12 strokes of catch-up and 16 - 19 strokes per length.

Warmup:

300 Swim
100 10-stroke catch-up
100 Swim
6 x 50:  25 10-stroke catch-up, 25 of 13 - 16 stroke freestyle
6 x 50 kick

==========

Main Set:

4 x (125 Distance Pace, rest. 5 sec; 25 EZ, rest 20 sec)
4 x (25 Hard rest 20 sec.;  25 EZ rest 5 sec)
Rounder (rest until the clock reaches the top again)

3 x (225 Distance Pace r. 5; 25 EZ r. 20)
3 x (25 Hard rest 20 sec.;  25 EZ rest 5 sec)

Rounder

2 x (325 Distance Pace r. 5; 25 EZ r. 20)

2 x (25 Hard rest 20 sec.;  25 EZ rest 5 sec)

Rounder

3 x 100 IM kick

150 Cool down

==========

4100 yards

Excellent Swim Drill and Saturday's Masters Workout

For last Saturday's workout, we did the Mega-Catch-Up drill. Here's a link that explains the drill with a great video!
And the workout, boy was this a toughie! Our lane chose the :25 interval per 25 yards (middle column), which seemed like it would be plenty of rest but we really pushed the set and it totally wore me out.

Warmup:

200 Swim, 200 Pull
4 x 50 Drill with board
200 Swim
4 x 50 Drill no board
2 x 100 Kick IM Order

Main Set

2 X 25     :20         :25          :30
2 X 50     :40         :50         1:00
2 X 75     1:00      1:15        1:30
2 X 100   1:20      1:40        2:00
2 X 125   1:40      2:05        1:30
2 X 150    2:00     2:30        3:00
2 X 175    2:20     2:55        3:30
2 X 200    2:40     3:20        4:00

Approximately 60 seconds extra rest

1 X 200    2:40      3:20        4:00
1 X 175    2:20      2:55        3:30
1 X 150    2:00      2:30        3:00
1 X 125    1:40      2:05        2:30
1 X 100    1:20      1:40        2:00
1 X 75       1:00     1:15        1:30
1 X 50       :40        :50         1:00
1 X 25       :20        :25          :30

Total: 4100

Swim Workout: The Noose

First of all, I'm happy to say that I have some swimmers who keep track of pesky little details like the yardage totals in my workouts. I accidentally almost gave my swimmers a 2600 yard warmup set! An accountant in Lane 3 is a good thing to have. Let's just say I'm not a morning person. I write up my workouts at night, but in the a.m. when I'm standing in front of the whiteboard trying to translate my notes to action, sometimes things get muddled.

I think maybe this is why I love Winnie the Pooh so very much, I should just always wear t-shirts with Pooh quotes on them, and then that would explain my state of mind precisely. Like maybe this one:

When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.

-- Winnie the Pooh

That could probably sum up quite a few of my blog posts as well. So if things don't seem very Thingish, just Bear with me (ha ha).

The main set of this workout I borrowed from the fabulous folks at Go Swim.TV, a website with a treasure trove of videos, techniques, drills, and workouts. I was looking specifically for something we could do now that we're 2 weeks out from the big swim meet to keep us sharp without pulverizing my swimmers in yardage. As it turns out, this is quite a challenging main set. As I was swimming struggling through it, I first thought it should be called "Frog in a Pot" because of the old adage that a frog won't jump out of a pot of boiling water if you turn up the heat gradually enough. Then I thought maybe it should be called the "Theory of Relativity Set" because the intervals that seemed tough in the early stages of the set (like the :50), then looked blessedly long by the time you get to the really tough stuff at the end. But I think maybe "The Noose" sums it up because it just keeps getting tighter and tighter around you the whole time. It's a good one, definitely one to keep in your repertoire for a challenging day!


Warm Up

100SKP
4 x (25 head-up crawl + 25 head up halfway down lane)
100SKP
4 x (25 head-up crawl + 25 head up halfway down lane)

3 x 100 Pull, Desc.

1300

Main Set

5 X 50 on 1:05 swim (or 4 X 50 on 1:15)
5 X 50 on :55 swim (or 4 X 50 on 1:05)
5 X 50 on 1:00 swim (or 4 X 50 on 1:10)
5 X 50 on :50 swim (or 4 X 50 on 1:00)
5 X 50 on :55 swim (or 4 X 50 on 1:05)
5 X 50 on :45 swim (or 4 X 50 on :55)
5 X 50 on :55 swim (or 4 X 50 on 1:00)
Rest break of no more than 1 minute
5 X 50 on :40 swim (or 4 X 50 on :50).

3300 or 2900

100 EZ, 100 Med

4 x 25 Flip & Glide
4 x 25 to Wall hard finish

200 EZ

Total Yardage: 3900

Not Catching the Drift

Here's a great drill to focus your attention on a high-elbow catch, something that brings you a lot of bang for your buck when it comes to propulsion in swimming. One thing I've noticed in watching most swimmers is that they allow their gliding arm to slowly drift toward the bottom of the pool before their catch. Not only does this add drag and reduce your glide, it also reduces the amount of useful water that you can catch and move behind you. So it's a double-whammy of less glide and less propulsion every time you let your arm drift down. Use this drill and get rid of the drift, you'll see your speed improve!



Here's the rest of Saturday's Master's workout. Whew! I was happy to see my 100 times for the fast ones hover in the range of 1:15 - 1:16, with the fastest being 1:12. That's a 5-second improvement over last week, meaning the arm is still on the upward curve of getting better. This is a workout meant to focus our intensity for our upcoming Master's Association Championships meet in a few weeks. The 2:00 interval allowed everyone in the pool to swim together, which was fun, especially since we had a full house with 4 - 5 people in every lane.

Skill: High Elbow
Drill: Catch-Up Catch – keep elbow on surface of water

Warm Up

300 Swim, alternate free/non-free by 25s
6 x 25 Drill
200 Kick, alt. free/non-free by 25
6 x 25 Drill

4 x 75 Cruise, hard, cruise with good turns



Main Set

21 x 100 @ 2:00

#3, 6 fast
#9, 12 faster
#15, 18 faster still
#21 all out

Other than the fast 100s, the rest are swimmers choice, you can swim other strokes, cruise, or do drills, pulls, or kicking.

100 EZ
6 x 25 Drill
2 x (75 Pull, 75 Kick, 75 Swim, 75 Pull)

100 EZ

Total Yardage: 4150

Sandwich Swim

Here's Saturday's Masters workout:

Skill: Early Catch
Drill: Shoulder-Catch

You can see this drill in action here

Warm Up

2 X (100 Swim, 100 Kick, 100 Pull
100: Cheek-to-shoulder
6 x 25: Shoulder-Catch: Start your pull prior to allowing your shoulder to break contact with your cheek)

4 X 75 Powerup: Keep early catch



Main Set

6 x 150 stroke sandwich (50 free, 50 stroke IM order, 50 free) @ 2:30

8 x 75 Kick Sandwich 25 Swim EZ, 25 Kick Moderate, 25 Swim Fast @ 1:30

4 x 100 Dolphin Sandwich: Underwater Dolphin 12 yards, sprint to end of pool, Moderate 50, Underwater Dolphin 12 yards then sprint to end @ 2:00

3 x 200 Pull Sandwich 50 Swim, 100 Pull, 50 Swim: Hold your lowest Stroke Count throughout

100 EZ



Total Yardage: 4000

SWEET Misery

I have to love it when one of my swimmers tells me a workout has made it into his "Top 10 hardest ever" list, and today's was just such a workout. I can't believe they were giving me grief for coming up with this workout and not being able to swim it with them. I know it's a toughie, but dang it I'd much rather be in the pool busting my ass than not.

Lately I've been working with my Masters on swimming straight, something that almost all swimmers from the slow lane to the smoking fast struggle with. Last week's drill was a Blind Swim. I had the swimmer start 10 seconds apart, just doing one length at a time. The idea is to swim as long as you can with your eyes closed and NOT crash into the lane lines. Swimmers were all over the place, it looked like the freeway at about 3 am on New Year's morn out there. Crazy! Watch someone swim blind and all the faults of the stroke become much more instantly apparent. When we have that lovely black line on the bottom of the pool to follow, we constantly self-correct without even knowing that we're doing it.

Today's drill was designed to piggy-back on top of that experience and help straighten everyone out. We started off with some Superman Kick, which is my name for kicking on your front with your arms extended straight out in front of your shoulders (head down) just like Superman.

Not like this Superman, that's more like a closed-fist drill, though I have to say the body alignment is nice and straight, even if the head is too high...

And not like this Superman either, I think he's doing the butterfly or something...




Here's the Superman I was looking for, though again ignore the closed fists and the head looking up. Nice straight body, arms straight out in front of the shoulders, and hands should be pointed just slightly down so fingers aren't poking out of the water.

From the Superman kick, we went on to Superman catch-up, which is just like the normal catch-up drill except with the arms in the Superman position. Why, you might ask? Well, often when we aim for having our hands meet in the middle or enter the water right on our centerline, what we actually do when swimming is to cross over that center line, often substantially. This gives a wiggle to the stroke that incurs monumental drag and wastes a lot of our energy. By practicing the catch-up drill with the hands meeting in the middle, we can inadvertently reinforce this poor hand entry position. So I've been working on catch-up in the Superman position and I think it's helpful to get that hand-entry more in line with the shoulders, especially because when you swim if you think your hands are in line with your shoulders, chances are they're closer to your center line. If you think they're at the center line, chances are that they're crossing over it.

Here's the rest of the workout, "SWEET 16" (I heard through the grumbling that the main set was a b*tch!) On the main set, every even 150 is timed. They are swum at 90% effort, and the idea is to keep the times within a few seconds of each other throughout the main set. Odds are described below. The interval should give plenty of time for rest.

=================

Skill: Parallel Hand Entry
Drill: Superman Catch-up

Warm Up

2 x (200 Swim
6 x 75: Superman kick, Superman Catch-up, Swim by 25s)

1300

Main Set


SWim
Every
Even
Timed

16

16 x 150, 90% effort @ 3:00

Evens: Timed
Odds:
1 – 4 Easy
2 – 8 No Free IM by 25s
9 – 12 Pull
13 – 16 Dr/Swim by 25s

3700

6 x 25 Dolphin kick to halfway, then swim
150 EZ



Total Yardage: 4000

Saturday Swim: Race Prep

This Saturday's Masters swim workout was all about getting ready for the first Masters meet of the season. So the skill we were working on was the butterfly kick (especially useful when you push off of the wall), and the drill was to kick butterfly on their backs, head up and looking at the feet, hands down by hips (sculling gently is okay to keep body position), concentrating on flipping water UP with their feet. We also worked our starts and turns in a couple of sets, then settled in for some time trials of various distances.

Good news for me is that the time trials at least confirmed I was in the right ballpark for most of my races. I estimated 6:35 for my 500, and swam 6:44 from the wall in this set. I guessed 1:27 for my 100 Fly, and swam 1:30 in this set. So I think I should at least be able to make my estimates in those events. My 200 was not so good, I estimated a 2:21 and swam a 2:35. Hmmmm, we'll just have to see what happens with that one.

So here's the workout:

Warm Up

200 Swim
6 x 50 Drill/Swim (w/ good fly kick on push off of the swim)
200 Pull
6 x 50 Drill/Swim
200 Swim/Scull by 25s

Starts and Turns Set

10 x 50
Start Hard, Good turn, cruise back

Main Set:

100 EZ
500 Time Trial (TT)
100 EZ
200 TT
100 EZ
100 TT
100 EZ
50 TT
100 EZ

10 x 50 Starts and Turns

4 x 75 Pull Concentrate on Distance Per Stroke
100 EZ

Total Yardage: 3950