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

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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

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4100 yards