There are actually two workouts provided in this submission. To me, single workouts only tell you part of the story…and I like my athlete’s week to flow seamlessly from one workout to another as much as possible.
The AM workout is a simple “get started on the week” workout. My goal was to focus on the components of training: kicking and pulling, and finish up with some speed (50s with no breath 2nd 25). We had great results this morning, with many athletes kicking personal season best 200 Kicks (within a 8-9 second descend).
The PM workout style is one I like to use often. The idea for the 100s and well as the 200s is simple: the athletes must descend each discipline. Here’s a great way to do the set, in terms of pacing:
200 Free (235) @ 203, 200 Free IM (245) @ 211, 200 Breast @ 224
200 Free (235) @ 201, 200 Free IM (245) @ 209, 200 Breast @ 221
200 Free (235) @ 159, 200 Free IM (245) @ 206, 200 Breast @ 217
As the athlete descends the Breaststroke, for instance, they’ve got to come right back on the freestyle and make sure they hold stroke — and not go into “slop” mode. This helps the athlete learn how to hold pace, and manipulate their strokes and walls to get a desired result. An inexperienced athlete may descend the Breast 224-220-215…but neglect the rest of the set (the free may start at 203, but due to “over” fatigue it may go to 205 on round 2 and 206 on round 3. The Free IM may start at 211, and go to 209 on round 2…but because the athlete is “saving up” the third round might be 215 (after all, the interval is moderate enough to do this). To me, I’d rather have decent times at the end, having done the set well — than great times at the end with a lack of focus throughout the main portion of the set.
The 9x100s starts the workout and gets the athlete used to the “style of set” — while it also may serve to “set up” an athlete’s stroke for the 2nd set. My hope is that an athlete can swim with strong tempo and good stroke length on the 100s, and transfer that type of stroke technique to the set that is double the distance.
AM Workout
Warmup:
3x: 5×100 SKIPS
Kick:
400 Kick (610) – moderate
3×200 Kick (310) – fast, descend
Drill:
4x: 50 Free Swim + 25 Back + 25 DBL arm Back
Pull:
800 Pull (930) 3.5.7.5 x100 + Neg Split
4×100 (115) Desc 1-4
4×100 (110) Desc 1-4
Easy:
200 Mixed
Swim:
20×50 Free (45) – every 4th* no Breath 2nd 25
Swim Down:
3×100 (R20) – drop one Stroke per 25 each 100
WORKOUT TOTAL: 5900
