We usually do longer, endurance-based workouts as the week moves on and the weekend is upon us. We do this as it’s possible to do endurance work with a little fatigue settling in.
This is why we place all our quality sessions (speed, for instance) earlier in the week after recovery days. It’s critical for the athletes to be fresh for the quality and intensity of those sessions. But, again, endurance work can be done when the athletes are a little tired from the week.
I like to create endurance sets that use odd distances – where the athlete doesn’t necessarily know what his or her time “should” be. By that, I mean a 350 isn’t a common distance to swim (unlike 100’s, 200’s, 400’s). Yes, they can do the math, but this set ensures they even pace their efforts and, at the same time, work hard enough to get the required rest to keep things aerobic.
The main set is based on base 100 times that target :15 rest on the 150’s and :20-:30 rest on the 350’s. The example in the set here is with athletes holding roughly 1:10 pace. The key is to ensure they’re getting at least :15 rest on the shorter efforts, and for this set up to :30 (no more) in the longer efforts.
Warm-up:
200 swim, 200 kick, 200 pull
6 x 50 On :55
6 x 100 Descend 1-3, 4-6 On 1:35 / 1:40
Odd lengths stroke, or full 100 IM here if desired
Main set:
5 x (150 – 350) On 2:00 – 4:30
Cool down:
200 choice
Workout Total: 4200
This free workout was provided by Podium Training Systems Coach Dave Burgess.
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