Workouts for May 19-23, 2014

***If you prefer a formatted version of these workouts see PDF at bottom of page***

Monday:  Distance Freestyle/Pace

• Warm-up-
  • 200 choice

• Main Set-
  • 500 swim @ 8:20 or r=50
  • 250 pull @ 4:10 or r=25
  • 5 x 50 swim @ 1:00 or r=15
    • 400 swim @ 6:40 or r=40
    • 200 pull @ 3:20 or r=20
    • 4 x 50 swim @ 1:00 or r=15
      • 300 swim @ 5:00 or r=30
      • 150 pull @ 2:30 or r=15
      • 3 x 50 swim @ 1:00 or r=15
        • 200 swim @ 3:20 or r=20
        • 100 pull @ 1:40 or r=10
        • 2 x 50 swim @ 1:00 or r=15

• Cool-down-
  • 100 choice

Total = 3100

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Tuesday:  IM

• Warm-up-
  • 200 swim
  • 100 kick
  • 100 pull

• Main Set-
  • 5 x through:
    • 25 swim @ 45 or r=15
      • 50 kick @ 1:30 or r=15
        • 75 drill/swim/drill @ 1:45 or r=15
          • 50 stroke/50 free @ 2:00 or r=30
        • 75 swim/drill/swim @ 1:45 or r=15
      • 50 kick @ 1:30 or r=15
    • 25 swim @ 45 or r=15

• 1 round each stroke
• 1 round choice

• Drills:
  • 4-beat fly
  • 10-10-3 back
  • 2 kicks, 1 pull breast
  • 10-10-3 free

• Cool-down-
  • 100 swim

Total = 2500

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Wednesday:  Mid-Distance Freestyle/Pace

• Warm-up-
  • 200 free, stretch for 2 minutes
  • 200 swim (mix of strokes), stretch for 2 minutes
  • 200 IM kick, stretch on wall for 2 minutes

• Warm-up Set-
  • 12 x 25 [25 scull/25 glide/25 pull] @ r=5

• Pace Set A-
  • 3 x 200 swim @ 3:30 or r=30
    • #1:  push last 100
    • #2:  push middle 100
    • #3:  push 1st 100

• Kick Set-
  • 6 x 50 kick @ 1:30 or r=15
    • descend 1-3, 4-6
    • choose one stroke for 1-3
    • choose another stroke for 4-6

• Pace Set B-
  • 3 x 200 swim @ 3:30 or r=30
    • #1:  push even 50’s
    • #2:  push odd 50’s
    • #3:  push entire 200

• Pull Set-
  • 6 x 50 pull @ 55 or r=10
    • breathe 3/5 by 25’s

• Cool-down-
  • 300 choice

Total = 3000

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Thursday:  Swim Clinic

I’m working with a different swim club, this since early April, 2014.  With a new club comes a new technique philosophy.  Bud Taylor is a well-known and respected swim coach in the Pacific Northwest.  He has a long history of success, especially with breaststrokers, so I am particularly interested in learning something from Bud.

One of the main differences between the way I coach breaststroke and the way Bud coaches breaststroke is the “out-sweep.”  I coach swimmers to scull out at a 45° angle; this phase is non-propulsive.  Although Bud believes the same, that the out sweep is non-propulsive, he preaches a slide out with palms facing sides, more like 90° angles.  The difference may seem minor, but remember in the water things are distorted.  In other words, you have to teach yourself what 45° feels like, just like you have to teach yourself what it means to enter and slide out on your right arm in freestyle without crossing over.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, I understand this; fortunately because it makes me a faster swimmer; unfortunately because I exaggerate changes in the water to counteract the distortion but making big changes when your 50+ years has consequences–I’m currently injured.  In my two workouts of “breaststroke bliss,” before relegating myself to the kicking lane, I experimented with Bud’s outsweep and really liked the result:  I felt like I stayed down in the water and did not elevate during the outsweep, and this helped me feel more power during the propulsive phases of breaststroke (i.e., insweep and extention phases).  Previously, my shoulders elevated during the outsweep and I didn’t think there was anything I could do to prevent that.  But, sliding out with a 90° palm angle seems key.

If you’re going to make this change please do it a little bit at a time; I’m sure I’m injured because I aggressively applied the angle change to my palms and this was too much internal rotation on the shoulders.  As you practice, think:  “no pressure on the out sweep,” or “constant speed to the corners,” as Bud says.

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Friday:  Sprint Freestyle/Speed

• Warm-up-
  • 300 swim
  • 200 kick/swim

• Kick Set-
  • 2 x 50 kick @ 1:40 or r=20
  • 2 x 50 kick @ 1:30 or r=15
  • 2 x 50 kick @ 1:20 or r=10
  • 2 x 50 kick @ 1:10 or r=5

• Recovery Set-
  • 8 x 25 @ 40 or r=10
    • 25 drill/25 swim

• Main Set-
  • 2 x through:
    • 1 x 150 free @ 3:00 or r=30
      • medium effort
    • 2 x 75 stroke @ 1:45 or r=30
      • hard effort
    • 3 x 50 free @ 1:00 or r=15
      • medium effort
    • 6 x 25 stroke @ 45 or r=20
      • hard effort
    • extra 30 seconds rest

• Cool-down-
  • 200 [25 scull/25 swim]

Total = 2500

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May 19-23, 2014