Blog Archives

Swim Practice

2/28/2013

Strength training prior to swimming.
Warmup: 600, change stroke each length, + 8 x 50 faster pace
Drill: 8 x 25 back, odds: single-arm, evens: whole stroke.
Main Set: Swim 3 rounds
(4 x 150 IM, descending within the set, followed by an easy 150 free)
(:20 rest within rounds, 1:00 rest between rounds)
round# 1: 1-2-2-1
round# 2: 2-1-1-2
round# 3: choice
Warmdown: 10 minutes drilling

Commentary: A workmanlike practice, on top of strength training.

Warmup and drilling went fine, pretty much loosening up the tightness from the strength work.
I plugged away at the IM's, worked them, descended each set. Felt pretty strong to the end, but thoroughly whipped, too, afterward.

3/28 Practice

2/28/2013

Swim Practice

2/26/2013

Warmup: 4 x [100 free -50 back - 50 breast]
Sprint: 4 x 50 free (on 2:30 sendoff)
Kick: 200 breast
Drill: 8 x 25 breast
Swim: 10 x 100 free, moderate, negative split (:15 rest)
Sprint: 6 x 25 choice, FLAT OUT (on 1:00 sendoff)
Warmdown: 10 minutes drilling

Comment: Practice a bit unusual, but I felt pretty good.
First sprint set went pretty well, but a bit more warmup might have been better. Held them all at around :30.
Kicking and drilling went fine. My breaststroke is feeling stronger.
Swim set: Worked it. Used 1:30 sendoff. I felt the earlier sprinting, especially at the start. They were all pretty consistently 1:13, except the last, 1:09.
Sprints: Whew! Tried to give them everything, but it was a bit rough.
Overall, a pretty good practice. I'm whipped afterward, but I felt pretty strong through most of it.

Swim Practice

2/25/2013

Strength training prior to swimming.
Warmup: 800 choice
Drill: 12 x 25 fly
odds: single-arm 3-3
evens: combo, 2 single-arm/2 whole stroke (:15 rest)
Main Set: Swim 4 x
[300- 200-100 freestyle] (:30 rest all the way)
300s: smooth/ez
200s: threshold
100s: FAST
(drop average 100 by 5 seconds each 300-200-100)
Warmdown: 10 minutes drilling

Comment:
Pretty good practice; harder than anticipated. I was tired to start with from strength training and warmup did not take care of that completely. Fly drilling went okay.
300's were all 4:10-4:15
200's were all 2:35-2:40
100's were all under 1:10, except the last, which I cramped up (would have been around 1:07).
I got a little slower toward the end of the practice, but did not die; just had to try harder. I felt strong, especially considering I'm fighting off a cold and worked the strength training pretty hard.
Sprint practice tomorrow should be interesting.

Practice

2/22/2013

Warmup: 800 choice - work on form
Kick: 6 x 50, descending 1-3, 4-6 (:20 rest)
Drill: 8 x 25 fly, fins combo 2-2-2-2 (:15 rest)
Main Set: Swim 4 x
4 x 75 freestyle at moderate pace, 300 IM strong
descend 300s!
(:20 rest within rounds, 2:00 rest between rounds -take your full rest)
Warmdown: 10 minutes drilling
Comment: Worked the strength training hard, felt it in swim warmup.
Kicking and drilling went fine.
Main set: It was a grind. I was bothered by cramping during the 300's, worked them, but not in a systematic way. So I worked the 75's hard. Times averaged around :53. I must say, I felt very strong in the water today, especially in the freestyle swimming. That's three strong practices this week, even though volume has been increased. A good sign.

Practice

2/20/2013

Warmup: 800, each 4th length scull
Swim: 3 x [4 x 25 IM order, smooth] (:15 rest)
Sprint: 8 x 25, choice, 12.5 FAST/12.5 smooth (:30 rest)
Main Set: Swim 5 x
[50-100-150-200 freestyle]
same pace/tempo/time per 50 all the way (:15 rest all the way)
Warmdown: 10 minutes drilling

Comment: Pretty good practice. A 2500 yard freestyle grind. I thought I might die because Monday was such a hard one, but I was pretty strong throughout. I figured to hold around :40 per 50. First two sets were a bit faster than that, second two a little slower. Last set faster... why not? Put everything into final 200 and went 2:30. Good to be able to punch the final swim of a 2500 yard main set and go fast.

I've been having back spasms. Very painful... vexing. They don't seem to affect my swimming, though, as you can see from above.

Practice

2/18/2013

Warmup: 4 x (100 freestyle, 50 back - 50 breast)
Kick: 300 breast
Swim: 2 x (4 x 50, IM order, 25 drill/25 swim) (:15 rest)
Main Set: Swim 6 x
400 freestyle, descending within each set of 3, 1-3 pull, 4-6 swim (:30 rest all the way)
Warmdown: 10 minutes drilling

Practice

2/15/2013

Dryland strength training, then...
Warmup: 600 choice
Drill: 6 x 25 worst stroke
Swim: 6 x 50 stroke, no freestyle, smooth (:15 rest)
Main Set:
Swim: 20 x 100 freestyle, steady, on 1:25 sendoff
Rest 1:00, then…
4 x 100 freestyle on 1:20 sendoff. Make them!
Warmdown: 10 minutes drilling

Comment: Wow! Unbelievable main set. First 20 x 100's averaged 1:14. Last 4 x 100's were 1:12, 1:13, 1:15, 1:13. After such a sluggish practice on Wednesday and after such a hard strength training session preceding, I thought I would never get through this workout at the time intervals specified . Once I was warmed up, I felt very strong throughout.

Practice

2/13/2013

Warmup: 800 yards, each 4th length scull
Kick: 3 x [75-50-25, progressive] (:15 rest)
Sprint: 2 rounds of:
6 x 25 strong
round #1: no freestyle
round #2: freestyle
(30 seconds rest between 25's, 2 minutes rest between rounds)
Main Set: Swim 6 rounds of:
150 IM without freestyle, 25 drill/25 swim
150 freestyle, negative split
(:20 rest all the way)
Warmdown: 10 minutes drilling

Comment: The surprise today was that I did not feel strong for the main set. The warmup, kicking and especially the sprints felt good, but I just slogged through the 150's. I felt no "pop" at all. I should be able to go 150's free in around 1:50; today they were all a bit over 2:00. I just could not get going. I didn't fade, really, just could not swim fast or feel strong. Maybe it's just one of those days when I feel blah for no reason, but maybe a result of a very hard practice on Monday.

Practice

2/11/2013

First, dryland strength training. Then...
Warmup: 800 yards, 50 drill/50 swim
Kick: 300 with fins
Drill: 10 x 25 backstroke... with smooth rhythm & good hip rotation
Main Set: Swim 4 rounds of:
2 x 200 freestyle, steady. (30 seconds rest between 200's)
4 x 50 freestyle, stronger. (15 seconds rest between 50s)
- 50's should average 5 seconds faster than average 50 on 200's
-1:00 rest between rounds
Warmdown: 10 minutes drilling.

Comment: Practice kicked my butt! I worked strength training hard and felt it in the swimming. Hard to get going. Each round of main set was faster than the previous, even though I felt like I was weakening... weird. 200's were all between 2:35 and 2:40. 50's ranged from :32 to :37. I worked everything as hard as I could. In each round, the second 200 was faster than the first. Final 200 was 2:32.