I am unable to attend a coached workout and make up most of my workouts. I do have a question though. About what percentage of your normal workouts are at a hard or intense pace? Right now, I am swimming around 2000-2500 yards and about 800-1000 of them are at an intense pace for me. My warm up is 500 and my cool down is usually 300-400 yards. So about 800-900 are warm up and cool down. I am not sure these percentages make sure.
You can also make your workouts more challenging and varied by thinking beyond intensity. You can work on fine tuning your technique at a less intense pace and end up with faster race pace performances as a result of increased efficiency. Your warmup and warmdown could be too long given the total amount of yardage you are swimming - but at the same time, if you focus on drills that are appropriate to your specific technical needs, you can really make the most of those parts of your practice. While generic practices geared towards different levels of swimmers abound, they are not necessarily right for you. Think more in terms of what components your practices incorporate as opposed to focusing on intensity vs slower pace. Good luck!
You can also make your workouts more challenging and varied by thinking beyond intensity. You can work on fine tuning your technique at a less intense pace and end up with faster race pace performances as a result of increased efficiency. Your warmup and warmdown could be too long given the total amount of yardage you are swimming - but at the same time, if you focus on drills that are appropriate to your specific technical needs, you can really make the most of those parts of your practice. While generic practices geared towards different levels of swimmers abound, they are not necessarily right for you. Think more in terms of what components your practices incorporate as opposed to focusing on intensity vs slower pace. Good luck!
