Sorry if these questions have all been asked before, but here goes: I've been a lap swimmer for about 5 years and have been doing my 1 mile 3-4 times a week pretty much regularly, but I never seem to get any faster than my 35-40 minute mile. I've done plenty of searching via the internet and all of the workouts that I've come across (the shortest being in the 2500 range) are far too advanced and time consuming at the moment. Currently I'm rather overwhelmed. I understand the notion of intervals and anaerobic work, but when and how often should I be doing them? I've thought about joining the closest master's team(St. Louis) , but they are well over an hour away and at the moment I doubt that I would benefit from joining since I'd only be able to get up there once a month or so. Would anyone out there be willing to get me going in the right direction?
Thanks, John
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Former Member
If the interval is too tight, simply taylor it to your abilities at the moment. Try the 100 yd repeats on 2 minutes instead of 1:25.
The 200 yd repeats can be done on 4:00. Experimenting with what's do-able will let you know how to proceed.
The idea is to maintain a pace that's stressful without missing the interval send-off. Yes, this will be pretty much the same as doing your typical mile workout but you may find that the pace can be pushed harder in small increments rather than one long tedious swim. If you're going a mile each session, try breaking it down into various sets. A 400 warm-up, the main set, and some kicking will easily get you into the 1700 yard total by the end of the workout. The variety alone will take the monotony out of simply going back and forth.
If the interval is too tight, simply taylor it to your abilities at the moment. Try the 100 yd repeats on 2 minutes instead of 1:25.
The 200 yd repeats can be done on 4:00. Experimenting with what's do-able will let you know how to proceed.
The idea is to maintain a pace that's stressful without missing the interval send-off. Yes, this will be pretty much the same as doing your typical mile workout but you may find that the pace can be pushed harder in small increments rather than one long tedious swim. If you're going a mile each session, try breaking it down into various sets. A 400 warm-up, the main set, and some kicking will easily get you into the 1700 yard total by the end of the workout. The variety alone will take the monotony out of simply going back and forth.
