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I did a similar set yesterday. It was 100's but they were varied speed. 6X100's descend 1-3 on 1:30 w/the 3rd and 6th for time 400 pull 12X100's descend 1-3 on 1:30 w/ #3,6,9 and 12 for time Yeah, the #1 of each was not smoking fast but served as a recovery. The #2 was contolled speed. The #3 was "controlled bizerk" - "ALL OUT-Feel like you're going to hurl":woot: fast! It was a GREAT workout for a sprinter like me!

Michael- while you may have been correct in your self-accusatory preface, the real culprit would be the coach in not giving a task focus to the set; in my experience most will 'buy in' to the set, no matter if difficult, as long as they know where the effort should be. Otherwise, being highly social beasts, we'll fill the abundant rests with chit-chat.

You can make any workout useful or a waist of time, the difference is your attitude and what you put into it. When you are not given much direction or focus, select something you will focus on to make it feel worth while. Set yourself a goal those types of workouts and they can become just as useful as any other one. Donna:applaud:

10 times through: 25, 50, 75, 100 on 1:05. Odd sets freestyle, even sets stroke (25 fly, 50 ***, 75 back, 100 free) on 1:15. I'm not a coach, but that sounds like a set that you could have done a lot of different things with. Sure, you end up doing 5 x 100 on 1:05. That's a challenge. But, say, for the 50's... if you sprinted each of them and kept them under 30 seconds, that makes for a very different than if you did the 50's holding 45 seconds and floated. If done with that intensity, you'll end up with a lot of lactic acid, and you'll be forced to deal with that lactic acid while trying to get a 100 under 1:05. -Rick

I agree with Rick.....lots to do with that type of set and very simlar to what John and I did last week.....he however hated it and wanted to go with the 10 x 100s route... We adapted by doing it as a breath control set; 25's non breath, 50's 2 breaths, 75's & 100's one breath per lap. I would also have considered making the 25's underwater kick, the 50's drill, the 75's build and the 100 race pace.

Sometimes, you have to do garbage yardage.

That set involves a little more standing around than I'd like, but as Rick said it's probably useful if you concentrate on different things for the different distances. We sometimes do a somewhat similar kind of set only we do repeats of, say, a 175 a 200 and a 225 all on the same interval. The interval should be fast enough so the 225 is a real challenge. I think this is a good set. The 175 can be used for recovery, the 200 shouldn't be too challenging, but you won't get a whole lot of rest, and the 225 you'll have to swim fast just to make the interval.

I agree Jeff...... sometimes garbage yardage is unavoidable. Even ridiculous yardage in the end is better than sitting on the couch holding the remote... :-) I just tell myself its good I showed up. Maybe one of the sets will be worth a small amount of value. If not, I burned a few calories. Keep in mind the cardinal rule of Master Swimming........ It's not how FAST your are.... its how FAT you are. John Smith

Peter is on the right track. The coach puts these sets on a white board and walks away. I have tried to engage him in a dialogue about what is important or what is to be stressed, to which the reply is usually,"it's all important". Jeff, I know there is plenty of garbage yardage out there and I'm accustomed to doing my share. I just don't want to get stuck with junk because the coach is too lazy or uncommunicative. That is what he gets paid for. Rick O., I'm not a coach either. I don't think I should be put into that position when I am in the water by the guy who is on the deck. I am not afraid of doing a hard set, I just don't get the point of some like today, and it is very hard to stay in the water when motivation has been removed by lack of communication. Paul, I have many times modified sets that don't suit me, but tend to consolidate. I would have turned this into a set of 250s, most likely. But not on the 4:20.

Hey ! I resemble that remark ! Jim, I have been fighting the same 5 lbs of fat on my gut for the last 8 years. Every time I take it off, it comes right back on. Note, Bobby Patten will tell you how much beer I can "hold". John Smith TheGoodSmith