Fabulous sprint sets

I don't have any credentials whatsoever. I am just a 48 yr. old who took 28 yrs. off and started swimming again 2 yrs ago. I happen to have a coach who is a former top16 age group swimmer and now a triathlete. He is up to date on many training concepts including "energy pathways" and training to improve specific things. I'm trying to be smart with my training since I don't have forever to train. He builds workouts targeted to improve VO2Max or improve lactate tolerance or build basic endurance. I NEVER had any idea in 1976 what purpose was of the sets I swam. I'm not convinced my coaches really did either. Late in the season for example he'll add broken swims and race pace work to the workouts to build speed and power. I also started reading what many consider to be the new swimming bible - Maglischo's Swimming Fastest. It is the second edition and is based on years of significant research. Councilman was "the man" in his day but the swimming mad scientists have learned many things since Mark Spitz. I think it really helps to understand at least a bit the physiology of training. There is a growing body work that suggests that many swimmers swim too much distance. It drives some out of the sport and doesn't even make them faster. I read once that Natalie Coughlin does some 100s on 8 minute intervals when she is working on speed. These are maximum effort race pace sets. My kids often did huge long sets of 25s - but they were not sprints. They were fast (not super-fast) with short rest. These are really aerobic threshold sets to build endurance, not sprint speed. I'd say in general a real "sprint set" will be VERY fast for short distances combined with relatively high rest to allow your lactic acid to go away between intervals. So something like 50s on 2 minutes, but the sprint is just 25 yds, the rest eeaassyy. To focus even more on power sprints can be 12.5 or 20 yds. A sprint to 35 yds includes the turn. The point of all this is not to prove I know anything. I'm still learning and working to get faster by being smart. I'm convinced that much of the coaching done in the late 70s was borderline stupid - almost all yardage based. Just to provide a frame of reference - I swim 50 free in 25.0, 50 fly in 26.6, 50 *** in 30.8 and 100IM in 1:01.9. I hope to swim 24.5, 25.9, 30.2 and 59.99999 next spring in the same events. I'm 5'8 and weigh 168. I wish I were taller and had bigger feet!

I don't have any credentials whatsoever. I am just a 48 yr. old who took 28 yrs. off and started swimming again 2 yrs ago. I happen to have a coach who is a former top16 age group swimmer and now a triathlete. He is up to date on many training concepts including "energy pathways" and training to improve specific things. I'm trying to be smart with my training since I don't have forever to train. He builds workouts targeted to improve VO2Max or improve lactate tolerance or build basic endurance. I NEVER had any idea in 1976 what purpose was of the sets I swam. I'm not convinced my coaches really did either. Late in the season for example he'll add broken swims and race pace work to the workouts to build speed and power. I also started reading what many consider to be the new swimming bible - Maglischo's Swimming Fastest. It is the second edition and is based on years of significant research. Councilman was "the man" in his day but the swimming mad scientists have learned many things since Mark Spitz. I think it really helps to understand at least a bit the physiology of training. There is a growing body work that suggests that many swimmers swim too much distance. It drives some out of the sport and doesn't even make them faster. I read once that Natalie Coughlin does some 100s on 8 minute intervals when she is working on speed. These are maximum effort race pace sets. My kids often did huge long sets of 25s - but they were not sprints. They were fast (not super-fast) with short rest. These are really aerobic threshold sets to build endurance, not sprint speed. I'd say in general a real "sprint set" will be VERY fast for short distances combined with relatively high rest to allow your lactic acid to go away between intervals. So something like 50s on 2 minutes, but the sprint is just 25 yds, the rest eeaassyy. To focus even more on power sprints can be 12.5 or 20 yds. A sprint to 35 yds includes the turn. The point of all this is not to prove I know anything. I'm still learning and working to get faster by being smart. I'm convinced that much of the coaching done in the late 70s was borderline stupid - almost all yardage based. Just to provide a frame of reference - I swim 50 free in 25.0, 50 fly in 26.6, 50 *** in 30.8 and 100IM in 1:01.9. I hope to swim 24.5, 25.9, 30.2 and 59.99999 next spring in the same events. I'm 5'8 and weigh 168. I wish I were taller and had bigger feet!