I nearly missed Paul Smith's excellent views on cycled,race pace workouts as they were hidden in the Dara Torres thread and I had grown tired of it.I like to do 15 week cycles,increasing intensity for 12 wk and tapering for 3.I do 4 workouts/wk,2 are spinning,lifting,swimming and 2 are swimming only.While I enjoy a good workout but unlike Dave I have never found a workout as satisfying as a good race.So how do you train?
I nearly missed Paul Smith's excellent views on cycled,race pace workouts as they were hidden in the Dara Torres thread and I had grown tired of it.I like to do 15 week cycles,increasing intensity for 12 wk and tapering for 3.I do 4 workouts/wk,2 are spinning,lifting,swimming and 2 are swimming only.While I enjoy a good workout but unlike Dave I have never found a workout as satisfying as a good race.So how do you train?
After reading Paul, Allen and Mel's plans, I think I could use some more micro-managing. I use periodization, but in a more haphazard fashion, getting thrown off track occasionally by life. My training cycles appear to depend on what meets I'm swimming in. My fav cycle is what I am doing this fall, train 12 weeks with generally increasing intensity and a 2 week taper for a mid-Dec. meet. That's roughly what I did this spring/summer before zones in August as well. The shorter cycle keeps me fresher and more motivated. The only thing I've done more of this fall, which I like, is that I started doing more race pace work sooner in the cycle. I train low yardage like Allen (this fall, 4x per week between 2500-3200), so I'm generally focusing on race pace work, quality sprinting and drills. I don't do that many pure or long aerobic sets.
I cross train with core work/weights usually 1-3x and do 1-2 runs per week. If my shoulder hurts, I run more and use my monofin more. I also like to have a new "focus" each training cycle. Earlier this year, I was very focused on using my monofin, middle of the year on SDKs/shooters, lately on doing more fly. Maybe beginning in Jan, I'll try to spin more if I can break my running addiction.
I'm not nearly as methodical as Allen or Paul or Ande though. I do most of my workouts myself, either making them up on my own and "guessing" what I should do or by stealing and modifying workouts from friends/forum. So I sometimes feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants and just hoping it all works out at meet time. (I see a scolding from Paul coming here.) It'd be nice to have more coaching and feedback. But in the absence of it, at least I can focus on sprinting and not get bogged down in distance free sets. Not that it's not wonderful for all you distance/OW folks!! It's just not for me and my shoulders or temperment. Overall, though, I think I'm getting a bit better at designing quality workouts.
I nearly missed Paul Smith's excellent views on cycled,race pace workouts as they were hidden in the Dara Torres thread and I had grown tired of it.I like to do 15 week cycles,increasing intensity for 12 wk and tapering for 3.I do 4 workouts/wk,2 are spinning,lifting,swimming and 2 are swimming only.While I enjoy a good workout but unlike Dave I have never found a workout as satisfying as a good race.So how do you train?
After reading Paul, Allen and Mel's plans, I think I could use some more micro-managing. I use periodization, but in a more haphazard fashion, getting thrown off track occasionally by life. My training cycles appear to depend on what meets I'm swimming in. My fav cycle is what I am doing this fall, train 12 weeks with generally increasing intensity and a 2 week taper for a mid-Dec. meet. That's roughly what I did this spring/summer before zones in August as well. The shorter cycle keeps me fresher and more motivated. The only thing I've done more of this fall, which I like, is that I started doing more race pace work sooner in the cycle. I train low yardage like Allen (this fall, 4x per week between 2500-3200), so I'm generally focusing on race pace work, quality sprinting and drills. I don't do that many pure or long aerobic sets.
I cross train with core work/weights usually 1-3x and do 1-2 runs per week. If my shoulder hurts, I run more and use my monofin more. I also like to have a new "focus" each training cycle. Earlier this year, I was very focused on using my monofin, middle of the year on SDKs/shooters, lately on doing more fly. Maybe beginning in Jan, I'll try to spin more if I can break my running addiction.
I'm not nearly as methodical as Allen or Paul or Ande though. I do most of my workouts myself, either making them up on my own and "guessing" what I should do or by stealing and modifying workouts from friends/forum. So I sometimes feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants and just hoping it all works out at meet time. (I see a scolding from Paul coming here.) It'd be nice to have more coaching and feedback. But in the absence of it, at least I can focus on sprinting and not get bogged down in distance free sets. Not that it's not wonderful for all you distance/OW folks!! It's just not for me and my shoulders or temperment. Overall, though, I think I'm getting a bit better at designing quality workouts.
