"An example would be a 5 x 100 test set on 4:00 (we did just that set this morning)"
hey chris how did it go?
Backstroke from the blocks on "go" in a SCY pool, I went 54, 55, 55, 55, 56.
I was REALLY sucking wind after the last one. I would say I was on avg about 0.5sec slower than a month ago. But I've been training quite hard lately and my legs have been really tired from some recent cycling, so I'm still reasonably pleased. A typical in-season time in a meet for me is 53-low.
Chris,
Thanks for your responses. I am just thinking about what I need to do to improve in the next year without increasing yardage and it is really helpful to hear what works for others and how everyone spends their time in the pool. I will modify my training a bit. I will hit zone 4 and 5 more often and throw in some weights. After reading about your training, I probably have spent less time in zones 4 and 5 than I thought - yikes.
Nice swims on the 5 X 100s.
Tim
I believe that our program is pretty typical--18-20K/week, a mix of En1, En2, and En3, main set averaging 1200-1500 yards, descending to race pace with occasional timed swims.
That's a bit less than our program, but pretty typical, I think. Is that in an hour? Our main sets tend to be more like 2000-3000 in Chris's Zone 3, with a drill, sprint, or kick supplemental set after, but we have 1.5 or 2 hours. (Because I go a lot, that ends up being ~25k a week; then again I have no childhood base, so I think it does me good.)
I am pretty impressed at the people who can get close to even in-season times in practice. For my 50, in-season is about 1.5s off my rested time and my practice time is about 2s off that. For the 100 it is probably more like 4s and 3s.
Chris must be a PhD or something. Much more technically oriented than the rest of us, but I agree that hitting as many zones as you can in the course of training has to be good.
I don't think what he's saying is very technical. It's pretty important to understand how training relates to racing, and that's all he's talking about.
FWIW (from a 40-44 fatty who's just on his way back into shape after a 20+ year lay-off, and who trained 15-20,000/day in college in the early 80s):
I'm a sprint breastroker who can bluff a 50 or 100 free on occasion.
I will alternate "fast" or "lactate" days with aerobic/recovery days. I will typically swim 5-6 days per week. I lift weights in the evenings, every other day. Occasionally I will run (I have run many marathons, half-'thons and 10ks in the past, but now my knees won't hold up) or cycle on a road bike for the variety.
Acknowledging my poor but improving conditioning, I find that I typically swim between 2,500 and 3,500 meters per workout.
On the fast days, this is +/- 1,000 warm-up, then a quality set - could be 6x50 on 2:00 all-out, could be 2-3x broken 100s, etc - and then a recovery or kick set.
On the aerobic/recovery days, this is +/- 800 warm-up, then a main set - could be 5x 5x100 (swim free, pull ***, kick w/ fins, swim ***, etc) with 15-20 sec rest after each 100 - then a warm-down.
Though I try to do my fast swims fast - my effort is certainly 95-100% - I find that I am nowhere near race speed. For example, I am hard-pressed to swim a 50m (SCM) *** in practice faster than 34 (albeit from a push), and I would hope to be 30+ LCM this summer.
I think that as we get older, the key is to maintain our youthful "speed" - anyone with decent shoulders can slog out a postal swim (what we used to call LSD - long slow distance), but it takes a certain type of training to be able to perform at race pace. I think this is why most of the workouts described here are variations on a theme: not too much yardage, ample recovery time, focus on speed and technique.
Of course, YMMV, especially if you want to swim a decent LCM 200...
Just my two cents worth...
Chris is a professer, and a world record holder in multiple events.
I guess that makes him a "textbook jock":joker:
Chris must be a PhD or something.
Tim
Let's look at Paul's training. What purposes do weights and spinning serve? They are not recovery and they are not race-pace training. He has said that he is not interested in fitness for its own sake, he wants to swim fast. So he must think these things help him do that. (Paul, I don't want to misrepresent you, pls correct me if I'm mistaken.)
Chris, typically I focus my training on the 200 free....than adjust somewhat based on wether I want to extend my range up (to the 500) or down (to the 50).
If its "up" (as it was for Austin) I'll do more aerobic based interval training sessions on a spin bike a couple times a week trying to move my HR into the 150 range over for 2:00 then recovery till it drops below 110...if it takes more than a minute to recover than I know I'm fatigued and/or a bit overtrained....which means recovery workouts till I'm feeling "fresh" again...could be 1-3 days. of light swimming or easy spins keeping heartrate below 120. I will also lift 1-2x a week max but still focus on explosive lifts...I always want to be powerful enough to blow by someone anywhere in a race and I believe this helps develop that kind of power.
If its "down" (Portland), I'll still spin (or row) but change the intervals to 30 seconds with 1-2:00 recovery again based on HR. In the water I do tons of 200 pace work...I need to have easy speed right at :30 seconds (LCM) for a 50 and HR under 150...so lots of descending sets, broken 200's (enjoy that wednesday Sam?!) However I also need to be aware of the tempo change for my 50/100 so even when given longer swims (400+) I'll cruise a 50 and work the turns and/or breakouts...or middle 25's (again talking LCM)...idea is to increase hand speed without slipping so instead of say 28-30 strokes per 50 I'm in the 36-38 range...HR needs to jump to 150 and not bow up. weights are 3x a week here alternating with swim days, typically 3 days working out/one full day off.
Spinning for me is a much easier way to push HR work...I can't even come close to it in a pool (not to mention my shoulders won't allow me anyway). Laura's the same...but a real animal; last week over a 1 hour spin she kept her HR over 170...took less her than 2:00 to drop below 90..she is and always will be in far better shape than I but again her "primary" goal is working out for fitness, for me I want my fastest swims in the meet practice...being fit is just a nice benefit of my workouts.
So where am I at? Still struggling with speed and pretty broken down...managed a 24 minute 2k open water swim last weekend keeping my HR in the 140 range till the last 500m where it went to 165 by the finish so my base is OK...now I need to find that "snap" for breaakouts/fast 25's/50's.
PS, I never even come close to meet times in workouts...never have.
I don't know about the men's locker room, but I haven't found or seen a single fegirl who isn't checking out how her butt looks in her fastskin.
Truth be told, Geek has been known to ask if a particular suit makes his butt look big.
I believe that our program is pretty typical--18-20K/week, a mix of En1, En2, and En3, main set averaging 1200-1500 yards, descending to race pace with occasional timed swims. I found that I needed to develop a solid aerobic base to complete long course workouts. And I agree with the other posters--recovery (within sets, between sets, and between workouts) is a much bigger issue in Masters than it was back in the day (when Carter was in the White House).
Now I understand why you moved to TX. You had to flee to a land of pansy workouts. If you ever want to man-up, you are always welcome back in NC. Bring your Starbucks card.
Tell you what, how about a postal challenge in the fall? 400 free, short course meters. You can swim it at Hillsborough, and I will swim it in Dallas. Loser will have to change his forum name to "Pansy" for a month.
