Performance or Pace-time?

There is a time and place for everything. The 100m free workout I posted is really one geared to swimming a fast 100 freestyle in a race about four to eight weeks out. Distance and Technique work is very important in the off season, good quality sets of 200s or 150s, even 4-6 x 400, all focusing on form rather than burn out speed is essential for building base for the 100 free along with weights, dips, pullups and core exercises for strength. Then when you become strong, say able to do 6-10 x 200 with quality, then in phase II you can start doing the 50s and 100s at distinct intervals and gradually begin to reduce the rest and build the speed from week to week. Finally as the event approaches, more and more speed work, both hard interval and well rested explosive swims, go for PRs in the 25, 50, 75 and the 100. You should do more sessions with fewer reps and longer rests but at faster quality speeds, essentially at race pace intensity. As the event or season approaches for the 100, if the swimmer has had an adequate base season, there becomes less benefit for anything above 150 for the 100 swimmer, except perhaps an occasional 200 or 400 on an off day or as a warmup, only speed and interval from six or eight weeks out, all depending on the swimmer of course. Even taking a rest day after 2 or 3 very hard days is more beneficial than a day of long slow yardage, because rest is more important for better quality sets and the focus of the 100 is speed. One good rest day is 20x25 rested untimed sprint drills with total emphasis on stroke efficiency to attain higher speeds, focusing on catch, pull, rotation, cadence, experimentation, etc, all starting slow and building to a cresendo of speed at the end, essentially having fun with speed without over exhaustion. Take a look at the comparative efforts of 400m sprinters in track, they rarely run a full mile except to warm up or cool down, it is all repeats of high speed 100s, 200s, 300s, 400s and sometimes interval 600s for endurance. Sometimes they will slow down a notch to focus on all important form, but rarely do they ever run an 800 time trial and a mile TT is totally out of the question, although there are certainly exceptions for elite runners. That is not to say that a slow five mile a day base season during the early winter off season might benefit some 400 sprinters when the spring workout season arrives, but any mileage above that is very questionable. One final note to the self trained: Have fun, if you are getting tired, drained, fatiqued, grouchy, take a day or even two off, take it down a notch, raise the rest interval, lower the speed and make it fun again, speed will eventually come with patience and if you push too hard every day you will burn out. I am a proponent that 2 or 3 intense days followed by a day of total rest might be the best approach for many, especially the older masters. I am sometimes amazed at the results after a day or two of rest, just don't eat too much on your day off.

There is a time and place for everything. The 100m free workout I posted is really one geared to swimming a fast 100 freestyle in a race about four to eight weeks out. Distance and Technique work is very important in the off season, good quality sets of 200s or 150s, even 4-6 x 400, all focusing on form rather than burn out speed is essential for building base for the 100 free along with weights, dips, pullups and core exercises for strength. Then when you become strong, say able to do 6-10 x 200 with quality, then in phase II you can start doing the 50s and 100s at distinct intervals and gradually begin to reduce the rest and build the speed from week to week. Finally as the event approaches, more and more speed work, both hard interval and well rested explosive swims, go for PRs in the 25, 50, 75 and the 100. You should do more sessions with fewer reps and longer rests but at faster quality speeds, essentially at race pace intensity. As the event or season approaches for the 100, if the swimmer has had an adequate base season, there becomes less benefit for anything above 150 for the 100 swimmer, except perhaps an occasional 200 or 400 on an off day or as a warmup, only speed and interval from six or eight weeks out, all depending on the swimmer of course. Even taking a rest day after 2 or 3 very hard days is more beneficial than a day of long slow yardage, because rest is more important for better quality sets and the focus of the 100 is speed. One good rest day is 20x25 rested untimed sprint drills with total emphasis on stroke efficiency to attain higher speeds, focusing on catch, pull, rotation, cadence, experimentation, etc, all starting slow and building to a cresendo of speed at the end, essentially having fun with speed without over exhaustion. Take a look at the comparative efforts of 400m sprinters in track, they rarely run a full mile except to warm up or cool down, it is all repeats of high speed 100s, 200s, 300s, 400s and sometimes interval 600s for endurance. Sometimes they will slow down a notch to focus on all important form, but rarely do they ever run an 800 time trial and a mile TT is totally out of the question, although there are certainly exceptions for elite runners. That is not to say that a slow five mile a day base season during the early winter off season might benefit some 400 sprinters when the spring workout season arrives, but any mileage above that is very questionable. One final note to the self trained: Have fun, if you are getting tired, drained, fatiqued, grouchy, take a day or even two off, take it down a notch, raise the rest interval, lower the speed and make it fun again, speed will eventually come with patience and if you push too hard every day you will burn out. I am a proponent that 2 or 3 intense days followed by a day of total rest might be the best approach for many, especially the older masters. I am sometimes amazed at the results after a day or two of rest, just don't eat too much on your day off.