Does anyone have any good open water training sets / workouts that they do in the pool?
Parents
Former Member
My $0.02 -
Guv - If you are training through the race for something else, then, yes, use it like a workout and don't taper. Otherwise, I'd suggest at least a few days easier - it's nice to have a bit of extra glycogen in the muscles towards the end of the race. WRT sighting, don't get too focused on it. You WILL zig and zag a bit no matter what, but sighting too often is lots slower. Try to discipline yourself to only sight every X strokes (X >= 7) unless you are in a situation (e.g. near a turn) that demands more accuracy.
1999 - Examples of two workouts I "like":
For shorter races, throw in one or more sets of something like this:
Do as one continuous 1000 yard swim:
4 laps at race pace (+/-), and then 1 lap harder/faster,
3 laps at race pace, then 2 laps harder/faster
2 laps at race pace, then 3 laps harder/faster
1 lap at race pace, then 4 laps hard/faster.
For any race, but esp. longer ones:
Go continuously for a fixed total length of time at a strong pace, but every X minutes, go harder for a certain distance.
Example: Last weekend, I did 2+ hours of good pace and on every 10 minute mark, I'd do a harder 200, going right back to pace after. In this case it was like throwing 12 200's in the middle of a longer swim. It breaks up the boredom of a long swim as well.
-LBJ
My $0.02 -
Guv - If you are training through the race for something else, then, yes, use it like a workout and don't taper. Otherwise, I'd suggest at least a few days easier - it's nice to have a bit of extra glycogen in the muscles towards the end of the race. WRT sighting, don't get too focused on it. You WILL zig and zag a bit no matter what, but sighting too often is lots slower. Try to discipline yourself to only sight every X strokes (X >= 7) unless you are in a situation (e.g. near a turn) that demands more accuracy.
1999 - Examples of two workouts I "like":
For shorter races, throw in one or more sets of something like this:
Do as one continuous 1000 yard swim:
4 laps at race pace (+/-), and then 1 lap harder/faster,
3 laps at race pace, then 2 laps harder/faster
2 laps at race pace, then 3 laps harder/faster
1 lap at race pace, then 4 laps hard/faster.
For any race, but esp. longer ones:
Go continuously for a fixed total length of time at a strong pace, but every X minutes, go harder for a certain distance.
Example: Last weekend, I did 2+ hours of good pace and on every 10 minute mark, I'd do a harder 200, going right back to pace after. In this case it was like throwing 12 200's in the middle of a longer swim. It breaks up the boredom of a long swim as well.
-LBJ
