For instance, if you are focusing on the 5k is your base workout 5,000 M?
How much of the distance comes from the main set?
I've pretty much settled in on the 2000-2500 distance three times a week during the pool season and then switch to longer sets for the summer.
Yesterday I got up to a 2800 yard set consisting of 2x200 on 3:20 and 1x 400 on 6:40, repeat, trying to maintain my goal 1:30/100 pace for a mile. I'm curious how far I away I am from the training I need for a 2 mile or even 5k. Obviously, I'm not trying to win or anything. I'm thinking I could possibly even do it now if I relaxed and went easy, but I don't know. I've never been able to get myself to just do a straight swim, unless I am in a lake (which I haven't been able to do yet this year).
Parents
Former Member
I swim a wide range of freestyle events from the 50 free to 4.5 mile OW swims. So it really depends on what event I'm prepping for. By nature I'm mid-dist to distance swimmer so I do a combination of "quality" sets and "distance" type sets. By "quality" I mean anaerobic stuff. I believe its also good to mix things up no matter what your specialty. I will still train some IM and some Fly just to break things up. My age group coaches (Olympic coaches) always believed that it can only help you specialty to train some other strokes....IM and Fly always gets my HR up and gives some muscle confusion. Swimming cross training! Occasionally a KICK set may be my main set....not fun walking afterwards!
My distance usually doesn't vary that much (4000-6000 a session), but what I emphasize will. Some of the hardest practices can be the shortest and vice versa.
I swim a wide range of freestyle events from the 50 free to 4.5 mile OW swims. So it really depends on what event I'm prepping for. By nature I'm mid-dist to distance swimmer so I do a combination of "quality" sets and "distance" type sets. By "quality" I mean anaerobic stuff. I believe its also good to mix things up no matter what your specialty. I will still train some IM and some Fly just to break things up. My age group coaches (Olympic coaches) always believed that it can only help you specialty to train some other strokes....IM and Fly always gets my HR up and gives some muscle confusion. Swimming cross training! Occasionally a KICK set may be my main set....not fun walking afterwards!
My distance usually doesn't vary that much (4000-6000 a session), but what I emphasize will. Some of the hardest practices can be the shortest and vice versa.
