speed and endurance - a 5k training

RE: speed and endurance - a 5k training

srcoyote — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:48:03 GMT

I'll only be doing one 5K this year -- The Big Shoulders in Chicago in September. All my other swims are at different distances. Once I get a long course pool open, I'll be attempting some longer swims on time to see how I progress.

RE: speed and endurance - a 5k training

srcoyote — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:16:41 GMT

The endurance drop off seems to be after the 1500. I've never done one that fast, but my 5K time is the same as yours. I only used to train with 500's and above and never saw my 5K time improve. I am now using the workouts on the forums which mix 400's with 200's and 100's. In the past two years, I've swum similar times as yours in both 50's and 5K's. I've noticed this year, that my per 100 pace on long swims is starting to speed up as I work in more interval work. Instead of resting 15 sec after a 200, I'll shoot for a set that looks like: 4 X 200 on 3:15 (target 2:55 which is a little faster than my forever pace) 4 X 200 on 3:10 (target 2:50) 4 X 200 on 3:00 (target 2:45) As I get deeper into spring, I plan to continue to shorten the intervals. If you're doing 400's, I think should consider shorter rest intervals. 8 or 10 X 400 is a good main set, but shoot for an interval that gives you 15 to 20 seconds rest. When I was doing 500's with 30 seconds rest, I gained the ability to swim longer distances, but never improved my pace.

RE: speed and endurance - a 5k training

Former Member — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 08:45:31 GMT

Thanks a lot! I'll try anything, because I've got nothing to lose. Before I used to swim 4, 5, sometimes even 7 k..no intervals, no broken 800's, 1000's, just 6 or 7 k free..boring, and obviously no result. Thank you both again, I'll surely give it a go with 400's, 200's and 100's. @srcoyote: I'm now really interested in your improvement and your 5 k time, when's your 1st race?

RE: speed and endurance - a 5k training

Former Member — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 07:16:03 GMT

First of all, thanks for the reply. Currently I was doing 100's with a 15 sec rest, but now I'm looking into preparing for the 5 k..So I guess I should do 400's now, for the 5 k race? How many repeats, 10 x 400 as a main set, enough or not?

RE: speed and endurance - a 5k training

ViveBene — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:44:54 GMT

The coaching forum offers daily workouts; most of the 4 coaches get around to a good distance workout once a week. What distances and intervals do you do currently? A lot of success in distance swimming seems to come from toughening up on much shorter distances: 5 x 100 descend. Broken 500s.