I need a great!! speed workout.

Hi Nancy, How old are you? In terms of your work/rest ratio, you need to begin monitoring your heart rate on your sprint sets. Depending on your age, we'll use 22-29 as a benchmark, your 10 second heart rate at the immediate end of your sprint repetition should be at least 30 beats. That is, 30 beats in a 10 second period. 10-15 seconds later, your recovering heart rate should be around 18 in that 10 second window. Depending on your conditioning, this may vary a bit so tweak your rest on your hardest sets to your pulse. Now remember, it's not how hard you work in the pool that's important, you need to focus on how fast you recover - that's your gauge on how well conditioned you are. As you get older (typically mid-late 20s) you will notice that your endurance will tend to improve on the mid-distance and distance events. Now, as the others were saying, all-out sprints are essential, but you always have to come back to technique / perfect stroke. Make sure you don't sacrifice your efficiency for high turnover. That's an easy and deadly habit to get into. Prepare your sprint sets with drills. Concentrate on your reach, catch, and finish. High elbows and tight stroke will give you a shorter range of motion and the ability to increase turnover while holding on to efficiency. All swimmers at every level have to come back to these basic principals, so don't feel like these drills are too fundmental. They need to be a core part of your training. As far as total yardage goes, this is also a bit of an art. Americans tend to pile on yardage, but I have some swimmers that respond much better after stepping away from the pool. Other swimmers need more yardage to feel comfortable. What works for one, won't work for the other. Try 4,000 meters for one and half hours, then peel it back to 3,500 at times. Keep records of all your workouts and note what is working and why you think so. Most important though, have you discussed your specific goals with your coach?

Hi Nancy, How old are you? In terms of your work/rest ratio, you need to begin monitoring your heart rate on your sprint sets. Depending on your age, we'll use 22-29 as a benchmark, your 10 second heart rate at the immediate end of your sprint repetition should be at least 30 beats. That is, 30 beats in a 10 second period. 10-15 seconds later, your recovering heart rate should be around 18 in that 10 second window. Depending on your conditioning, this may vary a bit so tweak your rest on your hardest sets to your pulse. Now remember, it's not how hard you work in the pool that's important, you need to focus on how fast you recover - that's your gauge on how well conditioned you are. As you get older (typically mid-late 20s) you will notice that your endurance will tend to improve on the mid-distance and distance events. Now, as the others were saying, all-out sprints are essential, but you always have to come back to technique / perfect stroke. Make sure you don't sacrifice your efficiency for high turnover. That's an easy and deadly habit to get into. Prepare your sprint sets with drills. Concentrate on your reach, catch, and finish. High elbows and tight stroke will give you a shorter range of motion and the ability to increase turnover while holding on to efficiency. All swimmers at every level have to come back to these basic principals, so don't feel like these drills are too fundmental. They need to be a core part of your training. As far as total yardage goes, this is also a bit of an art. Americans tend to pile on yardage, but I have some swimmers that respond much better after stepping away from the pool. Other swimmers need more yardage to feel comfortable. What works for one, won't work for the other. Try 4,000 meters for one and half hours, then peel it back to 3,500 at times. Keep records of all your workouts and note what is working and why you think so. Most important though, have you discussed your specific goals with your coach?