Betsy's 1 Hr Workouts

Introduction. I coach 3 mornings a week at a 25 meter pool with an average of 25 swimmers in 5 lanes. I coach 2 evenings a week at a 25 yard pool with an average of 12-14 swimmers in 5 lanes. Both workouts are for one hour. They are mixed groups with competitive swimmers, triathletes, and people who just want a good workout. Ages range from 20 to 87, with an occassional teen-ager dropping in. My emphasis is on techinique and pace. I swim 3 days a week with a coach at a Y pool. I use some sets that I learn from my coach, Laura Peter. I also write a workout for myself for Saturday mornings. The workouts that I coach are 2500-2800 meters for the fastest lane, scaled down for other lanes. In the yard pool, they are 2700-3000 yards for the fastest lanes. For my personal workouts, I aim for 2500 yards and try to boost it to 2700 in the fall.
  • Wednesday, June 4 Warm-Up (700-900) 200-400 Freestyle. 75 Swim/25 Drill. ~Fins on~ 200 Backstroke. 25K on rt/25K on lft/50 chg 6/ 50 chg 6 with 3/50 chg 3 with 3. 100 Swim 50 back/50 free. ~Keep fins on. Get paddles~ 200 Freestyle. 25 rt arm only/25 lft arm only/25 swim/50 3r-3-3l/25 swim ~Fins and paddles off~ Main (1500-1700) 2 x 100 Swim, choice. Both 100s should be the same. On 1:45, 2:05, 2:15, 2:30, 2:50. 4 x 100 Pull, free. On 1:30, 1:50, 2:00, 2:15, 2:40. 3 x 100 Swim, free. Descend. On 1:35, 1:55, 2:05, 2:20, 2:45. 8 x 25 Odds fast, evens easy. On :30, :40, :45, :45, :55. ~Fins optional~ (2-3) x 100 25 Kick/75 Swim. Choice. Rest 15. (2-3) x 100 75 Swim/ 25 Kick. Choice. Rest 15. Cool-Down (200) Easy swim or pull.
  • Friday, June 6 Warm-Up (1000) 100 catch-up, wide entry 100 free swim 100 free pull 100 free swim 50-100 breaststroke kick 50 (2 x 25) *** pull 25 *** pull with fly kick (1 kick per pull) 25 (2 *** pull with fly kick / 2 br pull with br kick) 50-100 *** swim ~fins on~ 200 Kick 100 back/100 free 100 Swim 50 back/50 free Main (1600) 100 Swim, set pace you can hold. Get time. 200 (50 drill/50 swim x 2 300 (50 non free/100 free) x 2 400 Pull 300 Swim 200 Pull 100 Swim, free. Compare time to 1st 100 Cool-Down (100) 200 IM (25 kick/25 drill) of each stroke
  • Mon, June 9 Warm-Up (1000) 800 as 200 Swim/200 Pull/200 Kick/200 Swim with fins. Stop after each 200. ~Fins off~ Talk about fly kick. Swim ½ length without kicking. (1-2) x 100 IM Main (1600) 3 x 100 all free, descend or #1,2 free, descend, #3 choice. 1:30, 1:55, 2:05, 2:20, 2:45 8 x 50 as 2 sets of (4 x 50). In each set, one stroke for #1-3 descend, #4 easy choice. On :50, 1:05 or 1:10, 1:15, 1:30, 1:50 200 Pull. Work on alternate breathing and rolling hips both ways. No paddles. 3 x 100 all free, descend or #1,2 free, descend, #3 choice. 1:30, 1:55, 2:05, 2:20, 2:45 2 x 200 #1 50 paddles and fins/50 fins/50 swim (no toys)/50 swim with paddles #2 Swim. Work on early catch, good pull. Cool-Down (100) 4 x 25, mix it up, perfect stroke
  • Wed, Jun 11 Warm-Up (1000) 250-500 Snake Swim (up and down lane, duck under lane line) 250 Snake Kick (fins ok) 5 x 50 Drill/Swim, choice. Main (1600) 400 as 2 x (2 x 50, 100). Try to do 100 at the pace you set in the 50s. Rest 20 before repeating. Rest 10-15 after each 50. 200 as 2 x 100. Choice, don’t have to be same. Predict your time. Rest 20 between 100s. 100 We will do this using 4 lanes, one lane open for swimming. Each lane will have swimmer from a different lane. I want you to predict your time without depending on lane mates. 300 as 4 x (25K / 25 D / 25 S). Fins ok. ~Back to regular lanes~ 300 Broken swim. 100 free, rest 10, get time. 100 choice, rest 10, get starting time for last 100 free. Try to make first and last 100s the same. 300 Pull. Cool-Down (100) Easy swim
  • Friday, June 13 Warm-Up (1100) 600 as 200 swim/100 pull/100 swim/200 pull 300 as 100 kick/50 swim/50 kick/100 swim 200 as 4 x 50 choice. Increase effort. Go on 3rd touch. Main (1400) 200 swim, moderate, choice 150 as 3 x 50 descend 2 x 100 rest 20-30, don’t wait. Predict your time. 1 x 100 Announce your predicted time. Go 10 sec apart. See if you are more accurate than Wed 150 as 2 x 75 (#1 – 25 non/25 free/25 non), rest 15, (#2 - 25 free/25 non/25 free) 3 x 100 Pull on 1:25, 1:45, 1:55, 2:05, 2:15, 2:45 300 Swim, choice Cool-Down (100) 4 x 25
  • Monday, June 16 Warm-Up (1000) 600 (200 swim/200 pull/200 kick) 300 (4 x 75). Rest 15 or go on 4th. #1 non/fr/non, #2 fr/non/fr, #3-4 choice 4 x 25 One of each stroke Main (1600) (6-10) x 100 Odds are non-free, IM, or 25 drill/25 swim free. Evens are free. L3 L4 L5 L6 L7 L8 Intervals: 1:45 2:05 2:10 2:15 2:30 3:00 1:30 1:45 1:55 2:05 2:20 2:40 200 Pull, recovery (2-8) x 50 Odds are drill/swim, evens are swim (try to predict your time). Go on 4th. Cool-Down (100) Easy swim
  • Wednesday, June 18 Warm-Up (1000) 200-300 75 free/25 non free 300 (25K/25D/25S). Continuous, fins ok. 100 Swim with fins, choice 100 Swim with fins and paddles, choice 100 Swim with paddles, choice 100 Swim, no toys Main (1600) See chart for 300 pace. Decide average per 100 for a 300. Freestyle. (700) 3 x 50 at your chosen pace. On: 1:00, 1:15, 1:15, 1:20, 1:40 2 x 100 at the same pace. On 1:45, 2:10, 2:10 or 2:15, 2:30, 3:10 1 x 300 Time yourself 50 easy swim Freestyle Pull. (500) 1 x 300 Same pace? 2 x 100 Same pace? 2 x 50 choice, recovery. Rest 10-15 . (2-6) x 50 choice. On: Tom 1:00, L4 1:05, L5 1:10, L6 1:20, L7 1:30, L8 2:00
  • Friday, June 20 Warm-Up (1000) 50 Free 100 25 back/25 free 150 Free pull with paddles 200 Free pull without paddles 300 50 Kick/50 Swim (fins ok) 200 50 *** with 1 fly kick per stroke / 50 free / 50 back /50 free 150 (fins off) (25 ***/50 free) x 2 100 2 x 50 choice, rest 15, descend 50 Swim free, long and strong Main (1600) After each part, rest and regroup. 50 choice, moderate. Get time. 2 x 50 choice. Rest 15. 3 x 50 free, descend. On :50, 1:00, 1:05, 1:20, 1:40 50-100-50 Pull, no paddles. On :50/1:40, 1:00/2:00, 1:05/2:10, 1:20/2:40, 1:40/3:00 3 x 100, choice. Choice, on ? Can mix it up. 50-100-50 Free. Same as above. 150 Swim free/non/free 100 Good effort, choice 50 Easy 300 Kick
  • Monday, June 23 Warm-Up (1000) 5 x 100. Swim. Stop after each 100 to regroup. #1-2 free, #3-5 choice. These should be easy!!! 5 x 100. Pull. Increase effort or descend #1-3. Keep pace for #3 on #4-5. Decide on interval for 10-20 sec rest. Main (1500) 3 x 100 free on (1:30), 1:40, 2:00, 2:10, 2:20, 2:50. Should be aerobic. 100 (25 drill/25 swim) 3 x 100 free on (1:25), 1:35, 1:55, 2:05, 2:15, 2:45. Anaerobic threshold. 100 (25 non/25 free) 3 x 100 free on (1:20), 1:30, 1:50, 2:00, 2:10, 2:40. Should be challenging. 4 x 25, choice, count strokes. (2-6) x 50 do in groups in of 2. #1 easy, #2 pace for 200. Do #1, rest 15, then #2. Rest 20-30 to regroup and repeat for #3, #4, etc. Cool-Down (100-300) 50 kick/50 swim
  • Wednesday, June 25 Warm-Up (1000) 200 Swim, 75 free/25 choice 200 Pull, free 100 Free. 2 x 25 as 25 ½ one-arm, ½ swim; 50 swim 100 Back. Same as above. (4-8) x 50 #1, 4, 7 Free, check time. Others choice. Rest 10-15. Don’t stay together. Main (1600) 3 x 100 Descend. Get heart rate up. On 1:30, 1:45, 1:55, 2:05, 2:20, 2:50 1 x 200 Free. Good effort. Get time. 2 x 50 easy. Rest 10-15. Choice, recovery. 3 x 100 Pull on 1:25, 1:40, 1:50, 2:00, 2:15, 2:45 150-450 (3-9) x 50 Choice. Preferably non-free, but free ok. Descend #1-3. Stop. Rest 30. Descend #4-6. Stop, Descend #7-9. On 1:00, 1:10, 1:20, 1:30, 1:45. Take advantage of rest by going fast!!! 100-250 50 Kick/50 Swim Cool-Down (100) Easy swim