Triathlon Training: Week 5 Lactic Acid Threshold - Saturday Swim

I woke on one of my last days of holiday break to get in my final swim of the week. This is the first time I have done three swim workouts in one week(if I exclude the weeks I have swim class once a month which is not really a workout as much as instruction). I headed to the pool and found it bare and empty which was perfect. I hate a crowded pool.

After my last swim workout I realized that I need some work on my kick and keeping my legs from dragging in the water. When my legs drop it just makes me slower and harder to swim. Before I started adding more and more distance to my swim I really need to address this issue.

My original workout plan was the following



Here is the updated plan after realizing I need more work on my kick and form. I changed up the plan to give me more benefit to my time in the pool.

I kept the total distance the same which is rather high. I woke up thinking that it would not be in my best interest to swim almost 3000 yards, but I kept it at 2950 in case I jumped in the water and hit a power surge.

That power surge never came. I felt good in the pool. The warm up got me going. The 4 x 150 sets of kick, stroke count, and building speed was perfect. I kept my stroke count to around 14 which I was really happy with. I was focused on really reaching and turning my body at the hips on each stroke. I feel like I am swimming better, but I won't know for sure until next Sunday at swim class.

From this set I went into the 800 yard swim. This took me between 15-16 minutes. I was swimming faster than earlier in the week when I tested the 900 yard swim, but I could tell I was more tired. I am not ready for more and probably need to dial back and really focus on swimming with good technique at some shorter distances under 800 and build back up. Being a week off from school I really wanted to hammer some endurance.

After this 800 yard swim I knew it would not be smart to continue with this plan. Swimming 2950 would not provide me any benefit. So after the 800 yard swim I modified things up.

Here is what I ended up doing from start to finish

Warm-Up
150 free
100 pull
100 kick on back with fins

4 x 150 of 50 kick(fins, no board, arms at side), 50 count, 50 build

800 swim in 15-16 minutes

100 kick with fins and board to loosen legs and work on technique

100 - 50 of 6 count and 50 of shark

50 swim with fins

2 x 100 - Free

Total 2250

I am glad I took time to recognize that swimming another 700 would not be beneficial. My body was tired and my legs were shot. My kick was my focus. I shifted from a more endurance swim to a more structured drill workout. This change I felt was necessary to work on my swimming weakness. I had a great week of swimming and look forward to continuing to improve.

One more workout left for the day to end the tough week of training and then on to hanging out with my family to celebrate my son's birthday.