160 Days Remaining - Swim Workout

Today is the start of my new 31 week training plan. You can check out the prior post to read why I have chosen 31 weeks as starting point.

Today I headed to the pool for a swim workout. I was just in the pool yesterday for a great Tri Swim Class at Augustana. Stacey Zapolski, Tara Christensen, and Lisa Lammers helped guide a group of us towards swimming better in preparation for triathlons of all sizes. The group has continued to grow and grow. I always walk away from the class with some new things to work on, a few more drills to implement, and a better gauge on what has improved and what still needs work. I know that after class yesterday I still need focus on my arm position in the water and to continue to work on rolling out so I am not so flat in the water. These are my two key points that I am going to focus on the next month to see if I can improve these elements.

This morning I took one of the workouts that Tara put together for the group. I added a few more distances to the warm-ups to get in 2450 yards today.

Warm-Up
200 free
200 pull(I really focused on rolling as much as I could)
200 kick

Drill Set
6 x50 @ 20 second rest

I ended up barely resting just to keep things going at a good pace. I swam slow, but did not waste time between sets.

Set 1: Kick on side working on really extending the length of the pool
Set 2: 6 Kick switch still working on rolling and stretching
Set 3: Flickr - this is a new one and a drill I will do more often. It has you flick the water back at the end of your stroke. It is over exaggerate but helps with pushing all the way through the stroke and not ending early. If you can gain 3-4 inches per stroke because of this in the long run you are saving some major energy in a long swim.
Set 4: Fist and Fingertip - Fist swimming kills me. This drill is perfect for working on my arm position. I did the fist the first 25 and fingertip drag the last 25
Set 5: Head Up(Tarzan) - we did this drill at the clinic yesterday. It is tough. Swimming a 50 is a good workout for sure.
Set 6: DPS - Counting my strokes. When I started swimming I was around 18-19. Lately I have been at 14-15. At the clinic yesterday I was down to 13 for 3 x 25's. Today I was back at 14-15, but I know my kick was not as powerful as yesterday so that had to be the difference.

Main Set 1
6 x 100 Free @ 15 sec rest

I swam all of these at 1:30. I felt good about this. I was not tired and did not feel worn out either. With the shorter rest I was not sure how I would hold up, but I felt fine for all six of these. I have made some major improvements in my swim time. This was a great pace. I would say I was swimming at just a little over moderate pace. I never felt tired during the swim and felt comfortable.

Main Set 2
6 x75 Pull @ 1:30 - I started out too slow on the first set, but soon dialed it in finishing these in a little over a minute the last five giving me plenty of rest. My right shoulder started to feel a little sore at this point, but I don't believe it is anything major.

6 x 75 Kick with fins @1:40 - I actually moved this up to 1:30. I had to really get kicking to make the time split each time. I only had about a 5 second rest at the 1:30 pace time. This was a good workout. My legs were tired by the end.

50 yard cool down with fins to end the day.

Total: 2450 in 50 minutes

This was a great start to my 31 weeks of training. I hope to have more days like this. I need to get in some TRX training tonight. I have parent teacher conferences so this may not happen until tomorrow. I also need to get on the bike. Maybe a miracle will occur and my knee won't hurt so I can get back on track. Here is to a great week.