It occurred to me as I stood on deck at last Thursday’s morning swim that every week I write two new sets, coach two groups of athletes through them and, at the end of each session, wipe them from the board. It seemed a waste. They were recorded in my notebook and if they proved successful I’d add them to my library in TrainingPeaks, but why not share with a larger audience? I took a picture with my phone, filtered it with instagram – because everything is better filtered – and uploaded to the usual channels. It was a small step of logic to then form those weekly swims into an article.
The plan is a post each week containing the swim sessions I set and coached during that week. I’ll be honest, it’s easy content – I’m writing the sessions anyway – but sharing them keeps me on my toes. If it’s a terrible set you all see. This may be pressure I don’t need; I already fret over whether each new set is appropriate, engaging and interesting.
Tuesday 13th May 2013
| Warm Up | ||
|---|---|---|
| 200m Choice stroke | ||
| 2x |
100m Front crawl – pull 50m Side kick |
|
| 4x | 50m Front crawl on 15s rest Build within each 50. |
|
| 700m | ||
| Main Set | ||
| 4x | 100m at CSS/threshold pace on 20s rest | |
| 4x | 100m as 75m @ CSS, 5s rest, 25 HARD on 25s rest | |
| 4x | 100m as 50m @ CSS, 5s rest, 50 hard on 30s rest | |
| 4x | 100m at CSS/threshold pace on 15s rest | |
| 2,300m | ||
| Cool Down | ||
| 2x | 100m Alternating 50 back/50 front crawl | |
| 2,500m | ||
Thursday 16th May 2013
| Warm Up | ||
|---|---|---|
| 400m Front crawl, easy to steady | ||
| 6x | 50m Front crawl as 15m HARD, 35m relaxed on 10s rest | |
| 700m | ||
| Main Set | ||
| 500m Front crawl pull (paddles welcome too) – negative split on 20s rest | ||
| 5x | 100m Front crawl, moderate+ pace on 10s rest | |
| 400m Front crawl pull – negative split on 20s rest | ||
| 4x | 100m Front crawl, moderate+ pace on 10s rest | |
| 300m Front crawl pull – negative split on 20s rest | ||
| 3x | 100m Front crawl, moderate+ pace on 10s rest | |
| 200m Front crawl pull – negative split on 20s rest | ||
| 2x | 100m Front crawl, moderate+ pace on 10s rest | |
| 100m Front crawl pull – negative split on 20s rest | ||
| 100m Front crawl, moderate+ pace on 10s rest | ||
| 100m Backstroke, easy | ||
| 3,800m | ||
| Bonus Set | ||
| 6x | 100m Choice (IM is a good choice!) as 75m moderate, 25m (crawl) hard on 30s rest | |
| 4,400m | ||
| Cool Down | ||
| 200m Choice, at least half not front crawl | ||
| 4,600m | ||
Tuesday’s group thought it was a cruel set, but it kept them quiet and they swam the hard lengths hard. Today’s group thought the main set was long, but if you turn up for a 90 minute endurance focussed session, what do you expect? As it was I had to throw in the bonus set at the end; by then they’d done enough crawl to want to swim medley instead.
Look for new sets next Thursday/Friday. I’ll also upload pictures to my instagram account on the day and also collect them on this pinterest board.
