Weekly Swim Sets: May 16th, 2013

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

swimset20130514

Tuesday 13th May 2013 – Threshold/Speed Session
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

swimset20130516

Thursday 16th May 2013 – Endurance Session
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.

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