Session # 34

A tidy little set today to work on form whilst holding "80%" speed, i.e ~threshold pace for a short distance (50m).

 

Enjoy!

 

Paul

Session # 33

A lovely little set for working on your form and rhythm this morning...we're taking a recovery week this week over here in Perth (week # 3 of 16 of our Half Ironman Program).

 

Enjoy!

 

Paul

Session # 32

A super-simple threshold swim set which is the creme-de-la-creme or "backbone" of any distance freestyle swimming program. See if you can hold your CSS pace (less 3 seconds per 100m) from last week's time trial and maintain smooth form at the same time.

 

The key today is consistency. Grant Hackett would swim this session with no more than about 0.4 seconds differential between repeats - see how close you can get to this...no use setting a world record on # 1 and then dying miserably by # 6!

 

Enjoy!

 

More about triathlon swimming here.

Session # 31

A similar session to 2 weeks ago...steady and aerobic thinking about form and smooth strokes over fast times. On Thursday you'll have your chance to swim a little faster when we put our CSS times into practice, but today the name of the gave is quite literally to "Swim Smooth"!

 

Enjoy!

 

Paul

Session # 30 - Time Trial

If you don't time trial on a regular basis (every 4 to 6 weeks), how will you ever know if you're improving or not? Today's set is not to be missed...a 400m and 50m TT to calculate your Critical Swim Speed for use in subsequent sessions.

Use this calculator to work out your resulting CSS for future reference. This will give your CSS in metres/second. To transfer this into a more meaningful pace per 100m, use the following equation:

100/CSS = pace per 100m (in seconds)

Enjoy!

Session # 29

OK, we're off and rolling! This week marks the start of a 16 week program that the group over here in Perth is following in preparation for the Busselton Half Ironman on the 4th May.

 

As a note of advice, we will be swapping the Tuesday and Thursday swim sessions around for your information, such that our old Tuesday session used to be the shorter / faster / threshold set but will now be like Thursday's old session which was typically longer, steadier intervals of a more aerobic nature. Both sessions are ideal for helping you improve your swimming, but you may wish to look at your current program and see which session will suit you best as part of your schedule. So to re-iterate:

 

Tuesday = longer, steadier, aerobic session with limited rest periods.

 

Thursday = shorter, faster, threshold-type swim set with intervals between the 50m and ~200m marker.

 

So, for today...watch out for those 200m fins at the end of each set breathing 3s, then every 5, 7s and then 9s. Most of you should be able to manage the 3s and 5s, but will find the 7s and 9s (even with fins on) quite tough...key is to relax and think about keeping everything smooth!

 

Cheers

 

Paul

Session # 28 (apologies for the delay!)

We're just getting back into the swing of things over here in Perth - today's session is relatively steady and aerobic too.

 

We kick off a 16 week Half Ironman Program on Monday 14th January 2008, so be prepared for some challenging sets ahead!

 

Cheers

 

Paul

Session # 27 (first one of the New Year!)

Here's one to kick start your 2008 training year - a simple session which should be "cruised" not pushed!

 

Enjoy!

 

Paul