Two questions for you-- Do you know your weakness in your stroke/events? Second, Do you focus on that weakness during practice?
Interest and swimming. What do they have in common? Every time you show up for practice it's up to you how big of an investment your willing to put into your swimming. Overtime you small investments
(little things) will collect interest that you will be able withdraw during your races.
Each of our workouts tries to build on the last workout and in doing that we are building up a nest egg that can be used on race day. Sometimes, in the real world it's easier said than done, I get it for swimmers.
With that in mind I want to first talk about our warmup. I truly believe that most swimmers view this as goof off time or what I like to refer to as "garbage yardage", and this is totally the wrong approach to take during workouts or meets. While coaches are not putting your body into stressful situations during warmups they do expect you to focus on good technique, quality turns and all the other little things. During this part of the workout you are telling your body to "get ready" I'm about to put you through a workout.
Avoid this mindless yardage by setting a specific goal that you are going to work on. It could be as simple as a breathing pattern or maybe increasing your underwater dolphin kicks by 1 and doing the same number of strong kicks off EVERY WALL. Maybe today during every free set you really focus on pulling with that deep arm off you walls and not breathing on that first stroke. Try working on that finishing kick by focusing on going hard into all your walls from 10 meters out.
Maybe it could be doing "a little extra", but coach when do I have the time? Really! Maybe instead of plopping down on the ground and getting on your phones when you arrive you might do some light stretching on the mats and this may be a wake up call but you can actually do this while using your phones or listening to music.
Control the controllable, focus on your technique, your attitude, your routines at all workouts and on race day. Stop focusing on the noise that surrounds you. This is all part of developing a positive mindset.
There are always things that you can work on during practice that will be an investment come race day.
It's all about being BETTER THAN YOU WERE YESTERDAY.
SET OF THE WEEK
Why do it? This set was designed to maintain our aerobic base that took a little hit over the last few weeks between the snow storm, pool closings, and trying to stay fresh for two meets. It can be a delicate balance especially as we prepare for championship season.
Doing it correctly. The intervals on some of them were set to swim at 80% effort in an attempt to hold a steady pace with out much rest but at a lower heart rate. Looking for almost a continuous swim during all the 80% effort.
First we went through a normal warmup and then into a short pre set just to get the heart rate going.
PRE SET
TARGET IS TO GO ALL OUT ON ALL OF THEM NO BREATH OUT NO BREATH IN! 2 ROUNDS
- 50 free fast @55
- 25 free fast @40
- 50 free fast @50
- 25 free fast @35
- 50 free fast @45
- 25 free fast @1:25
RESET FOR ROUND 2
MAIN SET
3x100 free moderate pace (80%) @1:20
3x100 free @1:30 (90%)
100 primary stroke-non free (90%) @2:00
2X200 free moderate pace (80%) @2:45
2x200 free (85-90%)@3:00
200 (100 free cruise 15 seconds rest +100 primary stroke at 95%) @3:45
1x300 free moderate pace (80%) @4:15
1x300 free (200 at 90% +100 cruise @4:30
300 (200 free cruise rest 20 seconds +100 primary stroke at 100%)
NUTRITION TIP FOR THE WEEK
Before practice try to eat something to put a little fuel into your tank so you have the energy you will require. It should be an easily digestible such as toast, fruit, or dry cereal. Try to do this an hour or two before workout. You can still do this is time is short just make it a smaller amount and put the rest away for right after workout.
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