Of Swimming Bondage

I didn't have the freakishly low heart rate like the last time I did my 8 x 100 "Salo pulse plot" test set, but some speed is finally starting to seep back into my workouts:

• Warmup sets:
  
  • 1 x 400: 100 fr, 200 IM k/d, 100 fr
  • 4 x 100: on 1:40, gentle descend
    
    • 09/06/10 - 1:20, 1:17, 1:12, 1:09+
    • 10/06/10 - 1:17, 1:14, 1:12, 1:07
    • 05/13/11 - 1:13, 1:10, 1:08, 1:05
    • 06/10/11 - 1:16, 1:13, 1:08, 1:07
    • 08/06/11 - 1:15, 1:12, 1:09, 1:07-
    • 09/03/11 - 1:16, 1:13, 1:11, 1:09
    • 10/01/11 - 1:16, 1:15, 1:12, 1:08+
    • 11/01/11 - 1:17 down to 1:13
    • 12/01/11 - 1:15, 1:11, 1:08, 1:05
    • 02/21/12 -- used buoy and paddles and didn't push too hard (1:21 -> 1:15)
    • 03/20/12 - 1:19, 1:16, 1:13, 1:10+
    
    
  • 4 x 100: on 2:00, kick w/board, descend, dolphin/flutter by 25s except where noted
    
    • 09/06/10 - 1:36 to 1:31
    • 10/06/10 - 1:38 to 1:30
    • 05/13/11 - 1:37, 1:33, 1:31, 1:29
    • 06/10/11 - 1:37, 1:34, 1:33, 1:32
    • 08/06/11 - 1:35, 1:34, 1:29, 1:27 (did evens on back without board)
    • 09/03/11 - 1:39, 1:41, 1:35, 1:35
      
      • Did IM kick dds w/board, evens on back no board
      
      
    • 10/01/11 - 1:43, 1:43, 1:34, 1:33+
      
      • IM kick, odds w/board, evens on back no board
      
      
    • 11/01/11 - 1:43 to 1:35, all IM kick w/board (e.g., 'backstroke' was flutter on belly)
    • 12/01/11 - 1:35, 1:32, 1:29+, 1:26, all IM kick w/board (e.g., 'backstroke' was flutter on belly)
    • 03/20/12 - 1:39, 1:37+, 1:35, 1:33+, all IM kick w/board (e.g., 'backstroke' was flutter on belly)
    
    
  • 6 x 50: on 1:00
    
    • #1 & #6 easy free
    • #2 to #5, IM order build, was 0:34+, 0:35, 0:40, 0:32
    
    
  • 4 x 25: on 0:40, 5-6-7-8 strokes free AFAP off wall by 25
  • 1 x 100: easy, ended up being on about 2:40
  
  
• Salo Test Set #2: Pulse Chart
  
  • 8 x 100: on 3:00, taking pulse for 0:10 three times after swim: immediately, 0:30 after swim, 1:00 after swim
  • Aim was to go 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%, 100%, 90%, 80%, 70%
  • 09/06/10 - 1:12, 1:08, 1:04+, 1:02-, 1:02-, 1:05, 1:07+, 1:09+
  • 10/06/10 - 1:10, 1:06, 1:04, 1:02, 1:02, 1:06, 1:07, 1:08
  • 05/13/11 - 1:10, 1:05, 1:04, 1:02, 1:03, 1:05, 1:07, 1:09
  • 06/10/11 - 1:08, 1:05, 1:04, 1:03, 1:04, 1:06, 1:07, 1:08
  • 08/06/11 - 1:10, 1:06, 1:05, 1:02+, 1:01+, 1:06, 1:07, 1:09
  • 09/03/11 - 1:13, 1:09+, 1:07, 1:04+, 1:04-, 1:07+, 1:09-, 1:11
  • 10/01/11 - 1:10, 1:09., 1:05, 1:03, 1:03, 1:06+, 1:07+, 1:12
  • 11/01/11 - 1:13, 1:09, 1:07+, 1:03+, 1:03, 1:07, 1:09+, 1:10-
  • 12/01/11 - 1:09+, 1:05, 1:05, 1:01+, 1:02+, 1:04+, 1:06+, 1:08
  • 02/21/12 - 1:11, 1:10, 1:07, 1:05, 1:04+, 1:06, 1:08, 1:10
  • 03/20/12 - 1:10, 1:06+, 1:04, 1:02, 1:02, 1:05+, 1:06, 1:08+
  • Pulse plot below
  • Salo recommends this set on 4:00 interval, but for consistency's sake, I've kept this on 3:00
  
  
• 6 x 50: active recovery, 2 each on 0:40, 0:45, 0:50
• 2 rounds (fly on rd1, back rd 2) of:
  
  • 4 x 25: on 0:30, drill stroke
  • 3 x 50: on 1:00, kick stroke descend
  • 2 x 75: on 1:30, cruise going stroke swim, free swim, stroke drill by 25s
  • 1 x 100: on 2:00, IM fast
    
    • 1:12+ first round
    • 1:11 second round
    
    
  
  
• 4 x 50: on 0:45, 0:50, 0:55, active recovery

TOTAL: 4,000 SCM


Commentary:

• I finally got back to max speed that was closer to my best performance on this set, so I am pretty happy with the speed. I was kind of hoping I'd keep the very low heart rate from last month, but that wasn't to be today.
• The pulse plot below compares my best ever performance from a speed & heart-rate standpoint (last summer a little before my taper meet) with the last 2 months:

• I wonder if the increase in quality efforts over the last couple of weeks has created a little training fatigue?
• I'll do this set again in 4 weeks, a time that will put me just about the same time ahead of Greensboro as I was for my LCM taper meet.