Of Swimming Bondage

... but I'm going to try to do it weekly between now and the Ron Johnson meet in mid-November. I figure there's not enough time for me to get into decent enough shape for the 800 or 1500, but that I might be able to pull off a respectable 400 IM. Today's effort was done in an unexpected, but largely gentle rainstorm (fortunately, no lightning). I cut the warmup short, both because my time was constrained and I want to keep the overall volume in the low 3K range:

Warmup sets (1,200 set)

• 1 x 300: IM, kick-drill=swim by 25
• 4 x 100: on 1:30, free descend pull w/buoy, paddles and snorkel (1:15, 1:13+, 1:12, 1:09+)
• 4 x 50: on 1:00, dolphin-flutter kick descend w/board (0:50, 0:47, 0:46, 0:43+)
• 6 x 25: on 0:35, going 5-6-7-8 AFAP strokes off the wall on the first 4, cruise #5 and AFAP on #6; w/Finis Agility Paddles
• 4 x 25: on 0:30, IM order, swim half lap strong stroke, then easy free
• 1 x 50: easy

400 IM Test Set (2,050 set / 3,800 total)

• 8 x 50: on 1:00, 2 each stroke, build the odds and make sure the evens are at your target 400 IM race pace
  
  • In SCM, my dream is to approach the 4:39.8 I did in 2008 in a tech suit. That race was split 1:03.8, 1:11.5, 1:21.1, 1:03.4 so target 50 times would be 33.5 (2nd 50 of fly), 35+ (back), 40+ (breast) and 31+ (free)
  • My SCY splits to dream of would be 29+ fly, 31+ back, 36+ breast, 29.0 free
  • 09/17/13 - 35+, 35, 42, 33
  • 09/23/13 - 33, 35, 40+, 31+ (much better!)
  • 10/06/13 - 34, 35, 41, 32 (a little sluggish)
  • 10/27/13 - 33, 34+, 41, 31- (much better than expected)
  • 10/30/13 - 33, 34, 40+++/41---, 31-
  • 04/01/14 - 0:33, 0:35, 0:40+, 0:32
  • 04/14/14 - 0:33+, 0:35+, 0:41, 0:31+
  • 06/01/14 - 0:33+, 0:35, 0:42, 0:31
  • 06/27/14 - 0:34, 0:35, 0:42, 0:32
  • 07/27/14 - 0:35, 0:35, 0:42, 0:32
  • 05/21/16 - 0:36, 0:37, 0:42, 0:33+
  • 06/12/16 - 0:34, 0:36, 0:41, 0:33
  • 10/02/16 - 0:35, 0:35, 0:42, 0:31+
  
  
• 4 x 100: on 1:50, do as 100 IMs, descend to your target race pace divided by 4, ideally starting on #1 no slower than 12 seconds above that
  
  • SCM target would be to descend from 1:22 to 1:10
  • SCY target would be to descend from 1:14+ to 1:02+
  • 09/17/13 - 1:23, 1:22, 1:19, 1:14
  • 09/23/13 - 1:21, 1:19, 1:15, 1:12+
  • 10/06/13 - 1:21, 1:17+, 1:14, 1:12-
  • 10/27/13 - 1:21, 1:18, 1:15, 1:11+
  • 10/30/13 - 1:21, 1:18, 1:14, 1:12
  • 04/01/14 - 1:21, 1:19, 1:14, 1:13
  • 04/14/14 - 1:20, 1:18, 1:13+, 1:11
  • 06/01/14 - 1:22, 1:20, 1:15+, 1:13
  • 06/27/14 - 1:20, 1:18, 1:14, 1:11+
  • 07/27/14 - 1:20, 1:16, 1:14, 1:11
  • 05/21/16 - 1:21+, 1:17, 1:15, 1:13
  • 06/12/16 - 1:21+, 1:18, 1:15, 1:12+
  • 10/02/16 - 1:23, 1:19, 1:16+, 1:15-
  
  
• Supposed to just take a Masters Minute and do an easy 50, but it's been so long that I forgot that and went 4 x 50 easy w/snorkel & buoy on 0:40, 0:45, 0:50, 1:25
• 2 x 200: on 3:20, build each stroke on #1, try to make #2 at your target 400 IM race pace divided by two (e.g., 2:20 in SCM, 2:05+ in SCY)
  
  • 09/17/13 - 2:49, 2:38
  • 09/23/13 - 2:49, 2:33
  • 10/06/13 - 2:45, 2:33
  • 10/27/13 - 2:43, 2:32
  • 10/30/13 - 2:41, 2:30+
  • 04/01/14 - 2:47, 2:36
  • 04/14/14 - 2:48, 2:30
  • 06/01/14 - 2:43, 2:32
  • 06/27/14 - 2:43+, 2:31
  • 07/27/14 - 2:45, 2:31
  • 05/21/16 - 2:47, 2:35
  • 06/12/16 - 2:45, 2:30
  • 10/02/16 - 2:48, 2:37
  
  
• 3 x 50: active recovery, on 0:50, 1:00, 1:30
• 1 x 400: IM on 6:00, AFAP, from blocks
  
  • 09/17/13 - 5:36 (ugh-o-rama)
  • 09/23/13 - 5:15
  • 10/06/13 - 5:10 (1:11, 1:19, 1:30, 1:10)
  • 10/27/13 - 5:20 (1:13, 1:21, 1:32, 1:14)
  • 10/30/13 - 5:12 (1:14, 1:20, 1:28, 1:10)
  • 04/01/14 - 5:21 (no splits)
  • 04/14/14 - skipped it
  • 06/01/14 - 5:13 (from dive)
  • 06/27/14 - 5:08 (from dive) <= BEST EVER on this set
  • 07/27/14 - skipped it
  • 05/21/16 - 5:21+ (from dive)
  • 06/12/16 - 5:13+ (from dive)
  • 10/02/16 - 5:18 (from dive)
  
  
• 1 x 100: easy

TOTAL: 3,250 SCM

Comments:

• While I didn't have an official time on the straight 4IM, that was about 5 seconds faster than last Sunday (http://forums.usms.org/entry.php?396...on-Stage-Three) so that's pretty good. It really goes to show to me what a good week of no biz travel can do for my training.
• My performance on Friday night doing my broken mile was better than expected (going 0:36, 0:35, 0:34s by rounds on the 50s, 1:13 -> 1:09 on the 100s and was 1:48, 1:47, 1:45+++ on the 150s).
• Yesterday, I just did my 20 minute run on the treadmill and then an easy 750 SCM cool-down.
• For all fans of quirky & dark (comedy-ish) movies, check out The Dressmaker. Saw it yesterday afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it.