Of Swimming Bondage

I completely forgot to blog last Sunday's attempt (10-09) at the 400 IM test set, but you can look at today's results and see the exact same performance. But, before that, I did the endurance workout #3 from this past week's training thread - http://forums.usms.org/showthread.ph...tart-Oct-10th).

Saturday the 15th

Warmup (1,600 set)
Go straight through on the intervals, making the 2nd effort of each distance faster than the first

• 1 x 50: easy w/snorkel
• 2 x 250: on 3:30, pull with buoy, paddles, snorkel
• 2 x 200: on 3:50, IM kick
• 2 x 150: on 2:40, fly-back-breast
• 2 x 100: on 1:55, IM kick
• 2 x 50: on 0:50, free swim
• 1 x 50: easy w/snorkel

Gobs of 300s (2,850 set / 4,500 total)
The set is 3 rounds of 3 x 300 on 4:30

• TARGET is the average result from the most recent 3 x 300 test set, which was roughly 3:30 for me
• Try to swim precisely as follows
  
  • Round 1 - go TARGET + 0:20, TARGET + 0:10, TARGET + 0:05
    
    • My goal then was 3:50, 3:40, 3:35, but I was 3:54, 3:43, 3:38
    
    
  • Round 2 - go TARGET, TARGET + 0:20, TARGET + 0:05
    
    • My goal was 3:30, 3:50, 3:35, but I was 3:35, 3:50, 3:38
    
    
  • Round 3 - go TARGET, TARGET + 0:20, and then AFAP
    
    • My goal was 3:30, 3:50, faster than 3:30, but I was 3:34, 3:52, 3:34
  
  
• Take an extra 2:00 rest after each round and do an easy 50 during that

Did one extra 50 after it was all done just to get to 4,500 SCM

Sunday the 16th - 400 IM test set

Warmup sets (1,750 set)

• 1 x 400: IM, kick-drill by 25
• 4 x 100: on 1:30, free descend swim w/snorkel and paddles (1:18, 1:16, 1:14, 1:12)
• 8 x 25: on 0:35, w/monofin going twice thru 2 breaths moderate, 0 breaths moderate, 1 breath moderate, 0 breaths AFAP
• 4 x 50: on 1:05, dolphin-breast kick descend
• 6 x 50: on 1:00, #1 and #6 cruise free, #2 to #5 IM order build
  
  • 0:36+, 0:36+, 0:43, 0:35
  
  
• 6 x 25: on 0:30, going 5-6-7-8 AFAP strokes off the wall on the first 4, cruise #5 and AFAP on #6; w/Finis Agility Paddles
• 1 x 100: 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+
  • 10/09/16 - pretty much the same as 10/02
  • 10/16/16 - 0:35, 0:36, 0:43, 0:33
  
  
• 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-
  • 10/09/16 - pretty much the same as 10/02
  • 10/16/16 - 1:26, 1:22, 1:18, 1:16
  
  
• Masters' Two Minutes and an easy 50
• 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
  • 10/09/16 - 2:50, 2:36
  • 10/16/16 - 2:52, 2:36
  
  
• 4 x 50: active recovery, on 0:45, 0:50, 0:55, 2:30
• 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)
  • 10/09/16 - 5:18+ (from dive)
  • 10/16/16 - 5:19 (from dive)
  
  
• 4 x 50: active recovery, on 0:45, 0:50, 0:55, 2:30

TOTAL: 3,800 SCM

Comments:

• I've been thinking lately that my pool was at the perfect temperature. I had turned the chillers off after Labor Day weekend and had this idea that the water was around 78 degrees. I actually checked it today and it's 74, which still felt pretty nice. I'm not going to turn any sort of heat on until after next weekend's Open Water State Championships - https://azopenwater.com/state-championship/ - where I'm going to play 'sprinter' and do the 1500M. That should allow me to be well acclimated to the Lake Pleasant water temp.
• Swimming highlight of the weekend was not my workouts, but taking our friends' son down to the Special Olympics and then watching him win his race. He's a great kid who has made great strides in his swimming over the last couple of years and his joy in both being there and in winning was incredibly infectious.