Of Swimming Bondage

Though my blogging has lagged, my December training has been going fairly well. I had originally envisioned an 'animal month' of higher volume as I resigned from my previous professional position in November and will start my new gig officially next week, while really getting going in the New Year. I am certainly enjoying this month-long R&R from work, but my training was more steady than increasing. I did do one fun swimming related day trip that I recounted here - https://www.1001pools.com/single-pos...leage-pool-run - but only started to increase the volume and intensity this past week. I bumped up from about 10-11K SCY per week to 13K SCY equivalents this week and finished off with an excellent effort on my 400 IM test set today:

Warmup sets (1,450 set)

• 1 x 400: IM, kick-drill by 25
• 4 x 100: on 1:20, free descend swim w/snorkel, (1:13 -> 1:04)
• 4 x 100: on 1:45, dolphin-flutter kick descend on back (1:25+ -> 1:19)
• 8 x 25: on 0:30, odds easy, evens fast IM order (0:14, 0:15+, 0:17, 0:13)
• 1 x 50: easy

400 IM Test Set (2,050 set / 3,500 total)

• 8 x 50: on 0:55, 2 each stroke, build the odds and make sure the evens are at your target 400 IM race pace
  
  • My SCY splits to dream of would be 29+ fly, 31+ back, 36+ breast, 29.0 free
  • 10/10/13 - SCY - 29, 30+, 36-, 28- (awesome)
  • 10/17/13 - SCY - 31, 31+, 37, 28+ (sluggish start, OK finish)
  • 03/04/14 - SCY - 30, 32, 37, 30 (only fly feels good)
  • 03/15/14 - SCY - 29+, 32, 36, 30 (felt pretty cruiseful)
  • 12/30/14 - SCY - 30, 31, 37, 28
  • 02/12/15 - SCY - 31+, 30+, 36, 27+
  • 01/18/16 - SCY - 32+, 33+, 39, 30 (my foot cramped on the last 5 yards on the backstroke and I had to stop for almost 5 minutes to stretch it out)
  • 02/08/16 - SCY - 31+, 32+, 37, 29
  • 11/04/17 - SCY - 31, 35, 39, 29
  • 11/11/17 - SCY - 31, 33, 37+, 28
  • 12/03/17 - SCY - 32+, 33, 38, 29
  • 12/24/17 - SCY - 31, 31+, 37, 28
  
  
• 1 x 50: on 1:20, easy breast kick w/snorkel & strap
• 4 x 100: on 1:40, do as 100 IMs, descend to your target race pace divided by 4, ideally starting on #1 no slower than 12 seconds above that
  
  • SCY target would be to descend from 1:14+ to 1:02+
  • 10/10/13 - SCY - 1:11+, 1:10, 1:07, 1:03+
  • 10/17/13 - SCY - 1:12, 1:09, 1:06, 1:04
  • 03/04/14 - SCY - 1:08, 1:06, 1:07, 1:06+ (I forgot these were supposed to be descend and started hard)
  • 03/15/14 - SCY - 1:09+, 1:09, 1:05, 1:03++
  • 12/30/14 - SCY - 1:10, 1:08+, 1:06+, 1:04
  • 02/12/15 - SCY - 1:15, 1:12, 1:08, 1:05
  • 01/18/16 - SCY - 1:13, 1:11, 1:08, 1:05+
  • 02/08/16 - SCY - 1:16, 1:12, 1:09, 1:05
  • 11/04/17 - SCY - 1:18, 1:15, 1:12, 1:08+
  • 11/11/17 - SCY - 1:17, 1:15, 1:10, 1:07
  • 12/03/17 - SCY - 1:16, 1:14, 1:10, 1:06
  • 12/24/17 - SCY - 1:15+, 1:12+, 1:08, 1:05
  
  
• 1 x 50: on 1:20, easy breast kick w/snorkel & strap
• 2 x 200: on 3:00, build each stroke on #1, try to make #2 at your target 400 IM race pace divided by two (e.g., 2:05+ in SCY)
  
  • 10/10/13 - SCY - 2:28, 2:13+
  • 10/17/13 - SCY - 2:26, 2:15
  • 03/04/14 - SCY - 2:24, 2:22
  • 03/15/14 - SCY - 2:27, 2:15
  • 12/30/14 - SCY - 2:30, 2:18
  • 02/12/15 - SCY - 2:31, 2:17
  • 01/18/16 - SCY - 2:35, 2:17
  • 02/08/16 - SCY - 2:36, 2:17
  • 11/04/17 - SCY -2:40, 2:26
  • 11/11/17 - SCY -2:33, 2:23+
  • 12/03/17 - SCY - 2:36, 2:23
  • 12/24/17 - SCY - 2:32, 2:20+
  
  
• 4 x 50: active recovery on 0:45, 0:50, 0:55, 1:30
• 1 x 400: IM on 5:20, hard
  
  • 10/10/13 - SCY from push - 4:36 (1:05, 1:09, 1:20, 1:02)
  • 10/17/13 - SCY from push - 4:38 (couldn't see splits in the sun)
  • 03/04/14 - SCY from push - 5:02 (if only the pool was SCM)
  • 03/15/14 - SCY from push - 4:40
  • 12/30/14 - SCY from push - 4:42+ (1:09, 1:11, 1:20, 1:02+)
  • 02/12/15 - SCY - 4:47
  • 02/08/16 - SCY - 4:46
  • 11/04/17 - SCY from push - 4:56
  • 11/11/17 - SCY from push - 4:53
  • 12/03/17 - SCY from push - 4:51
  
  
  
  • 12/24/17 - SCY from push - 4:46
  
  
• 3 x 50: active recovery w/snorkel on 0:45, 0:50

TOTAL: 3,500 SCY

Comments:

• My plan is to ramp up to about 15K SCY equivalents next week and then I aim to stay at about that volume for January, mixing in about 6-8 miles of running and my shoulder PT exercises.
• Professionally, I am very much looking forward to my new role at a new organization, but the impact of my new job on my personal life should be even greater as my office is a 1.5 mile walk from my house and my business travel, while not going to zero, should reduce by at least 50% and potentially more.