Should I have triaged today's swim wko?
Today's swim called for: "MS1: 3 x 400 (30") @ your RR pace minus 3". MS2: 3 x 400 (30") @ your RR pace minus "2.". So I should have hit about 1:45/100. Well, i could tell during warmup that my body was tired today and I wasn't going to hit that pace. Instead, I swam @ 2:00/100. I still got all the volume in, but waay slower than prescribed. So, given that I wasn't going to be able to hit the target, should I have modified the workout somehow to get more bang for the time invested? Just curious, thanks!
0
Comments
Not sure if you tried to hit your pace or preemptively did the 2:00/100? If I was way off on the first interval despite trying I probably would have called it a day, did some drills and maybe a few 50s to see if I could recapture my form. I am no expert but I believe there is such a large skill component to swimming that you want to practice your form at your ideal pace as much as possible, and you also want to avoid practicing bad technique.
If I tried the first 400 and was only a bit off then I would try to at least maintain that pace for the subsequent ones as long as strokes per length / technique didn't go downhill. I probably would have increased the rest interval as well. As soon as technique dropped off (for me if I need more than 21 strokes per 25m length) I would have bagged it.
Having said that, if it were me, I would have at least tried to do the first two intervals at the effort level I intend to do during the race, and gone from there. One thing I've noticed with the HIM swim wkos the past two weeks (I'm a week ahead of you), the warm ups are very short for these long (400s, 500s) intervals. I dont really get up to speed (literally) until the 2nd or 3rd interval.. Example, today, my first three 500s were 8:30, 8:20, 8:17. When I did the wko you're talking about, I was 6:48, 6:38, 6:33, then 6:38/42/38.
So, next time, do a gentle warm up, then ease into the first two intervals, and see what happens ... You may discover yourself getting into a better groove with the first interval being an extension of the warm-up. And if you do slow down, keep going to get the volume in.