Simple Minded Swimming Question
Preface: I am not a good swimmer -
So these past two weeks I have dropped my swim volume back down to 2-2.4k per session from the 3-3.6K I was doing in race prep....and maybe not surprisingly my 100 times have come down...but heres the question(s)....I have been focusing on form and doing shorter sets (50's, 100's, 200's) my /100 pace has dropped back to the 1:49-1:52 range (and coming down)...during the race prep phase my pace had dropped to the 1:57-2:02 range....and I felt my form had deteriorated....as I transition here in the get faster (next 3-4 weeks)...to the IMLOU race prep...how do I increase my volume without having my pace drop off?...is it better to go faster with good form and allow additional rest between repeats/sets? or slow down and shorten the rest...my trade off is 1.) I don't have a feel for different gears in the water...and as the length of sets increases 300-400-500's...and I try to manage that...my form seems to go to heck.....thoughts on how to manage this?0
Comments
Probably a few confounding factors to address, and I'm no swim expert but have been making good progress over the past 18months or so following a swimsmooth.com training plan going from ~ 1:48 to 1:35 per 100yd pace. So heres a few things I've picked up that really seem to work/help
1. I'd say theres a happy medium between your volumes. My typical swim wko throughout the year including IM prep has always been 2.8-3k with a longer once a week 3.2-4k (OWS if possible).
2. Ideally you want to be creating a diesel engine by swimming threshold sets once a week with short rests, just like we do run and bike. For example with a 400 speed of 7:30 or slower:
6x200m with 20sec recovery
3x400m with 45sec recovery
4x(200m then 100m) with 10sec recovery
12x100m with 10sec recovery
Read more: http://www.swimsmooth.com/training.html
3. Cadence. Pick it up. I had a slow long stroke, classic over gliding, with a pause. Smooth, but seriously inefficient. Pick up a wetronome and practice speeding up your stroke rate. Theres a sweet spot in efficiency where you are having more turnover, but actually are getting faster with less effort.
4. Technique, Technique, Technique. I think every workout should have 400-600 of technique drills and one whole workout should be dedicated to technique drills learning to hold form over a full distance set.
These are the things that have been working for me, and basically they are the fundamentals from http://www.swimsmooth.com/.
@Rian, this feedback is so valuable. I too am an over glider and while being smooth in the water, my speed sets are a good 10-12 seconds faster (1:38/100m) than my moderate pace (1:50/100m). I know my turnover is much slower during my longer sets (400-600m) than the shorter, I just fatigue so quickly when I increase turnover...any suggestions? I'm also in agreement with you on a set "technique" day. At most points during any training plan the fitness will be there, it then becomes a matter of form to get faster and no matter how fit you are you aren't going to get faster if your form is wrong. This is where I feel I am
Swim more frequently would be my suggestion. While swimming is by far the most technique based of the three disciplines, I find that volume through frequency is very beneficial for me for running and swimming.
How many times per week are you swimming? I hate swimming 3500 or whatever. I'd much rather swim 4x per week for 2500 max than 3x per week at 3300 max. Same overall weekly distance but I find getting in the water more to be more beneficial and I can swim harder as the workout isn't as long.
Same reason I'd rather run 5x per week than 3x.
Bob....I think I like that approach...I agree...and may go to 4 days from 3...for that reason...frequency seems to help me.
Rachel...I think I'm just the opposite...my form is better when I go short and fast/hard...and deteriorates when I go long/slow ....if that makes any sense...maybe my mind wanders??
I looked at the Gerry Rodriguez - Tower 26 - video on youtube as well as Swim Smooth's stuff and they both seem to say the same thing which is swim more and at a faster pace. I started with TI swimming when I learned to swim and though it helped with form I plateaued at the same speed for all distances.
Per Rian's comments using CSS from swim smooth and the tempo trainer I now have different speeds. I can do 50s and 100s by increasing the tempo to 68-69 so I go all out and then back the tempo off for longer sets in the range of 61-62. The beeps force me to be accountable and also quickly show where/when I am getting fatigued and actually which side because you can feel that you are late with hand entry.
I'm pretty sure I never swam more than 2500m in a given workout last year but swam at least 4x per week. My two IM swims last year were 1:09 and 1:06 and they were zone 1, very easy efforts.
I learned a long time ago that I know nothing about how to help adults -especially adult onset swimmers - improve; I used to coach a team of eight-and-unders, and what I would tell them just doesn't seem to work with big people
But I will note what happens to me during the course of a long workout when I'm trying to maintain the same pace from one interval to the next, and especially when I throw in some fast, short intervals @ the end. EG: 6 x 400s, the first 2 or 3, I'll be cruising along @ 15-16 strokes per length (each arm in the water = one stroke); by the time I get to the last lengths of the last one, I may be doing 17-18 sol, but going the same speed. My RPE is also going up during the course of the workout. FWIW.