Nov 25 3000 yards at SUNY

The last two weeks, as I resumed regular pool training after 5 months of lake swimming, I limited myself to 2500 yards – about 45 minutes – per session, to avoid having fatigue compromise efficiency. Why might fatigue be a factor? Because adding turns and pushoffs requires an adjustment. You face oxygen deprivation for 4 to 5 seconds each lap, going into and out of each turn, and rely more on leg muscles on the pushoff and underwater kick. There’s also the equivalent of an ab crunch during the somersault that’s absent in open water. So I allow for a week or two of adjustment on returning to the pool.

In this practice I increased slightly to 3000 yards and just over 50 minutes and will probably not go much above that level this winter as that level should be optimal for the three goals I’ve set for the winter:
1) To increase the pace I can maintain when swimming at my "cruise" and "brisk" effort levels.
2) To improve the efficiency I can attain when swimming at tempos of 1.0 strokes per second or faster. I’ll focus on #1 for a month or so, before beginning to work on #2.
3) As a result of success in the first two goals, to swim 12 minutes or faster for 1000 yards by late March.

Warmup: Swim Free – 4 rounds of (100-75-50-25).
I swam all rounds on intervals of 25 seconds per 25 yards (1:40-1:15-:50-:25) with an extra 30 seconds between rounds.
I maintained a relatively constant effort level, by keeping a light-pressure catch, by gliding off the walls without kicking, and by kicking after pushoff with a focus purely on drag-avoidance, not propulsion – i.e. streamlining, not driving my legs. I swam the first length of each repeat at 12SPL and the rest at 13, requiring extra discipline and patience. My pace improved on each round, without increasing effort or SPL, partly from physiological warmup, partly from having my nervous system become more dialed-in to the tasks described.

Main Set: Swim Free – 3 rounds of (4 x 125), one round each on intervals of 2:00, 2:15 and 2:30
In keeping with my recent focus on doing longer sets made up of "rounds" that add up to 500, I chose to do 125-yard repeats (5 lengths) which is the top end of my current pace-training range.
I swam the first round with an SPL sequence of:
100 @ 13SPL + 25 @ 14
75 @ 13 SPL + 50 @ 14
50 @ 13 SPL + 75 @ 14
25 @ 13 SPL + 100 @ 14
I swam the second and third rounds with an SPL sequence of:
100 @ 14SPL + 25 @ 15
75 @ 14 SPL + 50 @ 15
50 @ 14 SPL + 75 @ 15
25 @ 14 SPL + 100 @ 15
I also included controlled leg-drive (emphasizing small, crisp leg movements) at 15 SPL.
My repeat times were:
1st round: 1:44-1:43-1:42-1:40 (6:49 for 500)
2nd round: 1:42-1:41-1:40-1:39 (6:42)
3rd round: 1:41-1:40-1:39-1:38 (6:38)

Notes: This pattern of swimming progressively faster within each round and a faster average pace on successive rounds is a standard form of pace training among high-performing distance swimmers. However the way I increased my speed – while typical of my training – is practiced by very few swimmers.

On a set such as this, the typical swimmer’s expectation is to go faster by swimming harder. I swam the entire set without "swim harder" ever crossing my mind. My goal is to race without ever focusing on swimming harder. Thus I train myself to add speed by adjusting my stroke in ways that make speed "inevitable."

Another unconventional aspect of my training is that while my pace progression was quite orderly (I swam one second faster on each successive 125 within rounds, with the exception of #4 in the first round, when I improved by two seconds. And I started each round with a slightly faster time than the first repeat in the prior round.) it didn’t result from thinking "I have to swim a second faster now" as I started a repeat. Instead I simply concentrated on hitting my planned stroke counts. Swimming faster was just a natural outcome of adjusting my stroke count upward.

I started each 125 with a lower count and finished it with a higher one (by one stroke). The lower count required more care. The higher count allowed me to swim a bit more freely, which bumps up my speed without noticeable (or intentional) effort. As I swap a disciplined lap for a free-moving lap in each repeat, my times just come down naturally. I call this kind of speed — attained by small stroke adjustments, rather than "swimming harder" – Voodoo Speed and it’s beneficial for obvious reasons. If you can produce Voodoo Speed in races, you have a big advantage over those who must rely on Trying Harder Speed.

To be honest, swimming 1:38 on my 12th 125 produced a more intense sensation than swimming 1:44 on my first. But it was entirely pleasant and has nothing in common with the "pushing through pain barriers" approach that most coaches think is necessary to perform well. As a result training like this, I never start a race having to gird myself for anticipated discomfort. Instead I look forward to an enjoyable exercise in high-level control.

Naturally, to make this kind of training work, it’s essential to first develop an efficient stroke, then learn to choose and adjust your SPL. How to achieve the first is illustrated on our Easy Freestyle DVD. How to do the second is described in Chapter 15 of Triathlon Swimming Made Easy.

Speed Set
I finished my practice with 10 x 50, odds easy at 12+13 SPL and evens at "future-goal pace" and 14+15 SPL, resting 10 seconds between. The only time goal I’ve set for this winter is to swim 1000 yards in 12:00 or under by late March, matching the time I did in 2006. That breaks down to 36 seconds per 50, the pace I swam on the evens. I’ll begin practicing that pace in small doses, but without exceeding 15 SPL to ensure that I train my neuromuscular system to attain the pace efficiently. Right now I can only do a few 50s at that pace and SPL. When I can swim more of them, more easily, with less recovery, I’ll progress to swimming 75s at 54 seconds and 14+15+15 SPL. And so on toward 1000 yards continuous at that pace.