Tri related splish splash notes

interested

Purpose: an online log of triathlon specific swim training that I do.

what it is: a personal log of swim training sets during 2010 - with the objectives of improving swim times throughout sprint, oly, HIM and IM swims. It'll present sets and record volumes and split times that may or may not be of interest to people - it may not always include any comments or explanations of any short hand... but if anyone gives a hoot Ill elaborate.

what its not: its not a swimmers log book, it wont refer to bike or running training either so its someone where in the middle of tri and swimming if that makes any sense .... and it wont include any one elses sets ... since they'll be of my own making so I dont need to worry about offending anyone. It more than likely wont refer to stroke or technique since I do little or none these days - but there might be some thrown in from time to time.

Background: Former age group and senior competitive distance swimmer that took about 12 years off after competitive swimming to undertake a serious career at the bar. After 3 years of tri (from aquathlons and sprints to a couple of IM) I decided to look at where and how I spend my time training - especially swimming since Ive been drifting through time in the pool up until the last couple of months. My objectives are still to enjoy training rather than compete at any level but Id still hope to go faster ... old habits and all.

1500/400 swim p/bs from a previous life are: 16.14 and 4.03 respectively.
Fastest 1500/3.8km swim during triathlon are: 26 / 56 (beast of the east / challenge barca)

Ive had enough experience of triathlon to know that swim is probably the easiest part of the day for many but the most terrifying for an equal number. People put different emphasis on each of the disciplines. Im hoping to avoid opening up any can of worms. The training recorded in this log is geared towards swimming as fast as I can in a triathlon - of any distance and even aquathlons - with the objective of doing equally well on the bike and run based on my own personal abilities. For me, it wont be possible to swim p.b's and still do a p.b for the triathlon without the necessary effort across the other disciplines...

... anyhow ... since its my first time out with an online version of a log please pass along any suggested features ...

interested

02/01/10

1000 f/s warm up
10*100 f/s 2, desc 1-5, in on 1.20/1.25
5*200 pull&drag on 3.30 in on 3.10
6*100 IM on 2
6*50 f/s kick on 1.10
300 f/s swim down

Felt surprisingly fresh after a week out of the water - increased pace thro. warm up - 100's a little faster than required - 200's pull tough with drag belt - position of kick set should have been before IM but wasnt sure on what time id have in pool.

MCOS

already my favourite log because of your unique approach

interested

04/01/10


1000 f/s warm up
12*100 f/s on 1.40 - 1-10 drag&pull coming in on 1.25, 11&12 f/s swim 1.16, 1.12

40 min morning session.

Felt strong in water during warm up, left arm pull feels better - potentially down to paddle work recently or just more relaxed stroke in empty pool. Solid 100's - 1.25 felt easy - need to reduce times down to 1.30 for pull and do final 100's off 1.25 but plenty of time for this. Reasonable good morning since first swim back since before the christmas break.

interested

MCOS wrote: »

already my favourite log because of your unique approach

Damn that was fast dude

catweazle

I will look forward to this log too, I know its not a swimming log but it will be the closest thing to one on here. Already more done in one session than I would get done in a fortnight

interested

catweazle wrote: »

I will look forward to this log too, I know its not a swimming log but it will be the closest thing to one on here. Already more done in one session than I would get done in a fortnight

... and this was why I deliberated about posting this til now. In no way am I criticizing the use of logs or the new challenge for 2010 logging distances btw but ... what id say is that distance is all relative. My background is swimming but my time in the pool these days is limited. As a result for me the distances are very small but Im trying to get the most out of what im doing in each session - by recording them Ill have to become more creative in what Im doing so that I dont drift through the time in the pool I have.

My advice - ignore distances until your stroke and body position are where they should be - of course time in the pool counts since youre practicing good drills etc but its not all about how many metres someone does.

Best of luck with your training.

interested

05/01/10

800 warm up
5*200 f/s pull with paddles** on 3 min - 2.48,2.50,2.250,2.51,2.47
60 seconds
4*100 f/s on 1.30 - 1.20,1.20,1.19,1.17
100 easy swim down

2300

sore shoulders after clearing ice for an hour last night didnt help. Used pull set to focus on long stroke and increasing the pace through the stroke. Right arm catch at start of stroke felt right with paddles - need to do that set of 200's again with drag belt and adjust time if necessary - would be nice to still do them on 3.
100's were solid - over the next 8 weeks need to think about doing them off 1.25 coming in on 1.15 -> less rest/faster times for early 750 swims but its still about 4 - 6 weeks early for those sets.

**paddles = if you've ever had a shoulder injury avoid using paddles - if you do want to use them to build shoulder strength there are more benefits gained by avoiding sprinting with them on imho.

metamorphosis

While your log will indeed be double dutch to me, i will continue reading. Might one day pick up some of the lingo and understand it if i ever decide to get into the pool.

Where are you based?

interested

ULstudent wrote: »

While your log will indeed be double dutch to me, i will continue reading. Might one day pick up some of the lingo and understand it if i ever decide to get into the pool.

Where are you based?

Dublin - let me know where to start with a gloassary - Im not intending to be vague or crpytic so if I can help I will.

MCOS

ULstudent wrote: »

While your log will indeed be double dutch to me, i will continue reading. Might one day pick up some of the lingo and understand it if i ever decide to get into the pool.

Where are you based?

LOL I still have to read swim set instructions 2-3 times. For morning swims the set would be pasted onto the back of a float board and you would see a group gathered around scratching heads!

interested

MCOS wrote: »

LOL I still have to read swim set instructions 2-3 times. For morning swims the set would be pasted onto the back of a float board and you would see a group gathered around scratching heads!

yeah - I remember that myself and thats when you can do things like 'ahh, I thought it was just 6*200's and not 16' -

As above - theres no attempt to be cryptic - Ill happy explain anything confusing for anyone.

catweazle

Forgive my ignorance but are the paddles the webbed typed gloves. There is a pile of those gathering dust on the poolside of my gym, I have been thinking of trying them out but what benefits will I get from them, is it a feel thing, with the paddles you know you are not pulling right???

MCOS

We usually have the high performance kids (Grainne Murphy etc...) flying up and down the lanes next to us doing all sorts.. I'd shudder to think what their set instructions look like! Fascinating to watch sometimes when I'm half asleep and just follwing the group. They do one weird one where they float almost still on their back and propel themselves forward feet first using only their hands Or you might see them doing random dives or jumps in the middle of a length... I suppose they have to make 3 hour morning swim seesions interesting in some way!

The least fascinating thing about them is when you are working hard on a fast 100m and they seem to drift past you just kicking with a paddle board :cool:

interested

catweazle wrote: »

Forgive my ignorance but are the paddles the webbed typed gloves. There is a pile of those gathering dust on the poolside of my gym, I have been thinking of trying them out but what benefits will I get from them, is it a feel thing, with the paddles you know you are not pulling right???

No, Ive never tried the web style gloves - its a similar principle and the web gloves in theory may be less harsh on shoulders than the solid version Ive used.

These are the paddles I use. I used to have larger paddles like these - Id a grey pair but they dont do them anymore - and I cant find my old ones.

If using paddles most people wont need paddles any bigger than the size of the their own hands - the bigger they are the more strain on the shoulders - they have been used before to help iron out ambiguities or kinks in the arm stroke - particularly on hand entry.

If you've the gloves already - use em - if you find your shoulders are fine after a few weeks of using them during sessions then considering spending the cash on a pair of paddles - but as before - watch for twinges in the shoulders.

interested

05/01/10 PM

1000 warm up
5*200 f/s pull with paddles on 3.15 min ~ 3 mins
10*50 f/s kick on 1.10
10*50 f/s pull without paddles on 1.00
100 easy

3100

Shorter session that normal on Tuesdays due to run earlier. Probably down to not enough water before run but cramping from time to time turned this into a pull session pretty quickly. The 50's kick were designed for active recovery of quads and ITB. Nothing too pacey but enjoyed the swim.

interested

06/01/10

1000 warm up
10* 100's pull set - 2*(5*100 f/s pull desc 1-5 on 1.40) 60 seconds between
200 swim down

2200

Usual wednesday morning tiredness - decided on a pull set during warm up - and in an attempt to keep me drifting through this to desc times 1->5.
First set of 5 started out too fast and went from 1.27 to 1.24 suffering a little. Second set was a bit more sensible going from 1.30 to 1.24.

interested

07/01/10

1000 straight

An unusual lunch splash before heading home due to crazy weather. Gear had been in car overnight - wet towel and toggs were ... frozen solid and took a bit of separating believe it or not. Not the best experience donning damp, semi-frozen toggs but there ya go.

mloc123

Nothing worse than that 'slimey' feel wet togs left in a bag for a few days develop.. ugh

interested

mloc123 wrote: »

Nothing worse than that 'slimey' feel wet togs left in a bag for a few days develop.. ugh

agreed - but believe it or not ... sections of the material were frozen .. it certainly didnt make the familiar sensation of cold wet toggs any better

interested

08/01/10

1000 warm up
5*400 f/s pull with paddles on 6.20
16*50 f/s on 50
200 swim down

4000

tried to pick up stroke rate during second half of 200's - rep'ing on ~ 5.50
50's easy ... concentrating on long stroke

interested

10/01/10

1000 warm up
pull with paddles set:
2*400 f/s on 6.20
4*200 f/s on 3.10
8*100 f/s on 1.35
200 swim down

3600

Similar objectives to previous set - focus on increasing stroke rate on second half of swims keeping good stroke lenght. 8 * 100's coming in on or under 1.20 was pretty good despite feeling tired at that stage. Good consistency and feel for water this early in year.

interested

11/01/10

1000 warm up
6*200 f/s pull with paddles on 3.10 - coming in on 2.50

2200

Temperature of pool went up by at least 2 or 3 degrees over the weekend - very uncomfortable. Stuck with pull with paddles set of 200's.

interested

12/01/10

800 warm up
12*100 f/s on 1.30
200 easy swim down

2200

always get like this tues morning - kinda know whats coming tues night so tend to subconciously struggle with what to do. The shorter warm up and consistent set of 100's won out. Not too fast and not too slow and not something I could drift through. Most were on or around 1.25 - it would be nice to be rep'ing around the 1.20 but its early and Id no intention of going anaerobic.

interested

12/01/10 PM

500 warm up

30 seconds rest between each unit in pyramid
2*400 fs on 6
2*300 fs on 4.30
2*200 fs on 3
2*100 fs on 1.30
2*100 fs on 1.30
2*200 fs on 3
2*300 fs on 4.30
2*400 fs on 6

100 easy swim down

Total: 4600

Usual long tues session 70 mins
All pretty controlled - felt stronger in the water than prior to christmas. Holding sub 1.25 pace throughout - pushing second set of 200's coming in around 2.40 / 2.45. Came in on 5.40 on the 400's.

interested

13/01/10

1000 f/s warm up
12 * 100's on 1.45
4 * 100's f/s pull with paddles
4 * 100's f/s
4 * 100's f/s pull with paddles

Total: 2200

Tired this morning so decided to break up set of 12 100's to avoid just swimming through them ... 100's in the middle were around 1.22 pace ... still sluggish but thats to be expected since there's been little or no pacey work done to date.

MCOS

interested wrote: »

12/01/10 PM

30 seconds rest between each unit in pyramid
2*400 fs on 6
2*300 fs on 4.30
2*200 fs on 3
2*100 fs on 1.30
2*100 fs on 1.30
2*200 fs on 3
2*300 fs on 4.30
2*400 fs on 6
.

Holy Sh!t :eek: Thats some main set and the fact that you were strong throughout and made the RTs with something to spare is savage!

interested

MCOS wrote: »

Holy Sh!t :eek: Thats some main set and the fact that you were strong throughout and made the RTs with something to spare is savage!

cheers but its all relative ... and kinda based on something I mentioned a while back somewhere else - the repetitive sets of 100's and 200's and 400's etc are designed to keep you focused on a target pace. Target pace is obviously based on desired swim time for a particular distance - Ive been regularly and comfortably doing 100's off 1.30 coming in with around 10 seconds rest - so the time associated with each block of the pyramid was based on that pace.

A small flaw in the set itself lies in the fact that each block contains too few units ... but this was based on the time in the pool I had last night.

Something like:
3*400
3*300
3*200
3*100
3*100
3*200
3*400
would have been better - the 30 seconds rest between 2 of each gave me loads of time to recover.
Given more time something like
3*800 on 12
3*400 on 6
3*200 on 3
3*100 on 1.30
3*100 on 1.30
3*200 on 3
3*400 on 6
3*800 on 12
would be ideal (although a 9km set) - as long as the 800 times are watched carefully - clock positions in a pool are kinda key for this paced training - I really do wish the minute clocks were at eye level from a swimmers point of view at either end of a pool so its possible to watch your own splits .. but its very rarely the case.

Anyhow ...

interested

14/01/10 PM

1000 f/s warm up
4 sets of
6 * 100 f/s pull with paddles on 1.40
90 seconds rest between each set.
200 easy swim down

3600

Strange sometimes how things turn out. Id done another dreaded turbo session after work and was in no mood for a splash. Once persuaded by the better half to head to the pool a set of 24 * 100's was devised post warm up. The idea of splitting the set into groups of 4 was to ensure that as much effort could be given to maintaining a target pace throughout. Happy with sub 1.20's for all 24 hundreds ... controlled 1st 2, holding 1.16's/1.17's then just held the middle two focusing on keeping recovery of stroke pacey but pushing each stroke all the way through - last 2 were all out and were averaging 1.15/1.16's.

Much more entertaining than the turbo but happy to have done them back to back. Weekend cycling is out for at least this weekend so it'll be case of getting on with it.

interested

15/01/10

1000 warm up
8 * 100 IM on 2
4 * 100 f/s pull with paddles on 1.45

Total: 2200

Decided on an IM set during warm up to break things up and bit - coming in on 1.35's with a good bit of rest. Intention of 4 1's at the end was for a stretch to see if there was any lasting soreness in either shoulder after the week - thankfully no problems.

pgibbo

LOL

Just reading this log now for the first time and all I can say is WOW. Excellent log. Your times and distances are unreal. Take your points regarding your background and not getting caught up in distances.

Have you ever used any of those tempo trainers that clip on to the goggles to get more accurate/consistent splits or are they a gimmick. My pacing is awful and I need to address it pronto. Cheers.

interested

pgibbo wrote: »

LOL

Just reading this log now for the first time and all I can say is WOW. Excellent log. Your times and distances are unreal. Take your points regarding your background and not getting caught up in distances.

Have you ever used any of those tempo trainers that clip on to the goggles to get more accurate/consistent splits or are they a gimmick. My pacing is awful and I need to address it pronto. Cheers.

I read something about those tempo thingys recently alright - checked youtube for their vid - Id say there's something in it alright but there's no hope for me ever actually wearing one There's definitely something in it though and it might help when learning with regard to pacing arm pulls etc - but from the video I saw there'd be loads of little beeps in my ear as I swam which would most likely lead to alot of little pieces of the devices against the wall of the pool

I remember using music alot when I swam (as opposed to messing about in triathlons) to sometimes control pace at the start of a race since tension can cause all sort of problems with stroke etc - with the obvious risk of sounding loopy - heavy bass related music at a reasonably tempo (no dance tracks allowed) seemed to work from time to time or at least allowed me to tune out from what was going on around me. Having a tune in your head before a long swim aint a bad idea but you really dont want something like the cheeky girls in there at the start of a long day

In truth - stroke pace regarding swimming is at the pointy end of technique and imho sometimes more relevent to sprinters (50,100, 200 and 400 swimmers) - if you're watching your splits on a clock in the pool and working hard you'll learn to feel the pace at which you need to swim to make a time

are they a gimmick. My pacing is awful and I need to address it pronto. Cheers.

imho they're a gimmick but thats just my opinion. Try to relax when your swimming, keep an eye on the lap clock, focus on your stroke and literally 'feel' your movement through the water - use a pull bouy during a set to artificially lift your hips (that your legs should be doing when kicking) and just feel each pull. To go faster - increase the rate of strokes your taking per lenght but maintain form ... last bit of that is the trick ... your shoulders will indicate to you when you're doing it right.

interested

16/01/10

1000 f/s straight
2*100's on 1.30

1200

Impromtu session in the brief spell of lunch Id today - short and sharp but felt like I was cruising on 100's ... 1.17's, felt very comfortable which is a good sign this early.

interested

17/01/10

1000 f/s straight
2*100's on 1.30

1200

Yet another weekend off the bike and indoors - crawling the walls at this stage ... anyhow ... same as yesterday ... got a swim in during lunch - sprinted sections of the 100's today ... 1.10's ish .. which was good ... kept stroke long during these so it all bodes well ..

interested

18/01/10

1000 f/s warm up
6 * 200 f/s on 3 min

total: 2200

very tired this morning after long weekend indoors. happy enough to be in the water since just stretching out will help things in the coming week. Set of 2's were done coming in around 2.50's so still reasonable split times for 100's for January.

interested

19/01/10

1000 f/s warm up
2 * (6 * 100 f/s pull with paddles on 1.30)
100 easy swim down

2300

Glad of a long warm up today - eased into the 100's pull ... average would have been 1.22 or so for both sets of 6. Confortable, long strokes to the hip, trying to drive through with the hands and thinking about shoulder rotations in order to lean as much as possible into each stroke.

interested

19/01/10


500 f/s easy warm up
10 * 50 f/s on 50 easy
4 * 200 f/s on 2.50
4 * 100 f/s on 1.30
4 * 200 f/s on 3.00
4 * 100 f/s on 1.30
100 easy
8 * 75 f/s pull on 70
100 easy

4200

Made the mistake of doing a turbo session prior to this and suffered wholesale with calf and foot cramps throughout second half of main set - hence the re-timing on the second set of 4 * 200's - first set were done coming in around 2.40 giving 10 seconds rest which was good. Managed 1.10 on one of the 100's before cramping again ... 100's on 1.30 are much more comfortable these days which is good.

Anyhow - lesson learned ... dont double up a turbo before one of these tues evening swim sessions.

interested

20/01/10

1000 f/s warm up
4 * 200 f/s on 3
30 seconds
4 * 100 f/s on 1.30
30 seconds
4 * 50 f/s on 45
100 swim down

2500

Legs still sore and tired from last night. Needed the long warm up this morning before doing a single repeat of last nights block with added 50's at pace at the end. As per last night felt comfortable doing these - although the 200's were a little slower this morning. Something for the future might be 4 * (4 2's, 4 1's 4 50's) - 5600 session would need some time and a reasonable warm up.

MCOS

Yikes 2 swims and a turbo in one day.... Whats the story with swimming every day? Is it just a swim focus month or do you plan to swim this much all the way through your IM training? Hows your run in comparison to your swim?

interested

MCOS wrote: »

Yikes 2 swims and a turbo in one day.... Whats the story with swimming every day? Is it just a swim focus month or do you plan to swim this much all the way through your IM training? Hows your run in comparison to your swim?

The turbo wasnt a great idea but due to life commitments Im off the road until Sunday and felt it was a necessary evil.

re: frequency of swim
I enjoy swimming before work - I beat the traffic on my commute and I get to work early enough to get through stuff before other people arrive - AND - Im lucky enough to leave early each day - which facilitates doubling up come the longer evenings ... the fact Im working these days makes me feel lucky anyhow ...

Again, its all relative - in a previous life I swam 11 times a week - close to 24 hours in the water and worked through anywhere between 50 and 90 km a week in the pool depending on the time of the year. These days my morning swim is around 2.5km and HAS to be done in 40 minutes so ... hey ho. The twice a day sometimes occurs when I keep the missus company doing some sets or a more social gathering from time to time ... although knocking out over 4km in an hour tends to be alot less sociable than most people would expect - but there are benefits to swimming in a group off a lap clock.

Swimming this year is much more structured than last year (based on some loose plans I have for the open water season) and Im probably a little up on average of last years sessions. But because its essentially handy for me to swim in the mornings and I can use it as a recovery session from long runs or long bikes I tended to swim alot - as I did right through last season - this wont change - but if I get run injured the advantage I have from my background is that I can easily increase the swimming volume if need be and time permits.

re: my run v swim - great question
Running in the snow / ice recently someone asked me was it slippy - I thought the description I gave of my running applied quite well 'think large, slow moving Tank, that doesnt turn quickly' Ive carried calf injuries all through last year and still find running sore (due to a fairly serious onset of ITB FS after 25km of Challenge Barca (I was pushing my luck running my second marathon in 6 weeks following the adventure that was Eireman))- but the medium term plan is to get through a base period for running this month and next (along with the swimming and bike) - and then work on my speed over 10k for some early racing (Id like the option of Lisbon half if funds permit). Off the bike Ive gone under 20 mins for 5k during a sprint but my 10km off the bike needs alot of work. My flat half marathon not part of a triathlon is 1.46.

Sure, Im fairly competitive but I enjoy the training as much as anything - last year (june, july) I was running 2 half marathons a week an a 5km shuffle off a long bike - I never would have thought that was possible.

pgibbo

Makes sense. MCOS actually beat me to the punch as I was going to ask a very similar question.

Was your flat half marathon (not part of a triathlon) of 1.46 before you ran sub 20 off the bike in a sprint tri?

Have you thought about competing at Masters Swim Meets?

interested

pgibbo wrote: »

Makes sense. MCOS actually beat me to the punch as I was going to ask a very similar question.

Was your flat half marathon (not part of a triathlon) of 1.46 before you ran sub 20 off the bike in a sprint tri?

Have you thought about competing at Masters Swim Meets?

the flat half was part of the addidas series in the park in '08 - it was 6 days after HIM in groomsport.
Sub 20 off the bike in a sprint was last sept the weekend before Barca ... so yeah it was well after the half marathon
If I can stay fit when running and get through the next 7 weeks with the usual biking and swimming sessions then I can look at increasing my speed bit by bit.

re: competing at masters swim meets - very very very unlikely - when I finished swimming Id had enough of it in every way possible and I really dont think anything has changed that much ... theres a good chance Ill swim at the open water sea swims from time to time as part of training and Id like to look at one of the open water 5k events in a lake as well (I did a 6k swim last year in Kerry but ironically ive very bad sea legs and had to take a little timeout 3k off shore to ... chum the water ... not the first time nor the last ).

metal dog

I was beginning to think that the channel was on the cards......

interested

metal dog wrote: »

I was beginning to think that the channel was on the cards......

no - I think its one of the great challenges but not for me ... and I kinda enjoy my cycling (and to some extent the variety added by running) too much for me to only focus on swimming again - plus the variety of training for triathlon makes it all the more interesting.

interested

21/01/10

stretches

negative split
1 * 800 f/s on 12 (6, 5.50)
2 * 400 f/s on 6 (2.55, 2.52)
30 seconds
3 * 200 f/s on 3 (1.26, 1.22)
100 easy

2300

Swimming's equivalent of fartlek
Tough session later in the week and in the morning. Ideally should be done with a warm up but hadnt the time so ensured shoulder stretches were done and first 400 of the 800 were done as an active warm up. Having a lap clock at eye level or visable when turning makes these sets easier - and the splits dont have to be wildly different ...

Given more time the full set would look like:

1 * 800 f/s on 12
2 * 400 f/s on 6
30 rest
3 * 200 f/s on 3
30 rest
4 * 100 f/s on 1.30
60 rest
4 *100 f/s on 1.30
30 rest
3 * 200 f/s on 3
30 rest
2 * 400 f/s on 6
30 rest
1 * 800 f/s fast

For 5200

interested

22/01/10

400 f/s warm up
4 * 400 f/s pull with paddles on 6
200 swim down

2200

Pretty tired again this morning - 400's pull were comfortable on 5.45 / 5.50 but was using second and last 100 to ensure rest times by working stroke rate a little.

interested

23/01/10

1200 straight f/s
lunch time splash - quick swim / quick sandwich ...

interested

25/01/10

1000 f/s warm up
12 * 100's f/s pull with paddles on 1.30
200 easy swim down

2400

bit sore this morning - long warm up helped - then set of 100's - most on or around 1.20 - trying to just get a feel for the water again. Effort was reasonably consistent throughout ... ~ 60 - 70 % - keeping stroke long.

interested

25/01/10 PM

1000 f/s warm up

6 * 100 f/s with paddles and drag belt off 1.40
6 * 100 f/s pull with paddles off 1.40
6 * 100 f/s pull without paddles off 1.40

200 easy
4 * 50's catchup, distance/per/stroke work

3200

impromtu evening session - sets of 100's variations of pull - new paddles took some time to master especially in first block 6 - although first 100 came in on 1.15 - was destroyed by last in first block - around 1.30. Last set of 100's without paddles were good - around 1.25 avg.

interested

26/01/10

1000 f/s warm up
5 * 200 pull with paddles on 3 min
200 easy

2200

Spent most of warm up concentrating on what my hands were doing - good entry, out a bit, down and in a bit and back past my hip - good shoulder rotations - regular and easy kick. 'Supersize' style paddles arrived yesterday so still getting used to them - really focuses the mind on long and well paced strokes, stretching as the hand enters to grip as much water as possible. I wont be wearing these paddles on the time (mainly with drag belt) but they're good fun - 200's were coming in on or around 2.45.
200 easy again after paddles was good - obviously faster stroke rate but the stroke still felt balanced.

interested

26/01/2010 PM

750 f/s warm up

2 * 400 f/s on 6
30 secs
4 * 200 f/s on 3
30 secs
2 * 400 f/s on 6
30 secs
4 * 200 f/s on 3

7 * 100's f/s on 1.30
50 easy swim down

4700

Good session - made sure I was properly hydrated before this kicked off - so no real problems with cramps. 400's were solid - when I decided to push on second set of 400's came in around 5.40. Was a little sore in left shoulder prior to this session but fine after warm up.