Swimming for Tri Beginners

career move

tunney wrote: »

Session 2
Distance 2100m
100sw,100p,100k
6x50 as 25 drill, 25 easy + 20sec
1,4 = front balance
2,5 = left balance
3,6 = right balance
6x100m trunk touch +20sec
6x50p + 15sec focusing on entering the water deep, by that I mean hand entering and trying to touch the bottom of the pool in front of you
6x50 as 25 fast, 25 easy + 20sec
100k,100p,100sw


Session 3
Distance 2200m
4x50 sw easy + 15s
4x50 p steady + 15s
4x50 k + 15s
4x50 as 25 fast, 25 easy + 15s
10x50p as 25 fist, 25p +15s
3x100 sw steady +20sec
4x50 as 25 fast, 25 easy + 15s
4x50k + 15s
4x50 choice easy + 15s

Session 2: Felt easier than session 1 but that may just have been because I always find the drills hard the first time I do them and I've done the balance drills a few times before. When I was doing the pb with the deep hand entry I felt like my ass was being lifted right out of the water

Session 3: My legs certainly felt all the kicking!! Grand apart from that

Thanks Tunney

tunney

Assuming all went well for people. Hope the sessions were enjoyed.

Kurt Godel

Thanks for doing last weeks program Tunney. Hope everyone has a better understanding of balance now.

Week 20
Day 1
200m warm up
6*50 as (25 max kick, 25 easy sw, 15s rest)
5*100sw steady pace, 10s rest after each
5*100pb steady pace, 10s rest after each
5*100sw steady pace, 10s rest after each
4*50 as 25 sprint, 25 easy, 10s rest
200 choice

Day 2
200m warm up
6*50 as (25 max kick, 25 easy sw, 15s rest)
500sw steady pace
1 min rest
500pb steady pace
1 min rest
500sw steady pace
1 min rest
4*50 as 25 sprint, 25 easy, 10s rest
200 choice

Day 3
200m warm up
6*50 as (25 kick, 25 drill choice, 15s rest)
2 mins rest
1,000sw TT (steady pace at start, up the pace towards the end)
4*50 as 25 sprint, 25 easy, 10s rest
200 choice

The week builds towards a 1,000m time trial. Goal throughout the week is to be swimming at a steady pace, in control of all aspects of your breathing, good technique throughout. Do not go out too fast for the TT- this means you will be consciously holding back your pace at the start. No excuses from anyone- I don't want to hear that your TT was messed up because you went out too quick, or that your goggles fogged off, or that you cramped, or that someone slower joined your lane, or that you miscounted laps, or that Scarlett Johanssen was swimming in the lane next door and her costume fell off. Consider the things that could go wrong beforehand, and prepare for them. No excuses!

And lets have a bit more feedback on this thread, thats the only way it works.

iwillhtfu

tunney wrote: »

Assuming all went well for people. Hope the sessions were enjoyed.

I'll be enjoying/enduring your session this week tunney fell behind a bit with an ear infection. Looks like a good set. Thanks.

career move

Thanks for posting this weeks' sessions Kurt. I did a swim workshop in Athlone on Saturday with video analysis and some major deficiencies in my swimming were highlighted! So I think I'm going to not do any of this weeks sessions because as several people have noticed, I really need to work more on my swim technique than my swim fitness

and still ricky villa

Kurt Godel wrote: »

andstillrickyvilla
You're already working on 1; 3 & 4 are down to you later in the year; lets approach No. 2. You want 2:00 per 100m over longer distances, and right at the moment your 100m TT is 2:23, so that is what you are capable of swimming 100m in. This week you do:
3*100 off 2:30,
1 min rest
3*100 off 2:30,
1 min rest
3*100 off 2:30,
1 min rest

Did this set as follows:
200 easy
4*50 k with board
3*100 off 2:30, (in on 2:13, 2:28, 2:26)
1 min rest
3*100 off 2:30, (in on 2:20, 2:23: 2:25)
1 min rest
3*100 off 2:30, (in on 2:23, 2:24, 2:25)
4 min rest
100m all out TT - Wanted to get one in before the end of the month. Probably a bit more speed there if I had an easier set earlier but happy to knock another couple of seconds off. Work is going to be busy in the next couple of weeks so wanted to get this done early in the week before excuses crept in
200 easy - Added the PB as my arms were about to fall off

The difference in my times is a pleasure to see and my attitude to harder sets has improved. I'm still catching up with 4 swims a week and fitting them in has been a struggle at times with work/baby commits.
Dory week next

Would love to hear more comments on how the silent majority are doing
Updated TT table below

100m Time Trial|Nov '14|Dec|Jan|Feb|March|April|May|June'15
ainsyjnr|1:47|1:38||||||
strummer_ie|2:10|||||||
career move|2:49|2:38|2:32|2:19||||
Rainbow Kirby|1:57*|1:53||||||
ToTriOrNot |2:09|||||||
bart86 |1:51|1.48|2:00|||||
iwillhtfu |###|1:36|1:42
andstillrickyvilla |2:38|2:23|2:19|2:07|2:04|||
steroo ||||1:52||||

mossym

career move wrote: »

Thanks for posting this weeks' sessions Kurt. I did a swim workshop in Athlone on Saturday with video analysis and some major deficiencies in my swimming were highlighted! So I think I'm going to not do any of this weeks sessions because as several people have noticed, I really need to work more on my swim technique than my swim fitness

did this workshop in athlone in the past. it's a real eye opener. tempted to go back and see what they say now

career move

mossym wrote: »

did this workshop in athlone in the past. it's a real eye opener. tempted to go back and see what they say now

Ya it's very good in fairness. I'll be going back anyway

Bart86

So far, the hardest I’ve done Week 15 Day 3, did it last week.

200 easy > Backstroke
4*50 k with board
4*500 steady, overall time matters less than hitting steady 100's for each 500: this is NOT a TT
200 easy > Backstroke

25’’ rest between 500m

The last 500m my arms were very tired, I could not maintain the same pace through, but I was able to finish it.

Average pace for 500m was 13min, 40 seconds..

Looking forward to doing 9 x 100 next session!

I haven’t done 100TT this month, but I did 400TT at the beginning of March, It took me 8’40’’

Kurt Godel

I've edited the TT a few posts up, from 1,500m to 1,000m. That should be more achievable, and will perform the same goal of the week, which is constant pacing.

MojoMaker

Was that Athlone workshop with Charlie and Dave? Very good guys - did it at the end of 2013 and still look over the videos from time to time.

career move

MojoMaker wrote: »

Was that Athlone workshop with Charlie and Dave? Very good guys - did it at the end of 2013 and still look over the videos from time to time.

Yes. Very good. Can I ask how you incorporated what you learned into your swimming? Did you focus on corrective drills for a few weeks or did you just add in a couple of extra drills to your regular sets? Did you feel like it improved you much? And how did you gauge that improvement? Mossy and Oryx and RQ if you're reading I'd like to hear what you thought too

The last two days I've done a 2.5k swim each day focussing on the issues that were highlighted to me, doing drills and then following up each drill with 100m sw. Should I do the same when I swim on Thurs and Fri or should I do the sessions from this weeks plan

Kurt Godel

career move wrote: »

The last two days I've done a 2.5k swim each day focussing on the issues that were highlighted to me, doing drills and then following up each drill with 100m sw. Should I do the same when I swim on Thurs and Fri or should I do the sessions from this weeks plan

Coaches looking at your stroke will always, always, always trump a generic internet program like this thread.

If they gave you a plan, and you are happy with that, go with that plan.

If they gave you stroke advice but no plan, then maybe substitute their drills for any drills here. Add an extra drill day to this weeks program if you like, or do drills at the start of the main set. Its your bad luck to have these new drills to try out on a week that is not drill-specific!

shotgunmcos

Kurt Godel wrote: »

..... or that Scarlett Johanssen was swimming in the lane next door and her costume fell off.

Swimming is about visualisation

#threadoftheyear

kyomi

I know I'm ridiculously late to this, but I only discovered this thread at the start of the year, and I recently signed up for my first triathlon (I'm a runner usually), so I started following the plan. I'm only midway through week 2 so far, but I already feel like it's making a big difference.

User Name: kyomi
Swim Experience: Swam a lot as a child, did a few local races, but I was only good at backstroke really, and not even very good at that. I stopped swimming as an adult, so much so that I forgot how to swim freestyle altogether. Last year I decided to re-teach myself, but it's been a long process, mostly because I was running 5 times a week and didn't have time to really get into swim training (excuses!). I was doing one swim session a week at most until the last month or so - since then I've been doing three sessions a week - have had to cut down on the running, but it's worth it.
Can you breath bilaterally?: Never did before, but I'm getting the hang of it now.
Current 100m time: Around 2 mins, but it's a 19 m pool so it's kind of hard to tell!
Current 400m time: Don't know, but I do tire a bit so it wouldn't be just my 100m time x 4
Tri race experience: Nothing! The one I've signed up for is a Try a Tri, so the swim is only 250m. If it's not a complete disaster, I might sign up for another one with a 750m swim.
Open Water experience: I swim in the sea on holidays, but haven't done any serious OW training, mostly because I've no one to swim with. Also, I'm scared of jellyfish and tend to panic and start thrashing if I see one.
Furthest distance swam: Around 1500m in a 50m pool.
Any Other Relevant details: I've developed a bit of a sore shoulder since I upped the swimming sessions to three times a week - I'm doing exercises for it.

Week 1 training went really well. I started by doing the breathing exercises, and it's made such a difference. Before, I used to hold my breath underwater, and tons of water would go up my nose, irritating my sinuses, so I would have a sore, runny nose for days afterwards. Now whenever my head is in the water I'm breathing out through my nose - after 2 weeks it's already become a habit, and I feel fine after swimming. I end up swallowing less too.

I enjoyed the drills, and found I was really flying along when using the pool buoy, which I suppose means my body position must have been quite bad! But the lengths kicking with the board have really helped - I now know what position to try to get into if I feel my legs sinking, and I try to do that whenever I remember.

The bilateral breathing has taken me a while to get used to - it's only really bedding down this week. I still feel my hips drop whenever I breathe on the right (I usually breathe on the left only), so I'm probably lifting my head too much on that side.

The best thing about the training plan is that it's much more interesting than just doing endless lengths. I like the fact that each day of the week has a different structure. So thanks, Kurt Godel - I know I'm way behind the rest of the gang, but I'll keep you updated on my progress!

RacoonQueen

career move wrote: »

Thanks for posting this weeks' sessions Kurt. I did a swim workshop in Athlone on Saturday with video analysis and some major deficiencies in my swimming were highlighted! So I think I'm going to not do any of this weeks sessions because as several people have noticed, I really need to work more on my swim technique than my swim fitness

I was told you'd gone to it glad you heard about it was I forgot to tell you when the next one was on
hope it went well, would love to go back myself to see the changes I've made

career move

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I was told you'd gone to it glad you heard about it was I forgot to tell you when the next one was on
hope it went well, would love to go back myself to see the changes I've made

Ya thanks for the recommendation! They're talking about doing a follow up session later in the year if there's interest ...

MojoMaker

As a matter of interest CM, looking over your SBR figures you're doing a lot of swimming for someone who doesn't seem to have a swim (race) goal this year - are you targetting a tri or two this summer. Will we see you at some of the summer aquathons perhaps?

career move

MojoMaker wrote: »

As a matter of interest CM, looking over your SBR figures you're doing a lot of swimming for someone who doesn't seem to have a swim (race) goal this year - are you targetting a tri or two this summer. Will we see you at some of the summer aquathons perhaps?

If I can swim properly by then you might

career move

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Week 20

Day 2
200m warm up
6*50 as (25 kick drils, 25 easy sw, 15s rest)
550sw steady pace
1 min rest
500pb steady pace
1 min rest
500sw steady pace
1 min rest
4*50 as 25 sprint, 25 easy, 15s rest
2 x 50 shoulder tap w pb
2 x 25 shoulder tap w/o pb
50 sw
200 backstroke

I substituted the 25 kick max for kick drills (2 x torpedo roll, 2 x one arm extension, 2 x side kick)
Miscounted the first 500 and did an extra 50 but the 500 was in 12:12. I'm faster with the pull buoy and I find I don't lift my head as much to breathe. 10:33 for that 500. Last 500 in 12:17. Didn't time the sprints and then I did some more drills before the cool down to try and get my lazy left elbow to come up a bit higher! Good session

Kurt Godel

career move wrote: »

I substituted the 25 kick max for kick drills (2 x torpedo roll, 2 x one arm extension, 2 x side kick)
Miscounted the first 500 and did an extra 50 but the 500 was in 12:12. I'm faster with the pull buoy and I find I don't lift my head as much to breathe. 10:33 for that 500. Last 500 in 12:17. Didn't time the sprints and then I did some more drills before the cool down to try and get my lazy left elbow to come up a bit higher! Good session

Looks like you paced it right, which is the goal of the session (and of this week).

There will come a time when you are quicker without the pull bouy. But for the moment you are ticking all the right boxes.

career move

I did my 1000m TT today. 23:34. Super super happy with that

Love you Kurt Godel

Kurt Godel

career move wrote: »

Day2
first 500 in 12:12... Last 500 in 12:17.

career move wrote: »

I did my 1000m TT today. 23:34.

12:12 + 12:17 = 24:29

You smashed it! Brilliant stuff from you career move, 23:34 is amazing after a few short months. Well done!

Kurt Godel

Week 20 comment

Ok a bit of honesty here. Originally I had week 20 including a 1.5km TT, which raised a few eyebrows. I edited it down to 1km, but the idea was unchanged. It was set up to be a very hard week, a tough test week, and I would have expected a lot to struggle with pacing the longer distance, and perhaps blow up during it.

Since the only feedback on the week was from career move, that's all I can review on.

She absolutely exceeded expectations by pacing the tougher 1,000m faster than the 2*500m. She was in control of her pacing abilities. That was the goal of week 20.

One of the fundamental basics to a successful Triathlon race is the ability to control your pace during the swim, to be aware of how fast you are swimming according to your abilities. Hundreds of people jostling for position at the start, everyone goes off fast, and its all too easy to get caught up and go off at 100m pace for the first 250m... struggling to breath... people swimming over me... hyperventilate... and the rest of the swim is a struggle to complete. Much better to start slower and controlled, and stay controlled (pick up the pace) during the race.

The next week brings in a breathing focus. If you are in control of your breathing, you are in control of your pace, you are in control of your race. Good luck!

Kurt Godel

Day 1
200m warm up
4*50 as 25 fist, 25 sw, 15s
10*50 as 25 BE3, 25 BE5, 15s (steady controlled pace)
10*25 as 15MAX, 10 easy (MAX is full on sprint)
3*100 moderate pace
3*100 steady pace
3*100 fast pace (enter fastest time in the 100mTT table)
200m choice

Day 2
200m warm up
50m breathe every 3
50m breathe every 4
50m breathe every 5
50m breathe every 6
50m breathe every 7
50m breathe every 8
50m breathe every 9
50m breathe every 8
50m breathe every 7
50m breathe every 6
50m breathe every 5
50m breathe every 4
50m breathe every 3
(20 seconds rest between each)
All of these should be done at a slow controlled pace. Exhale slowly and constantly. Try and keep a streamlined position. Take on air in a controlled manner- you should not be gasping. Relax and you will do better.
5*200m pb, breathe every 3, 20 seconds rest between each.
200 swim down choice

Day 3
200 warm up
4*50 as 25MAX, 25 easy, 20s
4*25 steady, 15s rest. Count the number of strokes you take for each 25, and get an average.
6*400, alternate sw and pb, 15s
(these should be done steady pace. Focus on slightly overreaching- try and reach a little further than usual with hand entry. Make the most of your catch and pull with thumb-to-thigh exit. The goal is to take one or two less strokes for each 25 than your test average)
200 choice

Solobally8

Hey guys sorry for butting in here. Kurt- why is ur training log locked??:eek:

Kurt Godel

Solobally8 wrote: »

Hey guys sorry for butting in here. Kurt- why is ur training log locked??:eek:

Hi soloBally, don't want to dwell on this too much, but I spend too much time on boards, and I have a coach for feedback, so going to park the log for a bit

rainbow kirby

Did this week's day 1 session there yesterday - quite enjoyed it, apart from the oul lad who got into the lane while I was on the faster 100s and blocked all three attempts at a 100 TT by refusing to let me pass at any point :mad:

Kurt Godel

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Did this week's day 1 session there yesterday - quite enjoyed it, apart from the oul lad who got into the lane while I was on the faster 100s and blocked all three attempts at a 100 TT by refusing to let me pass at any point :mad:

We need to work on your pool assertiveness hate slow lane hogs myself, those who feel duty bound to keep you at their slow pace are the worst! Mid-lane passing is a great way to practice sprint pacing, and it's many the swimmer who only learned to tumble turn as a way to break up the wall chatting group!

and still ricky villa

rainbow kirby wrote: »

apart from the oul lad who got into the lane while I was on the faster 100s and blocked all three attempts at a 100 TT by refusing to let me pass at any point :mad:

Think he was in Loughlinstown last week too. Sat for 10 minutes at the end of the lane, moving into people's way so we all crashed into him and then proceeded to back stroke clockwise while the rest going anti-clockwise veered to avoid him