Go Swim series; Loch Tay, Loch Lomond and Loch Morlich

It's been a long time since I've done an endurance event so what better way to come back to it than three lochs in bonnie Scotland!

Here's the event link in case you want to give it a go: Go Swim!

I've roped in a few friends for some of the lochs too; it's always better to have somebody as crazy as you by your side when you do these things! In all, I'll be covering 20km of pure Scottish water. 

I promised I'd post my swim sets in the training period for all these K's so we can get there together! And if you'd like like something different to mix up your swim, have a go!

Aim: To incorporate FC technique and mix up pace. 

Total: 2400m 

2 x 600m as:

4 x 100m -15-20 seconds rest. Thinking about the following for each 100:

1. breathe every 4 to the right - head position steady and big stretches to notice your rotation

2. breathe every 4 to the left 

3. focus on the pull - catch, high elbow on the pull through and full extension

4. focus on the over-arm recovery - relaxed arm, high elbow and aligned hand entry

1 x 200m - 20-30 seconds rest. Varying pace with each length; slow-medium-fast 

2 x 600m as:

2 x 100m -15-20 seconds rest. Think about points 1 and 2 from the first block for each of these.

1 x 400m  - 20-30 seconds rest. Varying the pace through slow- medium-fast every TWO lengths

Cool down

4-8 lengths of another stroke - I like to finish with back stroke to stretch out the opposite way from front crawl. 

Splish splash splosh - that's about 2.5k under the belt!

Session to find Critical Swim Speed 2800m

This will give you your time per 100m for a long distance swim. The calculation is:

CSS(m/sec)=(400m-200m)/ (t400-t200) but the easiest way is to search for a CSS swim calculator on the internet.

If you are an advanced swimmer, do the full warm up as it’s a good 35 minutes to get into speed. If you are intermediate, halve the warm up or your 35 minute equivalent but still go through each of the 3 sets.

Warm up

6 x 75m FC (50m steady/25m fast) continuous

6-7 x 150m (100FC/50BK) increasing effort with increasing rest by 10 seconds starting on 5 seconds rest.

8-10 x 50m FC K 1’10”/1’15” descending time (within the time given, increase your speed so you get more rest time)

Take a rest up to 5 minutes then time your 400m swim

Take a rest up to 5 minutes then time your 200m swim

Cool down

Choice 100m swim/ 50m kick

There will be some sets to follow that are based on your CSS.

Well done!

Back stroke Distance and Endurance

Warm up

400m IM Kick 30R

2x (4 x 50m IMO 15R)

Main

3/4/5 x 200m 4’15”/3’40”/3’15”

6/8/10 x 100m 2’10”/2’/1’50”

12/16/20 x 50m 1’15”/1’05”/1’

Cool down

100m choice swim

100m choice kick

Breast stroke Distance and Endurance 2000/2400/3000m

Warm up

400m IM Kick 30R

2x (4 x 50m IMO 15R)

Main

3/4/5 x 200m 1-2 with fins, fly Kick; 3+ BR Kick 4’40”/4’05”/3’40”

6/8/10 x 100m Odds BR; Evens FC 2’10”/2’/1’50”

<24 x 50m BR/FLY/BR/BK/BR/BR/BR/FC etc… 1’15”/1’05”/1’

Cool down

100m choice swim

100m choice kick

Fly Distance and Endurance 2000/2400/3000m

This is for those out there that like a challenge!

Warm up

400m IM Kick 30R

2x (4 x 50m IMO 15R)

Main

Repeat the following 2 times with 1’30” between the two

5/6/7 x 200m 4’30”/4’”/3’40”

As the first 3/4/5 as Fly

2^nd to last FC

Last off the block MAX

Cool down

4 x 50m Old English back stroke. 

Working on IM turns 2800m 10/11/16

Warm up

4x 200m (100m FC/50m fly drill/ 50m FLY) 20 R

4 x 200m IM Kick up Swim down 30R

4 x 25m FC K 800m pace 5 sec rest

4 x 25m FC K 100m pace 15 sec rest

4 x 25m FC K 25m pace 30 sec rest

Main – working on IM turns going hard in and out of wall.

6 x 50m (FLY/BK) 1’10

6 x 50m (BK/BR) 1’15

6 x 50m (BR/FC) 1’10

6 x 100m IM

Cool down

200m FC K

IM Streamlining Set 2600m 17/8/16

Warm up

5 x 100m FC 1’45”

5 x 50m FC Kick with board 1’15

Main

10 x 25m FLY build on number of underwater kicks from 1-10 each 25m 30”

5 x 50m BK reduce stroke count by 1 each 50m 1’10”

5 x 50m BR (25m 4 sec streamlining/25m sprint) 1’10”

10 x 50m FC starting in the middle of the pool and streamlining through turns, FAST at the 5m ends, steady during 15m middle. 1’

2- 4 x 100 IM max off blocks 1’ rest

Cool down

2 x 100m Paired FC stroke. Make a pair where there is a difference in 25m stroke count of 2-4 so that the person with a higher stroke count is forced to glide longer and pull harder to match the person with the lower stroke count.