How fast can you impove?

[Carson]

Hey all...

I just started swimming in September of last year and am having a blast in the pool each time. I
swim at least 3 times a week and some weeks I manage to get in 5 times. I swim with a triathlon club
and have had some great coaching since joining. The only problem is that I seem to be in a rut....

When I started my first 1000m timed was about 0:19:30 (this was in September) and I had to stop and
catch my breath almost every 50m. Now that I have been swimming and getting some feedback I have
brought that time down to 0:14:38 (this is about 1:28/100m). My problem is that I am suck here. I
can't seem to get any faster...

Our swim workouts are more based on speed over the shorter distances (i.e. 100m - 200m) and not too
much on the longer stuff. If I want to get my time down would it be wise to start putting in the
longer distances or not.

Someone said that if I start doing sets like - 10 x 100m on a pace time of
1:25 - it would help out a lot.

What I am really asking is what is the fastest way to improve from this point. My goal is to be
swimming about 1:20's by the end of the summer.... Anyone think this is a bit to far off?

Thanks Carson

 

[Steve Freides]

Carson wrote:
>
> Hey all...
>
> I just started swimming in September of last year and am having a blast in the pool each time.
> I swim at least 3 times a week and some weeks I manage to get in 5 times. I swim with a
> triathlon club and have had some great coaching since joining. The only problem is that I seem
> to be in a rut....
>
> When I started my first 1000m timed was about 0:19:30 (this was in September) and I had to stop
> and catch my breath almost every 50m. Now that I have been swimming and getting some feedback I
> have brought that time down to 0:14:38 (this is about 1:28/100m). My problem is that I am suck
> here. I can't seem to get any faster...
>
> Our swim workouts are more based on speed over the shorter distances (i.e. 100m - 200m) and not
> too much on the longer stuff. If I want to get my time down would it be wise to start putting in
> the longer distances or not.
>
> Someone said that if I start doing sets like - 10 x 100m on a pace time of
> 1:25 - it would help out a lot.
>
> What I am really asking is what is the fastest way to improve from this point. My goal is to be
> swimming about 1:20's by the end of the summer.... Anyone think this is a bit to far off?

Variety is the spice of life - change your program. You don't mention your total yardage per workout
or week - that would be interesting to know.

I would add some variety to your program, e.g., try repeat 50's on :45 to work on your speed and
turnover rate. Do some stroke reduction drills. Try doing some work with paddles and buoys, also
some kick-only drills. Certainly 10 x 100 in 1:25 on 1:45 or similar could be helpful as well.
Overdistance might be worth a try, too, e.g., try swimming some longer intervals in practice with an
occasional easy but non-stop 1500. No more often than once every week or two for the overdistance
swim, though.

Yet another good thing for speed is all-out intervals on long rests,
e.g., 25's in :15 or so on 1:00 or even longer - complete recovery between each interval and
don't do too many of them. You could also do pyramid intervals, e.g., 25, 50, 75, 100, 75,
50, 25 or similar.

Getting out of a rut requires fresh stimulus *and* particular attention to not overtraining. The
best thing would be to take a few days off, perhaps miss a practice or two, then start up with a
different program for a while, gradually increasing the intensity over a period of 4-6 weeks, with
another 1000 meter time trial at the end.

-S-