As I mentioned a few months ago, I decided to dedicate this year to setting a few big scary goals, one of which is competing in my first triathlon in six years.
I signed up for the CGI New Jersey Olympic Triathlon on July 19th. While lately I have been keeping up with my fit crashing and training for (and finishing) the Brooklyn Half Marathon, I haven’t done any proper swim training in a very long time.
I grew up a swimmer. Literally – my parents had me in an Aqua Tots program before I could walk. I joined a year round swim program at the age of four, and by high school I was doing twice a day practices on top of homework and college hunting. My swim career ended shortly after I went to college (which is when I decided to dedicate the next three years to the triathlon team), and my time in the pool has been few and far since.
So while swimming feels like an old friend every time I jump in the cold water, the aquatic strength and conditioning has faded. Which is why I need to put in the extra effort to properly train for this upcoming race. I know muscle memory will deliver me to the finish line if push comes to shove – but I don’t want to just make it. I want to run out of the water feeling strong and fast.
The Olympic distance race will require that I swim one mile before biking 25 miles and running 6.2. While a mile may seem like a short distance on land, in the water it can feel incredibly long and tedious. Especially when your training is starting at square one and it takes quite some effort to keep going lap after lap. Because let’s be honest, swimming for a long period of time can get boring. Really boring. There’s not a whole lot to look at and there are only so many topics of discussion to float around in your head.
That’s why I like to break up my swim workouts – the variety keeps things interesting.
Here are the top three workouts I use to get to 1650 yards without losing my sanity:
ONE //
Warm up: 3 x 100 swim
Drill: 6 x 50 drill
Kick: 4 x 75 kick
Main set: 4 x 150 building each 50 to fast
Warm down: 100 swim, 50 kick
TWO //
Warm up: 300 alternating 50 kick, 50 swim
Drill: 4 x 50 drill alternating laps of 6 kicks 1 pull, fingertip drag
Speed: 8 x 25 ladder (build laps1 – 4 to sprint, descend speed on laps 5 – 8)
Kick: 200 (one lap on front, back, left side, right side x 2)
Speed: 8 x 25 ladder (build laps 1 – 4 to sprint, descend speed on laps 5 – 8)
Drill: 4 x 50 alternating laps of catch-up drill, fingertip drag drill
Set: 300 alternating 50 kick, 50 swim
Warm down: 50 of your choice
THREE //
Warm up: 300 alternating laps swim, kick, drill, swim
Drill: 2 x 200 each lap breathing every 3, 5, 7, 9 strokes
Kick: 4 x 75 with a kickboard
Main set: 4 x 100 build each 100 so that the last one is full speed
Speed: 4 x 25 kick as fast and far as you can underwater on each lap before sprinting to the end
Warm down: 150 cool down alternating between swim and kick