Swim WOD philosophy / interpretation / shorthand Here are just a few of the "rules", and I use rules in the loosest sense of the word, for the WOD. This is just a bit of guidance so that I can use shorthand and still communicate the intent of the WOD. In no particular order at this point, if this grows then I might add some structure.
a) Not every day will be hard. Some days will be really easy (physiologically anyway). I'm not trying to kill anyone. I like to be finished a workout and feel like I could keep going.
b) Every day will demand that something be done really really well. A point of emphasis for the day, if you will. That might be effort. That might be a technique thing.
c) I am very minimal with the use of toys, but sometimes they might get used. They are meant to be tools for specific purposes, not crutches to mask technique flaws.
d) Consistency is far more important than any single workout, or workout design.
e) In the confines of this format, you aren't a triathlete. You are a swimmer. That means that not everything is micromanaged down to the nth degree for maximum benefit. I'm not intending this to be an "ideal" training programme. I don't want you to be saying 3 years from now that this sucks, is too hard, that you are burnt out.
f) You have a brain, use it. If something doesn't feel right, stop. Better safe than sorry.
g) I'm pretty thick skinned (no fat jokes though, please). If there is something that you want to see, but don't, then let me know by PM. I'll consider just about anything.
h) I'll try to post the WOD one day in advance, in the first post of the thread.
i) I will archive the previous WOD to the last post in the thread.
j) There will be at least 2 variants of the WOD. On most days there will be 3 variants.
k) I despise doing long continuous swims, for a lot of reasons. You will *never* see sets that call for over 400m straight. Except when they do.
l) Working on non-freestyle strokes is required. "But I just race triathlons, we only have to do freestyle", you say. I. Don't. Care. This is not a democracy. This is a benevolent dictatorship.
m) Other things that I require are doing "swimmer things" that (some) triathletes like to say "well, I don't race in a pool". Baloney. Anything that you do which improves body awareness in the water will help you in open water.
n) I haven't quite decided how I will convey intensity of efforts. I'll try a couple of different ways before I settle on something.
o) Speed is important. Being able to swim fast over 100-400m distances lends itself to swimming far. The opposite is not true.
Caveats, limitations and other things: If you don't achieve the results I have promised, I offer an unconditional 100% refund of all monies paid.
I am not a coach. I am not coaching you. I have promised nothing.
These are written with my personal biases in full effect. I am not a triathlete. I am a swimmer who has done some triathlons.
I am primarily a sprint / middle distance swimmer. Free and fly. I will be doing a 1500m at some point this season, only to say that I've done it. But I won't like it.
I was an "OK" swimmer in college. Now I swim with a masters team roughly 4 times per week, other swims I do on my own. At masters, we have 2 regular coaches on deck, I'll be doing their workouts on those days.
Some of these I might steal, sorry, borrow, from other sources. When I do that, I will try to attribute a workout to the correct sources.
Glossary / Shorthand When reading a set, sometimes, there may be variations. Other days I will just write 2 or 3 different versions of the workout, depending on how complicated it gets. The first number is the way it is originally designed. The numbers in brackets are the shorter and longer variations. Everything inside the curly brackets describes how to do the basic set.
example:
60 (40, 80) X 50 <--- short variation is 40 times 50.
{
12 (8,12) warmup pace @ T+20
8 (6,8) kick @T+30 (use fins if necessary)
40 (24,60) @ T +10
}
T, T+10, etc. "T" refers to a target time for the repeat. So if you are doing 50's at 1:30 per 100 pace as your goal pace, then "T" will be 45 seconds. T+10 will be 55 s. etc.
Build: gradually build the intensity within the repeat. i.e. a 100 build will start slow and finish fast(er)
Descend: usually accompanied by a notation such as "descend 1-3" or "descend 1-4". That means each consecutive repeat should be a little faster than the previous one. e.g. 8x100 descend 1-4. 1 is slowest, 2 is next slowest, 3 is a little quicker, then #4 is fastest. Then repeat that same pattern for # 5-8.
Swimming Workout of the Day: Favourite Swim Sets: 2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly
