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Best Use of 1X Swim per Week
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I am looking for some thoughts about how to best to use my swim time of 1X per week of about an hour. Some background info: I am currently 58 and started Tri's 6 years ago. I was a summer club swimmer back in my high school days so I am pretty comfortable in the water. I spent a couple years in my late 30's swimming USMS. Since starting Tri's I swim 1X per week starting in Jan/Feb preparing for summer races. I have completed about 15- 1500M open water race swims and 3- 1.2 mile race swims. The 1500M times are about 25/26 minutes. My 1.2 mile time is about 36/37 minutes. My swim training is typically about 6 months of 1X per week starting at 20 minutes/session and maxing at about 40 minutes per workout. I usually do a straight swim with some 10 x 50 or 10 x 100 intervals from time to time. This usually puts me in the top 25-30% in the age group. My bike is usually in the bottom 30-40% so I try to use more time to train on the bike.

I recently started back with a Masters Group. I still maintain a 1X per week swim. We currently complete 2400-2700 yds per workout. This include WU,stroke drills, kick set, Main Set and cool down. I'm not sure how this will compare in preparing me for the "long" swim for the Oly or the HIM. I always felt with my old training I was pretty sure where my pace would be and that my total time was pretty predictable.


Race times are Oly 2:45, HIM 6:25.


Any thoughts or suggestions on how to best use the 1X per week session are welcomed!


And yes I know, I should swim more often. :-)


Thanks
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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [Caymanskier] [ In reply to ]
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You got to make use of the time you have in the pool, so Master's 1x a week is good. I would add dry-land training, like stretch cordz 2x a week. 3 sets of 50 pulls shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes.
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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [Caymanskier] [ In reply to ]
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Caymanskier wrote:
I am looking for some thoughts about how to best to use my swim time of 1X per week of about an hour. Some background info: I am currently 58 and started Tri's 6 years ago. I was a summer club swimmer back in my high school days so I am pretty comfortable in the water. I spent a couple years in my late 30's swimming USMS. Since starting Tri's I swim 1X per week starting in Jan/Feb preparing for summer races. I have completed about 15- 1500M open water race swims and 3- 1.2 mile race swims. The 1500M times are about 25/26 minutes. My 1.2 mile time is about 36/37 minutes. My swim training is typically about 6 months of 1X per week starting at 20 minutes/session and maxing at about 40 minutes per workout. I usually do a straight swim with some 10 x 50 or 10 x 100 intervals from time to time. This usually puts me in the top 25-30% in the age group. My bike is usually in the bottom 30-40% so I try to use more time to train on the bike.

I recently started back with a Masters Group. I still maintain a 1X per week swim. We currently complete 2400-2700 yds per workout. This include WU,stroke drills, kick set, Main Set and cool down. I'm not sure how this will compare in preparing me for the "long" swim for the Oly or the HIM. I always felt with my old training I was pretty sure where my pace would be and that my total time was pretty predictable.


Race times are Oly 2:45, HIM 6:25.


Any thoughts or suggestions on how to best use the 1X per week session are welcomed!


And yes I know, I should swim more often. :-)


Thanks


500 warm up which includes technique work and sometimes drills
20x100, pretty much as fast as you can while maintaining even pacing
500 cool down which includes technique work and sometimes drills

Sadly due to being time limited, this is the weekly swim workout that I basically do 90% of the year.
Last edited by: solitude: Nov 27, 15 17:53
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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [Caymanskier] [ In reply to ]
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If you're only swimming once per week, I don't think it really matters what you do. Just swim.

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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax wrote:
If you're only swimming once per week, I don't think it really matters what you do. Just swim.

This...don't overthink it. Just get in a good 1/1.5 hour session and maintain.

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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [Caymanskier] [ In reply to ]
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Another thing, nit really a big deal, but kind of a mindset thing. This might come across as harsh, but I don't intend it to be taken that way.


If you say you are "top 25-30%", you aren't top of anything. If you say you are bottom 40%, you aren't bottom of anything. You are solidly MOP for both swim and bike. There's nothing wrong with that, but don't fool yourself into thinking that your swim is a real strength of yours. It isn't, you happen to be slightly better at it than the bike, but not a lot better.

I'm just saying that because you seem to be neglecting the swim on that basis, which I believe is a poor rationale.

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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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Jason, yes based on how you look at it I can be rated anywhere around MOP. Based on how I look at times/places after the race I definitely place much higher in the swim than I do on the bike and run. My usual "in season" week is 3 bikes, 2 runs, 1 swim and a day off. Since I rationalize myself as stronger in the swim I move away from swimming to free up a bike night. Since I do 3X the work on the bike you might think I'd at least place around the same ranking as swimming but no such luck. I race mostly local tri's so my age group will have 10-15 competitors. Almost always i would be in the top 2-3 in swim, and bottom 5 in the run and bike.

I really "work out" more than I train. I love the 3 sports and I love to race. But I try to work out for stress relief and spare tire control. I dont know that I have the drive to podium, but I would like to at least make the best use of the time I put into it.

For other responses so far it seems that, with the minimal time I do swim this is providing a feel for the water and some "stroke technique" but probably isn't really enough to have a quality structure to it for positive gains. Maybe just getting in and swimming for 1 hr no matter what I do I would end up with the same swimming "potential"?
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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [Caymanskier] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, that's pretty much my thought. With a week or so between swims, too much time has passed between swims to really get much of a specific training effect. It's really just part of a generalized cross training workout schedule, which is perfectly ok. Better than doing nothing, isn't it.

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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax wrote:
Yeah, that's pretty much my thought. With a week or so between swims, too much time has passed between swims to really get much of a specific training effect. It's really just part of a generalized cross training workout schedule, which is perfectly ok. Better than doing nothing, isn't it.


I disagree with this. I used to swim once weekly but I would just get in and swim easy for an hour. Basically swam the same pace, 2:00/100 on this regimen for about five years. Once I switched my weekly swim workout to all intervals - I never swim easy anymore except for warmup, cooldown, and races per Slowtwitch recommendations - within two months my pace had improved to 1:35-1:40/100. It has stayed there, and I can get slightly faster on two swims per week (have not tried more than two per week). These faster times have translated to OWS tri swim leg improvement.

n =1, but I saw results from a more structured once weekly session.
Last edited by: solitude: Nov 27, 15 21:35
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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [solitud [ In reply to ]
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Well, you went from swimming easy to swimming hard. I wasn't suggesting that floating on your back for an hour would be as good as swimming harder. What I'm really talking about is that there will be very little difference between swimming different interval lengths, so long as the overall intensity / workload is roughly the same.

If you are swimming once per week, then there probably won't be much difference between swimming say 40 X 50 on longer rest, vs 5x400 on short rest.

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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [shivermetimbers] [ In reply to ]
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I'd go a little farther:

I'd skip swimming all together..... just go to the gym and do some exercises for the swim specific muscle groups.

Better chances for landing a date too, as at the pool the hot girls hang out around the fast lanes.



shivermetimbers wrote:
JasoninHalifax wrote:
If you're only swimming once per week, I don't think it really matters what you do. Just swim.


This...don't overthink it. Just get in a good 1/1.5 hour session and maintain.
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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [solitud [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax wrote:
... there will be very little difference between swimming different interval lengths, so long as the overall intensity / workload is roughly the same ...

That's more so when swimming only once per week? Why?
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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [jstonebarger] [ In reply to ]
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I've been swimming around 1x a week for the past 2 months since tri season has ended. I plan on ramping up swimming in February. Due to current situation, it's hard for me to swim more than once a week right now. I pick up and take care of my son three days a week after school and have meetings or a grad class on the other two days, and can only get to the pool on the weekends currently. I've found that my swim pace has lost around 3-4 seconds per hundred, but I should be able to get that back with two months of 2-3 swims a week.

My current swim usually involves lots of faster 50's to try and maintain some speed and some 100's or 200's at a pretty steady pace. My latest swim was something like a 1000 WU, 4x (8x50 on :10 rest, 200 pull), 200 CD.

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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [jstonebarger] [ In reply to ]
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This is just my opinion, nothing to back it up, but with such a long time between sessions you are essentially detraining anything specific. You'll still get some generalized cardio and muscular fitness that comes from training in other sports as well.

Rough analogy, it's like building a snowman in the summer. Wait too long, and it melts away

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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax wrote:
If you're only swimming once per week, I don't think it really matters what you do. Just swim.

I would say "swim hard on that day"....plus stretch chords 5-6x per week for 10 min. No reason to not make 10 min available. I think I will force the low volume swim guys in my group to get on the chords!!!
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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax wrote:
Another thing, nit really a big deal, but kind of a mindset thing. This might come across as harsh, but I don't intend it to be taken that way.


If you say you are "top 25-30%", you aren't top of anything. If you say you are bottom 40%, you aren't bottom of anything. You are solidly MOP for both swim and bike. There's nothing wrong with that, but don't fool yourself into thinking that your swim is a real strength of yours. It isn't, you happen to be slightly better at it than the bike, but not a lot better.

I'm just saying that because you seem to be neglecting the swim on that basis, which I believe is a poor rationale.

I think it's hard to say it's a strength or weakness without knowing how much he trains for the bike and run and his times. Swimming a 36-38, his technique is descent at 58 years old swimming 1 day a week. However, unless he's time restricted, swimming more with be a great way to add more training load without risking injury regardless of whether he swim 1-2 minutes faster.

I've had the same debate myself. Last season I swam about 1/3 less, and had a PR in 70.3 and swam about the same in IM. You might argue that I "harvested" my swimming, and there are further gains to be found. Possibly, but since I'm targeting training 1/3 less total volume this year overall and focus on 70.3, my time is better spent running and cycling more.

I have a similar background to the OP.


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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [Caymanskier] [ In reply to ]
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58 and 1 hour a week? Hot tub!
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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [motoguy128] [ In reply to ]
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Motoguy, my total work load is relatively low. Late fall thru early spring averages about 6-6.5 hr/week. In season it only max's at about 9 just before an HIM. I try do at least six 3 hr rides building up to the HIM. Some 9-10 mile runs. Then get some interval work mixed in on the bike and run. If I recall my last HIM it was 37 swim, 3:04 bike, 2:35 run (Muncie 70.3) 6:25 overall. My stand alone spring HM was a 2:10. So I look at it as a strength in the swim at 1X per week. In starting w/ masters again I wanted to get some actual coaching on stroke technique to help in the long term. I'm just not comfortable yet that at 1X per week the way a Masters work out is structured that I'll get enough of the longer endurance fitness I'll need. Most of the recommendations on this thread imply I need a lot more high intensity yards for a 1X then what I am currently doing.

I have noticed that since I picked up strength training last year at 2X per week, my overall performance seems to have improved. It could be the strength training or it could be due to just another year at training.
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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [Caymanskier] [ In reply to ]
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If I only had an hour in the pool each week, I would alternate:

week 1: w/u, 6 x 100 fast (50 kick recoveries), 20 x 100 on an interval that gives me :05-:10 rest, c/d
week 2: 8 x 300 odds easy, evens fast, all on 5:00. Hmmm then you'd have another 20 min to play with. I'd probably do some stroke stuff.

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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [Caymanskier] [ In reply to ]
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Have you considered that swimming regularly with your masters team - 3 to 4 times per week - will help your bike split? You may be able swim as fast without training and you may compare favorably to your competition on the swim but those that swim your speed and even slower likely are in a better position to do well on the bike and run because their overall conditioning is better. The only way swimming one time per week would be worthwhile is if you spent it open water swimming. Otherwise forget it and do another bike or run session.
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Re: Best Use of 1X Swim per Week [Caymanskier] [ In reply to ]
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