I’m having difficulty with quantifying swim TSS. I’ve tried to set up my zones but am unsure if they are accurate. e.g. if I do a session in the pool of roughly for about 1hr. TP says I’ve trained for under 40 mins. Normally it’s a generic coached session so probably spending some time listening to the person taking the course/ That said, I am trying to set up my pace threshold but all the advice on line has left me totally confused. TP suggests a test of 1km but I have only swum non-stop for 800m once as I’m new to Tri.
The data seems to be pace, time and cadence only. It is uploaded from a Garmin Fenix 3 if that helps. Can you give any advice, help me see the wood from the trees on how to do this please?
Not sure if this is correct, but here is what I do:
In Training Peaks, set your threshold pace as defined by doing a CSS (Critical Swim Speed test)(google it and follow the swim smooth method of performing this test). The test is not hard to do as such and the swim smooth calculator will give you your CSS pace.
With your watch in the pool, one issue can be how you are using it to record your session. If you just press start at the start of the session and then stop it at the end of the 60 mins, you will not get a good estimate of training stress as the average pace over that session will include all your rest periods. Instead, with Garmin, set up the lap function so when you come into the wall for a rest you hit the lap button, it pauses the timer and you can set the lap screen up to show your total distance, rest time, repeat time etc. Then when you start the next interval just hit the button etc. When you are done hit stop and you will get a total swimming time (ie not including rest time) and a more accurate pace per 100m and likely a more accurate sTSS.
If it helps, for a 5 km session I tend to get a sTSS of around 120 (90 mins in the pool, about 75-78 mins of actual swimming) and around 80-85 sTSS for a 60 min pool session (around 3.2 km). Most of my swim training tends to be within a few seconds per 100m of CSS pace, just the way our squad works.
Also note…some people debate whether you should use sTSS anyway as part of CTL estimates etc…from what I can gather TSS was really set up for bike related work and then extrapolated into running and then swimming but I am by no means an expert in that area…I still use it!
For swim TSS, it only takes into account moving time. So if you’re in the pool for 75 minutes and swim 4000 yards, BUT you have 15 minutes total rest between all of your various sets, it will only show you as having a 60 minute swim.
Do a 1000 swim or a swim smooth 400/200 CSS test to determine your swim threshold pace, and then go set the threshold in training peaks and let it establish zones.
For swim TSS, it only takes into account moving time. So if you’re in the pool for 75 minutes and swim 4000 yards, BUT you have 15 minutes total rest between all of your various sets, it will only show you as having a 60 minute swim.
I think this is only if you are actually pausing between intervals. If you just start your garmin it will not auto pause like in running so the example given, 4000 yards in 75 minutes will dramatically change your average pace (and I presume sTSS).
Correct. It will not auto pause. If someone is using their Garmin in the pool, I’m assuming they are using it as a timing mechanism for their intervals and rest, therefore lapping it between sets
I try to just keep things consistent, and make sure sTSS isn’t drastically off when uploading files. As long as it is roughly 1TSS per minute in the pool I leave it as is, if it is not then I adjust it to that. I track total time in pool, not total moving time. To get the sTSS to be close to to that I have had to make the Threshold Swim Speed slightly faster than it actually is.
This may not be exactly right, but it is how I have tracked my sTSS over the last 9 years in TP’s, so at least I know the data is consistent over the years, and gives a pretty solid reflection on my PMC chart from year to year when tracking S/B/R PMC, which many people are not fans of anyways, but I have been provided some useful insight over the years from it.
After many years faffing around with swim watches, pace clocks etc I now do something similar. I worked out that on average 800m is around about equal to 15 TSS at a ‘typical’ pace. So for a ‘typical’ 2.4K set I use 45TSS and adjust depending if it was easy/hard/whatever.
Like you say it might not be perfect, but I have done this for a few years now and anecdotally believe its very close. Also given swimming is the lowest discipline for me in terms of total TSS and total training time, any errors in total TSS are likely to me almost negligible in overall terms.
I bump up my Threshold time as well. Otherwise the training zones are silly and I get high sTSS numbers, throwing up my overall FFF numbers. I just use the historical Swim data so going into a race I can see where I was with FFF and adjust taper as needed.
After many years faffing around with swim watches, pace clocks etc I now do something similar. I worked out that on average 800m is around about equal to 15 TSS at a ‘typical’ pace. So for a ‘typical’ 2.4K set I use 45TSS and adjust depending if it was easy/hard/whatever.
Like you say it might not be perfect, but I have done this for a few years now and anecdotally believe its very close. Also given swimming is the lowest discipline for me in terms of total TSS and total training time, any errors in total TSS are likely to me almost negligible in overall terms.
I am a beginner, but basically I have the same numbers.