Longest I ever do is 600 yards free non-stop. That is incorporated into a 3000+ yard workout.
Just swam 28:50 at CaliMan 1/2, so I’m pretty had with my swim training. I have no desire and can think of no reason to swim longer than 1000 yards straight. Shorter faster sets seem much more effective in the pool. Very little rest in between sets though.
I did 2 IM’s and swam them in 1:18 and 1:16.
2.5 miles…open water. I do this at least once per week, along with my other swim workouts.
I can’t stand straight swim sets, so I don’t do them. My only continuous long swims are in races. I really don’t think it negatively affects my Ironman swim time though. I try to get in some 5000 yd workouts before IM and that seems adequate. I rarely swim more than 600 yds continuously unless it’s an easy 1000 warm-up set. Sometimes the rest on my main sets is pretty short though, so it’s not too far off a continuous swim.
Training for a 1/2 IM, in the 4-6 weeks before the race I’ll do a 1x2500 at 7:50 per 500 every Fri. It is a pretty easy pace, but if I can handle these with no problem I’ll make almost 30’ in the race.
I agree with the poster that you don’t really ‘need’ to go longer than, say, 400m repeats to get fit (even for IM). That said, I do like long swim sets from time to time, especially when swimming short course. However, I have a lot of trouble counting so I like this one…
Continuous repeats of 100 IM / 150 Free – the typical set is 12 cycles for 3,000. The longest that I have ever done is 20 cycles (SCY). It’s a nice endurance workout because you don’t need to watch the clock and you don’t need to worry too much about pushing the pace on the free. When I started doing this workout (last year), it was a survival situation. Now, I’ve learned to pace things a lot better. I recommend it to folks that know all four strokes and are looking for a solid strength and endurance session.
For best results, flip turn into the fly and swim b/l 3 on all freestyle. When you start, ease off on the last 50 of free (before the fly) and use an open turn to start the fly.
I’ve found that IM builds the muscular endurance required to hang in for open water swims. I also think that the other strokes have benefits for our freestyle.
Happy laps,
g
if u can swim fly ok, fly is an excellant way to build endurance. heh i had a guy in my club (when i was a swimmer) who’d do a whole 30 min test (30 mins swimming continuously…how far can u go etc) on fly.
Our squad usually max’s out at 400m. often repeats with short rest though. Very occassionally it will be 800m repeats.
Leading up to IMNZ, Coach Haydn will throw in a 1000 time trial or maybe 1x1500m time trial just to see how we’re doing.
Most often it’s 40x 100m with short rest, if we do a long set.
Several weeks ago he threw in 1500m of BUTTERFLY. Well actually, 30x 50 fly (25 fly, 25 fly drill)!!! with 20 seconds rest. NO-one complained, we just panted reeeeeally HARD.
I won a bet once with my high school coach by doing a mile of fly straight through. If you’re in good swim shape, it’s not too bad. The key is to add a wee dolphin kick just before you start with the catch and that gives your arms just enough of a break to make it tolerable.
Probably blown out of proportions, but I have heard from reputable sources about some of the distance sets the past greats (phish) did once in a while. 16,000 yd IM, straight up (4000 fly, 4000 bk, etc.). I heard one about Kostoff that may be way off, but: 5 x 5000yds on 50 minutes a piece. He made the set. Makes me wonder what the 5 km and 25 km open water distance swimmers do. I don’t have enough songs in my head, and my hard drive is losing gigs daily.