This week, I’ll be kicking off my 3-part series of Workout Wednesday sessions on how to prepare for the host of unknowns that you’ll face in a race.
We’ve all been there: Despite being meticulous with your race planning and following your power meter, heart rate monitor or just being sensible, you’ve either had to adjust the race plan or just give up. However, with the right training, you can be ready for whatever race day throws at you.
For today’s session, let’s talk about the unknowns of the swim.
Has this happened to you? The start of the swim is way too fast and you’re caught up in chasing the fast feet ahead of you. Now you’re working way too hard. Your heart rate surges and this elevation in intensity causes a seesaw effect in your overall output rather than the steady race pace you’ve trained for. Your perfect race plan is no longer perfect! You find yourself slowing down to re-group after your initial intensity spike and watch your competitors sail by you in the water.
This swim workout will help you prepare for these spikes during the swim start where — for 20 sec to 2 min — your heart rate is elevated into your anaerobic zone and produces a quick spike in muscle acidity.
Keep in mind that, during a race, the longer you linger in your anaerobic zones the more you’ll pay for this in the later stages of the run. However, training for and anticipating the randomness of these higher intensity efforts during a race will strengthen your mental tenacity.
Try this workout over the final 10 weeks leading up to your big race. These high outputs are witnessed at all distances and in all ability levels.
Lastly, you may find that when you’re elevating these interval segments you’ll acquire the ability to relax and recognize that when you ratchet up the intensity the race can still be fun and manageable. This builds confidence.
Stay tuned in the following weeks for similar sessions for the bike and run. And, as always, if you do the workout, let me know how it goes and get in touch with me on Facebook or Twitter.
Dave
Warm Up
10 min
Warm up just how you would for the race and include 100 of backstroke to stretch your back, pecs and shoulders.
1st Set
10 sec hard
20 sec cruise
50 sec hard
20 sec cruise
3 x 15 sec hard with 5 sec Rest Interval (RI) between each.
Remember the set is based on time, not distance so you’re going to have to estimate. Wear a watch if needed or glance at the pace clock. Open water works as well!
Main Set
10 sec hard
RI 5 sec
Repeat 3 times
4 x 20 sec hard
RI 10 sec easy
2 min pretty darn hard then back off slightly for 20 sec
Swim aerobic for 3 min
Repeat the entire set 4 to 8 times.
Cool down.
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