Day 28: The Need for Speed! Swim

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“I feel the need, the need for speed!” Learning to swim at all speeds and intensities is crucial if you want to get the most from the time you spend in the pool. Too many triathletes only swim at one speed when they train—and then wonder why they can’t swim fast on race day! This workout will help train your body to work at all intensities—and it’s a fun way to finish all the swimming you’ve done this month as part of the #TriathleteChallenge.

You’ll see that on the main set effort is gauged at either 70%, 80% or 90-95%, so be sure to really distinguish between these intensities. Don’t go too hard too soon! If you’re pushed for time, you can always drop one of the rounds, e.g. stop after the 3 x 100s.

Swim Set

Warm-up

10 minutes easy swimming, include some backstroke
100 swim, focusing on form
2 x 75 build to fast
3 x 50 build to fast
4 x 25 fast
All with 15 seconds rest

Main Set

100 @ 70% with 20 seconds rest
100 @ 80% with 10 seconds rest
1 x 100 @ 90-95% with 5 seconds rest

100 @ 70% with 20 seconds rest
100 @ 80% with 10 seconds rest
2 x 100 @ 90-95% with 5 seconds rest

100 @ 70% with 20 seconds rest
100 @ 80% with 10 seconds rest
3 x 100 @ 90-95% with 5 seconds rest

100 @ 70% with 20 seconds rest
100 @ 80% with 10 seconds rest
4 x 100 @ 90-95% with 5 seconds rest

Cooldown

100-200 easy relaxed swimming