Terry's Spring Training

[terry]

Originally Posted by AWP

As a 'main set' I swam approx. 1000 yards counting strokes, beginning with the lower count of my range, then trying to maintain the middle to higher range and when comfy with that tried to subtract strokes while 'maintaining' pace. Tricky business, a task you can successfully accomplish by... stroking slower! Yep, slower, a nano-second, each length, until you've erased a stroke but not so much where you feel your pace has been compromised. All the while focused on ease, feeling your extension lengthen, your kick, connected to hip drive snappier, catch a tad firmer, yet swimming smoothly and quietly lest you become taxed too quickly. I told you it was tricky!

Alan
I LOVE what you did here on the 1000y--sort of an SPL pyramid while maintaining the pace you attained at the top of the SPL range. Brilliant. I'm inspired to give it a whirl. I think you've invented a great new TI problem-solving exercise.

I think you also showed wisdom or discretion in breaking your 550 into shorter reps as you proceeded. I really look forward to 'training with you' over the next couple of months as we wait for our favorite swimming holes to warm up.

[terry]

26 April 2015 -- 2200y in 50 min at SUNY

If anyone is curious why my main sets consist of repeats of odd distances 250y last time, 125y today, it's because I'm training for Long Course and open water season and figure it can't hurt to make the repeats a bit longer than the standard ones -- i.e. 200 and 100y.

Tuneup 300y continuous and Perfect 25 FR @ 13 SPL, 25 BK @ 16 SPL, 25 BR @ 8 SPL.

Main Set: 13 x 125 as follows
1-5 @ 1.20 Tempo on 2:20 Avg 1:49
75 Recovery Pace
6-9 @ 1.17 Tempo on 2:20 Avg 1:48
50 Recovery Pace
10-13 @ 1.15 Tempo on 2:30 Avg 1:47
Notes: I was aiming to do as many lengths @ 14 SPL and as few as possible @ 15 SPL as Tempo got faster. (First 25 of all but one repeat was at 13 SPL.) I did still manage to keep quite a few lengths at 14 SPL even on the fastest tempo which pleased me. It required intense concentration and making each stroke firm and smooth. I was pleased with this because my paces at 1.20 and 1.17 were faster than I'd swum at 1.15 for 250 repeats in my previous practice--meaning my average SPL was a markedly lower.

Final Set
6 x 25. My goal was to find the fastest tempo at which I could complete 25y in 13 strokes. I started at 1.15 and took 14 SPL at 1.15, 1.16, and 1.17. At 1.18 I finally completed the length in 13 strokes. Then I did two more at 1.18 and 13 SPL.

In subsequent practices I'll do similar sets, looking for fastest tempo at which I can do 14 and 15 strokes -- devoting one practice to each. I'll log those tempos and see how much I can improve on them by mid-June, when I begin swimming Long Course.

[terry]

Tuneup 3 x 150 (Each @ 13-14-15-15-14-13 SPL)
My tuneup today was inspired by the SPL pyramid Alan Perez did a week ago. He swam 1000y beginning at the low end of his Green Zone SPL range, allowing his count to rise gradually toward the upper end, then gradually lengthening his stroke to finish the swim back at the low end.
I just condensed this idea to work my way through a 'gears' exercise between 13 and 15 SPL over 150y. Felt so good I'll definitely return to this exercise, dreaming up more ways to do it.

Main Set 3 rounds of (8 x 75 on 1:30)
Round 1 @ 1.20 Avg SPL 14 Avg Time 64 sec. (1:04)
100 EZ
Round 2 @ 1.17 Avg SPL 14 Avg Time 62 sec.
100 EZ
Round 3 @ 1.15 Avg SPL 14 Avg Time 61 sec.
Notes:
I achieved my average of 14 SPL by taking 13-14-15 by 25s.
Once I did this in the first round, on 1.20, I made it my goal to hold these stroke counts as tempo got faster. It required intense concentration, yet remaining physically relaxed to keep each stroke effective.

On Thursday, I'll do an easy practice for recovery, then on Saturday I'll revisit my baseline set of 3 x 550 and see how much my pace has improved, at same range of Tempos--meaning I'll have to take fewer strokes than I did the first time.

[AWP]

I last swam on Friday morning where I repeated the 1000 spl exercise, and although successful in the stroke pyramid, didn't feel so in pace maintenance quite as well as on the previous go. Will remain conscious of that going forward.
As a side note, to keep my momentum, when I felt pace off heading towards lower counts, I utilized open turns to assure a solid push off (and perhaps a bit more air) to 'enable' my pace and spl and success. I'll be conscious of that too.

My next practice main set:
4x200 @ TT 1.20
3x150 @ TT 1.17
2x100 @ TT 1.15
1x200 * Here I'll give myself an option to a.) return to TT 1.20 and compare to perhaps the last repeat of first set or b.) use a spl 'pyramid' as 14spl, 15spl, 16spl then 15spl every 50yds, hmmm...
Then:
6x125
As a spl or TT pyramid...
I'll begin with 300 tune-up also and if I have time finish with same.
Approximate distance: 2700- 3000yds
Approximate time: within 60 min.

[lloyddinma]

Originally Posted by truwani

Great to follow!

I would also like to see a link to a video where Terry swims some laps in the pool at REAL speed.

I only find video's showing swimming in smow motion.

Could anybody share this?

It's funny that I was thinking the same. I have two loops in my mind. I upload when I get to the pool: his YouTube demo and ofcourse the other from our "graceful friend".

So I saw one where he does an open water short swim to demonstrate something. It was normal speed, you could hear his mild splashes and it felt weird to my brain. Like you said he is always in slow motion.

[truwani]

Lloyddinma indeed it is for motivation!

Could you share your video links?

[lloyddinma]

Truwani,

Let me know if this doesn't work. It's a really short clip: only 51 secs.

Terry Laughlin's swim class: https://youtu.be/Myu8--yQhFE

Lloyd.

[truwani]

Thanks a lot, this is already good.

It is at very slow speed:should you (or somebody else) have a clip at long swim racespeed it would be even better :)

[s.sciame]

Originally Posted by terry

on Saturday I'll revisit my baseline set of 3 x 550 and see how much my pace has improved, at same range of Tempos--meaning I'll have to take fewer strokes than I did the first time.

Hi Terry,
thanks for the sharing, I'm following this thread with much interest. Just a question: the 3x550y on 10:00 baseline that you'll use to measure improvements is quite different from a straight 1650y(1500m) time trial. I suppose you split the distance in 3 chunks to be able to change settings on TT during rests and because this is how you intend to race over a 1500 (ie keep a certain pace in the first 500m, then slightly faster in the following 500m, then faster in the last 500m). Is it correct? Anyway, why starting on 10:00 (instead of 9:00 or less), isn't it too much rest and isn't it too different from a straight 1650? Or maybe in the end of the process you're also going to add a time trial to have a better idea of your race pace?

Thanks again,
Salvo

[terry]

Originally Posted by s.sciame

Anyway, why starting on 10:00 (instead of 9:00 or less), isn't it too much rest and isn't it too different from a straight 1650? Or maybe in the end of the process you're also going to add a time trial to have a better idea of your race pace?

Salvo
Thanks for two great questions that get to the heart of practice-planning.

My approach to rest intervals is organic and intuitive. I always rely on feel, not formulas. My work:rest ratio on my first trial was 8:30/1:30 approximately, or over 5:1. That ratio (indeed any ratio greater than 1:1) is solidly in aerobic conditioning range . . . if I was to refer to formulas.

Biut I actually never gave that a thought when planning the set. Knowing I would be doing a fairly ambitious distance set, after not training for 7 months, I chose the 10:00 interval because (i) it would be easy to remember, making it easier to recall my finish times for each repeat; and (ii) I made an informed guess that it would allow me to feel sufficiently recovered to achieve the task goal I had set -- to keep my SPL at or under 16 throughout. As it turns out, I guessed right. And it was indeed a challenge to maintain that SPL at 1.15. I doubt I could have done so on shorter rest.

I ALWAYS prioritize execution of the Speed Problem (neuro-motor task) I've set myself, because that impacts racing success about 75%, while conditioning (i.e. work:rest ratio) is responsible for only 25%. And I freely adjust rest interval (usually upward) if I feel I need more recovery to accomplish the SPL/Tempo/Distance combo I'm striving for.

As to why I opted for a 'broken" (3 x 550) rather than straight 1650, yes it was necessary to reset Tempo Trainer to faster rates. But I also know from experience that what I can do in practice for a broken distance often equates reasonably well to what I might do in a race, while swimming it continuously. So I rely much more on broken-distance training to give me the best sense of what I'm capable of while racing.

In truth, those tempos are slower than what I'd probably race at, so that made my broken time a bit slower. But by choosing slower tempos at the start, I was prioritizing Stroke Length--which is always the foundation I build first when starting a new training cycle following a layoff, or as I enter a new season.

I will gradually increase the tempos at which I do this set, as I approach open water training which will begin in June. I will be guided by the SPL's I can maintain, gradually adjusting my range of tempos faster as I feel able to still stay within my Green Zone counts for the distances I'm swimming. I'd like to be swimming in a range between 1.1 and 1.05 with the same stroke counts as at present, in five to six weeks. We'll see how that works out.

PS: I haven't swum a continuous mile during a pool practice (though I do it semi-regularly in open water) in at least 12 years. And that time it was only because I was swimming with a Masters group and the coach assigned it. Those 550s are about as far as you will ever see me swim non-stop in a pool practice. 90% of my training is on repeats of 200 or less. I modified that only a bit when training for marathons of 20 miles or longer.