Swimming reference set for Ironman Training

Swim Start Ironman World Championship view from Kona Inn on Ali'i Drive

March is here and if you are preparing for an early season Ironman, this is a great 3500yard/meter

workout you can insert into your training plan.  Also, good for swimmers preparing for open water swims and/or the time crunched athlete.  Continues reinforcing the need to build into swims making early pacing critical to maximizing your performance.  

The workout
1 x 500 Free Warm
2 x 400 Faster pace per 100 than 500 this should be easy since 500 was warm up
3 x 300 Faster pace per 100 than 400's
4 x 200 Faster pace per 100 than 300's
5 x 100 Cool down
Total 3500

Intervals
500 on :30 sec rest
400's 300's and 200's on your normal base example 1:30/100M
so 400's on 6:00, 300's on 4:30, 200's on 3:00
100's on :10 sec rest mix strokes as you like

You could repeat this set every 3-4 weeks to measure your improvement as the season progresses and it works well before a bike session as the first part of a swim/bike brick.

Make it a great week of training and please email me at eric@coachericneilsen with topics you are interested in learning more about.

Coach Eric