Swim workouts

3dogsrunning

I am looking for some ideas of what I should be doing or just some workouts to do in the pool.
I belong to a Master swim group but I have a new baby so I can't always make their swims so I also swim myself at the Y. My goal is to swim at least 3 times a week and I have been doing well with that. Typically, I'll get to one week night swim and one weekend morning swim with the masters group. The weekend morning is a longer swim (it's a 2 hour swim, I usually stay for 1 1/2 hours), both have different drills, paces, etc. That leaves me at least one swim on my own.
I am terribly slow. I feel like I can swim longer intervals much easier than I used to but I can't seem to speed up.
What would be the best use of my time, long, slower intervals? short speed intervals?
My goal is to speed up and possibly a HIM the end of the summer, or at the very least, an oly.

AquaticQuests

I'm more of a creeper in this forum as not a triathlete - perhaps in future. For now, I swim.

I probably fall in the slower section of the intermediate category (I do a 2.5 km in 54/55 ish minutes and a 5k in 114)!
My speed (or more likely slowness) aside, I have recently been able to significantly increase my speed (I was doing the distance in 58 min just one month ago) by modifying my stroke technique.

Specifically the changes include changing to a high elbow catch (as described by Sheila Taormina in Swim Speed Secrets and others), ensuring my energy with the pull is almost immediately directed back towards my feet and propelling me forward rather than my energy being wastefully directed towards the bottom of the pool, increasing my stroke rate, hands not crossing the mid point, maintaining proper horizontal body posture (thereby reducing drag), incorporating more body roll, streamlining, a couple of other things, and working to maintain form in all of the above even when fatigued in he latter parts of swim sessions.

I have been swimming regularly and consistently since August 2013, and to be able to take off four minutes from my time over just one month recently by way of changes in technique has been a real revelation for me!
I thought my technique was sound, but now realize it just wasn't ideal for swimming fast, despite how elegant it may have looked!

I found this video very inspirational regarding the gains possible: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ojt3nkVoYEU

I don't have access to a Master's Team or coach, so perhaps you already have heard all the above. I learnt swimming decades ago, and what I realized is that recommended freestyle technique has completely changed since then. So I've been reading up over the last month (Sheila Taormina's Swim Speed Secrets and Paul Newsome's Swim Smooth: Improve your Swimming Technique)
Incorporating the changes over the last month, the results have been immediate.

Perhaps some of the others on here can give some advice! There is also a specific swimmer's forum!

scott091501

Best book I've found full of swim workouts: http://www.amazon.com/Swim-Speed-Workouts-Swimmers-Triathletes/dp/1937715019

For a HIM I would advise 1 form focused session, 1 longer interval session like: 2 x (500 pull, 500 pull and paddle, 500 swim), and one ball buster of an interval session.

3dogsrunning

Thanks to you both. I'll check out the video and the book.
I am lucky that I have swim coaches at the masters group and there is a guy who swims at my Y who is a pretty experienced swimmer and coach. He has helped me a lot.

I've been doing the longer sessions with just 3x500 m swim. I'm going to have to add in the ball buster. I did a harder one this week with 50 repeats ( my Y friend said the same, that I should be doing some short fast swims).

jacksonpt

scott091501 wrote: »

Best book I've found full of swim workouts: http://www.amazon.com/Swim-Speed-Workouts-Swimmers-Triathletes/dp/1937715019

For a HIM I would advise 1 form focused session, 1 longer interval session like: 2 x (500 pull, 500 pull and paddle, 500 swim), and one ball buster of an interval session.

Any tips on how to self-check form? I can swim forever, but I'm pretty inefficient as my body position isn't great and my legs tend to drag.

ShawnTX

Scott, I bought a Go Pro and set it up in my pool to capture my stroke from an underwater perspective. Video from poolside can help too though. As for dragging legs, a lot of triathletes have this problem because they are concerned with proper sighting so they keep their head tilted up throughout the swim stroke to facilitate sighting. Problem is that if your head comes up at all your legs will go in the opposite direction. When stroking you should be looking forehead down at the bottom of the pool/lake/ocean. I know this can be a little nervy for triathletes in an open water swim, but you can still look up to sight every so often. Much easier if you are drafting off of someone. With practice you get more comfortable with it. Not sure if this helps as you might already be doing this, but thought I would throw it out there.

scott091501

jacksonpt wrote: »

scott091501 wrote: »

Best book I've found full of swim workouts: http://www.amazon.com/Swim-Speed-Workouts-Swimmers-Triathletes/dp/1937715019

For a HIM I would advise 1 form focused session, 1 longer interval session like: 2 x (500 pull, 500 pull and paddle, 500 swim), and one ball buster of an interval session.

Any tips on how to self-check form? I can swim forever, but I'm pretty inefficient as my body position isn't great and my legs tend to drag.

Jackson there are SO many cost effective, waterproof cameras out there. As Shawn said you can stick it at one end or you can have a buddy come to the pool and tape you. Otherwise leg drag is something that should almost always be worked on if you didn't grow up swimming competitively.

1. Think of your body as a teeter totter. The fulcrum is your lungs as their the airbags in your chest. Think of pushing your front end down and it will move your legs closer to the surface.
2. Swim with a tennis, lacrosse, racket ball between your chin and chest and keep it pinched there as you swim.
3. Start using ankle bands. Kicking too hard can artificially keep your legs at the surface. Taking your legs out of the equation forces you to figure it out.

The part that is hard is mastering early vertical forearm to make your pull efficient. Sheila Taormina's books are great for this.

jacksonpt

Thanks.