1000 meter swim training

atynk

Hello all,
Due to a knee injury I am going to be doing some open water races and aqua bike races this summer instead of triathlons.

Swimming is my best event, but I'd like to speed it up. I already can swim my 1000 meters no problem, but I want to cut my time down.

Right now I train 2x a week. One of the days I do the full 1000 to keep me up my endurance. I am not so sure what do the with the other training day? should i be doing sprints? if so how far, how many times, etc? Any suggestions how I should structure my 2nd training day is appreciated !

Kida_Adeylne

Sprints are good - I do them as 25m sprint, 25m back recovery, 50 front technique, so you could easily do 10 of those.
You can also do drills to improve your technique - what you need to work on would be specific to you, however. Mixing it up with kicking, pull buoys, catch-up etc.
I don't think you'd really need to do the full 1k once a week - endurance doesn't go away through doing shorter sets. Your time would probably be better spent doing more drills or sprints, then maybe every 2-4 weeks do an endurance swim (going beyond the 1k would probably be a good training strategy too).

Ms_J1

To get faster, you have to swim faster. You could break down the 1000m into speed intervals. For example:

2 x 100 on pace +:10
2 x 100 on pace +:05
2 x 100 on pace
2 x 100 on pace -:05
2 x 100 on pace -:10

So, if you're average 100m pace is 1:50, you would swim the first two 100s in under 2:00, the second two 100s in under 1:55, the third two 100s in under in 1:50, the fourth two 100s in under at 1:45, and the last two 100s in under 1:40. The amount of rest between each 100 is whatever is leftover on the clock (if you finish the first 100 in 1:48, you would have 12 seconds to rest before starting the second 100, etc. etc.)

You could also mix it up with some straight sprints. Just throw in a few 50 sprints:

4 x 50 sprint, :15 rest between each 50
2 x 100 on pace
2 x 100 on pace -:05
2 x 100 on pace -:10
4 x 50 sprint, :15 rest between each 50

You also want to include some drills to improve your technique (which improves efficiency) and kicks and pulls to improve your strength. You don't want to do a lot of drills - maybe 200m of drills. A complete workout for you might be something like:

Warm Up:
1 x 200 swim
1 x 200 (50 catch up drill, 50 6-kick drill, 50 catch up drill, 50 6-kick drill)

Pre-Main Set (500m)
3 x 100 pull (50 at pace, 50 sprint)
2 x 100 kick (50 easy, 50 sprint)

Main Set (1000m)
4 x 50 sprint, :15 rest between each 50
2 x 100 on pace
2 x 100 on pace -:05
2 x 100 on pace -:10
4 x 50 sprint, :15 rest between each 50

Cool Down: 100 easy swim

Total Meters: 2000

You want to do more sprints and pace (speed) intervals than straight 1000m swims. I would cut back on the straight 1000m swims to once or twice a month, especially if you're only swimming twice a week.

juliet3455

What is your 1000m time?

Waiting for the educated replies from Mac / Robertus / AqQuest / Bruce / Mpeters / EIBence and others.
My suggestion would be similar to Kida and JI.
Sprint and Pace Ladder workouts - even use a pull buoy do reduce knee strain.

Bruceapple

My 1000 m time is about 20 minutes

Robertus

atynk wrote: »

Hello all,
Due to a knee injury I am going to be doing some open water races and aqua bike races this summer instead of triathlons.

Swimming is my best event, but I'd like to speed it up. I already can swim my 1000 meters no problem, but I want to cut my time down.

Right now I train 2x a week. One of the days I do the full 1000 to keep me up my endurance. I am not so sure what do the with the other training day? should i be doing sprints? if so how far, how many times, etc? Any suggestions how I should structure my 2nd training day is appreciated !

What is your current time for the 1k distance? What is the longest distance you've ever done? Do you have access to a coach who can analyze your stroke? Not just at the beginning, but, more importantly, at the end of a 1k, when you're tired and sloppy. There are different approaches to improving your times, but the only one that will work for you is the one that makes the most sense to you, the one you enjoy, and therefore the one you will do. Personally, my approach is to keep increasing your distances (and getting plenty of rest afterward) as your schedule allows. You may need to swim 2k or 3k comfortably before you can race the 1k distance. If you give your body sufficient rest after killer work-outs, it will reward you with impressive gains. But you do not want to do distance just for the sake of distance. If a coach or more advanced swimmer can watch and analyze your stroke both at the beginning and at the end of a work-out, that will help immensely, provided you implement their suggestions and they work for you. The sprints and shorter sets that others are recommending are also very important. Here it is easier to guage improvement in your technique and to make sure you're not being sloppy or lazy during your longer swims. The magic happens when you are swimming faster for longer periods of time and you have enough reserve fitness to go all out at the end and amaze yourself.

Macstraw

My 1000 yard set time is 17 minutes, but that's a workout pace - not a race pace. I have no idea what a race time would be for me.....

That said - I think Ms _J1 is on the money as to how to train for this. The one reminder I'd give is to listen to your body - if you're feeling sore dial it back a little bit so that you don't end up with an injury that knocks you out of it for longer....