been hitting this new wo the last 2 weeks.
its a ladder down from 400 to 100 (removing 100 every step)
I alternate between no buoy and buoy…
then I do drills (4 or 5) then kickboard for about 100,
then 5x100…
will see how this kills me… on the bright side, ive been hitting closer to 1700y the last 4 or 5 wo.
Will probably add an extra 500 at the start of the ladder to hit 2200 yards…
I really like those descending ladder type workouts- I find them way more fun/engaging than a bunch of straight intervals and I can always lift the effort towards the end rather than feeling like I’m dragging. I think it’s good for form too.
I’m mostly open water at the moment so I’ve been doing some simple sessions setting my watch for time (I’ve just got a running watch at the moment, so distance is nonsense) and taking the recoveries easy. It’s a lot of fun, especially when you get a good rough day.
Anyone watched the 1500m mens finals?
Some interesting difference in technique between the top 4 imo
Today I again tweaked my catch…
I was putting my elbow parallel to the ground, but after watching multiple videos yesterday I think I misunderstood the “keep the elbow high” part… 
anyway… I did the normal 400, and although I was not pushing to hard… I did it pushing a bit more than usual. Ended with a 2:12 per 100 (never felt hard at the end felt like i could countinue).
At the end of the very long wu, I did 5x100
the first 1 and 2 are the fastest back to back 100s I have done… 1:50, 1:52, (yes I am slow)
The first one in particular felt stupidly good… like I was feeling so smooth and great feel of the water.
Anyway, I couldn’t keep the pace (1:58 and 2x 2:00).
After the session I was talking to another regular at the pool and he suggest to instead of doing 100s, I should do probably 10-15 50s and try to keep the same pace and start reducing rest…
I should start with 20s rest and try to go fast keeping the same pace…
What are you guys take on this?
100s or 50s?
Gainz?
Maybe marginal.
I recently start doing some wo. Like real swimming wo.
Monday was 6x100 with full rest. I did them in 4:30 - 5 min intervals.
All times were better than 1:54 ( fastest in 1:49). I felt pretty good about my effort (Never forget how slow I am swimming)
This morning was 2x200 “solid, but not all out” Pace was about 2:03 steady… last one felt comfortably uncomfortable. I am very happy with the baby steps I have taken since resuming swimming activities.
There are no marginal gains in swimming 
Nice job dude!
@Joelrivera Nice work! I have been away from the thread the last 3 weeks (new job) but you are making some great progress!
So seems like swim smooth changed their subscription model, i was kinda counting on them to get inspiration for my drills.
Im in the pool twice for 45 minutes and once in open water for about an hour.
I’m training for olympic and sprint. So i do mostly drills in the pool and just “endurance” in open water
Any suggestions for the next month of training for drills?
I still consider myself as a beginner, (ive only done an olympic and a sprint… and my master swim club that i’d started with has been put on hold until that pool opens back up) and i feel like i’m relearning how to swim and breathe again consistently with good form.
My go to drills are
One arm R and L
Catch up
And fist
I also may do others from time to time… But I always do those 3… Good for 200y of swim.
Yeah on fin days i’ll do
one arm r/l
then 6/1/6
then 6/3/6
On snorkel days i’ll do
catch up
sculling
smooth breathing focus
swim stroke variations
I’m typically pretty nervous about recommending drills to people as the wrong ones can accentuate stroke flaws (if you have access to a coach they might be able to advise you on the best ones for you!) but single-arm drills and sculling are really helpful for the majority of people IMO. Can’t really go wrong with more coordination and feel for the water, and they might give you some insight into potential “dead spots” or areas for improvement.
One of the big advantages kids have in becoming good swimmers is the hours they spend messing around in the neighborhood or club pool all summer. Eventually the training gets serious and they start wanting to rest when not in practice but it is staggering how many hours serious pool rats get in horsing around in the water when they are young.
If you want a great drill, show up for morning lap swim and then just stay in the pool doing silly things until dinner!
I would suggest still following a plan rather than just doing drills.
This is something I endorse whole-heartedly: Guppy Challenge: Week 1 - Slowtwitch.com
That’s week 1, but you can just google “slowtwitch guppy challenge week X” for the rest. I’ll second the comment above about just spending time in the pool as well if that’s an option. Just literally floating on your belly, arms out in front of you, and feeling how to get your fingers pointed from straight ahead to straight at the bottom as early as possible will help tremendously with that elusive “feel for the water.”
thanks! i’d have a coach if masters swim was back on but sadly it isnt, so im on my own for now, hopefully its on during fall that way i can train for HIM
i’ll check out the guppy challenge 
They have quite a good Apple Watch app if you’ve got one.
Drills are flaw fixers so without knowing your flaws…but I don’t think you can do any damage with sculling, kickboarding, pull buoy.
Breathing drills can be an eye opener; so breath after 2,3,4 ,5 strokes, then 6,7,8 on the next (or some combination that works).
Yeah thats why i didnt subscribe, i dont have one so its not as worth it for me 
Alright ill keep that in mind. I’ve got a week of camping near a lake so ill get plenty of practice then
Hi Guys,
Does anyone else struggle with pacing in the pool? My swimming tends to be ‘on/off’ as apposed to slow/moderate/fast etc. It’s fair to say that my sprint speed is the exception to this rule because of course you feel that!
Do you guys have any tips regarding pacing?
I think the thing I struggle with most is slowing things down and getting the benefit of the easy part of the sessions.
To give an example today I did a session that was 2200m total. 200m WU - 200m easy, 2x100m moderate, 2x25m sprint (4 times through) - 200m CD.
My easy pace averaged just under 2:00/100m, moderate was 1:42/100m, sprint worked out around 1:30/100m. I found I really had to concentrate to work with this.
This was the second time I have done this session. The first really didn’t have too much between the easy and moderate sets.
I guess my real question is how easy can easy be without feeling like you are going so slow you will sink? (Particularly the legs!)
Any tips, pointers, advice welcome.
100% me all the time.
Sorry I dont have any tips, but I would like to hear them if someone has any.
I usually go by “feel” but my pace and feelings usually dont get along well.
Looks like to me, that although you had to really concentrate, you did manage to have more than on/off swim pace. Those gaps in swimming are pretty substantial. For example - although I haven’t tested, I’d say my CSS is around 1:38-1:42 /100m. I typically warm up at about 2:15/100m - it does require keeping the body taught and in this case I need to keep my head tilted down further, so legs stay up. a longer interval will be at CSS and sprints somewhere around 1:15 - 1:20. With swimming the concentration is needed because we are not water beings, after awhile it starts to be more mechanical…now on running for me…quite the opposite, sooo much focus needed 
.
Anyone using ankle bands for swimming?
Coach ask me to get it (I also got a snorkel).
We start tomorrow with this device.
Seems like it will be a hard day!