Made The Big Time - I'm In Trouble With The USOC

I received a phone call the other morning.  I didn't recognize the phone number, but it was here in Colorado Springs.  Upon answering I was told I was speaking to an individual at the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and they were concerned over a picture, and some verbiage, on my coaching web site, and Facebook page.

I had used a picture of the Olympic Training Center pool to promote my swim club on Facebook. It was taken well over a year ago while taking my nephew and Mother-in-law on a tour of the OTC, (where I am a coach of record for a swim club). Nobody was in the pool at the time. But, apparently, using that photo could lead someone to think that I was offering services at the OTC.  More importantly, I did not have permission from the USOC to use the photo.  Fair enough - I should have known better (really, I should have) and told the individual that I'd take the photo down immediately.

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Workout Wednesday - 09 April 2014

Yesterday - Tuesday - my swim club focused on threshold - but with a twist.  Maximum effort 25's with a work-rest ratio that kept things tough and in high Z4.

I can't take all the credit on this one.  I attended a lecture at the USA Swimming headquarters here in Colorado Springs a couple weeks ago.  There were a few national team athletes there, as well as coaches.  Great Q&A after the lecture, and the description of this set sounded awesome.

They called them "aerobic sprints".  You'll see what I mean.......

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Workout Wednesday - 01 April 2014

This week I thought we would focus on threshold in the main set.  It's structured a little differently that I normally would.  I wanted to break up the main set to provide some different distances and sendoffs and efforts to make the set manageable for the athletes.

It's hard, but they'll get through it thinking it "wasn't so bad".


This workout is on the schedule for my swim club tomorrow (Thursday).  As always, adjust the send-offs based on the athletes.  You want them to start out maintaining :15 - :20 seconds rest pretty easily, but towards the end they'll need to work for that rest.  There's enough active recovery cooked in to make things manageable.

This is SCY, and will take roughly 1:15 - 1:30.  If time is short, you can cut one of the warm up / pre-sets (each pre-set is 600 yards).

Warm up: 
250 swim
250 pull

8 x 75 on :30 rest
1st length drill, 2nd length kick, 3rd swim

4 x (50 - 100)
On :55 - 1:35

Main set:
12 x 50 HARD on :55
Descend 1-4
150 easy on :20 rest  
6 x 75 on 1:05-1:10
Descend 1-3
100 easy on :20 rest
5 x 50 HARD  on :50
Descend 1-5 (End MAX)
50 easy on 1:30
6 x 25 max effort on :45

300 pull with buoy and paddles.  
Easy effort. Focus on stroke.

Cool down:

150 easy.

This is a big set - 3900 yards if my math is correct.  Tired athletes are a guarantee.  

Workout Wednesday - 26 March 2014

As I've mentioned before, I usually prescribe speed sets early in the week with my swim club here in Colorado Springs. I do this, again, so that my athletes are still fresh from a recovery day on Monday and they're not fatigued by the cumulative effects of a week of training.  While you can do aerobic work when fatigued, doing speed and threshold work becomes quite challenging.

I changed up my usual speed prescription for the workout my athletes did yesterday.  I included some active recovery into the mix.  The high-quality portion of the workout still had a 1 : 3 work-rest ratio. But the addition of some active recovery allowed everyone to keep moving (and not tighten up) while still getting the recovery necessary to sustain high quality efforts.

This is a SCY set, and will take about 1:15 to complete.  Of course, you might need to adjust the send-offs on the warm-up set and the pull set (depending on base-100 times).  But the times for the primary main set should remain the same.


Warm up: 
250 swim
200 kick
250 pull

4 x (75 - 50)
75’s easy on 1:10
50’s on :55 - 1st length build up, 2nd length mod/hard effort

Main set:
8 x ( 4 x 25 - 50 )
25’s Max effort on 1:00.
50's Recovery on 1:30

4 x 100 pull on 1:35
.
Cool down:
200 easy.

Yes, this set only yields 2800 yards.  But it's a nice quality high intensity speed set that, if done properly at max effort, will yield some tired swimmers at the end.  And over time, some faster swimmers as well.

What is your best / favorite speed set?   Reach out to me and let me know.

Workout Wednesday - 19 March 2014

Well, I sure took a hiatus didn't I?  More athletes coming out of hibernation, the ITU racing season getting started - having an athlete racing at ITU Sarasota .....excuses, excuses.

So, back to the grind.  I've been throwing in a little more endurance work for my athletes as of late.  As you might recall, I was pretty heavy on speed and speed endurance / threshold work early on.  I found that most of the athletes at my swim club did a lot of solid aerobic endurance work during the off-season, so it seemed fitting.



A little trip back to the aerobic energy system is in order:

Warm up:
200 swim
200 pull
200 kick (board - no fins)

4 x (75 - 125) on 1:10 - 2:00
.
Main set:
500-400-2x200-400-300-2x200
All on base 100 time + :20 - :30
.
Cool down
200 easy

This set is SCY and yields 4,000 yards.  The send-offs in the main set are, as stated, are on base 100 time + :30.  So, for example, if your athlete holds 1:10 pace pretty easily under aerobic levels, then his/her 400 send-off is 5:10.  The 300 send-off is 4:00, etc.

You'll notice the 2 x 200's in the middle and end of the round.  I like breaking up a longer set with slightly shorter distances.  Athletes will tend to go a little harder on the 200's - getting a little more rest - but upping the quality of the set that much more.

Drop me a line with any questions - I'm always up for talking about swimming.