Does Being a Successful Athlete Make One A Good Coach?

Just because someone was a pro or elite athlete doesn’t mean they can turn that around and apply sound training philosophies to someone else.  I’m not saying it can’t happen. There are great coaches out there that used to perform at the top level that I completely respect.  But that shouldn’t be your single determining factor.

It's not hard to throw volume at someone and build the endurance to finish an Ironman. But, creating a plan that builds endurance while incorporating quality and intensity to reduce the effects of the physiological limiters of the athlete.  A plan that provides improvements in economy – all while ensuring that periodization is dialed in.  This is what you need to see.

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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.