We had a challenging practice on Saturday. Our intervals were not very hard, but the set was the type of set where you had to be ready to rumble when it was time -- or else the set would end with you only getting to 85% of your effort.
Parents, please keep reading to the end and follow the link for some extra info on our training ideas here at T2 Aquatics.
The Saturday set:
3 times through:
4x100 Free (130) -- get the HR going
3x100 Free- Stroke x50 (140) *-- work it
2x100 Stroke (150) * -- work it harder
1x rest an extra 30
1x100 Stroke (2) *--- descend 1-3 to half 100 goal
1x400 Free IM (7) -- cruise
A few of our top performances:
Shawn 109s for the 4, 105-106 for the 3, 104 for the 2, 102 for the last one
Shawn's last round was more like 102 for the 2 in a row and 59.1 on the end
Jacob and Rip were 107-108s, 105-104 for the 2, 103-104 on the ends
Both Rip and Jacob were about 1 second faster in the 2 and 1 on the end…some 103s (Rip)-104s (Jacob) on the pair, and 102, 103 for the single.
Jack and Matt did Breaststroke. 117-118 for the 3, 115-116 for the 2, and 113-114 for the 3. Pretty good work and better swimming than the LCM racing we did last week. We have to be sub 115 in practice to be sub 230 in a meet. We want to get to the point where we can go 227-228 in a brief suit, at any old meet. When we can do that, sub 220 may be available!
Bean did Fly and was going 112-113 for 2 in a row and 110-111 on the single 100s. Flyers were allowed to do Free-Fly on the 3 and the 2, with a full 100 on the end of each round. Good thing she didn't do backstroke (she tried but didn't get away with it).
Paolo led the backstrokers with 113s down to 109s.
Cole was our best flyer guy, going 106s on Free-Fly and 106s on the (full) single 100s Fly.
These guys have a good handle on how we want to swim this set, with the exception of begin able to swim moderate 1:08-1:12 100s…we still have a few guys who are not able or willing to do this. I'm going to start putting up medium speed goals too so we can stay on track.
How will our backstrokers and flyers go from 106-109s or higher….to 102s and 104s like we should, when we can only swim the Freestyle 100s on 130 at 114?! Easy 100s free should be 1:10s. We don't want the Heart Rate to be sub 145 for 6 minutes (4x100), and then expect it to go to 162, 164, and 170 over the set of 3, 2, and 1?! We want the 4x100 to set the HR closer to where it will be on the 3x100, or the 2x100. The 30 seconds rest is so the HR drops a bit and some extra fast swimming can happen. But much of the training happens going from a strong set of 4 on 1:30 (be at 150-156 HR), to a stronger set of 3 (be at 157-162 HR), to a set of 2 (get to 166 HR), and then after a 30 second extra break just go for it (HR will be over 166). During the 400 Free IM the HR will probably be in the 140s (low to high depending on the athlete).
In everyone's defense, this set is much more challenging than a normal Saturday Am set (based on our last few Saturdays)….and it's the type of set we tend to not swim well on. We are better at 12x200 descend, or 9x400 descend 1-3. Or 50s straight up.
We have to be better at this type of LCM set. 100s LCM, and 150s, 200s, and 300s SCY. Particularly with strokes that are non Freestyle (we are better on the whole with Freestyle sets of 150s, 200s, and 300s)….this is our next step.
We can't get away with swimming 50s well and also swimming hard aerobic sets well, but not swimming this type of thing well, or at least improving with it (after all, we've had good results swimming poorly on this type of set). We must get better at the "in between" speeds and distances. Remember, it's not who is FASTEST that wins, and it's not who is TOUGHEST and CAN GO THE FURTHEST that wins. It's who can hit the necessary pace and STAY THERE THE LONGEST that wins!
I know that as a coach, it's part of my job to be able to adjust to my athletes. Whether it's a "new generation" or just a different type of kid.
I'm doing that the best I can, but I feel dumb straying too much from the type of work I gave my athletes 2004-2009 because the results were very good for my athletes during those years. So I have to balance these things every day! This is a big challenge for me.
See my blog post, from another blog I posted years ago, to see more on this concept of training. Blog Post RE Volume Vs Velocity Athletes, there won't be a test on this, you've heard some of this before; but Parents, if you haven't read this and your son or daughter swims with us at T2 Aquatics, you should take the time to check it out….you'll learn more about the thoughts I have about training. We are not a high velocity or a high volume team….the answer, in my experience, is right in the middle.
Parents, please keep reading to the end and follow the link for some extra info on our training ideas here at T2 Aquatics.
The Saturday set:
3 times through:
4x100 Free (130) -- get the HR going
3x100 Free- Stroke x50 (140) *-- work it
2x100 Stroke (150) * -- work it harder
1x rest an extra 30
1x100 Stroke (2) *--- descend 1-3 to half 100 goal
1x400 Free IM (7) -- cruise
A few of our top performances:
Shawn 109s for the 4, 105-106 for the 3, 104 for the 2, 102 for the last one
Shawn's last round was more like 102 for the 2 in a row and 59.1 on the end
Jacob and Rip were 107-108s, 105-104 for the 2, 103-104 on the ends
Both Rip and Jacob were about 1 second faster in the 2 and 1 on the end…some 103s (Rip)-104s (Jacob) on the pair, and 102, 103 for the single.
Jack and Matt did Breaststroke. 117-118 for the 3, 115-116 for the 2, and 113-114 for the 3. Pretty good work and better swimming than the LCM racing we did last week. We have to be sub 115 in practice to be sub 230 in a meet. We want to get to the point where we can go 227-228 in a brief suit, at any old meet. When we can do that, sub 220 may be available!
Bean did Fly and was going 112-113 for 2 in a row and 110-111 on the single 100s. Flyers were allowed to do Free-Fly on the 3 and the 2, with a full 100 on the end of each round. Good thing she didn't do backstroke (she tried but didn't get away with it).
Paolo led the backstrokers with 113s down to 109s.
Cole was our best flyer guy, going 106s on Free-Fly and 106s on the (full) single 100s Fly.
These guys have a good handle on how we want to swim this set, with the exception of begin able to swim moderate 1:08-1:12 100s…we still have a few guys who are not able or willing to do this. I'm going to start putting up medium speed goals too so we can stay on track.
How will our backstrokers and flyers go from 106-109s or higher….to 102s and 104s like we should, when we can only swim the Freestyle 100s on 130 at 114?! Easy 100s free should be 1:10s. We don't want the Heart Rate to be sub 145 for 6 minutes (4x100), and then expect it to go to 162, 164, and 170 over the set of 3, 2, and 1?! We want the 4x100 to set the HR closer to where it will be on the 3x100, or the 2x100. The 30 seconds rest is so the HR drops a bit and some extra fast swimming can happen. But much of the training happens going from a strong set of 4 on 1:30 (be at 150-156 HR), to a stronger set of 3 (be at 157-162 HR), to a set of 2 (get to 166 HR), and then after a 30 second extra break just go for it (HR will be over 166). During the 400 Free IM the HR will probably be in the 140s (low to high depending on the athlete).
In everyone's defense, this set is much more challenging than a normal Saturday Am set (based on our last few Saturdays)….and it's the type of set we tend to not swim well on. We are better at 12x200 descend, or 9x400 descend 1-3. Or 50s straight up.
We have to be better at this type of LCM set. 100s LCM, and 150s, 200s, and 300s SCY. Particularly with strokes that are non Freestyle (we are better on the whole with Freestyle sets of 150s, 200s, and 300s)….this is our next step.
We can't get away with swimming 50s well and also swimming hard aerobic sets well, but not swimming this type of thing well, or at least improving with it (after all, we've had good results swimming poorly on this type of set). We must get better at the "in between" speeds and distances. Remember, it's not who is FASTEST that wins, and it's not who is TOUGHEST and CAN GO THE FURTHEST that wins. It's who can hit the necessary pace and STAY THERE THE LONGEST that wins!
I know that as a coach, it's part of my job to be able to adjust to my athletes. Whether it's a "new generation" or just a different type of kid.
I'm doing that the best I can, but I feel dumb straying too much from the type of work I gave my athletes 2004-2009 because the results were very good for my athletes during those years. So I have to balance these things every day! This is a big challenge for me.
See my blog post, from another blog I posted years ago, to see more on this concept of training. Blog Post RE Volume Vs Velocity Athletes, there won't be a test on this, you've heard some of this before; but Parents, if you haven't read this and your son or daughter swims with us at T2 Aquatics, you should take the time to check it out….you'll learn more about the thoughts I have about training. We are not a high velocity or a high volume team….the answer, in my experience, is right in the middle.
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