I swam 2492m today, at PC 32m outdoor pool, starting at 12:00. Sunny, warm-hot, gentle breeze. Water was 25.5 C.
512m warmup
6x [192m (4 laps) TT, 4x 32m (1 length) sprint, with tempo by feel)]
Speed goal- aim for 100m PR split pace on the 32s, which for me is 1:20 100m. In this pool that translates to :25 second 32m.
- #1 TT at 1.12, came in on high :27 sec
- #2 TT at 1.10, came in on low :27 sec
- #3 TT at 1.08, came in on high :26 sec
- #4 TT at 1.06, came in on low :26 sec
- #5 TT at 1.04, came in on mid:25 sec
- #6 TT at 1.02, came in on low :26, high :25
Then I ran out of time to go further. I wanted to go down to about .96 and see what happened.
This was an experiment to do gradual tempo increase conditioning with sprint tests in between. The TT swim was to be ‘effortless’ so that that I could let the body loosen up and adjust to each subsequent tempo, then I could focus solely on the power in the sprint without struggling to keep the tempo. In general I think it worked as I hoped, that’s why I wanted to keep going down, if I had enough time. I’ll need to try this again.
On #5 I achieved my target of the :25 split, but lost it on #6. I am still undecided about the best combination of stroke features to apply to get into my best sprint form.
I have determined that swimming ‘flat’ (in the sense of my head is down, spine and neck in Lazer Lead rather letting there be a little ocking up and down as if I was digging into the water for a better grip) is better for my speed. And more vertical forearm is a definite addition to the sprint stroke. But should I sacrifice some SL to increase tempo OR should I protect SL more and work on finding a slippier path and more power in the stroke?
Another variation on this workout would be to do the TT part in fistgloves, then do the sprints in open-hand. That would create a very dramatic power effect!
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