Training | Mediterra Swim & Run

Amazing Things Can Happen In A Week

by Coach Mat | 6 Jul, 2019

I would guess that the average number of practices a week for those reading this is three days a week. I know of some whose schedule permits less and some whose schedule permits more. When we add up the interruptions and challenges in our routines over the months, we...

Can You Trick Yourself Into A Longer Stroke?

by Coach Mat | 8 Jun, 2019

When you are working on improving your stroke length (stroke count) or stroke rate (tempo) there are neural tricks you can perform to get your body to make a fairly quick improvement in a single practice. But, in many cases, those improvements hold up for only a few...

Why Choose A 2-Beat Kick?

by Coach Mat | 20 Apr, 2019

A flutter kick – sometimes called a 6-Beat or a 4-Beat kick, when it’s done correctly – is useful for some people in some circumstances, but certainly not for all, and I would like to argue that it may not be best for most. However, it is certainly...

How To Improve Endurance

by Coach Mat | 30 Mar, 2019

When do we need endurance? When we are going really hard? When we are going really fast? When we are going really far? There is great discomfort in any of these and that discomfort needs to be overcome to finish, Maybe we need endurance in all three, but a different...

Surviving or Comfortable or Competitive? Part 4

by Coach Mat | 2 Mar, 2019

Continued from Part 3. Training In Cycles And, over the course of a few weeks, your fatigue accumulates. This is something you should expect and actually plan for. Through a process known as periodization, with cycles lasting several weeks, and changing emphasis at...

Surviving or Comfortable or Competitive? Part 3

by Coach Mat | 23 Feb, 2019

Continued from Part 2. From High-Stress To Low Let’s say you want to move from 2 hours of swimming (about 5K) to 4 or 5 hours (about 10K). you When you get into swimming events that are more like 4 to 5 hours long, the average citizen athlete may have difficulty...