Week 30: Coach’s Notes, Upcoming Events, and Workouts of the Week

[chucifer]

Week 30: Coach’s Notes, Upcoming Events, and Workouts of the Week

Swimmers, congrats to all who raced this weekend at the Mid East Club Championships, General Smallwood, or at St. Mary’s!! If you raced and had a good swim, please let us know! Likewise, if you raced and felt you could have done better in the swim, please also let us know! Half of coaching is feedback, so let us help you!

UDC Update: The UDC Pool is back! Morning swims are back! Come join us at the UDC pool at 5:45 AM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. If you’re driving, there’s ample parking on Yuma St. The meters on the pool side start at 7 AM (we finish at 6:45) and there’s 2 hour zone parking on the other side of the street! If you’re training for longer distance races, this morning session is great because you can stay as late as you want (if there is no group coming in after us and taking all of the lanes).

Warm ups: As we started last week, we are limiting warmups to 15 minutes. This means that at 7:15, we will all be starting the main set. If you want to do the recommended warmup, great! If you want to do your own thing because you’re practicing your warmup that you’ll use at a race, great! Do you need suggestions for an open water swim warmup? See below in the info section.

***Transition drills this week: Bring an old pair of shoes to the pool this week and put them by the wall. When we do Deck Ups this week, we will be asking you to get out of the water and then to put on those shoes and then take them off before jumping back in. Learning to focus on accomplishing a task when your heart rate is climbing in transition is a skill that needs to be practiced. Please hold on to the wall or some other stable apparatus if you are very unsure about your balance. Also please be extremely careful as a wet pool deck can cause issues.

Lastly, this is the final week of Phase 4. We’ll be jumping into Phase 5 after Memorial Day (on which, there will be no practice). Where Phase 4 was to introduce new skills and to ramp up the intensity, Phase 5 will be putting the finishing touches on this build up to the NTP/ODP/HIM Goal races for 2018. We will be pushing the intensity and race pace efforts for a month into Phase 5 and then doing a two week taper into the Goal Races. If you are not racing on the weekend of July 7th, the standard sets will be available (no tapering for you!).

Questions? Feel free to post on our Facebook page or, as always, you can email us at masters@dctriclub.org

Happy Swimming!
-Your Masters Coaches

For day to day announcements and interaction, we use Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/groups/212967452505458/

Seasonal Reminders:

Race season is approaching! If you happen to be racing on any upcoming weekend or have recently raced, please let a coach know and we can tailor workouts for you. It’s important to keep swimming up until your race with varying intensities to keep your abilities and skills sharp. Slow sessions at the pool pre-race will not prepare you for the intensity at a race.
We are continuing to do ‘Deck Ups’ and as detailed previously the goal of this skill is to help acclimate you to the rigors of getting out of the water and into a vertical position to mimic transitions in a triathlon. We would like you to, when directed, to get out of the pool (in a safe manner) at the end of the interval, stand up, and touch something a few feet away, then return to the pool safely. Remember, Do NOT, under any circumstances, jump into the water with a swimmer coming into the wall inside the flags. As always, our coaches will be guiding you through these workouts so please listen to them closely when Deck Ups come around! Further, please be sure that when someone else is getting out of the water, if you are behind them, to give them enough space in case they don’t make it out of the pool completely!
With the region’s outdoor triathlon season starting, many of the swims are requiring wetsuits. If you haven’t had a chance to practice swimming with your wetsuit on, please come to practice ON FRIDAYS to gain familiarity with swimming with a wetsuit. Knowing how your body position changes with a wetsuit on is very important for those looking to maximize your race experience. If you would like to join us with your wetsuit, please arrive extra early so that you have time to put on your wetsuit. We expect that you will be ready to go when the practice starts. Please don’t forget any tools you might need to help you put your wetsuit on or to prevent chafing!
With all of the sighting and Deck Ups, please be kind to your shoulders! Shoulder mobility and strength exercises can greatly help prevent injury! These skills are strength dependent and as such, if they become too much for you, please let a coach know! We understand the challenge and don’t have a problem giving you an adjusted exercises to better suit your needs! Mobility drills below!

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General Information:

Recommended Gear: https://www.swimoutlet.com/dctmasters/ **Please come to practice with a swimmer’s snorkel and paddles. Please use resistance cords at home or right before practice.**

Core Exercises: 3 minutes of front plank and 3 minutes of superman exercises three days a week. If you can’t hold a front plank for a minute, go for 30 seconds. If 30 seconds is too much, go for 15 seconds and repeat that until you get up to a total of 3 minutes
How to do a front plank: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7IuxfKFDzE (If you would like an easier version, try a high plank by supporting yourself with your hands. For an even easier version, plank from your knees)
How to do a superman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6PJMT2y8GQ

Sighting Steps:
There are multiple times that you can sight, but effectively, the best time to sight is right at the moment when one of your arms is right at the beginning of the catch. Once in that position, in one fluid motion, pull hard and *slightly* downward and lift your whole head out of the water, not just your eyes.
Once your head comes out of the water, take a quick mental snapshot of what you’re seeing and immediately put your head back down into the water with your nose pointed down. Do NOT keep looking forward with your head in or out of the water. If you do so, you create a severe amount of drag and can slow your momentum down significantly.
Once your head is back in a normal swimming position, review your mental snapshot to see if you are able to identify what you saw. If the answer is yes, then continue swimming. If the answer is no, repeat the sighting steps until you understand what you’re seeing.
As for adding breathing to this motion, you can breathe before or after your sighting. I recommend sighting first, then turning your head and breathing in as you lower your head into the water. I recommend this method because it limits the lateral motion that can happen with your head if you breathe then try to lift your rotating head to sight.

Race Day Warm Up Goals and Recommendations:
Goals:
Warm up the body to begin aerobic respiration and begin processing lactic acid
Acclimate the body to the water temperature
Identify landmarks for sighting the course

Recommendations:
If you have the opportunity to warm up in the water for more than 5-10 minutes: Swim out easy to a buoy (or a point) approximately 100-200m out and practice a turn around the buoy. On the way back, alternate between 10-20 easy strokes and 10-20 hard strokes with sighting. Do this again if you have the time available. If you don’t have any more time to warm up, relax and swim easy.
If you do not have the opportunity to warmup in the water for more than 5 minutes or if you are in a middle wave: Bring your resistance cords to the swim start and find a place to set them up. With enough time to put away your cords, perform 3×50** pulls with the middle 10-20 pulls hard and all other pulls easy (take a half to full step forward). Then, once you are allowed to get into the water for your wave start, get in as soon as possible and swim around easily in the start area with good form until the race start. (**This assumes you have been doing the recommended resistance cord pulls before practice and know how to use the cords)

Shoulder Mobility: Start this video at 6:10 and with the last exercise, you can do it against a wall (aka Wall Angel) starting from a superman position: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5BuC-bZ9WQ

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Upcoming Events:
Club NTP/ODP/HIM Goal Races: July 7th & 8th, Williamsburg, VA http://www.rev3tri.com

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Workouts of the week:

Monday

Pre-Workout: 3×40 Resistance Cord Pulls. Bring your cords to the pool, get there early and crank through these before the workout.

Main
Warm Up:
15 Mins On Your Own to practice your race day warmup
or:
300 EZ (BOP: 200)
200 with Snorkel as 2x(25 Superman Kick, 50 Alligator Eyes every 6 strokes, 25 Swim)
**Superman Kick should have arms fully extended with hands shoulder width apart, fingertips below wrists below elbows below shoulders
**Alligator Eyes Drill: press slightly down while taking a stroke while looking forward to allow your eyes to come out of the water. Immediately return to proper swimming head position
4×50 Descend on 10s Rest

Main 1
6×300 all on 30-45s rest (MOP: 6×250; BOP: 6×200)
#1 Pull with Snorkel + Paddles @ 70%
#2 Pull with Snorkel @70%
#3 Deck Up w/Shoes every 100
#4 Anti Build 90-70%
#5 Sight every 10 Strokes
#6 Build 70-90%

Main 2
4x(4×50) on :50@UDC or 1:00 Wilson (MOP:3x/BOP:2x)
1st 50: 25 EZ, 25 Hard
2nd 50: 25 Hard, 25 EZ
3rd 50: 50 Hard
4th 50: 50 EZ

200 Warm Down
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Wednesday
Pre-Workout: 3×40 Resistance Cord Pulls. Bring your cords to the pool, get there early and crank through these before the workout.

Main
Warm Up:
15 Mins On Your Own to practice your race day warmup
or:
300 EZ (BOP: 200)
200 with Snorkel as 2x(25 Superman Kick, 50 Alligator Eyes every 6 strokes, 25 Swim)
**Superman Kick should have arms fully extended with hands shoulder width apart, fingertips below wrists below elbows below shoulders
**Alligator Eyes Drill: press slightly down while taking a stroke while looking forward to allow your eyes to come out of the water. Immediately return to proper swimming head position
4×50 Descend on 10s Rest

Main: Challenge Set! How far can you get?
Rest Interval is 10-15s for first set. Double for 2nd, etc.

100 Pull with SKL/PAD
100 Build 60-90%
100 Sight every 10 strokes @70%

200 Pull with SKL
200 Build 60-90%
200 Sight every 10 strokes @70%

300 Pull No Toys
300 Build 60-90%
300 Sight every 10 strokes @70%

400 Pull No Toys
400 Build 60-90%
400 Sight every 10 strokes @70%

Warmdown: 200

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Friday
Pre-Workout: 3×40 Resistance Cord Pulls. Bring your cords to the pool, get there early and crank through these before the workout.

Main
Warm Up:
15 Mins On Your Own to practice your race day warmup
or:
300 EZ (BOP: 200)
200 with Snorkel as 2x(25 Superman Kick, 50 Alligator Eyes every 6 strokes, 25 Swim)
**Superman Kick should have arms fully extended with hands shoulder width apart, fingertips below wrists below elbows below shoulders
**Alligator Eyes Drill: press slightly down while taking a stroke while looking forward to allow your eyes to come out of the water. Immediately return to proper swimming head position
4×50 Descend on 10s Rest

Main
4×200 on 30s Rest (MOP:3×200; BOP: 2×200)
#1: Pull with Snorkel and Paddles @ 60% Alligator eyes every 8 strokes
#2: Pull with SKL @60%
#3: Anti Build 90-60%
#4: Build 60-90%

6×100 Deck Up every 100: Descend 1-3, 4-6 @ 60-90% 25-30s Rest (MOP: 5×100; BOP 4×100) Try for three distinct speeds.

8×50 as Odds: EZ Sight once every 8 strokes; Evens: Hard on 20s rest (MOP: 6×50; BOP: 4×50)

8×25 (4×50 @ Wilson) All Out on 20s Rest (BOP: 4×25 or 2×50 at Wilson)

200 Warmdown

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Longer Distance Swimmer Added Set: Add to any day after the main set. This is NOT a replacement for the main set.

HIM:
500 @ 60% sight every 8 strokes immediately into 200 Swim @ 85%
Focus on maintaining form after every sighting

IM and Longer:
700 @ 60% sight every 8 strokes immediately into 300 Swim @ 85%
Focus on maintaining form after every sighting

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