Week 33: Coach’s Notes, Upcoming Events, and Workouts of the Week

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    chucifer
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    Week 33: Coach’s Notes, Upcoming Events, and Workouts of the Week

    Swimmers,

    A big congratulations to two of our coaches and a number of our swimmers for tackling the Great Chesapeake Bay 4.4 mile swim! Also, congratulations go out to our swimmers that raced 70.3 Eagleman as well as other local races! It’s great to see everyone getting solid results from the hard work they’ve put in this year! You’re definitely making us coaches very proud!

    This week’s write up is going to be pretty short. As we get into the last few weeks of the build up to our goal races, there isn’t much to say besides, “Let’s get the work done!”

    A good number of the workouts that you’ll see in these last few weeks are going to be pretty challenging. You should feel challenged, but as you look at these workouts, know that you have done the work and you are ready. Try your best to hit the intervals or the rest recommendations and if you find that you can’t make the suggested time, give yourself a few extra seconds and get back into it. Not everyone has perfect practices as we all have the stresses of life. Further, as you tackle some of these sets, BE PRESENT and don’t let your mind wander. Focus on what’s going on with your stroke and if something is off, focus on correcting the issue. Focus on what the coaches have told you to work on and focus on that feeling of when your stroke feels right. When you get to your race day, having that focus will help you if something isn’t quite what you expected and it will doubly help you if everything is going well!

    As with last week, we are stopping warmups at 6 AM for the UDC sessions and 7:10 PM for our Wilson sessions to provide more time for the main set. This shortened warmup time is to primarily mimic races with minimal warmup opportunities so that your bodies are used to the need to get going quickly, however, if you feel that 10 minutes of warm up is insufficient for your current fitness, we recommend that you arrive early to practice and either use resistance cords, light calisthenics, or, if possible, get into the pool. Warmups will be continue to be either a choice of the suggested warmup or an opportunity for you to practice your own open water warmup. If you need suggestions for an open water swim warmup, see the info section below.

    We recently did a 1000 time trial and if you haven’t done so yet, take that duration and divide by 10 for your Threshold Pace (TP). This pace should be used to determine what you should expect to achieve for longer distance intervals per 100. All you have to do is multiply it by the multiple of 100 that you’re doing for the interval. For example, if your TP is 1:45 and the workout has 300’s on TP+0:30, the expectation is that you’ll leave for the next 300 every 5:45 (3×1:45 + 0:30). That means if you leave on 0:00 for your first 300, you’ll leave on 5:45 for the second and 11:30 on the third, etc. Please take a moment to figure out what your intervals are for the various common distances we swim.

    Good luck with your training and as always, if you have 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/

    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.

    Seasonal Reminders:
    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!
    If you happen to be racing on any given weekend, please let the coaches know! We can adjust the workouts for you so that you can effectively practice skills, maintain your fitness, and prime your body for your race. Also, if you happen to have just raced on the weekend and you’re jumping right back into practice, please let a coach know as well! The coaches can adjust the workouts so that you can maximize recovery while maintaining your skills and your fitness without digging yourself into a training hole.

    Open Water Warmup 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 20 easy strokes and 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.
    Another good warmup if you have in-water time is to do a descending and then ascending ladder of easy strokes and hard strokes. Written out, this is 40 easy strokes, 40 hard strokes, 30 easy, 30 hard, … 10 easy, 10 hard, 20 easy, 20 hard… 40 easy, 40 hard.
    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. Reduce this value if you haven’t been doing the recommended exercises)

    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

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

    Workouts of the week:
    Monday
    Pre-Workout: 3×50 Resistance Cord Pulls. Bring your cords to the pool, get there early and crank through these before the workout.
    Warm Up:
    10 Mins On Your Own to practice your race day warmup
    or:
    300 EZ (BOP: 200)
    6×50 Descend on 10s Rest

    Main:

    4×400 on TP + 0:45 (MOP:3×400/BOP:2×400)
    #1 200 Race Start Speed into 200 Cruise
    #2 Cruise
    #3 Sight every 8 Strokes
    #4 Build to Hard Finish

    5×100 Deck Up on TP+0:20 (MOP:4x/BOP:3x)

    400 Pull w/SKL EZ


    Wednesday
    Pre-Workout: 3×50 Resistance Cord Pulls. Bring your cords to the pool, get there early and crank through these before the workout.
    Warm Up:
    10 Mins On Your Own to practice your race day warmup
    or:
    300 EZ (BOP: 200)
    6×50 Descend on 10s Rest

    Main: Challenge Set!

    2 times through:

    700 Pacing: 200 at Race Start Speed, 300 Cruise, 200 Build (MOP:600/BOP:500 // Reduction from Cruise section) on 1:30 Rest
    300 Build to Deck up on 0:30 Rest (MOP/BOP: 200)
    200 Build to Deck up on 0:20 Rest (MOP/BOP: 100)
    100 Hard to Deck up on 2:00 Rest (MOP:100/BOP:0)
    Repeat

    200 Warmdown

    Friday
    Pre-Workout: 3×50 Resistance Cord Pulls. Bring your cords to the pool, get there early and crank through these before the workout.
    Warm Up:
    10 Mins On Your Own to practice your race day warmup
    or:
    300 EZ (BOP: 200)
    6×50 Descend on 10s Rest

    Main:
    2×400 on 1:00 Rest (MOP:2×300; BOP: 2×200)
    #1: Deck Up every 100. Keep Swimming!
    #2: Pull with Paddles @60%

    6×100 Descend 1-3, 4-6 @ 60-90% on TPace +15s (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)

    4×50 @ Wilson: All Out on 30s Rest (BOP: 2×50)

    200 Warmdown

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

    HIM:
    600 @ 75% sight every 8 strokes immediately into 200 Swim @ 85%
    Focus on maintaining form after every sighting

    IM and Longer:
    1000 @ 70% sight every 8 strokes immediately into 200 Swim @ 85%
    Focus on maintaining form after every sighting

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