500 free goal time 4:50.00 training guidelines:
Building aerobic capacity needs to be done by monitoring heart rate. You can add longer warm-up sets if you feel the need to increase yardage for your swimmer. Each swimmer will have a certain amount of yardage per workout where you need to end the practice and that is just knowing your swimmer. You will build aerobic capacity and a base to taper from if you monitor heart rate. For example; 8 x 100 on a 1:30 send-off, holding Race Pace with the Heart rate at 28 +/-for :10 seconds (each swimmer is different) will build and maintain aerobic capacity faster than doing a set of 4 x 600 where you just tell the swimmer to build or hold a fast pace. Training at Race Pace will help the swimmer understand/feel the speed needed in a race and give them confidence. Train all your main sets based on race pace and heart rate. You can still do set of 4 x 600 but don’t make that a habit. Always do Race Pace in practice and some short sprints or Tarzan in the workout.
Week 15 and 16 of the 23 week FasterSwimming book will give you the longest workouts of the season. Feel free to add or subtract yardage based on your swimmer. I have included workout #79 below for you to use as a test set for pace and stroke count. When you are about a week into the season do this test set to get a starting point for training. Let’s say your swimmer starts out holding a 1:07 pace per 100 and swims 19 strokes per 25. Begin your main sets by monitoring heart rate while holding a 1:03+/- pace per 100 and 18 strokes per lap, for about 3+/- weeks. As your swimmer progresses drop the training pace per 100 to 1:00 at 17 strokes per lap for another 3 +/- weeks. During the 7 week taper before champs, the training race pace per 100 should :58 or faster per 100 holding a stroke count of 16. Remember this is a guideline and very realistic. Race pace sets can be written with all distances involved it just takes a little math, so be creative. As your swimmer progresses the rest needed for a particular pace will decrease.
Stroke counts depend on efficiency of stroke, size of athlete and other factors that only a coach would know by training the athlete. As the swimmer progresses adjust goals hopefully faster!
The next step will be to help the swimmer understand how to swim the 500 in a meet. Remember to follow the workouts in the 23 week book and complete all the kicking sets as outlined. It is important to alternate upper and lower body work within sets or by sets. This will help add recovery to every workout while increasing intensity of each practice.
Warm up: (meet warm up)
600 choice swim
6 x 100 choice 50 kick / 50 swim :10rest
then stretch based on time allowed no longer than 5 minutes
6 x 75 choice :10rest with heart rate about +/-20 at a minimum, check twice adjust heart rate based on age and level of fitness
1-3 kick / swim / kick by 25, 4-6 swim / kick / swim by 25
6 x 50 choice swim – raise heart rate, check heart rate and then :15rest
1-3 heart rate +/-25, 4 easy swim, 5-6 heart rate +/-30
100 easy
2 x 25 sprint (work in starts at meet)
75 easy after each
This workout may not be for all but do your best!
Please adjust test set for age and ability with shorter distances. Remember this is a test set to determine beginning training pace per 100.
2 x 1500 free on 17:30 (1:10 pace per 100)
adjust as needed – 20:00 is a 1:20 pace per 100
use paddles if desired
2 x 1000 free on 11:40 (1:10 pace per 100)
8 x 75 recovery on 1:10
timed 800 free
8 x 75 recovery on 1:10
OVERSPEED
4 x 25 pull only for speed continuous
100 easy