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    A B-Race Opener

    posted Jun 7, 2011 12:15 PM by Robert Burgholzer   [ updated Jun 14, 2011 7:42 AM ]
    Coach Dave Luscan was getting in the water with one of his athletes the other morning, and had in mind a short "opener", that is, a workout to get the juices flowing in preparation for the athlete's upcoming "B" race (maybe a B+ he was 2 weeks out of his A race).  These types of workouts are useful when you are in the midst of a high volume block, and need a change of pace, or for something to remind you of what real speed in the water is like.  No doubt, with 100s fast, this is not a recovery workout!  Since the effects of an opener in swimming are as much technical as they are physiological, we like to employ speed-play and some rhythm based drills in the process, not to mention a little bit of head-up swimming to get you in the right frame of mind for an open water swim.  

    When Dave told me about this workout, I thought it seemed like a load of fun, and that it should be shared.  Here is the workout and some comments from the athlete, Jared Levin.  See below for Jared's take on the workout and his race a few days later.  Enjoy!


    WARMUP
    1 X 300    alternate 50 swim, 50 6-6 pulsing between 2 beat and normal kick
    12 x 25    :10 seconds rest
                   alternate 1 @ swim easy, 1 @ pull fast, 1 @ head up 2 beat
    1 x 600    "Front Door - Back Door" - i.e., 1st and last 150s fast, cruise the middle 300
    8 x 50 on the :50, descend 1-8

    MAIN SET
    4 x 100 on the 4:00, all out,
    1 x 50 sprint -- from the blocks if you want.

    Cool down 100 easy.


    I asked Jared his thoughts on the workout and how he felt afterwards and at the race on Sunday.  He had a great day overall, 4th in the 25-29 age group at the Xterra East Championships, and here is what he had to say about the workout:

    Question: How fast did you swim in the workout 100s and 50s?
    Jared: For last Monday's swim workout we did 3x100 on 4:00 and 1x50, My times were 1:08, 1:06, 1:06, I forgot what I did the 50, we did that from the blocks 27 maybe?)

    Question: How hard were you going?
    Jared: The first 100 I didn't really go all out, the second two I got pretty close.  The hardest part was the unfamiliar feeling of going all out as opposed to going 85% and being ready to swim again with minimal rest.  It was really difficult for me to keep proper kicking rhythm and go all out at the same time.  It was nice to sprint though, I forgot how much fun it was. 

    Question: Did you crash and burn towards the end of the set?
    Jared: I didn't really crash towards the end, I think I paced myself throughout the workout pretty well (maybe too much?). 

    Question: How did you feel in the water at the Xterra race this past weekend?
    Jared: As far as after the set there was no soreness or fatigue the day after or that week after doing that set.  I think the it helped me with confidence as well because if you can hit 1:06 a few times in practice then cruising at 1:16 for a few hundred yards doesn't seem like that big of a deal. 

    Question: How did you like the set?
    Jared: I liked the set a lot, I'd like to do more sprinting stuff, even if its a little bit at the end of practices or something like that. 

    Question: Any general race observations?
    At Xterra I felt pretty good in the water once I settled into a good rhythm of swimming.  The two open water swims I've done this year (Xterra and the first FF open water swim) I've had a bit of difficulty finding a good rhythm.  I'm pretty accustomed to using the wall and a dolphin kick to start up my kicking rhythm (if that makes any sense?)  and without that wall push and dolphin kick it takes a while for me to find my kick.  I still think my kick needs serious improvement though, my pulling times have not been much different than my swim times in recent practices.  

    Question: Lessons learned?
    Jared: ...     it was a good race from a fitness test and pacing standpoint.  I did learn that 10 hours of mountain bike work in 6 months leading up to a championship xterra race is not adequate to place on the overall amateur podium.