August 14th, I did one of my IRONMAN Simulation swims, and I had the best swim I’ve ever had.
The IRONMAN Simulation Swim is a standard simulation I have my athletes do. I will change the repetition duration to fit their fitness level. The goal of these sessions is to swim race distance at an intensity higher than what they will on race day. This session teaches them pacing and how to handle the race distance mentally. These sessions are hard but essential for building the specific endurance needed.
The workout:
1x1000
3x500
3x300
4x200=4,200 yards
Swim Time 56:52, Overall Time 59:58 (avg 1:21 per yards)
There is no warm-up as you commonly don’t get a swim warm-up on IRONMAN day.
The other goal is to have the smallest difference from Swim Time to Overall Time.
Two weeks prior I went 58:53 swim time, Overall Time of 1:01:27 doing 10x400, 1x200 (1:24 per yards)
These swims give me confidence that I can swim the whole duration without going into survival mode. I always have had constant issues swimming well in open water and these sessions have transformed my ability to swim well in open water.
One week after swimming 56:52 I tested myself at Devils Lake and swam 4000 yards in 57:00 (1:26 per yards pace) in a sleeveless wetsuit. This session was another massive boost for me that I can swim under 1:00 on IRONMAN day.
However, this is a triathlon where each discipline feeds into the next one. While I would LOVE to swim under 1:00, I won’t be chasing a time as ill be chasing an effort.
It’s great to see improvement!
Steve
