Week 9

ou are on the first week of the third four-week block, and this week we will be incorporating some speed work while maintaining your base. You should be used to the workload and ready to start getting your heart rate up.

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: Swim 35 minutes

100m warm-up, choice stroke
4 x 75m kick freestyle with flippers (50m easy kick, 25m very hard kick, with 15 seconds rest after each 75)
8 x 25m freestyle (as breath 5, with 10 seconds rest after each 25)
6 x 25m freestyle with flippers (as blast first 15m, easy to the end, with 10 seconds rest after each 25)
200m easy cool-down, choice of stroke
Total: 1000m

Wednesday: Run/walk 30 minutes

5-minute warm-up run/walking
15 minutes (as 30 seconds jog, 30 seconds faster than jog pace, 30 seconds jog, 1-minute recovery walk)
5 x (10 seconds stride, 50 seconds walk)
5-minute cool-down walk

Stride is to pick up your leg speed and stride and get up to maximum speed, focus on good technique

Thursday: Bike 45 minutes

15-minute warm-up spin
4 x (20 seconds left leg spinning, 40 seconds both, 20 seconds right, 40 seconds both)
2-minute recovery spin
5 x (45 seconds hard gear @ 50-60 cadence, 75 seconds recovery spin)
10 minute cool-down spin

If you do not have a computer on your bike that displays cadence, then, every few minutes, count how many times one leg rotates in 15 seconds and multiply this by four to calculate your cadence.

Friday: Swim 30 minutes

200m warm-up choice
8 x 25m freestyle (DPS: count your strokes and try to minimize the number you take each length while swimming efficiently. Take 10 seconds rest after each 25)
4 x 150m (as 100m freestyle easy/50m at effort, with 20 seconds rest)
6 x 25m freestyle (as 10m easy, blast to end, with 10 seconds rest)
100m cool-down, choice stroke
Total: 1250m

”At effort” means as fast as you can maintain throughout the given distance.

Distance per stroke: work on lengthening out your stroke by reaching as far forward above the water as possible before entry and extending your arm as far back as possible at the end of your stroke. Take a stroke count for each 25m, then try to decrease your stokes-per-length through the set.

Saturday: Run/walk 40 minutes

5-minute warm-up walking
2 x (4-minute jog, 1-minute walk)
4 x (15 seconds jog, 45 seconds faster than jog pace,10 seconds strides. Take a 2:50-minute recovery walk after the 70-second work interval)
10-minute cool-down walk

Sunday: Bike 60 minutes

15-minute warm-up spin
3 x (45 seconds left leg, 15 seconds both, 45 seconds right leg, 1:15 both)
2-minute recovery spin
2 x (45 seconds standing, 2:15-minute recovery spin)
3 x (30 seconds at 90 rpm,30 seconds at 100 rpm, 30 seconds at 110 rpm, 30 seconds at 120+ rpm, 2-minute recovery spin)
15-minute cool-down spin

TOTAL TRAINING TIME: 4 hours
As you can see, the mileage is the same as last week, but I have added some increased heart-rate work. Again, it is very important to keep focused, rest up and eat properly. I have added some flippers to help with leg strength and ankle flexibility in the pool. If your local pool doesn’t have the equipment, consider investing in some.

Remember that if you would like to add a few minutes to the end of a workout, proceed with caution, and if you feel that it is too much load, go back to last week’s training. If you are fairly serious about your goals and specific training regime, and have many unanswered questions or concerns, consider consulting a coach to add some personal touches to reflect your own individual strengths, needs and overall development