Favorite All-Around Swim Workout

This is the most complicated swim workout that I can remember without having the details written down. Years ago when I'd swim with "the gang," we'd have big complex workouts that we'd print off, put in ziplock bags, and have with us on the pool's edge. But I'm not really into that.

This workout is call "Broken 400s and 200s," and you just need to remember a few things:

• 3x400 and 3x200

and

• 60 sec rest between those 2 sets

and

• Split everything in half

Let me explain.

The first 400 is just a 400. Simple.

And if you take a 60 sec rest between the 400s and the 200s, you split that in half here and take a 30 sec rest between your 1st and 2nd 400.

Then you split you 2nd 400 in half as 2x200.

And between those 200s, you split the rest in half AGAIN, so it's 15 sec rest there.

Then another 30 sec break before the last 400. And for that last 400, you split that in half AGAIN to be 4x100.

You guessed it: 15 sec of rest between the 100s.

Then that "big" 60 sec rest before starting the 200s.

The 200s follow the same idea as the 400s did: 1st one is just 200, the 2nd one is 2x100, and then 3rd one is 4x50.

So in the end, the main body of the workout is 1800 yards, with one 400, three 200s, six 100s, and four 50s. All randomly mixed up. And relatively easy to remember.

So the workout all spelled out is this:

- 400
- 30 sec rest
- 2x200 with 15 sec rest between 200s
- 30 sec rest
- 4x100 with 15 sec rest between 100s

- 60 sec rest

- 200
- 30 sec rest
- 2x100 with 15 sec rest between the 100s
- 30 sec rest
- 4x50 with 15 sec rest between the 50s

I added in a 200 WU, 300 of kick drills after the pyramid, and then a 200 CD to make it a clean 2500 yards - my longest swim in 22 months.

Remembering that it's just "split the rest in half" makes this workout easy for me to remember. And I think when I was first given this workout by a fast swimming friend, it had rests that were actually 10, 20, and 40 sec, but I made them 15, 30, and 60 sec in the name of not dying.

I did this workout about 2 weeks ago, and I forgot how brutal it was after those first 200s when you are getting ready to start the 4x100. I was SOOOO looking forward to that 60 sec break coming up! I compared it to my last swim like this from 22 months ago (before taking over 1.5 years off from swimming), and times were relatively similar! Maybe not surprisingly, my 100s NOW were the ones that were noticably slower than my 100s THEN - I don't have the endurance left to hold speed throughout that distance. And my 50s were a bit slower showing I'm not used to longer swim workouts anymore.

Comparing times NOW to THEN:

- 400s: 6:26 vs 6:28 (FASTER NOW)
- 200s: averaging 3:10 vs 3:13 (FASTER NOW)
- 100s: averaging 1:33 vs 1:31 (SLOWER NOW)
- 50s: averaging 0:41 vs 0:40 (SLOWER NOW)

I enjoy my time in the pool at the U of M as I tend to be finishing my swim about 30 minutes before the pool closes, so I tend to walk in with just a few people in the pool and leave when the pool is even quieter:

Last one out of the pool!


Post-swim selfie as I head down the hall away from Cooke 15.

If you missed my funny swim story from the weekend, check out this post and just scroll down to the photo. Gross. :)