Killer Swim: Hardest in a LONG Time

Over the years, I've been doing more "actual" swim workouts.

When I started swimming (like in 2006 and 2007), I'd just "swim." Just a long solid swim. Every time.

Then I mixed that up a little with something STILL with long efforts, like a 3x500 swim.

But for the last 5 years or so, my swim workouts are shorter/harder efforts. Like main sets of 8x200, or 10-15x100, or a pyramid (like 100, 200, 300, 400, 300, 200, and 100), or broken 3x400s and 3x200s, etc.

So last week, being I have a longer 30 min swim as part of an indoor triathlon coming up next month, I figured I should try some "longer" efforts like that 3x500 workout. And it was BRUTAL.

I thought it had been a LONG time since a workout like that, but post-workout (once I looked back), I did that workout twice in 2023: in May and in February. And then before that, it was back in 2021 (but I found I did it 3 times in 2021 as I was starting to hit the pool again). So I've done it recently, but it's not close to a "common" workout for me anymore.

The 2 times I did that workout in 2023, I was around 8:00/500: 2 over 8:00 and 1 under in May (averaging 8:00.66/500), and all 3 over 8:00 in Feb (averaging 8:03.50/500). Again, I didn't know that at the time, but I knew I'd been around 8:00 the last time I did this workout. (WHICH IS DEPRESSING AS WHEN I WAS SWIMMING A LOT IN 2018, I NOTED DOING THIS WORKOUT WITH A 7:33/500 AVERAGE!! And I noted that was "fine.")

Anyway, last week I swam my 500s (with about a 60 sec rest between) like this:

7:56.5 = 1:37, 1:34, 1:37, 1:36, 1:32
7:57.9 = 1:36, 1:39, 1:36, 1:37, 1:29
7:54.7 = 1:38, 1:36, 1:36, 1:35, 1:29

Average = 7:56.37/500 (1:35.27/100)

I was happy with my first 500! But I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to hold that for #2. I was able to glance at most of my 100 splits (which helps me maintain my speed, I think), and was bleeding time early in the 2nd 500, but the closing 1:29 kept me under 8:00. My 3rd FELT hard, but the speed was there, and I knew I was holding that under 8:00 nicely - it ended up being my fastest. I hit the wall the last time with my lungs and butt burning!

Pace chart: 200 WU, 3x500, then some drills.

Even though my main set was just 1500 yards, I ended up swimming 2850 after all was said and done. After my main set, I did 4x75 kick drills (I may have done that at the end of EVERY swim last year), then an easier 200, then 2x100 faster (1:29 for both), then 100 swim, 150 pulling (with buoy), and a 200 CD.

Again, NOTHING like when I was swimming a lot in 2018 and posted a 7:33/500 ave, but happy with this for my 1x/week swimming lately!

Side note: at the end of 2021, I did this workout with a 7:49 ave, and I'd love to try to get back to that. It appears that's my fastest post-pandemic 1x/week swimming version of this workout. I'd have to really change my workout habits to get back to that 7:33/500 ave from 2018, but I'm pretty happy with my overall training, so I'm not going to start hitting the pool EXTRA hard to try to get back to that. Nope, those times might be gone forever. But I'd still like to bring my current times down a LITTLE...