Big Swim Set

I want to do the classic swim set 100x100 on 100.  For those unfamiliar, that means you swim 100 yards 100 times leaving every 100 seconds (one minute and forty seconds). 

Since I've been swimming a lot lately, I decided to do a bit of a test set Sunday morning.  I swam 60x100 on 100.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  It sounds like a tough swim because that's a lot of 100s, but when you think about the total time it takes (one hour and forty minutes) it doesn't sound that bad. I work out for two hours or more all the time, so an hour forty shouldn't be so bad, right?

Right.


As it turns out, this wasn't tough at all.  In fact, it was kind of easy.  I started out pretty easy and swam the first 5 as a warm up swimming about a 1:30 per 100 yard pace. From then on, I swam the rest of them between 1:23 and 1:30 with the large majority of them being 1:26-1:28.  I felt comfortable the whole time and the pace was easy.  I don't even think my heart rate hit 130 at all.  

So I'm feeling confident about the 100x100 on 100.  That workout will take nearly 3 hours (you can do 36 100s on 1:40 in an hour) so I'll try to get some people to join me, at least for part of it, to keep things interesting.  


A look at my weekly swim volume for the year shows why I had a bad swim in Kona.  It also shows why my shoulders are so tired and sore right now.

2011 Swim Volume by Week

I swam just under 24,000 yards this week which put me back in the lead in the December swim challenge on Slowtwitch.  Luckily for me, the competition is based on volume and not speed.  There are some very fast swimmers in the competition.  

I'm Supersquid. 

I don't have a lot of time left to do my 1000 yard TT for the Dark Star ePostal swim meet.  I'm thinking I'll do that this week, maybe over the weekend.  The goal is to break 14 minutes.  That's my current PR.  Coming off two weeks of my highest volume ever, I'm feeling good about my chances.  

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Later in the day, I got out for what could be my last outdoor ride of the year.  Hopefully not, but I'm not counting on more outdoor miles.  It was 43 and sunny, and in December in Wisconsin....that's riding weather.  

About to head out for what may be my last outdoor ride of 2011.