Month 3 About the Coach About the Plan

Introduction - Month 3 Welcome to the last installment of your swim training plan for the Henley classic, a 2.1 km swim upriver in the beautiful Thames. We hope you have enjoyed the sessions so far and are getting fitter, faster and stronger. This is our final month of training for our swim so you are almost at the start line for the race, and then beyond that is the finish line for Henley Classic glory. About the coach This training plan has been written by Jason Tait of South West Swim (www.southwestswim.co.uk). Jason is a level 2 qualified coach, teacher and open water coach (Swim England & STA), he is also Swim Smooth Certified specialising in stroke correction and open water swimming. Jason coaches many athletes in the pool and open water, from club juniors up to national level and adults from beginners to channel swimmers , Ironman athletes and everybody in between. This training plan is aimed at relative beginners and intermediate front crawl swimmers looking to build their fitness, confidence and speed in time for the classic. The plan that follows is progressive and will work on building technique, fitness and pacing skills relevant to your upcoming swim, session by session. In this last month we also introduce some long swims, pure swims which aim to get you confident you can do the distance. About The Plan Our plan is based over 12 weeks, with a mix of session types throughout that period to get you building up your stroke technique productively, whilst building fitness, stamina and pacing skills. Presented here are weeks 9-12 which build on what you have covered before. The sessions that follow work on building your swim further, the session time will rise slightly for the first couple of weeks before easing off in the final week a little to rest you for the event itself (taper). Consistency is key to developing your swim technique and fitness so we are still aiming to get you swimming in the pool 3 times a week. Once more feel free to add a fourth session of your choice (Both beginner or intermediate swimmers), or simply have time to train more often. To give you more encouragement train with friends, share the journey and make it fun and more interesting. Open Water Specifics The sessions in this plan are pool based, but we are continuing to add in the Open water skill of sighting during our last month, practice this in the sessions that ask you to do so, but also in the long swims. I would also encourage you to start looking at wearing your wetsuit for a session or two to get used to the ‘Feel’ of wetsuit swimming. You can wear a wetsuit in a pool, or the open water. If wearing in a pool ensure you rinse it off very well afterwards, and also do not spend too long swimming in the suit if your pool is warm, as you may overheat. As always keep hydrated whilst training. The weather is warming up, and so to is the water temperatures so try and get into a body of open water. We would highly advise a coached session for your first experience of open water so the coach can put you at ease and get you into the water safely. Many coaches, including South West Swim, offer an Introduction to Open Water swimming sessions or workshops, which will show you the skills and thrills of open water swimming. Always train in open water safely, swim with friends or at an open water venue with safety cover and consider the use of a tow float for visibility. Never swim alone. Don’t leave your first open water experience until race day, get in and get familiar with the environment, skills and feel of the open water before then. You don't want a shock on race day. Recommended Swimming Kit Swim kit is used in these sessions and would be an advantage to have, however you will be able to do all the sessions with a minimum of a pull buoy. We recommend the following kit: Pull Buoy - This is used to isolate our upper body, working on our catch and pull. We will also be using the pull buoy for drills such as sculling, and timing work. Fins - These are great for developing your leg kick mechanics and ideal for performing certain drills we will cover in the sessions, such as kick on side. Paddles - There are various types of paddle on the market but we use paddles to hone our technique, and we steer clear of BIG paddles. Finis Tempo Trainer / Swim Watch - We use the finis tempo trainer heavily in our own squad sessions but understand many swimmer would not have heard of them, let alone have on in the kit bag. These are a timing device that fit under your swim cap and are used in different ways. We will be using them to indicate blocks of time passed, you can also use a swim watch or stopwatch for this, or you can even use the pool pace clock. All the kit is available from online retailers or directly from the south West Swim website at www.southwestswim.co.uk. Drills I hope you enjoyed the few drills we have worked on so far. We are still going to stick with these fundamental drills through the last part of the plan so you get to practice and perfect them, and the skills they are looking to improve when pieced back into your swimming stroke. Take a look back at Month 1 if you need a recap of drill instructions and images. Perform drills deliberately and carefully, focusing on good technique in the movement. Do not rush through the movements. We have kept the drills as simple as possible, Initially selecting only 5 key drills and movements that will help your swimming. The drills will approach 4 technical aspects of your stroke: 1. Breathing 2. Body Position 3. Rotation 4. Catch set up How To Read Our Session Plans You will find our session plans laid out in the following way. We have done it this way to enable you to print these out and take them to the pool. Session x - Week x Session Introduction The Session introduction will tell you about the session type and any equipment you may need / be helpful to complete the session. This plan has Four different session types or focuses: 1. A technique based session. This session type will contain both Drills and swimming and should be considered a very focused set in order to feel the movements within your swimming 2. Time in the water sessions. This session type is designed to get you swimming for a bit longer in the water. These are either time block swims or distance block swims. 3. Pace development sessions. A mix of different distance swims, swum at various effort levels. The effort level you swim these sessions should be related to your swims in the time trial sessions. 4. Time Trial Sessions. This session type is exactly the same session each time you swim it, this is to give consistent results. This session type will give you base times to gauge your improvement and also reset your percentage efforts for your pace development sessions. Warm Up The warm up section will detail the warm up plan for the session. The warm up usually starts with some easy swimming and possibly some drills. Build Some of our sessions will have a build section, some will not. A build section usually consists of some gradual swims increasing in intensity to raise the heart rate. Interlude Some of our sessions may have what we call an interlude, usually some focused technique work. Main This is the main part of the session plan And Then And Then sections are still part of the main set, but broken into a different section as the swim instruction or timings may differ. BAsically making the plan easier to read. Cool Down The last part of the session, consisting if easy swims or drills. The Cool down (or warm down) is designed to bring the heart rate down and stretch off the muscles. Remember to perform some after pool stretching as well Session Notes & Tips This section will give the swimmer any additional information about the session performed. Let’s get going Below are your sessions for the next four weeks, our first week is our recovery week with only two sessions and then we move back to three sessions a week. We will also be introducing longer swims this month and there is a block of harder work around week 6/7. Try to leave 1-2 days between each session for recovery. We hope you enjoy the sessions and find them a real progressive benefit to your training. Enough talk, let's get you diving into month two. Questions Still unsure? Please drop me a line at [email protected] with any questions you may have. Session 1 - Week 9 Session Introduction Focus: Technique and Sighting Skills Kit Recommended / needed for this session: Pull Buoy Fins Warm Up Beginners 200m / Intermediate 300m Relaxed Swim Beginners 4x50m / Intermediate 4x50m Alternate between: 1. 25m Scull 1 and 25m Swim 2. 25m Scull 2 and 25m Swim Beginners 2x50m / Intermediate 2x50m Fins Torpedo Kick into Swim for 25m then Swim for 25m - Think ”Swim Proud” Beginners 100m / Intermediate 200m FINS 6-3-6 Drill out, Swim back Notes: Main Today's session is going to focus on breathing patterns and being able to breathe to both sides of your stroke (bi-lateral).

Load more