I've been swimming about 8 months now (for general conditioning, and to
strengthen my back in particular). I do some exercise ball stretches
and a short weight set before my swim, and then have slipped into the
same swim plan every time. I do a short 100 - 200 warmup (cause I'm
already warm from the workout), and then I do a 1k swim, and then I
finish with a few hundred of breast/backstroke/kicking. Sometimes I'll
incorporate a few 50 sprints... total workout around 1600 to 1700
meters. I think, though, that I've plateaued.
I recorded the splits from my 1k the last four sessions (with my new
Ironman Lap watch I bought for $14 at Campmor!) to see if anyone has
any advice for honing my workout. These are the ten 100m splits for the
1km swim. I try and sprint the last one or two 100's. There's no rest
time involved, except for maybe an extra breath after a 100 here and
there. I find it amazing how consistent the average and the total time
of the swim is, really.
1 02:09.6 02:13.5 02:06.9 02:10.0
2 02:13.6 02:17.0 02:22.7 02:23.6
3 02:20.7 02:24.1 02:23.3 02:23.6
4 02:23.5 02:17.0 02:22.2 02:28.9
5 02:29.3 02:20.0 02:25.9 02:15.3
6 02:27.7 02:22.0 02:10.3 02:12.9
7 02:18.3 02:29.0 02:23.8 02:23.8
8 02:29.9 02:13.2 02:23.1 02:10.3
9 01:59.1 02:07.2 01:55.0 02:11.3
10 01:55.8 01:55.9 02:02.1 01:59.6
Avg 02:16.8 02:15.9 02:15.5 02:15.9
Total 22:47.5 22:38.9 22:35.3 22:39.3
As for the swim pace on the 1km swim, I'm not pushing terribly hard. My
heart rate stays just inside my targer heart rate (except for the
sprint at the end where I'm sucking air). I so much prefer just
"swimming for a little bit", but for cardio and back strengthening,
should I be doing interval training?