The following are some tips I gave to a beginning triathlete, swim & running sets and some general hints:
Hey XX,
glad to hear you've been doing the sets. Don't worry about the time, I used 46 seconds only as an example. 51 seconds is fine. With continued practice you can slowly drop those times. Instead of doing the same set each time you swim, try some variety. for instance -
always swim 200-300 yards easy as a warm up, then do a kick set or a main set
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kick sets should be limited to 100-200 yards for now:
4-8 x 25 kick on :20 sec rest
or
2-4 x 50 kick on :30 rest
or
straight 100-200 yard kick
typically do the kick set before the main set, or skip it if you are pressed for time.
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main swim sets could include:
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3 x 50 descend the effort from 1-3, 3 being the fastest, with 10-30 seconds rest in between each. repeat this set 2 or 3 times for a total of 6 to 9 50s. this is a set intended to help you get faster times total 300-450 yards
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4 x 75 kick 1 lap, swim 2 laps, 20-30 seconds rest after each
1 minute rest
4 x 50 swim on :15 second rest
1 minute rest
4 x 25 swim on :15 second rest
this works your aerobic capacity
total 600 yards
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3 x 50 on :10 second rest
30 sec rest
2 x 100 on 15 second rest
30 sec rest
3 x 50 on :10 second rest
this is a 'distance set', short recovery time
total 500 yards
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8 x 50 on :20 sec rest, 1 hard effort, 1 easy effort
works everything because it's hard/easy but with little rest between
total 400 yards
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4 x 100 on :45 sec rest, 50 hard, 50 easy by 100s.
same type of set as above
total 400 yards
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always swim at least 100 yards easy after you finish your last set.
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also try to do some stretching, my sister can show you the proper swimming stretches.
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for running, the difference between your fast (10) and regular miles (11) is a little smaller than it would be for most people, but not out of the ordinary. It's probably because you're just getting back into fitness after years of not doing too much. when your body really starts to respond to the exercise you're giving it, I am sure your fast miles will drop considerably.
I don't want to give you advice that will wind up getting you hurt, so for the most part, I think you should stick with your regular run routine except for what I told you about running 3-5 miles on one of those days (T or Th) you have free during the week. what you can do to start some 'speed' work is this:
during that 3-5 mile run, after about 15-20 minutes, do 4-6 short accelerations. Basically, speed up your leg turnover, swing your arms, and run nearly as fast as you can run for 20 seconds or so. Don't go bananas because you could pop a knee, but put some effort into it. so your run, broken down, would look like this:
15-20 minutes easy/warm up pace
20 second acceleration
1-2 minute easy
20 second acceleration
1-2 minute easy
20 second acceleration
1-2 minute easy
20 second acceleration
10-15 minutes regular pace/cool down
these are properly called strides. I'd say, to start off, don't do more than 4 of these, and if you feel any pain or twinges that go beyond 'normal ache,' call them off for that day. once a week is the most you should do this for now. try to build up over the next month from 4 to being comfortable doing 6-8 of these in one workout. on a day you do more, let's say 4 weeks from now, put a little less effort into each one (so you don't hurt yourself since you're adding more). after a month or two of this, you could add another run, or alternate this type of run with a more formal track type of workout. worry about that when you get to it and I'll give you some pointers.
have a good one!
Marty