Hawaii From Home: Swim Workout #1

Join us for Hawaii From Home—one week, 140.6 miles. Swag, prizes, training tips from coaches, bragging rights. Get all of the details at triathlete.com/hawaiifromhome. Each week we’ll be providing four key workouts (one swim, one bike, one run, and one brick) that you can work into your overall training plan.

In week No. 1’s workout, you’ll do a “test set” to predict a 2.4-mile/4200-yard time for your Hawaii From Home swim in October. Test sets are not only a way to see where you’re fitness is at, they’re also a great way to provide motivation without any other competitors by setting a personal benchmark and then racing your own times from six weeks prior. 

In this workout, swim at your Best Effort (BE) on the test set and record your times for each of the 4 swims. Afterwards, multiple your 400 time x 10.5 to predict your Kona swim time. The other times will be used in future workouts so keep them handy!

Advanced Workout (3000 Yards)

Warm-up:
400 swim/300 pull/200 kick/100 non-free
10 x 50 w/10 sec. rest (25 catch up drill/25 build to fast)
Rest 1-2 min.

Test Set:
100 Best Effort, rest 10 sec.
200 BE, rest 20 sec.
300 BE, rest 30 sec.
400 BE, rest 1-2 min.

Cool-down:
300 w/buoy (25 right arm, 25 left arm, 50 regular swim)
200 easy choice

Beginner Workout (2000 Yards)

Warm-up:
300 swim/200 pull/100 kick
4 x 50 w/10 sec. rest (25 catch up drill/25 build to fast)
Rest 1-2 min.

Test Set:
100 Best Effort, rest 10 sec.
200 BE, rest 20 sec.
300 BE, rest 30 sec.
400 BE, rest 1-2 min.

Cool-down:
100 w/buoy (25 right arm, 25 left arm, 50 regular swim)

100 easy choice

Open-Water Modification

Test Set:
Use a distance approximately 400 yards. Swim 3 x 400, with 30 sec. rest, all at Best Effort. Use your time on the third effort to calculate your Kona swim time.

Sara McLarty is a former professional triathlete and head coach and owner at swim-like-a-pro.com.