New perk! Get after it with local recommendations just for you. Discover nearby events, routes out your door, and hidden gems when you sign up for the Local Running Drop.
Unlike in pool swimming, the open water of a tri doesn’t take place in a vacuum. As triathletes, we’re not alone in a lane, racing against the clock, trying to get into a manageable rhythm unhindered by competitors. In tri, the gun goes off, and it’s basically bedlam. You swim hard to get some space, then you run into someone treading water. Even if you slay the swim start and find a rhythm quickly, odds are you’ll round a buoy and hit traffic.
This week’s workout will simulate the changing paces and rhythms you’ll encounter during any crowded swim. Be sure to visualize what it’ll feel like on race day, doing these adjustments with other swimmers around you. In fact, if you can do this swim with two or three training partners in the lane at the same time, all starting the 25s together side-by-side—even better. If you have access to a long-course 50-meter pool, tread water on the 25s and start together to simulate the chaos of an in-water start.
Be sure not to try this workout for the first time the week before a key race, and for best results, do this workout at least three times before the most important race of your season.
RELATED: A Complete Guide to Triathlon Swimming
One-Hour Workout: Starts and Stops Swim Set
Warm-up
200 easy free
4 x 100 as 50 drill/50 swim, 15 seconds rest
4 x 50 build 1-4 to 8/10 Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), 10 seconds rest
Main Set
4 x 100 at race pace (~8/10 RPE), 25 seconds rest, no wall push-off at start
4 x (25 at 9/10 RPE, no walls push-off at start, 10 seconds rest
200 swim at 7/10, a few seconds slower than race pace, 20 seconds rest)
400 pull buoy, band
Cooldown
200 swim easy
Total: 2,700