Pre-Ironman swim workout
Lauren Brandon shares a swim workout she likes to do a few weeks out from an Ironman
— by Lauren Brandon
We are less than three weeks away from the Ironman World Championships. Everyone is gearing up and putting in their last hard training sessions before heading to the big island for what they hope to be an amazing day. I will be sharing some pre-Kona workouts over the next three weeks, beginning with a key swim session that I do a few weeks out from race day.
The following swim session is definitely both physically and mentally taxing, but it will help you feel confident and ready to go for the 3.8K swim on race day. You only need to do this session once, so make sure you are prepared to swim fast.
Total: 5000
Warm up:
400 swim, 300 pull, 200 kick, 100 choice
First set:
12 x 50 – Descend 1-4, 5-8, 9-12 (numbers 4, 8, & 12 are fast) rest 10-15 seconds
100 easy
Main set: 3 x 1000 (Rest 20 seconds in between each 1000)
- Cruise – get into a nice rhythm and swim long and strong
- First 25 of each 100 is fast, followed by a 75 threshold/steady pace x 10
- Fast – this is 1000 for time and should be faster than your Ironman pace
Cooldown: 300 easy
