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Tough day today. A new, faster set and my upper arms were feeling tired even before I’d finished the warm-up:

400m front crawl warm-up
25 x 50m front crawl, target time 54s, rest interval 21s
200m front crawl swim down

Like last time however, the first half-dozen reps were in the 47s and 48s, but then I got settled down and was hitting 50 or 51 pretty much every rep. I had one rep drop into the 52s about halfway through, but then got things back on track, had another 52
on rep 23 and then did a 51 and 50 for my last two reps, completing the set. I was surprised to have got through the entire set, I have to admit. I was expecting some difficulty on the first attempt given my recent performances on slower target times, but despite the tiredness I think I actually did better today than previously.

I don’t think I can attempt to repeat this one tomorrow however. I think I really will be too tired to manage that. I’ll think of some technique work to do instead.

USRPT distance this year: 61,050m
Total distance this year: 153,000m

Wasn’t sure what to expect today, having completed my current set yesterday and still feeling a bit of tiredness in my arms and shoulders. Things didn’t start well when I discovered that the goggles I’d removed from my bag to clean were still at home and I had to wear a spare pair 🙁 My plan was to attempt the same set as yesterday:

400m front crawl warm-up
25 x 50m front crawl, target time 55s, rest interval 20s
200m front crawl swim down

The first five or six reps were around 47 or 48 seconds and after that I settled into a reasonable pace at around 51s with a few reps dropping into the 52s, but I was making them all. I had a minor scare at rep 23 when I was over 54s, but got it back together for the last two reps and successfully completed the set. Then my spare goggles broke with 50m to go of my swim down 🙂

So, next time a new set with a target time of 54s and rest interval of 21s. Given that I’ve gone over 54s for at least one rep every time recently, that might be a bit more challenging.

USRPT distance this year: 59,800m
Total distance this year: 151,150m

Back to the pool today for a repeat of last Friday’s session when I didn’t feel that I’d done very well at all:

400m front crawl warm-up
25 x 50m front crawl, target time 55s, rest interval 20s
200m front crawl swim down

Today went much better. The first half dozen reps were down in the 47s and 48s which is still getting a bit too aggressive at the moment if I want to feel confident of finishing the set, but after that I managed to keep them all in the 51s and 52s apart from a slip down to 54s for rep 24. So, all 25 reps made today and I felt very pleased with my performance.

USRPT distance this year: 58,550m
Total distance this year: 149,300m

Missed my intended session yesterday as I didn’t have a car to get to the pool, but I went today to attempt a new set similar to the last but with a reduced rest interval:

400m front crawl warm-up
25 x 50m front crawl, target time 55s, rest interval 20s
200m front crawl swim down

This was fairly tough. I had two fails. The first was on rep 6. I think I’d probably gone a bit too fast for the first five and after those I couldn’t control my breathing properly. The second was rep 11. After that things went ok, one or two reps drifting into the 53s and low 54s, but mainly around 51 or 52 seconds.

USRPT distance this year: 57,300m
Total distance this year: 147,450m

A second attempt at yesterday’s set:

400m front crawl warm-up
25 x 50m front crawl, target time 55s, rest interval 25s
200m front crawl swim down

There was definitely still some tiredness from yesterday and I went through a tough patch between 15 and 20 reps where I dropped into the 52s a few times, but happily I made it all the way through again.

Next time I do this set I’ll drop the rest interval down to 20s. That won’t be tomorrow. Possibly the day after depending on how I feel, though I’m half-tempted to try a slightly different set with a bit more speed over a shorter distance.

USRPT distance this year: 56,750m
Total distance this year: 146,300m

Back to my USRPT sessions today, but given that I’ve been struggling a bit recently I decided I’d take a step back and build back up to the pace I was at in July. So, for today my session was:

400m front crawl warm-up
25 x 50m front crawl, target time 55s, rest interval 25s
200m front crawl swim down

This I managed without a failure. I think I had two reps over 52s, two more over 51s and the rest were spread between 47s and 51s.

If I can repeat this once more than I’ll drop the rest interval down to 20s and proceed from there.

USRPT distance this year: 55,500m
Total distance this year: 144,450m