Jesus Christ
Was aiming for an av of 90s, when I saw that I’d dropped a 92 on #3 I dialled it up too far and did 85 on the next, the rest were pretty tight 88-90.
Bet it was all due to turns, unless you are swimming 5-6 days a week or have a swim background and turning well then you can lose/gain a second a turn easily. its why with triathletes that arent swimming regular most “test” sets i tell them to stick to open turns (unless they are the top 2 adult lanes with a swim background or the juniors where they do academy/super series trials in pools so turns matter)
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thinking of trying the same thing to failure today. Was pretty cooked at 15 so don’t think it will be much more than that. Thinking:
- start every 2 mins
- stop first time combined swim time for 2 consecutive 100s is slower than 3m00 (and don’t count those 2)
this allows for a pacing error like 1m31 or 1m32 as long as the next one is better than 1m29 or 1m28.
edit, well actually managed 30. Surprised. Decided to stop there, partly because of the sun, but also was tiring fast. First 20 were fine, was seeing 1m27 each time, but by last 5 was getting tired and choppy, down to 1m30, doubtful I’d have managed many more. It’s a really nice set though. Hardest part was maintaining concentration, mind kept wandering off to all sorts of random places. Rest day yesterday probably helped as per @Hammerer
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40 x 100m off 2:00 - CSS +/- 2s
Was aiming to go slower today to see if I could get to 45, but even with self selected stroke rate, as opposed to swimming to a beat, still ended up coming in at about the same time as Monday
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what is the goal you are both hoping to achieve by going off 2mins?
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i still want to break 22m30 for 1500m, while having the incredible opportunity of a free 25m pool outside my front door which is empty (of people, not water) every morning.
Not sure if it will ever happen and don’t really know how to go about it, but this set was all done at that pace or slightly faster.
Have tried longer rest periods and faster swimming too, but this felt somehow more relevant if that makes sense??
What are your thoughts, Guvner? 
Talking just the main set here, so if that is current threshold pace then rest ~ ok. So aim for total 16 x 100 at TRP (1.29) off 2mins would be good start but slowly reducing that rest period over time would be good as a key weekly session. Id also do things like VO2 sessions (about your 400 pace) so say its around 1:22 pace reps should go off about 2:15-2:30. maybe a distance endurance set say a 20x200 off about 15seconds rest, (make sure it really is aerobic though) but with some take home sprints (sets (I may add 2 of these) of 4 x 50m work here, sprint 10m easy 40; sprint 15 easy 35; sprint 20 easy 30; easy 50) at the end to mix it up; then the other sessions of the week, technique/aerobic / mixed strokes, kicking etc.
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amazing, thanks 
, sound like great things to try, will give all of those a go I think & report back. I’m still swimming pretty much every day but am usually just getting in, swimming 1500m straight in about 25 minutes, which is not easy by any means but nor is it very hard- it’s probably that forbidden zone 3 actually- and then getting out again. And after an initial improvement, am now not getting any faster doing that, perhaps unsurprisingly.
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your endurance sets could still be long, say do 5 x 300 though for 1500m with a short recovery. could do 2 x 800 even , or every 4th length go hard to mix it up. a lot of the variation I add to a) tax other energy systems in a main set but b) to keep it interesting
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Mine’s purely an arbitrary goal - 100 x 100m off 2:00
The 2:00 makes it easier to keep track on the pace clock.
Also as the set progresses it give me time to get some nutrition in that 25-30s window.
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you should be aiming for the magical 100seconds 
You first…
I think I was under 1:40 pace when I did the 10km Pull and Paddles
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Tired this morning, so pull buoy and paddles out
6 x 500m with a bit of rest - 7:33 - 7:42
20 x 100m off 2:00 - 1:28 - 1:31
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Managed 1950m last night, that’s the furthest I have swum since been knocked off my bike. Shoulder pain usually stops me at about 1600m but the pain was negligible last night. I would have swum further but sharing a lane and doing a 25m reps session usually results in a short swim. The shoulder still hurts when streamlining and if I apply power too early but improving. I am only in for one sprint tri in a few weeks so no dramas.
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Tried this part of @Hammerer 's soggy prescription this morning. I didn’t remember the first parts “VO2” and “400 pace”, just the “1.22 pace”. Now that’s not really charted terriotory here so I fely I better go off quite quick. Did the first one in 1:16 and probably kyboshed the set there and then. Did the next few in around 1m20, then gradually slower, managed to hang on for a total of 10 x 100 off 2m15, slowing to 1m23 by the end, at which point the arms felt about as strong as the legs of a newborn Bambi. I know this is not the way to do it, my actual 400 pace is way slower. Will try again before too long with better pace judgement.
Also yesterday a drill sess 
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I made that figure up, part of me wishes I said 1:15 now but its probably quite close
I’ve given my “breakthrough” set on here before also, take your CSS/LT2/1500m/T20 pace and go off that, so say its 1:30, you may hold 1:30’s off 2 usually…no that would be to easy so do 4 * 100 off 1:30…yes off!!! if you fail (you will) then stop do some drills and kicking and come back next week. After 4*100 I will let the clock reset back to top, so over 1min, under 2 minutes rest, so take the 1:30, you’d end on 6 and then on 7 start the next batch of 4 * 100. Once you can do 16 *100 like that (some time in the future) then draw the rests in so try 8 * 100 before longer break etc etc etc. eventually you will end up doing 16 * 100 off 10secnds and the new LT2 will likely be ~1:20 after that.
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I’m still catching up on this thread, but this single sentence @joex may have transformed my mindset.
I haven’t been swimming since Wales. My shoulder/neck took a backwards step just before and I nursed it through to the start line and had a decent enough swim (1:03). I then had my child, the shoulder/neck got worse, and since early spring have been having physio to try and sort the underlying issue and identify the trigger. I’ve adopted the mindset of committing to the rehab process and not risking aggravating things and get back to swimming too early, but that’s meant just avoiding the water entirely.
My kick sucks, so why on earth did I not use this as an opportunity to still spend some time in the water, continue to focus on body position with some leg only drills, and work on my kick with some fins and/or board work.
I’m going to hit the pool next week. Thank you for providing that moment of realisation.
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I’m thinking of having a go at @Hammerer’s next prescription, which I’m already mentally naming “The Shipman”.
Not quite clear on this bit:
Would this look like:
Timer= 0s, start 100m swim #1
Timer= 90s, start swim #2
Timer = 180s, start swim #3
Timer = 270s, start swm #4
Timer = 360s, rest for an extra 60s
Timer = 420s, start swim #5…
Think that’s what it means, but just want to check before calling the funeral home with measurements for the coffin.
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That’s how I interpreted it last time I tried it.
Eg If going off 1:40 instead, your 4th 100 would finish at 6:40, so you’d take an extra 1:20 and start set 2 at the 8 minute mark.
I think you could just prescribe the rest as one extra cycle and get the same result and keep it simpler, but some people seem to like starting a new set on the 00s.
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