Yeah we would do the same during taper. See the same idea online reading IM taper plans - personally I don’t feel bad now after rest days but mentally I do enjoy that little pre-race loosener.
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Swam 1km straight this morning, as part of a 2.8km set.
Furthest I’ve swam continuously since July 
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Just seen that. You must be feeling it after last nights swim too 
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Yeah - I dropped down a lane this morning.
The Big Boy main set was 1.5km in 22:30-24:00 - NO THANKS!
I don’t think 11 hours between two swims is enough for me, my shoulders are feeling it 
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So I’ve finally got a watch the counts SPM. I’m pretty much stuck at between 27-29spm, whether I’m doing a 1:40 100m or a 2:00min 100m. Should I be aiming to increase my spm or decrease it? Or should I be looking at increasing strokes per length? Sorry, I’m pretty sure this has probably already been discussed on here, but it’s become a mighty long thread. Cheers.
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So obviously there’s no set rule and I’d say swimming is more individual than bike and run due to greater differences in size/strength and what balance is like in the water.
The next key principal is that the way to swim faster is to turn arms over faster AND pull more water per stroke.
But the simpler starting point is that 28spm (remember the watch only counts one arm so you’re actually somewhere 55-60spm) is on the low side. Suggests to me you’ll find more value in trying to increase this rather than chasing ever increasing efficiency.
Others might be able to give better anecdotal evidence, along with hammerer and the other coaches for proper advice. I’m 181cm with longer than average proportion arms. I swim long distance open water at 30spm and think the way for me to improve is to quicken cadence. Stretching my memory but I think I used to race short distance in pool around 40spm.
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20 x 50m @ 1.50/100m. ( 55s / 50m )
Working on getting more force against the water, which seems to be working, but as above, stuck around 50 strokes.
Definitely getting faster at the minute so no complaints, but still gasping for breath after each interval.
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I swam a straight 1500 last Friday. Lane was a little busy for the first 1km that didn’t help; plus I thought I was 50m ahead of where I actually was and kept cruising 
Ended doing a 25:21, which was okay for the given effort/congestion I suppose.
It would be nice to get back under 25 mins by the Spring.
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yeah, I looked at the target time for the “fast” lane and took the evening before into account, then said “NOPE!”
Pride swallowed and dropped down a lane - always better and still got a good workout in 
as @Chriswim says its on the low side but its a trade off obviously. 70 (35) is a figure i like to set as a benchmark but its very much dependant on size, ape index, and physiology to some respects. You see a lot of shorter females with SR in the 80’s for instance. Also it needs to be a gradual process otherwise it will be to the detriment of your efficiency. So a few questions and benchmarks to take :-
What number of strokes do you typically take per 25?
Do a series of SWOLF tests in one session working on different stoke rates and noting your RPE and times.
with that we can see a start point and build from there. Worth using a tempo trainer for this process also if possible
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That’s great @Hammerer. I’m currently in a 36m pool so not easy to give a 25m number. Will look at my last few sessions and see what I’m doing there.
I swam in a 20m pool yesterday, and doing tumble-turns, I didn’t find it any easier as I was getting less air with the extra turns!
Can I just ask, with Swolf is it as simple as Lower is Better?
In most distance swimmers it is a very good measure of efficiency but is not perfect. There are outliers as at the end of the day its about perceived effort and speed and not always the distance per stroke. ie there are some GB female triathletes that are above 22 strokes per 25 but have a very high SR so swim fast and it doesn’t affect their races on face value. I coach a junior triathlete that is 4:45 / 400 and is similar 21-22 strokes per 25 but with a SR high 70’s
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Managed 3*9km + weeks now.
Tired CSS test this morning of 6:08/3:01, going MASSIVELY backwards from last month 
Probably not exactly a helpful test then?!
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It was unknown to me.
Last nights session was billed as technique and ended up with me moving down a lane, as it was more like CSS.
This morning was as advertised.
CSS last month was 1:32, this month is 1:34 - so still within the 30/60 mark 
A 2:47 fast 200 during my set this lunchtime. Definitely not evenly paced, but it’s still showing signs of progress. A repeated fast 200 after my main set only yielded a 2:59, so that shows my endurance still has some way to go to get back fully to where I was still.
I don’t think I could do a 2:47 200 flat out at my best. Was that undrafted?
Yes. One half of a lane just up and down.
I just looked on garmin connect, and it broke down as 1:22 / 1:25
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