Swim Session with Dan Wilson

Zone3 athlete Dan Wilson has written us this fantastic swim session to help you take control of the production and removal of lactic acid from your body; A vital skill for any triathlete. 

This is a great session that works on producing and removing lactic acid from your body. Swimming the 50m’s hard and fast works on producing lactic acid, which you need to develop good speed, and then the 100m’s are done at a solid aerobic pace, teaching your body to remove lactic acid whilst maintaining good pace. It’s particularly relevant to triathlons where it’s vital to be able to get out hard and fast to gain clear water, but you also need to be able to remove that lactic and maintain good speed over the back end of the swim.

Warm up 1-2 km

8 x 50m fast on 60

5 x 100m @ 40 Beats Below Max HR, on 1:30 cycle

6 x 50m fast on 70

5 x 100m @ 40 Beats Below Max HR, on 1:30 cycle

4 x 50m fast on 80

5 x 100m @4 0 Beats Below Max HR, on 1:30 cycle

Warm down 1-2 km

Tip 1: Swimming in the open water in a wetsuit is a lifetime away from swimming in a pool. Try to get out into the open water as often as you can, to become familiar with the feel of the open water, and the subtleties of adapting to different conditions.

Tip 2: Try to get into the habit of holding a streamline and some underwater butterfly kicks off every wall. It’s not something that you’ll ever need in a race, but a 5km set presents 100 chances to get a good thoracic extension through your streamline, and good core workout with your kick. Every wall, every swim set, that adds up to a big workout by the end of the week!

Tip 3: A lot of triathletes get into the habit of reaching for the pull gear often and early in every set. It’s ok to throw the pull buoy in to give the legs a rest every now and again, but make sure the majority of your work is done without, so you don’t get into the habit of having a lazy core because you are used to having the pull buoy get your legs up!

Random Fact: I’m very easily addicted. Triathlon, peanut butter, guitars, green cordial, the Boston Celtics, coffee production/extraction/consumption, and most recently, sushi. It’s straight to 100% every time!

Favourite Quote: Normal is not something to aspire to, it’s something to get away from.

Check out Dan's blog to keep up with his progress throughout the season.