Week 5: Speed Endurance
Week 5 of this advanced swim workout is the hardest quality week of the eight. Short rest, high intensity, and a 1,500m continuous swim at the end of it, all covered in Salty Johnson recycled ocean plastic swimwear built for volume rather than one good photo.
Week 5 at a glance: 3 sessions · 3,100m each · 25m pool · kickboard and pull buoy · about 88 minutes per swim.
Session 1: Sprint (3,100m, ~88 min)
Introduction: Three separate speed blocks with progressively shorter recovery.
- Warm-up: 400m freestyle, 200m choice.
- Main Set: 10x100m fast, 25s rest; 10x50m all-out, 30s rest; 4x150m (50m fast/100m easy), 30s rest.
- Cool-down: 400m easy.
Technique: Breathe every 3 on the 100s, every 4 or less on the all-out 50s.
Tips: Hold the 100s within 3 seconds of each other, consistency is the set, not the fastest rep.
Motivation: This is the week that makes week 8 feel easy!
Session 2: Mixed Strokes/IM (3,100m, ~88 min)
Introduction: Five 300m IM repeats, long enough that pacing matters more than power.
- Warm-up: 600m (200m freestyle/200m backstroke/200m breaststroke).
- Main Set: 5x300m IM, 40s rest; 12x50m rotating butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, 20s rest.
- Cool-down: 400m easy freestyle.
Technique: Even rotation on backstroke, no hip drop, or the 300s will find you out.
Tips: Treat the first 300 as a rehearsal and build across the five.
Motivation: Fifteen hundred metres of IM, that is a serious morning's work!
Session 3: Endurance (3,100m, ~88 min)
Introduction: A 1,500m continuous swim at goal ocean swim pace, then 100s to finish sharp.
- Warm-up: 400m freestyle, 200m kick.
- Main Set: 1x1,500m freestyle continuous, 60s rest; 6x100m freestyle, 20s rest.
- Cool-down: 400m easy.
Technique: Lock stroke rate on the 1,500m and let it run, do not chase the clock at each wall.
Tips: Note your 500m splits, they should be within 10 seconds of each other.
Motivation: A 1,500m swim inside a 3km session is the definition of aerobic depth!
Salty Johnson Spotlight: Hard weeks are when kit fails. Our women's one-pieces and men's board shorts are cut from recycled ocean plastic with UPF 50+, so a week like this leaves marks on your body, not on your swimwear. Grab yours at www.saltyjohnson.com.au/collections/sustainable-womens-one-piece-swimsuits for her or www.saltyjohnson.com.au/collections/board-shorts for him.
Our gear survives week 5, which is more than can be said for most training plans!
Advanced swim workout questions, answered
How hard should the 100s in a speed endurance set be?
Around 90 percent, sustainable for all ten reps with 25 seconds rest. If rep 10 is more than 3 seconds slower than rep 1, the set was too fast, not too long.
How many hard swim sessions a week is too many?
Two genuinely hard sessions a week is the ceiling for most masters swimmers training three times. The third should be aerobic. Three hard sessions a week works for a block of two to three weeks, then it stops working.
What pace should I swim a 1,500m in training?
Target race pace plus 3 to 5 seconds per 100m. For most advanced swimmers that is 1:20 to 1:35 per 100m. The aim is even splits, not a fast opening 500m.
Should I taper before a hard week like this?
No, but do arrive rested. Keep the day before week 5 easy, sleep properly and eat enough carbohydrate. Week 6 deliberately drops intensity to let this week's work land.
Keep the series going
- Previous: Advanced Week 4, Threshold Volume (3,000m)
- Next: Advanced Week 6, Efficiency and Open Water (3,200m)
- Scaling back? Intermediate Week 5 (1,350m)
- All free plans: Salty Johnson swim workouts and Salty Sundays in Bondi