Top Tips,  Training Sessions

The 00 Session

Sometimes at the pool you need something simple and easy to fall back on. Maybe the public lane is busy perhaps you are not in the mood for anything too mentally taxing. Or you might just need some good old fashioned mindless distance. We used to call this one the Zombie as it was fairly brain dead and easy to recall.

PURPOSE

This is a simple way to get a good amount of distance swum without being too technical or mentally challenging. Mostly FC full stroke with some swim accessory options and also a pacing element to get to grips with. Offering you a choice of swim aids on the ‘50’ swims and no toys on a ‘00’ swim we renamed it the 00 Session. One of my favourite coaching activities is to update and repurpose drills and sessions to make them more relevant. Adding a ‘challenge’ to this session was a good way to keep people working hard via the recently added part two (the 50/100/200/400m).

HOW TO GET THE BEST FROM IT

Do not start too fast! The small amount of rest and ever increasing distance will leave you tired regardless, especially if you plan to swim at an even pace. It is very easy to start too fast. You might want to try this a few times without the added stress of checking the time/pace aspect while you get the hang of the distance and lack of rest.

THE FINE DETAILS

As a further challenge try to pace this block of work really evenly, eg, hit 1min on the 50m then 2min on the first 100m then aim to use that throughout, ie, 3min for the 150m, 4min for the 200m, 8min for the 400m etc. It will be a challenge as the distance increases but rest remains the same. You can always rest a little more to make this happen but eventually reduce back to 15secs. The session works best in a 25m pool to keep swapping equipment configurations easy. In a 50m you might wish to stick with one piece so you know it is in the right place at the right time, ie, to keep a pull buoy at the right end:

50m Pull (1 length), 100m FC (2 lengths) 150m Pull (3 lengths) 200m FC (4 lengths) etc.

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Never be without a training session with a Session in a Bottle. Four distance options available.

sessioninabottle.com

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Swim for Tri, based in London but now coaching across the UK, is a swim technique and coaching concept brought to you by the brother and sister team of Dan and Keeley Bullock. The team share over 50 years experience of competitive swimming, coaching, teaching swim lessons and direct involvement with the sport of Triathlon and Openwater racing as competitors and Coaches.

https://www.swimfortri.co.uk/

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