Category: Swimming

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Getting the Best Tri-Suit

Tri-SuitFor every activity, there is apparel that goes with it, and for triathlon athletes, a Tri Suit is their go to apparel for it can be worn for all the levels of triathlon. While some people choose to wear their Tri Suit under their wet suit, most will only wear their Tri Suit and start their competition wearing the same apparel they will be wearing at the finish line.

A Tri Suit should be chosen carefully, for not only is it not the cheapest peace of apparel one will own, because of its function, it has to have certain features to make it worth your money and consideration when you are looking to buy. So here is what to look for in a Tri Suit: comfort, durability, and functionality.

If you are a beginner triathlon athlete, you should get a suit that is cheaper, as you should feel the different suits for yourself, and see what are the features you like and what are the features you do not like, for the more expensive suits are each designed with comfort and speed in mind, but each could have different features that might not be to your liking.

A triathlon’s first leg is swimming. What will make your suit comfortable for this level is how water repellant it is, and how closely it contours your body. You want the least amount of friction and drag when swimming. This is especially important if the race you are competing in does not require you to wear a wet suit.

The next step of a triathlon is biking. For this purpose, your suit should have features that will both make it comfortable on the bike, and let it dry quickly. Many Tri Suits feature a pad or chamois that allow for comfort on the bike saddle. You should make sure that the pad does not chafe and does not slow you down during the running leg.

Womens-Tri-SuitThe chamois should be thin and your suit should be breathable for the suit to dry quickly. Most suits come with modern technology that allows them to dry quickly. The level, to which your suit repels the water while swimming, will come in handy here as the more water repellant it is, the faster it will dry. A mesh paneling on the suit will also help both its breathable quality and the speed at which it dries.

The last leg of the triathlon is running. For this leg, you will want a suit that is very light, and has flat stitching that lies flat against your skin and will not cause chafing while you run. Additionally, check to see if the suit has leg grabbers, or extra friction pads on the inside of the legs of the suite. This keeps the suit from riding up while you are running or biking.

For women suits, it is good to get a suit that has a padded bra built in, as wearing less layers and allowing your skin to breathe is quite important.

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Triathlon Training – Swim Fast to Get Fast Part 2

By Gale Bernhardt
For Active.com

Triathlon Training - Swim FastIn an earlier column, I encouraged you to try some fast 25s to boost your swimming speed. People have been trying the workouts and, lo and behold, they are swimming faster. Excellent!

Now that you’ve mastered some of the shorter workouts, let’s bump the distance up some. Below are new workouts for you to try:

Workout No. 1

Complete a mixed warm-up totaling 500 to 1,000 yards/meters.

After the warm-up, go through the following set two or three times:

  • 2 x 25 — Build speed throughout each 25
  • 2 x 25 — Swim half the distance as fast as you can, it doesn’t matter if it is first half or last half. Swim the “other half” easy.
  • 1 x 50 — All-out fast
  • 1 x 50 — Easy

Make your swim interval something that gives you 5 to 10 seconds rest on the 25s, about 20 seconds of rest on the 50-all-out-fast and about 90 seconds on the 50 easy.

After the speedy set, head into your main set. The main set can include swims in the 100 to 300 range.

Workout No. 2

Complete a mixed warm-up totaling 500 to 1,000.

After the warm-up, go through the following set two to four times:

  • 4 x 25 — Build speed throughout each 25 (Make the swim interval something that gives you about 10 seconds of rest.)
  • 1 x 50 — All-out fast (Make the swim interval something that gives you about 20 seconds of rest.)
  • 1 x 25 — Easy (Make the swim interval something that gives you 15 to 20 seconds of rest.)
  • 1 x 25 — All-out fast (Make the swim interval something that gives you about 10 seconds of rest.)

After the speedy set, head into your main set. The main set can include swims in the 100 to 300 range.

Optional Main Set

An optional main set to include after Workout No. 1 or 2 follows:

  • 3 x 100 on a swim interval that gives you 10 to 15 seconds of rest. Swim all of these at a steady pace.
  • 3 x 100 on a swim interval that gives you 15 to 20 seconds rest. Negative-split each 100.
  • 3 x 100 on a swim interval that gives you 20 to 30 seconds rest. Swim these so that each 100 is faster than the previous one. The last one is a fast one.

If you have the time and fitness, go through the set of 100s twice.

Workout No. 3

Complete a mixed warm-up totaling 500 to 1,000.

After the warm-up, do 4 x 25 building speed throughout each 25 (Make the swim interval something that gives you about 10 seconds of rest.)

Take one minute of rest, then do:

  • 6 x 50 — All-out fast. No holding back. Expect the fastest one to be the second or third one. It’s okay if speed fades some, just swim fast. Make the swim interval something that gives you 80 to 100 seconds of rest between each 50 swim.

After the speedy set, head into your main set. Keep it primarily aerobic. If you swim really, really fast (like the instructions tell you to do) you won’t have much high-end speed for the rest of the workout.

The biggest mistake you can make in the workouts above is to try to be a Sammie Save-up. Of course there are times when you should be holding some speed in reserve so you can negative-split a swim; but not in these workouts. Cut loose and see how fast you can go.

How much did you improve? If you’ve tried these workouts, head to USAT’s Facebook page and tell us about it!

Gale Bernhardt was the 2003 USA Triathlon Pan American Games and 2004 USA Triathlon Olympic coach for both the men’s and women’s teams. Her first Olympic experience was as a personal cycling coach at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Thousands of athletes have had successful training and racing experiences using Gale’s pre-built, easy-to-follow training plans. For more information, click here. Let Gale and Active Trainer help you succeed.

This article originally appeared on Active.com—your source for event information, training plans, expert advice, and everything you need to connect with the sport you love.

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Triathlon Training – Swim Fast to Get Fast

By Gale Bernhardt
For Active.com

Triathlon Training - Swim FastI completely agree that doing form drills to practice good swimming technique is critical to the process of becoming a faster swimmer. That written, you cannot expect that slow and purposeful drills will increase your sustained swimming speed if you never swim fast.

Certainly, a beginning swimmer can make significant gains in speed because they are starting with a baseline limited to no fitness and skills; but after a few weeks, they will reach a speed plateau. They cannot improve their average speed for long swims. Even intermediate and advanced distance swimmers can hit a speed ceiling.

These more advanced swimmers can often be found churning out set after set of repeat 100s to 500s with very short rest intervals. These swimmers also like long and steady open water swims. Managing a certain level of discomfort for a long period makes them feel like they accomplished something in the workout.

But, what if you are stuck at your current speed and can’t seem to get faster?

One answer seems obvious: You need to swim faster in order to get faster. Swimming fast and experiencing a load of lactate is not a feeling long-distance swimmers or triathletes enjoy. They would rather swim 1,000 or 2,000 steady than swim six all-out, fast 50s—even if there is generous rest between each 50.

Speed It Up

Let’s save the fast 50 workouts for another column. For this column, I’ll have you sneak up on some speed with shorter efforts. These workouts come from Masters swim coach Scott Allen. He is a former USA Swimming staff member and helped Susan Von der Lippe qualify for the Olympic trials this year. As well as Olympians, he has coached many triathletes and age-group swimmers of all ages.

He believes, and I agree with him, that you need to swim fast early in the workout, before you have any accumulated fatigue. You need to begin with short distances and then build the distance of fast swimming over time, in a progression.

To get you started on the path to faster swimming, try to do one of the sets outlined in this column after your warm-up swim, but prior to the main set.

For all the sets, the 25s are on a swim interval that gives you around 15 seconds rest. The 50s and 100s are done on an interval that gives you 20 to 30 seconds rest. If you swim in a long course pool, get creative about modifying the workout to achieve the goals in the set.

Option 1
Repeat the following set two to three times:
2 x 25  Build speed throughout the 25
2 x 25  Swim half the distance as fast as you can, it doesn’t matter if it is first half or last half. Swim the other half easy.
1 x 25 All-out fast
1 x 50 Very relaxed and easy

Option 2
Repeat the following set two or three times:
1 x 25  Steady swimming
1 x 25  Build speed throughout the 25
1 x 25  Swim half the distance fast
1 x 25  Easy

Option 3
Repeat the following set two times. Wear fins for the entire set:
2 x 100  Do 25 kick, 25 swim, 25 kick, 25 swim
2 x 25  Kick fast
2 x 25 Swim fast—really fast
1 x 50 easy

Include one of these fast swimming segments between your warm-up and main set at least once, and preferably twice, per week for the next six to eight weeks. On your other swim days you can include form drills between the warm-up and the main set.

At the end of your experiment, answer this: did it gradually get easier to swim fast on the short sets? Were you able to swim faster in some of your longer sets too? Did you bump your overall speed? Think about your experience, and how it can impact your swim in future events.

Gale Bernhardt was the 2003 USA Triathlon Pan American Games and 2004 USA Triathlon Olympic coach for both the men’s and women’s teams. Her first Olympic experience was as a personal cycling coach at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Thousands of athletes have had successful training and racing experiences using Gale’s pre-built, easy-to-follow training plans. For more information, click here. Let Gale and Active Trainer help you succeed.

This article originally appeared on Active.com—your source for event information, training plans, expert advice, and everything you need to connect with the sport you love.