Open Water Fartlek, 3 Rounds of Pace Changes
A continuous open water swim with three rounds of steady, hard, easy and fast sections, rehearsing the pace changes of a race.
- Duration
- 42 min
- Distance
- 2,150 m
- Effort
- 57
- Level
- Intermediate
- Focus zone
- Tempo
Your values
Targets relative to your threshold values. Enter your values to see absolute numbers.
100% is your threshold pace. Higher values are faster, lower values are slower.
| # | Step | Length | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warm-upEndurance Easy freestyle, settle in | 10 min | 85-92% CSS pace |
| 3 ×Repeat these steps | |||
| 2.1 | IntervalTempo Steady rhythm | 4 min | 92-96% CSS pace |
| 2.2 | IntervalVO2max Hard, sight every 6 strokes | 1 min | 103-108% CSS pace |
| 2.3 | RecoveryRecovery Easy, keep swimming | 2 min | 75-85% CSS pace |
| 2.4 | IntervalSprint Fast burst, bridge a gap | 30 s | 115-130% CSS pace |
| 2.5 | RecoveryRecovery Easy, long strokes | 90 s | 75-85% CSS pace |
| 3 | Cool-downRecovery Easy freestyle | 5 min | 75-85% CSS pace |
About this workout
Fartlek means speed play, and in open water it is a natural way to train. You swim without stopping for 27 minutes in three rounds. Each round has 4 minutes of steady swimming, a hard minute, 2 easy minutes, a fast 30 second burst and 90 easy seconds. A 10 minute warm-up and 5 minute cool-down bring the session to 42 minutes.
The hard minute is close to your race pace for a short event, the 30 second burst is a sprint, as if you were bridging a gap to the group in front. On the easy sections you keep swimming and recover in the water. Use landmarks along the shore as markers if you do not want to watch the clock.
For intermediate swimmers who are comfortable in open water for 45 minutes. Make it longer with a fourth round, or swim the steady sections closer to race pace.
Tips
- Sight a little more often on the fast sections, it is easy to drift when you push.
- Keep the easy sections truly easy so the bursts can be fast.
- Set your watch to vibrate at each change if you cannot see the display well.
Good forOpen waterStandard-distance triathlonHalf-distance triathlon
Season phaseBaseBuild