By the time you read this, you should have spent the last 8 weeks following the 2 first phases of my free 12 weeks swimrun training plan. It means that over the last 8 weeks, you’ve spent over 40 hours in the water, and even more running. Can’t get enough? Here comes the third and last part of my free 12 weeks swimrun training programme that will take you all the way to the finish line of an ÖtillÖ qualifier. Read on, it gets nasty!
Less volume, more speed and intensity
By now, you should really start to feel the rewards of your hard work. With 8 weeks of structured training behind you, you are ready for three more weeks of intense training followed by one soft tapper week before race day. In this last phase of this swimrun training plan: we decrease the volume to get your body rested for race day. The three first weeks though, focus on quality: go faster and train more intense. Keep on pushing, the start line of ÖtillÖ Hvar is close!
Test your material, get your team ready
Take advantage of this last phase to really try out your material. You don’t want to find out that your wetsuit chafes after 20 kilometers. Reproduce race conditions: train on your race’s distance and terrain, to get ready for the challenges awaiting. The best way to get ready for a race? Swimrun training camps! Check out our coming training camp in Barcelona (March 24th-26th) and in Utö.
Now is also a good time to tune in with your partner. Discuss how you will communicate during the race, how you will manage the challenges your team faces and what your expectations are for your race. (Pro tips: get your team mentally prepared with my sports psychology coach colleague Susie, who already works with some of my athletes on that kind of topic)
Let me know what you think about my swimrun training plan!
I hope you enjoyed my swimrun training plan! Let me know how it went in the comment section of this article. As usual, dont hesitate to drop me a mail if you have any questions related to this plan or if you need some specific coaching for your next race!
Click here to get a printable version of the training plan.
Photo credits – ÖtillÖ 2015 – Jakob Edholm
12 weeks Swimrun ÖtillÖ qualifier program - Week 9 to 12
| Swimming Wu: Warm up Wd: Warm down Inc.: including Pb: pullbuoy Pa: paddles Mt: meters | Running Inc. including Km: kilometre Reps: repetitions Min: minute | Swimrunning Min: minute | Extras/Others | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week9 RACE SPEED Compulsory: - 4 swims - 3 runs - 2 swimrun Optional (Recommended): 1 swim (60min of technique) 1-2 runs (75-90min easy pace) | Pool: Technique: 60min inc. drills and test 3x300mt with 60” rest Strength/Speed: 4200mt inc. 6x 400mt pb/pa with the swimrun partner (increasing the pace in the 400s) + 12x50mt no gear (one easy/one hard), Wu/Wd Efforts: 4000mt Inc. 1000mt drills/kick, 6x (300mt PbPa race pace + 100mt no gear hard) with 10” rest, Wu/Wd Open water: Strength: 90min inc. 4x (15min PbPa at race pace with 50 strokes hard every 4min) with 60” rest, Wu/Wd without gear | Long: 2h30 comfortable in specific race landscape Distance/Efforts: 90min 4x3km increasing every km in the 3km. Efforts/Speed: 60min inc. 8x 1km at your 3km race pace with 60” rest | 3h easy swimrun with swims inc. a 2000mt and runs between 5 to 50min (inc. a 10km) 75min with fast runs and fast short swims (a few 50s and 100s) | Core and strength: 2x 30min of specific swimming and running strength/flexibility |
| Week10 RACE SPEED Compulsory: - 4 swims - 3 runs - 2 swimrun Optional (Recommended): 1 swim (60min of technique) 1-2 runs (75-90min easy pace) | Pool: Technique: 60min inc. drills and test 3x300mt with 60” rest Strength/Speed: 4200mt inc. 6x (300+200mt pb/pa with the swimrun partner (increasing the pace in the 300s and race pace constant in the 200s) + 12x50mt no gear (as 25mt easy/25mt fast), Wu/Wd Open water: Strength: 90min inc. 3x (10-5-3min solid) pb/padd increasing the pace with 30” rest Continuous: inc. wu: 10min + 5x (1min hard/1min) easy no gear + 3x15min non stop pb/padd at race pace with swimrun partner if possible | Long: 2h15 comfortable in specific race landscape Distance/Efforts: 75min 4x2km at 95% of your max with 60” rest Efforts/Speed: 60min inc. 8x 1km at your 3km race pace with 60” rest | 3h easy swimrun with swims inc. a 2000mt and runs between 5 to 50min (inc. a 10km) 90min easy pace focusing on transitions | Core and strength: 2x 30min of specific swimming and running strength/flexibility |
| Week11 RACE SPEED Compulsory: - 3 swims - 3 runs - 3 swimrun Optional (Recommended): 1 swim (60min of technique) 1-2 runs (75-90min easy pace) | Pool: Technique/Speed: 60min inc. drills/Kick + 800mt of 25s/50s/75s easy to fast Open water: Strength: 75min inc. 3x (8-6-4-2min solid) pb/padd increasing the pace with 30” rest Continuous: inc. wu: 10min easy no gear + 40min non stop pb/padd race pace + 10min wd | Distance: 90min comfortable in specific race landscape Distance: 75min comfortable Efforts/Speed: 60min inc. 5x 1km at your 3km race pace with 60” rest | 2h easy swimrun with swims inc. a 1500mt and runs between 5 to 50min (inc. a 7km) 90min easy pace focusing on transitions 75min with fast runs and fast short swims (a few 50s and 100s) | Core and strength: 2x 15min of specific swimming and running flexibility. |
| Week12: RACE | Pool: Speed: 45min inc. drills and series of short intervals (25-50-75-100mt easy/hard…) Open water: 35min inc. 4x 2min solid pb/padd increasing the pace with 30” rest, 2 days before the race | Distance: 45min Easy pace with a few strides (4x 50-70mt) Distance: 45min Easy pace, 3 day before the race | 45min easy pace to test all the gear at the beginning of the week 30min easy pace to test all the gear the day before the race RACE | Core and strength: 2x 15min of specific swimming and running flexibility. |
About Nicolas Remires
Nicolas Remires is a French endurance sports coach based in Stockholm, specialised in triathlon and swimrun. Nicolas coaches athletes of all levels, for races from sprint triathlon to ironman distance, 5km to ultra marathon, open water swimming, swimrun and cycling.
His swimrun achievements include: 4th and 3rd ÖtillÖ World Championships (2016-2015), 1st Utö Swimrun (2015), 1st Borås Swimrun (2015-2016), 2nd Ångalöppet (2014, 2015).
