This is how we train

The Envol Training System provides an entry point regardless of how much you want to train and where you’re starting from. The system will support you to be the best you can be.

General Plans and Race Specific Plans

There are two types of plans: General Plans and Race Specialty Plans, these are available to Envol Members through their normal Team Envol subscription (monthly or yearly).

As swimrunners we compete in multiple events and distances during the year. The general plans are designed to develop a high level of general swimrun fitness with a progression of four week blocks. The weekly structure stays relatively the same throughout the plans. We find this best for scheduling workouts whilst balancing work/family commitments and observing progress. Each week there is a variety of workouts to cover the main areas of training (strength, speed, endurance, and stamina). The combination of the workouts is designed to give the best return (race results) on training time invested.

Select a plan based on what you can reasonably fit into your week, not what you’d like to fit into your week!

Run Sessions

We use the mix and matching of training intensity and duration to create optimal stimulation for physiological adaptation. Intensities build upon each other, or in other words they are supported by each other. The plans have key sessions of short intervals, long intervals and a longer continuous run to create these stimuli. The Pro and Long plans have supplemental easy runs in the schedule which are essential to develop optimal fitness.

Swim sessions

The plans range from 2 swim sessions to 5 swim sessions a week. The sessions are designed to develop your swim technique and swim-specific fitness with a mix of interval distances with and without pull buoys and paddles. Many of the sessions have been provided as structured workouts in TrainingPeaks which can be used with compatible watches. However, we recommend you print/read the text descriptions and pre-activity comments to get the full intended effect of the session.

Specific Swimrun Sessions

Specificity of training is a key element to maximizing your performance. Even good single discipline runners and swimmers will fail to reach their swimrun potential unless they actually train swimruns. The interval-like nature of switching between runs and swims must be practiced and the technical elements of transitioning and working with a partner must be trained.

Strength Work

A strong body can do more work and recovery faster. Swim training with paddles and running hills can help prepare the body but focused strength work is also required to become a great swimrunner. Do strength work at least once a week and maximum three times a week, it enhances mobility, promotes fat loss, improves joint health, and makes you look better in your Speedos.

Rest Days & Recovery

There are no specific rest days in the weekly schedule on the Pro plan. Unless you are a full-time athlete, life circumstances generally dictate rest days as unplanned events that arise in real life. Also, if you are unusually tired then a rest day may be needed even if not planned and can be taken guilt free. In this way we strive for consistency, with rest taken when needed, keeping balance in life with other commitments. If for whatever reason you prefer to schedule a rest day, you are of course able to move sessions around. A tip is that it is easy to make your rest day Friday.

Listen to your body… is resting heart rate elevated? Is heart rate variance (HRV) lower than normal? Is your pulse higher than normal for a given intensity? Do you have niggling injuries or imbalances in your body? If so, you need to back off. Training stress is not the only stress that impacts your ability to recover – limiting other stresses and increasing the quality of sleep and diet will help maximize your training and recovery quality.

Stimulus Blocks

Keep in mind that it takes much more time to develop fitness than to maintain it. Simultaneously developing two (or more) disciplines, week in, week out, can be challenging. We therefore recommend that you tailor your own stimulus blocks through minor adaptations to the plan.

The purpose of a Stimulus Block is to allocate more physical and MENTAL energy to a single discipline. To allow this to happen, a reduction of volume and intensity might be needed in the other discipline. In these periods, it would be advantageous to train by perceived effort (RPE) and to be adaptable to the day.

Train the non-focused disciplines by feel (rather than hitting set paces), incorporating aerobic and strength/speed work, but always have in mind that you NEED to be energized by the next focused-discipline session. Always finish the non-focused sessions feeling you could continue – able to continue with easy aerobic distance or repeat more of the strength/speed sets, “quit while ahead”, for the greater good of the focused discipline.