The last day I had a chance to swim I was pressed for time. I pulled out my Finis Tempo Trainer (a waterproof metronome), set it to 1.15 (it would “beep” every 1.15 seconds). I decided to swim 3×500 w the goal of holding my stroke count yet descend the TT each set. I was going to see where my time fell given the previous parameters. I have been using the TT for the summer and fall whether I was in the lake or in the pool. Setting the TT at 1.15 was typical for me. So, without a warm-up and my window of time ticking, I jumped in. The water felt good, I felt great. I held my spl for the entire set. Once I touched the wall, I noted my time. I rested 15 seconds and reset my TT to 1.10 before starting the next 500. Again, a comfortable and relaxed tempo, still holding the same spl as the previous set. When I touched the wall at the end of the second 500, I was pleasantly rewarded by swimming it 15 seconds faster than the first! The best news is I reset the TT to 1.05 for the last 500 and knocked off another 15 seconds! A total of 30 seconds faster from when I started. I love it! As long as I kept the same spl for the set, yet had a faster tempo, I was faster. It’s was a controlled, consistent way to descend a set as I was building my endurance and sense of pace.
Finis Tempo Tainers can be purchased on my website.
