Black Friday, the traditional kick off to the holiday shopping season, is so called because big box stores “go into the black (i.e. profit)” for the year  by slashing prices. I know plenty of people who line up before the crack of day to be the first one in store. In years past, people have actually died in the stampede of shoppers rushing in as the doors open; fist fights and bloody brawls erupt as customers fight over the last box or toy.   I myself admit that I LOVE Black Friday but I have a different way of celebrating.

I don't think this is to get into the pool

Instead of lining up at the store, I line up at the pool waiting with excited for lifeguards to open up the door. Believe it or not, even at that ungodly hour, I sometimes still have to jostle for a good position with other swimmers, who want to get in and burn off some of the Thanksgiving feast. When the doors finally open, I rush in and go straight to “Asile 5,” or my favorite lane.  I have my swim bag of toys and get right to the workout. Like Wal-Mart, my coach is “rolling back” numbers all over the place with my notorious cut down swim.

This is a great workout that teaches you discipline, pacing, and how to have fun in the pool. The key to this workout is to not go out too quickly and to hit your splits/RPE (rate of perceived exertion) each time . Zone 2 is not easy but rather a sustainable pace, zone 3 is tempo, zone 4 is race pace, zone 5 is all out.

Warmup: 10 minutest easy

Set 1: 8×100 (odds choice of stroke, evens free with perfect form)

Main set: 2x(4×100 zone 2, 3×100 zone 3, 2×100 zone 4, 1×100 zone 5, 50 easy) on 20 sec rest

Cool down: 500 easy

After this workout, you will be saving lots–lots of time in your next race! Hopefully though, the lifeguard will not be saying “Clean up in Lane 5”

Have a good Black Friday and train hard

Coach Chris