This is a progressive training plan building you up from swimming consistently 2500m per session to a 10km open water swim event over 20 weeks using structured swim training sessions using the Training Peaks workout builder.
This plan will build you up gradually over a number of weeks in terms of distance and paicng, whilst also focusing on technique and core strength each week. Your biggest weekend of swimming will be just over 8km, we wouldn't recommend doing more than this as your body will start breaking down and not recovering as well or quickly and could go into a catabolic state ie risk of moving into over reaching / over training.
This is also why we have swims on both days at the weekends to limit this.
Make sure you are having enough protein to support your training, and on hard days have 1.6g of protein per kg of bodyweight. On easier normal days have 1.2-1.6g of protein per kg of bodyweight. On a rest day you can have 0.75g
Refuel your body well, with complex carbohydrates, and stay hydrated throughout the course of this plan
We would recommend checking in with your coach every 4-6 weeks to check and potentially update your swim training zones, upon which the plan is based on.
Here is the link to connect your training peaks account to my coaching account on Training Peaks. If you wanted to have a coaching catch up at the same time this would be £30 for 30 minutes.
https://home.trainingpeaks.com/attachtocoach?sharedKey=TBD3G4EFN6PNG
Having completed many 5km events and open water swims, and also the Dart 10km river swim in Devon, we know that trying to swim 10km in a pool is unlikely to happen, due to the time, and possible boredom, hence why we have split the longer sessions over 2 days at the weekends. You will still feel a good training effect, whilst being able to restore some glycogen stores and rehydrate over 24 hours.
British Triathlon Level 3 Coach
STA level 2 Swim Teacher
Nowca STA Level 2 Open Water Swim coach
Training Peaks Level 2 Accredited coach
Founder and Head Coach for Speedy Swimming
Nick is a Level 3 British Triathlon Coach with 18 years’ experience and has worked as a Master Endurance Coach with Training Bible Coaching UK. He is also a TrainingPeaks Level 2 Accredited Coach and has served as a Regional Development Coach for British Triathlon in the South East.
Alongside his online coaching, Nick runs Speedy Swimming, specialising in 1-2-1 front crawl technique lessons, endless pool video analysis, swim clinics, and group swim sessions.