Speed v Endurance is the classic Tortoise and the Hare analogy, but does slow & steady always win the race?
When I began swimming as exercise about 10 weeks ago I had neither speed nor endurance. I could swim 10 lengths of the pool (250 m) in a little under 30 minutes. Pathetic.
Within a month I had built up both speed and endurance and could swim 30 lengths of the pool (750 m) in 30 minutes. I was happy there for awhile and decided my next goal was increasing my endurance, swimming more lengths at the same pace and soon I could do 40 lengths in 40 minutes and can now do 60 lengths in 60 minutes. While my time per length is the same I am keeping pace over a longer time span showing both cardio and muscle endurance.
My new challenge is to increase speed. This week I shaved 2 minutes off my 40 length swim, doing 40 lengths in 38 minutes. According to Fitbit that really upped my calorie burn, that little time savings pushed my cardio level up a notch.
This same formula can be applied to any cardio workout, but balancing speed and endurance is key to a sustainable workout plan. I have 3 pool days a week, right now I am going to focus 2 of them on increasing speed (primarily because they are week days when I truly have less time to spend in the pool) and my weekend swim will focus on endurance when I can spend 60 minutes in the pool.
I would like to swim a mile in under an hour (I know that sounds crazy to you runners, but try it some time) by the end of November. How do you balance speed and endurance in your cardio workout?
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