#80: Race Pace Training with Garrett McCaffrey and Chris Ritter

Race Pace Training is about swimming at or quicker than your racing speed. It’s often done in short intervals (eg 25m or 50m) with enough rest between intervals to recover and hit race speed on the next one. On this podcast Garrett McCaffrey, coach at the Phoenix Swim Club, joins me as we chat about how to best include this type of training in your workouts (and if it’s relevant to you!). He’s just released a 12 week Race Pace Training program ideal for age group or Master’s swimmers and coaches. We’re also joined by Chris Ritter, a strength and conditioning coach to Olympic swimmers and a guest on one of the most well-received podcasts we’ve done – listen to it here.

03:30 – What is race pace training? 09:05 – When a Swimming Technique Drops Off 09:20 – The Muscle Memory 10:11 – Finding a Way To Keep The Speed 13:19 – How do you deal with change? 17:28 – The Correlation of Age and Speed 18:00 – Why Race Pace Training Makes Physiological Sense 22:14 – Race Pace Training & Vegetables 28:13 – The Importance of Structure in Directing The Work 30:48 – The Race Pace Training 2.0