Overdistance Workout

Today's workout was written by my teammate and emerging marathon swimmer Chris Burke.  He's been training like a mad man for the last couple of years, and he's ready to take on the Tampa Bay Marathon Swim, Manhattan, Catalina, and the English Channel.  A group of us met today and did his workout, emphasizing quantity over quality, until he blew us away at the end holding 1:10s on the set of 20 x 100s.   He held a similar pace just 2 days ago, when he completed 5070 yards for the USMS Hour Swim National Championship.  

10 x 150 Warm up 2:15
1 x 400 Swim on 6:00   }
2 x 200 Swim on 3:00   }
4 x 100 Swim on 1:30   }     2 x's through
8 x 50 Kick on 1:00       }
12 x 300 Pull on 4:00
10 x 100 Kick on 1:50
12 x 75 Drill on 1:20
20 x 100 Swim on 1:20
3 x 100 Warm Down on 1:30
TOTAL 12,500 SCY

Food for thought:  To complete a marathon, a swimmer may need to swim more than 40,000 yards, battling wind, waves and cold water.