Swiming plan

i would work on getting some faster sets in and used to swimming a bit faster.

while you may not pick up a ton of fitness in that time, it will get you used to swimming faster so you dont freak out on race day

lastly, if you have it, get out in open water a few times so you see what a longer distance with no pool bottom is like.

With only 2 weeks to go until your race, you're not likely to get much benefit from speed drills - at least for this race. But there are some things you can do in your workout to better prepare for the triathlon swim, and they might break your workout into a more interesting set of exercises.

I don't know what your current workouts are like, but if it's just a non-stop 40 minute swim you might want to consider varying your speed and effort more often with interval sets. This will have the long term effect of improving your speed and will help you prepare your body for the varying speed typically required in a triathlon swim.

For now you could build intervals around a 'typical' triathlon swim. For example, in an OW triathlon swim (where you start in water or on a beach), the first 2-300 yards is often a sprint as everybody's excited to start and is jockeying for position and trying to break out of the crowd. Then you typically fall into a steady pace which you might hold for a while. If there are turns around buoys you might briefly have to sprint forward, change direction, and sprint again at each turn. Then you might fall back to a steady pace for a while. Finally, once the finish line is in site, you often swim hard to the end in anticipation of getting to T1.

You can simulate this in a pool workout with simple interval drills where you mimic this pattern. Rest 1:00 between sets. This is a 1600 workout which is appropriate to prepare for a 1/2 mile swim, and you can adjust distances up or down as needed.

Warm-up - easy 200 swim

Initial Sprint: 4 x 50 with 15 sec rest between, swim hard (~85% effort) (goal is to get used to swimming hard in the beginning of the swim)

Steady Pace: 4 x 100 with 10 sec rest. Hold the same pace for each 100. (goal is to find that sweet spot of your best steady pace) Practice sighting 2x per length if you desire.

Hill Intervals: 4 x 50 with 10 sec rest between. First length of each 50 is same as your steady pace. Second length of each 50 is all-out sprint, close to 100% effort. This simulates a series of buoy turns where you have to adjust speed up and down, potentially.

Repeat the Steady Pace set

Finish: 1 x 200 straight swim, gradually increase effort from steady pace to sprint with each 50. Keep your legs loose in preparation for T1.

Cool-down as needed.

Thanks for the workout.. I plan to swim in a pool on Friday and will "tri" it...