AlanP
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Well, 25-30 is the “offer”–I never have made all 30 (before then, I reach enough made repeats to lower the target pace), but I have gotten to 30 without reaching 3rd failure. I’ve found that Rushall’s alternative of allowing 1 sec leeway, and ending the set only if 2 repeats in a row are more than 1 sec above pace works for me (since I’m only at 1:35/100 for the 1650, that’s easy to lose for lots of reasons, and the normal rest at first and second failure got me way too much recovery). That eats up most of my time–for example, today I got to #25, with my first failure at #13, but #14-17 were at or below target, fail at #18, #19-23 were makes, and #24 and #25 were failures (so I did all 25, but I focus on trying to be consistent, and pushing the first “failure” farther back). I swim 6 days a week, doing 100s MWFSa (doing a half set on Sat and 50s on 500 pace); Tues and Thurs I go longer repeats (300s-500s) a little slower than race pace
? APHi, Kevin–
Are you saying that on the 24h cycle, it would make sense to do 50s on 1650 pace, because it’s not identical, even though the effort is the same (in theory, anyway)? Would the 200s be on USRPT protocol just longer distance, or would you modify it (right now, I do 200s and up about 3 secs/100 slower, but keep the rest 20 secs) I only have about 1 hr for workout, so I get in one longer USRPT session (25-30×100), or ~2000-2500 yds with longer repeats.
? APTimely thread for me–I’ve hit a barrier in my training. I can really only do one session/day (100s or 50s at 1650 pace), due to time limitations. I’m not fast, so I’ve reached a wall at 1:35/100, where based on the number of successful repeats (routinely reaching almost to last offered) I should now be dropping the pace, but I can’t seem to go any faster (even trying 50s to get used to the newer speed), with scattershot results to third (or 2nd consecutive) failure. Any thoughts? I do occasionally train for 500 free (currently 50s on ~:46), so it’s not that I can’t go any faster, period…
AlanP
? AP
2) I do some ‘above pace work’ on increased rest. This is normally around 0.5 second faster that my normal pace but with the same breathing pattern and stroke count. Example: my 100 pace for free is 13.7 (25m), my above pace would be 13.2. I would do this on 1:2 or 1:3 work rest ratio while using my breaks to watch my u/w video of the repeats I have just done (I use an Ipad in a lifeproof case). In this way when I start the set the 13.7 feels ‘easy’ when I start the set and I have an idea of any specific technique elements I need to focus on throughout the set, particularly as I begin to fatigue. I wouldn’t do more than 200 metres at ‘above pace’ to ensure I don’t take any fatigue into the set (the increased work/rest ratio helps with this as well).
I normally use both of these to help avoid the ‘failure lag’ you are talking about. The other thing I would recommend is if possible you should try to train in the afternoon rather than the morning. I can’t find the research article I read about this, but I did read something about the best time of the day to train/compete being between 2 pm-8pm due to circadian rhythms, core body temperature etc. Personally I have dropped morning sessions to train only once a day as I felt it was negatively impacting my recovery (I work full time) and my morning performance was much lower than my afternoon performance. I know there will be times when I need to swim heats in the morning but the earliest they start is 9 am whereas if I train it has to be 6.30 am at the latest. Anyway something to think about. Happy for others to feedback with thoughts/ideas on what I’ve written.Your “above pace” idea sounds promising–think I’ll give it a try. And I also would prefer end of day, but the pool I use doesn’t have lap swimming in the late afternoon (water aerobics, or some such…
? APFor the 500, I would start at 50’s, but strongly suggest moving to 75’s once you’ve adapted to USRPT work. I found that the pace I could maintain doing 50’s on 20 seconds rest was not representative of what I could hold in an actual 500 race. I saw a much closer practice-to-race speed correlation when I switched to 75’s.
-I’ve also found that 25 x 100 at 1650 race pace doesn’t really duplicate the demand of a 1650 race. With 20 seconds of rest every 100, I can hit all 25 at actual race pace with relative ease. I think you have to go much longer to really build capacity for that race, offering something like 30 x 150 with the expectation that you’ll fail out somewhere in the low 20’s, or 24 X 200 with the expectation of failing out in the mid-upper teens. Either way, you can’t count on doing the set in less than an hour at your current speed. You can work on ingraining the right pace, though, with shorter sets. Whether you do 100’s, 150’s or 200’s, they need to be evenly split. Doing a 150 targeting 2:40 at 52/53/55 by 50 isn’t gonna help you. Do you have a 1650 time to work with? If not, you can extrapolate from your 500 pace (110% is a reasonable guess), and work on ingraining that pace. You can then drop your 1650 training pace without the usual “set accomplished before failure” cue by adjusting it proportionally to any changes in your 500 pace.
Yeah, I’ve been focusing on the 500 for time and distance reasons (in younger days, IIRC my PB in the 1650 was around 24 mins., and my 500 a bit under 7 mins.), but I stopped swimming entirely for over a decade, and switched to marathon running. These days, I also find I can pretty easily hold 100’s w/20 sec rest at 1650 pace (based on the 500, it’s 1:40), and I prefer 200s/300s. I have vision issues for 75s picking up the pace clock, and I don’t like wearing a watch…
AlanP
? AP
