Reply To: 400 free set recovery question
I’m finding 50’s on 20 seconds rest might bet too short a distance, or perhaps too much rest, for 400/500 training. I can do nearly thirty SCY 50’s at :34 on a :54 interval before a single fail, and made a full set of 40 the last time I attempted it. I can’t, however, come close to holding that pace in a straight 500. I’m splitting 38’s by the 250y mark, and end up swimming around a 6:10.
I’ve recently switched to doing 75’s at :52 on a 1:12 interval (essentially the same pace), and find that much more challenging. Like “first fail at 9, fail out at 15” challenging. On the 50’s, the first 25 after 20 seconds rest felt easy, and I only had to fight degradation of my stroke mechanics for the last 15 yards or so. That 2nd turn and third 25, with no extra rest at the end to recover, makes most of a 75 feel like I’d feel mid-race in a 500.
