Hi, everyone!
I'm going to be focusing on middle-distance for at least the rest of the year. Splitting is one of the first areas I'm looking at to improve. During my first attempt at writing out some ideal splits for a 500, I realized I don't know exactly how much a time an average dive subtracts. Is it 2 seconds? 3? More? Less?
These are 50 splits from my 500 freestyle PB, a 5:24.50:
29.11
31.33
32.37
32.49
32.95
33.03
33.74
33.50
33.59
32.39
To me, it appears there are three important time additions: 1.) at the 100, adding 1 second per 50, 2.) at the 200, adding half a second per 50, and 3.) at the 300, adding 3/4 of a second per 50. From this, I have two big questions:
1.) should I have gone easier on the first 100?
2.) should those four 33.xx splits in the back half switch places with the 31 and 32.xx splits from the first half, opening the possibility that a completed 500 in this alternate timeline might have more 31.xx splits in the back half, and thus, a faster time?
What does everyone think? I apologize if my second question was needlessly complex. I suppose I meant to ask: should I have gone easier on the first half?
I like my responses in this thread to a related situation
forums.usms.org/showthread.php
29.11 31.33 60.44
32.37 32.49 64.86
32.95 33.03 65.98
33.74 33.50 67.24
33.59 32.39 65.98
250's
1:38.25
1:46.25
8 sec diff
you want to swim the 1st 250 so that your 2nd 250 is closer
try to keep the diff between 0 to 4
I agree with Glenn. When I was swimming 500 in about 5:15, I would normally split the first 100 in 1:01, and you're splitting faster than that to get to 5:24.
Ok, here's another question. How do you train, so as to hit the ideal splits?
I have been doing 5x100 on 1:20, or 1:25, which gives me 10-15 sec rest per interval. I can swim a set like that at close to race pace. In races, my 250 split differences are in the range 2-6 sec, so it seems to work pretty well for me.
But doing that one set over & over gets tiresome! Any more ideas?
250's
1:38.25
1:46.25
8 sec diff
you want to swim the 1st 250 so that your 2nd 250 is closer
try to keep the diff between 0 to 4
What he said.
The 500 is my favorite event. Not a sprint, but not distance. I've always done my best times when my 250's are nearly equal. There is nothing worse than knowing you went out too fast the first 250 and the pain starts coming on the next 100!
After the first 50, try to keep the same pace until the last 50 sprint. They key is getting to know yourself well enough to allocate your energy properly so you don't fade but also don't have a ton left at the end. With enough practice, you can still split the race well no matter how fast you are at that particular time. Here are some examples of mine (400's and 500's)at various levels of conditioning:
www.usms.org/.../swim.phpwww.usms.org/.../swim.phpwww.usms.org/.../swim.phpwww.usms.org/.../swim.phpwww.usms.org/.../swim.php
There are some other pertinent questions to be asked. Do you typically see yourself as a sprinter, middle distance or distance swimmer? Your splits look like those of a sprinter. If that is so, I recommend a negative split swim, seeking a lot of control in the first half, using your speed to roll up the second. Real distance swimmers are very uncomfortable with changing speeds while sprinters are quite accustomed to it.
Imagine your last 50 being the fastest, including your dive 50. That has terrific psychological benefits for you and crumbling morale for your heat mates. Make it an easy, relaxed first 100 and build the rest. Confidence is highly recommended with this strategy, as you will see several people in the heat swim away to large leads. Knowing that they will be watching you eat up their lead will help you and possibly put them in a panic. The last 50 will be very painful but made bearable by the knowledge and training of the sprinter.
Train with lots of 50s on :45, broken swims and occasional full 500 with an eye on the clock to descend the swim totally. And keep up your speed work, it is what carries you the last 150.
But doing that one set over & over gets tiresome! Any more ideas?
10x50 on :45 at pace. To me it feels a lot different than doing 100s.
And I agree with Ande on the original question. Breaking it out to individual 50s is a little excessive. Look at the 250s and try to be less than five seconds slower on the second half. In my opinion the 500 is not a distance race and should not be negative split. That just means you saved up too much for the end. But you don't want to be a lot slower on the second half.
10x50 on :45 at pace. To me it feels a lot different than doing 100s.
I tried this set today. It does indeed feel a lot different than doing 100s.
But I had no trouble hitting the targets on a :45 interval. Perhaps I'll try :40
