My 500 yd scy freestyle time is terrible. I am not breaking 7 minutes. I would like to know if there are any fast ways to improve my times. My masters coach has given me advice, but the results are very slow. I am not looking for a magic pill or anything like that. I am looking for a workout solution. Any tips?
Just my 2c here -
I'm (gad) 54 yo female & my most recent best is 5:59. I swim 3-4 x week for ~ 90 min at a time. It is hard for me to do lots of 1:20's, but that is my "marker" set - what I compare myself against. We do 12 x 100 @ 1:20 at least once a week, and I often can only go a 1:18, but I get it done. Sometimes I have to rest 50 midway. I figure if I can do it, you can.
My goal is 5:35. Actually, I'd like to just repeat that stupid 5:59. Anyway, my goal at present is to do those 1:20's and hold as close to 1:10 or faster on each one. We also do something called a "DeMont" - named after a pretty darn good distance swimmer in his day. It is really designed to make sure you don't run out of gas at the end. A typical DeMont set goes like this: 500 free - catch your time on the 400 while you flipturn; (these are done on an interval base, like say 1:30's, so the 500 must be finished by 7:29, because you leave on the 7:30) - then do a 400, catch your time at the 300 & finish the 400 faster than the 400 time you just did on the 500. Then do a 300, catch your time on the 200, and make the 300 faster than the 300 split on your 400; do a 200, catch your split on the 100, making the 200 faster than the 200 split on the 300, then a 100 - obviously feels almost like a sprint, because it must be faster than the 100 split on your 200. Exhausting, and a bit of brain work, but forces you to go faster at the back end of your race, which is key in mid-long distance. I suspect you may be a triathlete, so this will come in handy in your open water races too. Best wishes :)
Oh yeah. And you do this every week, every week, every week. Eventually you'll be doing that 6:00 500 free.
**Intervals on the DeMont:
500 @ 7:30
400 @ 6:00
300 @ 4:30
200 @ 3:00
Just my 2c here -
I'm (gad) 54 yo female & my most recent best is 5:59. I swim 3-4 x week for ~ 90 min at a time. It is hard for me to do lots of 1:20's, but that is my "marker" set - what I compare myself against. We do 12 x 100 @ 1:20 at least once a week, and I often can only go a 1:18, but I get it done. Sometimes I have to rest 50 midway. I figure if I can do it, you can.
My goal is 5:35. Actually, I'd like to just repeat that stupid 5:59. Anyway, my goal at present is to do those 1:20's and hold as close to 1:10 or faster on each one. We also do something called a "DeMont" - named after a pretty darn good distance swimmer in his day. It is really designed to make sure you don't run out of gas at the end. A typical DeMont set goes like this: 500 free - catch your time on the 400 while you flipturn; (these are done on an interval base, like say 1:30's, so the 500 must be finished by 7:29, because you leave on the 7:30) - then do a 400, catch your time at the 300 & finish the 400 faster than the 400 time you just did on the 500. Then do a 300, catch your time on the 200, and make the 300 faster than the 300 split on your 400; do a 200, catch your split on the 100, making the 200 faster than the 200 split on the 300, then a 100 - obviously feels almost like a sprint, because it must be faster than the 100 split on your 200. Exhausting, and a bit of brain work, but forces you to go faster at the back end of your race, which is key in mid-long distance. I suspect you may be a triathlete, so this will come in handy in your open water races too. Best wishes :)
Oh yeah. And you do this every week, every week, every week. Eventually you'll be doing that 6:00 500 free.
**Intervals on the DeMont:
500 @ 7:30
400 @ 6:00
300 @ 4:30
200 @ 3:00
