I think the USRPT idea can be adapted to open water. For example you can do 100's or 200's at your goal open water pace, trying to entrench the pace that you require to do your goal time. It will be different because you don't have walls, but you can account for that. If you keep making the set, you're not trying hard enough ;-).
That sounds like it may work, however I don't think our coach has ever assigned sets like that, at least when I've been at workout. He doesn't really like it if we deviate from the assigned set too much (other than perhaps a stroke substitution).
That said, 100s, or even 200s, at a 5k pace would hardly get me winded.
We have done sets like that, maybe 10 x 100 @ 500 pace, or 5 x 200 @ 1000 pace. But since I've never swum either of those events in a meet (in recent memory at least), I just guess on what my race pace would be.
I think the USRPT idea can be adapted to open water. For example you can do 100's or 200's at your goal open water pace, trying to entrench the pace that you require to do your goal time. It will be different because you don't have walls, but you can account for that. If you keep making the set, you're not trying hard enough ;-).
That sounds like it may work, however I don't think our coach has ever assigned sets like that, at least when I've been at workout. He doesn't really like it if we deviate from the assigned set too much (other than perhaps a stroke substitution).
That said, 100s, or even 200s, at a 5k pace would hardly get me winded.
We have done sets like that, maybe 10 x 100 @ 500 pace, or 5 x 200 @ 1000 pace. But since I've never swum either of those events in a meet (in recent memory at least), I just guess on what my race pace would be.
