Next year's goal: Sub 5 minute 500 free

i wish you the best of luck in 11 days, but dont be disappointed if you dont hit 5:05. in the 50-54 age group only 3 guys went under that time all of last year. 5:05 is a fast time no matter what age group you are in.

i wish you the best of luck in 11 days, but dont be disappointed if you dont hit 5:05. in the 50-54 age group only 3 guys went under that time all of last year. 5:05 is a fast time no matter what age group you are in. No doubt, it's a very ambitious goal, especially considering I'm not going to taper for this meet. However, I've been feeling so strong in the water the last few months I think I can give it one heck of a shot. If I don't make it, well, I've got a secondary goal of 5:15, something I've done quite a few times the last few years. If anything, I just want to beat my disappointing time from Nationals.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've already done something like the first to sets you listed, but I'm not sure my almost-50 yr old cardiac system could cope with the last two. As sunruh pointed out, the AED would be getting some use. I'll try modifying the goal times on the last two sets. Our main set this morning: 14x100, with the following intervals: 1st: 1:30 2nd: 1:25 3rd: 1:30 4-5: 1:20 6th: 1:30 7-9: 1:10 10th: 1:30 11-14: 1:05 First time since college I've been able to make 1:05 intervals, even if it was for only 4 100's. Really good confidence builder. I've got a meet on the 21st of this month, and I want to try and go around 5:05 or so. Haha, might help if I read your original post more carefully...I breezed through it and thought you were currently at a 5:01, not a 5:10. In that case, I'd say adjust the goal times in my sets to a 1:02 or 1:03 pace. Those times are for if you're doing true race pace training. If you want to just do "fast" training, then I'd say your goal times would be a 1:06-1:07 pace. As you get faster, then you could start working those goal paces down to the times I initially listed. An alternative for the last two sets could be: -9x200 as 3 sets of 3x200, with each set being 1 on 2:30, 1 on 2:20, 1 on 2:10. -1x400, 1x300, 1x200 on the intervals listed. Go through that set twice. ...oh, and make sure the guards at your pool have 911 on speed dial! :D

My opinion is that the key to breaking 5:00 is the part of the race from about 300-450. I've got good endurance, but this is the part of the race where I have trouble maintaining 30 second 50s. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see how USRPT is going to help much with this. Swimming 50s at race pace, but resting 15 seconds after each one just isn't going to simulate swimming at that pace for 10 straight 50s with no rest in between. To achieve this I think you need to be doing lots of short rest aerobic conditioning as well as race pace training. I believe there's danger in going to one extreme or the other as far as training goes.

... I don't see how USRPT is going to help much with this. Swimming 50s at race pace, but resting 15 seconds after each one just isn't going to simulate swimming at that pace for 10 straight 50s with no rest in between. "Short work and rest periods sustain energy use consistently. In long work periods, energy use changes as a repetition continues. Ultra short training best simulates the onsistent demands of well-paced competitive performances as aerobic and anaerobic energy sources are stimulated maximally (Tabata et al., 1997)" "The many short-work intervals, by repeatedly depleting stored oxygen and alactacid energy, ensure its maximal regeneration during each rest interval. This sustains race-pace performance quality and adapts the alactacid energy system maximally (Fernandes et al., 2011). Longer intervals of work and rest produce anaerobic fatigue which reduces swimming velocity and stroke rate (Barden & Rorke, 1999). Ultra short training is the best format for producing anaerobic adaptation." "In USRPT the aerobic system is used continuously. It sustains swimming duromg the work phase of each interval and during the rest clears substantial lactate and repleishes significant amounts of creatine phosphate. High volumes of low-intensity training do not result in the best form of aerobic adaptirion (Weber et al., 2011)." "high intensity ultra short training produces similar training effects lmore efficiently (Gibala et al., 2006) and in less training time (Sperlich et al., 2009) than endurance training. Its effects are better than those that can be achieved through continous training (Helgerud et al., 2006). USRPT develops a greater aerobic base than is possoble with longer interval or continous training at lower than race-pace intensities." From Swimming Science Bulletin # 40b, September 2013, Brent Rushall, Ph D I have been doing USRPT and only USRPT for just over a year. I have been training exclusively for the 400 and 500 only. The results for me have been outstanding. I know many people do not want to believe that USRPT works, but is based in science and has had proven results. That certainly does not mean that USRPT is the only way to go. Many Olympic Champions, present and future have and will train in other ways. On the surface it seems hard to believe that doing 50s at race pace will train you best for the 500, but try doing the set that I do i.e. 30 x 50 on a 20 second rest interval at the pace you need to swim the 500 to get your time (done properly you should not be able to swim all 30 at the designated race pace). I guarantee you that by the time you get to # 14 or so, you will be breathing very hard. And by the time you get to # 22 if you have not missed any yet, you will understand why USRPT works. Oh yes, when you have done that set, rest as long as you need to (I rest for 10 or 15 minutes sometimes) and do the set again. Now do those two sets 4 more times in the week. At weeks end you will have swum over 10,000 yards at the pace you need to swim your 500. Is anyone else in your age-group training for the 500 doing that? Glenn Gruber

My opinion is that the key to breaking 5:00 is the part of the race from about 300-450. I've got good endurance, but this is the part of the race where I have trouble maintaining 30 second 50s. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see how USRPT is going to help much with this. Swimming 50s at race pace, but resting 15 seconds after each one just isn't going to simulate swimming at that pace for 10 straight 50s with no rest in between. To achieve this I think you need to be doing lots of short rest aerobic conditioning as well as race pace training. I believe there's danger in going to one extreme or the other as far as training goes. Very good point. I still do a lot of short-rest sets, such as 10x100 on 1:10, or 30x100 on 1:15, etc. However, one thing that I feel is holding me back is that I'm a horrible sprinter. Always have been. Even back when I went a 4:47 500 free, I was never able to break 24 seconds in a 50. I think the USRPT is going to be just one of many parts of my training plan.

Glenn, I did that 30x50 set last weekend. Did it on a 50 second interval. I was able to make the first 12, and then it became sort of hit-and miss. The slowest one was just under 31. Absolutely killed me!

Glenn, I did that 30x50 set last weekend. Did it on a 50 second interval. I was able to make the first 12, and then it became sort of hit-and miss. The slowest one was just under 31. Absolutely killed me! It is very, very, very difficult to start a USRPT set like that without having done one before. I sometimes forget that when I talk to people about USRPT! When I started I was doing them all wrong, i.e., I did them as sets of ten repeats with rest in between. It took me a while to understand how they are supposed to actually be done. Working into the set by getting used to the interval, when to go on each one, how to keep track of your times etc. all takes practice. There is nothing wrong with "adjusting" the set in the beginning in order to get some success doing them this way and getting practice doing them correctly. It is easy to get discouraged by USRPT if you take too big a bite in the beginning. I am still learning how to do these sets correctly. Doing two two sets a day is not easy either. Dr Rushall wants me to do three sets at least once a week. That's my goal right now. We'll see how long it takes me to get to that point. In the end you need to do what works for you. If it is USRPT, great, if not, there are other approaches that can be of benefit as well.

Swam a 5:11.64 today, only 1 second off my Master's PR. Didn't make my goal time of 5:05, but considering the 50 mile bike ride I did yesterday, not bad at all. Felt really strong, and I didn't feel like I faded towards the end. I do feel that I could have taken it out a bit faster, though.

Great swim. Now just think if you had not done that 50 mile bike ride! I can't imagine doing a 500 the day after a bike ride like that. Wow. Glenn, The funny thing here is that I did that ride to make sure I was not "well-rested", as my goal was to see what I could do in a regular, mid-season meet. I also wanted to establish a baseline that I could gauge my future conditioning on. It only seemed to affect me towards the end, when my quads got a bit tired, causing me to spend a bit too much time on the walls.