Hi All
My name is Darian Townsend, I am an Olympic Gold Medalist from South Africa
( ). I am a 3 time Olympian (2004, 2008 and 2012). I held the SCM 200 IM world record in 2009/2010
and I currently hold 24 Masters world records.
Just thought I would introduce myself before I got into what I wanted to say today :)
I am going to be blogging about once a week or so on various swimming topics I am interested in or if any of you have topics you would like my opinion on, please feel free to message me and I will respond with a blog.
With the Championship season fast approaching (I assume you all are tapering for a meet last November/early December) I wanted to hear from you on what your expectations are and where you feel you are in your training? Do you feel confident that best times are coming? What makes this season different from last year, what have you done differently? Has a new piece of equipment you bought really made a big difference to your training?
From me personally, this season has been great so far. Firstly I am now American, and able to represent the US internationally. This is a huge deal for me and I feel very proud to call myself an American. After living here for over 10 years now, it feels great to wear the Red, White and Blue on my cap!
After a summer of trying a new form a training called USRPT (Ultra Short Race Pace Training) I decided to go back to the more traditional way of training, and I am really enjoying it! There is nothing quite like doing a long kick set and getting out the water afterwards and having your legs feel like jelly! (Kick sets are one thing that USRPT doesn't involve). I enjoy swimming, fast and slow in practice, so to be able to vary my efforts again is really making me happy once again to be in the water working hard!
So how is your season going? What meets are you doing? I am always looking for a meet to swim in a new place I haven't visited before?
Cheers
Thanks for the sample workout. From what I can see, and with all due respect to you and your outstanding Olympic accomplishments, this workout, although it has components of race pace, is definetly NOT a USRPT workout.
Besides the kicking and drills, which is another discussion altogether, the 8 x 50 on 1:00 is not a USRPT set.
First, in USRPT when training for 200 free, the set should be 20 x 50 skip if missed. So now you are thinking - it's hard to make eight at race pace, how am I going to make 20!!! Even though the set is listed as 20, you must never be able to do all 20, ever. If you can do all 20, the target time is too easy.
Here is how this set of 20 x 50 might go. Let's say you can hit your target time on the first eight but at number nine, you miss your target time of 23.2. Instead of going on the next interval, you sit out the next one (this is your first failure) and go on the next interval - thus the "skip if missed" phrase above. When the next interval comes around you continue. Let's say you can do four more at your target time, but you miss again on number 14. This is your second failure. After you rest one round, you continue again and can get in two more before you miss again on number 17. This is your third failure and now the set is over.
The most important thing in USRPT is pushing that first failure farther and farther down the road. So the goal tomorrow is to try to get nine or ten in at your target time before you miss at number ten or eleven. That is what becomes the supreme motivator every day.
The other way a set is done is when you get two failures in a row. Using the example above, let's say you did the first eight on target time and you missed at number nine. You rest the next one and continue, but on number 10, you also miss the target time. Now the set is over. In my experience with USRPT, if your are missing two in a row this early, the target time is probably to hard.
The other clue that your set was not USRPT was your rest interval. There are only two rest intervals in USRPT. One is 15 seconds rest on 25s and the other is 20 seconds on everything else. So, if your target time is 23 seconds for your race pace, you should be going on an interval of :45 (unless you can do the math in your head then it should be :43 -but I can't do that).
You also listed a set of 75s. I don't recommend 75s because you just can't make enough of them to get in 3 - 5 times your race distance at race pace. Same thing with 100s. You should use 100s at race pace ONLY if you are training for the 1650/1500.
I have been doing USRPT exclusively for over a year. I made plenty of mistakes in the beginning like thinking a set of 30 x 50 could be done as three sets of ten each or the other big mistake I made was only thinking two failures in a row stops the set. As a result I found myself doing a set where eventually I would make one then miss one, then make one and miss one, until I got to 30. Well, that is not USRPT, because you end up getting too much rest between each repeat.
I train exclusively for the 400/500 free and do some sets of 25s, but mostly I do two sets a day of 30 x 50 on :50 holding :33. I have had excellent success with USRPT, hitting times faster then I did five or ten years ago (I'm 65).
The other thing about USRPT is that you are always ready to race. You do not have to wait until taper. I started USRPT in September of 2013 and although I wasn't doing it right for the first three months, in February of 2014 I swam a 200 free at a time I would have expected at Nationals in May with a traditional workout regimen. And since then I have done this continually.
I talk with lots of people who are interested in USRPT and also many who say they are doing USRPT, but usually they are doing race pace like sets that are really not USRPT.
There are many ways to train in swimming and people have had great success with training in ways other than USRPT and will continue to do so, but USRPT is based on science and not what a coach feels is right. But again swimmers can certainly be successful doing all kinds of things (like Ryan Lochte's giant tire lifting). If done correctly, I believe USRPT is an excellent training method.
Thanks and congratulations on your success and on becoming a US citizen!
Glenn Gruber
Thanks for the sample workout. From what I can see, and with all due respect to you and your outstanding Olympic accomplishments, this workout, although it has components of race pace, is definetly NOT a USRPT workout.
Besides the kicking and drills, which is another discussion altogether, the 8 x 50 on 1:00 is not a USRPT set.
First, in USRPT when training for 200 free, the set should be 20 x 50 skip if missed. So now you are thinking - it's hard to make eight at race pace, how am I going to make 20!!! Even though the set is listed as 20, you must never be able to do all 20, ever. If you can do all 20, the target time is too easy.
Here is how this set of 20 x 50 might go. Let's say you can hit your target time on the first eight but at number nine, you miss your target time of 23.2. Instead of going on the next interval, you sit out the next one (this is your first failure) and go on the next interval - thus the "skip if missed" phrase above. When the next interval comes around you continue. Let's say you can do four more at your target time, but you miss again on number 14. This is your second failure. After you rest one round, you continue again and can get in two more before you miss again on number 17. This is your third failure and now the set is over.
The most important thing in USRPT is pushing that first failure farther and farther down the road. So the goal tomorrow is to try to get nine or ten in at your target time before you miss at number ten or eleven. That is what becomes the supreme motivator every day.
The other way a set is done is when you get two failures in a row. Using the example above, let's say you did the first eight on target time and you missed at number nine. You rest the next one and continue, but on number 10, you also miss the target time. Now the set is over. In my experience with USRPT, if your are missing two in a row this early, the target time is probably to hard.
The other clue that your set was not USRPT was your rest interval. There are only two rest intervals in USRPT. One is 15 seconds rest on 25s and the other is 20 seconds on everything else. So, if your target time is 23 seconds for your race pace, you should be going on an interval of :45 (unless you can do the math in your head then it should be :43 -but I can't do that).
You also listed a set of 75s. I don't recommend 75s because you just can't make enough of them to get in 3 - 5 times your race distance at race pace. Same thing with 100s. You should use 100s at race pace ONLY if you are training for the 1650/1500.
I have been doing USRPT exclusively for over a year. I made plenty of mistakes in the beginning like thinking a set of 30 x 50 could be done as three sets of ten each or the other big mistake I made was only thinking two failures in a row stops the set. As a result I found myself doing a set where eventually I would make one then miss one, then make one and miss one, until I got to 30. Well, that is not USRPT, because you end up getting too much rest between each repeat.
I train exclusively for the 400/500 free and do some sets of 25s, but mostly I do two sets a day of 30 x 50 on :50 holding :33. I have had excellent success with USRPT, hitting times faster then I did five or ten years ago (I'm 65).
The other thing about USRPT is that you are always ready to race. You do not have to wait until taper. I started USRPT in September of 2013 and although I wasn't doing it right for the first three months, in February of 2014 I swam a 200 free at a time I would have expected at Nationals in May with a traditional workout regimen. And since then I have done this continually.
I talk with lots of people who are interested in USRPT and also many who say they are doing USRPT, but usually they are doing race pace like sets that are really not USRPT.
There are many ways to train in swimming and people have had great success with training in ways other than USRPT and will continue to do so, but USRPT is based on science and not what a coach feels is right. But again swimmers can certainly be successful doing all kinds of things (like Ryan Lochte's giant tire lifting). If done correctly, I believe USRPT is an excellent training method.
Thanks and congratulations on your success and on becoming a US citizen!
Glenn Gruber
