My goals for 2015, any advice?

Former Member
Former Member
50m free - 00:27 100m free - 00:59 200m free - 02:07 400m free - 04:37 750m free - 09:17 1500m free - 18:59 I am hoping to reach or exceed these times by the end of 2015. Has anybody got any advice? Maybe a few good sets/sessions? Thanks, TSB
Parents
  • Short term (this year) I will primarily be focusing on 200m, 400m, 750m. But long term I will be focused on 750m and 1500m. I train three times a week for 1 and a half hours each time. The bad news is you really don't have time to train to specific goal times on all those events. The good news is that your goal pace for the 750 and 1500 are so close it won't take much to get to your 1500 goal once you've hit it for the 750, especially since you're getting lots of cardio elsewhere. I'd suggest you pick one other event, the 200, to focus on and let the times on the 50, 100, and 400 fall where they may at the end of the season. I would also suggest you look at Ultra Short Race Pace Training. The great thing about it is that you get tangible feedback in every practice about how close you are getting to your goals. A typical workout for someone training for the 200 free and the 750/1500 free would look something like this: 600-800 warmup 30 50's at 200 race pace with 20 seconds rest 300 EZ recovery 5 min rest 30 75's at 750/1500 race pace* with 20 seconds rest 300-500 cool down. *(once you get the 750 time where you want it, change to 100's at the same pace, still with 20 seconds rest) The trick is, every repetition in the main sets needs to be at race pace. You have a target for each segment based on the race pace. If you miss your target time, you sit out a minute, then resume. If you miss the target time twice in a row, or 3 times total, you're done with the set no matter whether you got to the end or not. So you're rarely going to get all 30 in. When you do, you're ready to increase the pace. I know it sounds counterintuitive to train for 200's by swimming 50's, the 750 by swimming 75's, and the 1500 by swimming 100's. The truth is, however, that it gives you lots of repetition at the actual pace you're going to swim in those races. (NOTE: you need to start at your current race pace, not your goal race pace, or you'll be failing to hit the target times too early in the sets and not get enough volume of repetitions)
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  • Short term (this year) I will primarily be focusing on 200m, 400m, 750m. But long term I will be focused on 750m and 1500m. I train three times a week for 1 and a half hours each time. The bad news is you really don't have time to train to specific goal times on all those events. The good news is that your goal pace for the 750 and 1500 are so close it won't take much to get to your 1500 goal once you've hit it for the 750, especially since you're getting lots of cardio elsewhere. I'd suggest you pick one other event, the 200, to focus on and let the times on the 50, 100, and 400 fall where they may at the end of the season. I would also suggest you look at Ultra Short Race Pace Training. The great thing about it is that you get tangible feedback in every practice about how close you are getting to your goals. A typical workout for someone training for the 200 free and the 750/1500 free would look something like this: 600-800 warmup 30 50's at 200 race pace with 20 seconds rest 300 EZ recovery 5 min rest 30 75's at 750/1500 race pace* with 20 seconds rest 300-500 cool down. *(once you get the 750 time where you want it, change to 100's at the same pace, still with 20 seconds rest) The trick is, every repetition in the main sets needs to be at race pace. You have a target for each segment based on the race pace. If you miss your target time, you sit out a minute, then resume. If you miss the target time twice in a row, or 3 times total, you're done with the set no matter whether you got to the end or not. So you're rarely going to get all 30 in. When you do, you're ready to increase the pace. I know it sounds counterintuitive to train for 200's by swimming 50's, the 750 by swimming 75's, and the 1500 by swimming 100's. The truth is, however, that it gives you lots of repetition at the actual pace you're going to swim in those races. (NOTE: you need to start at your current race pace, not your goal race pace, or you'll be failing to hit the target times too early in the sets and not get enough volume of repetitions)
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