So, entries are due for my first meet back after a long break. My times are much slower than ever in history, which is to be expected but since I've only been practicing 12 weeks so far, time is dropping fast. When I did event swims earlier this week - at about 75% effort - they were from 10 to 20 seconds faster than the previous week and my splits keep getting faster daily. I realize I can only do my best guess but this is for the state games, so I'd like reasonable seed times.
So here's the truth in numbers, best to date - everything SCY
400 IM - 7:21 held strong, start from the wall.
200 IM - 3:34 yesterday best in a set of 6 x 200 but today did 3:22.85 with dive from the deck and with rest beforehand. Best effort but goggles filled on start and I did a "sneaky" dump on the back and came up deep on my *** pullout and ended up slamming on the breaks by accident. So could have been better.
I was also planning on swimming the 100 & 200 *** - my signature events but my *** splits have been especially lackluster and my training has been primarily IM, so I don't have as many times to go off of.
100 *** - 1:55. strong from wall during a 10x100 set
200 *** - 4:08 from wall on a build pace to 80% effort in a set of 5 x 200 but dated June 1st. In comparison, similar 200 IM sets from the wall have dropped 13 seconds from June 1st.
I am also wearing a practice suit that at this point is floating around me for these swims but I plan on wearing a TYR fusion for the meet.
Here's what I'm guessing since entries are due now and it's 3 weeks until the meet. Since it's such a short amount of time building base, I'm planning to drop taper like 3 days before the meet.
400 IM - 7:00
200 IM - 3:15
100 *** - 1:45
200 *** - 3:40
What do you think? I certainly want to have myself well seeded for the 200 *** & 400 IM lest I start trying to race people who are much faster than me and come to a crashing halt at the end. I prefer to have competition in my races and with some exceptions for a couple perfectly timed tapers, don't usually do as well when I have a clear lead or way behind.
Thanks guys! You know, you're right...I should just not expect people to go near seed time. I looked at last year's results and per the entry, we're supposed to enter SCY times even though the event is long course meters (since for the kids, regional qualifiers are being held in SCY). It appears as though some entered with LCM times anyways, some may have guesstimated and went way faster and others went way slower. Only a very few seemed to nail it. So my best ballpark shouldn't be a problem.
First meet? Don't overthink it. You've done a fine job. Enter this:
400 IM - 7:00
200 IM - 3:15
100 *** - 1:45
200 *** - 3:40
I agree. Some people automatically enter a time too slow,others enter a time they wish they could hit,but never will. A few will enter SCY times in a LCM meet.Don't expect that someone near your seed time will swim near your actual time. Go and have fun.
We ALL HAVE TIMES THAT CHANGE EACH YEAR. AS YOU SEEM TO BE GETTING FASTER , ENTER A TIME THAT YOU HAVE DONE SHORTLY BEFORE THE MEET. AS STATED ABOVE , OTHERS ENTER TIMES THAT ARE JUST OUT OF THIN AIR. ENJOY THE MEET FOR YOURSELF! Sorry about the caps - ooppss
Can I just pat myself on the back here for a second? :applaud::
That 400 LCM IM was today and it felt awful. Every bit of technique shot out the window. It was just a game of survival.
First at the 75 mark of the fly I had to convince myself not to end the race at the wall and did a couple extra dolphin kicks - no pulling - while I gathered my composure. :whiteflag:
I hugged the wall for a teensie bit long at the 100 mark of the fly with a high schooler yelling & pointing over my head "GO!".
I narrowly made the turn on the back - flipped too early and basically had to glide in going "gah! Don't DQ!!". They may have missed that split as I only grazed the bottom two inches of the touchpad.
I did open turns on the Fly and ***. :blush:
I couldn't turn on anything more than a two beat kick in the free despite my brain yelling at me to do so. And the over rotation was abysmal so I could gasp for air. :drowning:
But I finished. I did not DQ. I swam an event I have never competed in in my life. My best practice time up through this week ended up at 7:06 in SCY. I believe I crushed it with a 7:30.26 in LCM. :ohyeah:
I had been hoping for about 7:55. In April I was doing 8:00 in yards.
No one wrote down my splits so I'll just have to wait for the results to be posted.
PWB - I hope you see this - I've been following your workouts for this. Thank you so much!
Way to go, m'! I've competed in the 400 LCM IM, and it's a TOUGH challenge! I even swam it at World's and Nationals, so there was the humiliation factor on top of it. :blush: I'm slower than you (and 53 years old), but I've never DQ'd in the 400 IM or 200 fly, so I'm proud of that fact.
Be proud of yourself for what you accomplished! :applaud:
Congrats on your meet times!! The 400 IM is my idea of a nightmare!! KUDOS!! While reading this thread I just realized I entered my SCM time for the 100 Back instead of my LCM time for Summer Nats. YIKES!! Gonna have to bring my turbo jets!!
