I would like some input from people who have actually swum the 1000 & 1650 on the same day in a meet. It looks like there are people out there who do it seemingly successfully (by looking at their times) but I wonder if they regretted this decision a bit. Or trained specifically with that intent. The only thing I could think of to prep for this might be doubles in the pool once or twice a week. Or were they able to successfully nap between the events. See, I'd like to swim the 1000 at Nats but I'm basically shot to high heaven after that event anyways. I just barely meet the Qualifying time in both for my age group, so that's not a deterrent. So, I'm considering potentially "stupid" things. And I can't decide whether I should be talked into or out of doing both. What do you have for me? Advice? Warnings to heed? Help me fully inform my decision.
I have to disagree with this. In almost every instance that I have swum both (and until last year's Nationals, I think that the 1000 was first of the two races), I have split a faster 1000 in the 1650 than my actual 1000 time. But I do tend to be one of those distance swimmers who takes a LONG time to get into my groove.
You're not swimming hard enough in the 1000 then!!! :)
you can, but ONLY if your name is Jeff Erwin.
and pretty sure he won both last time in greensboro as well
Even Jeff only swam the 1650 in San Antonio last year.
Whichever one you do first will definitely feel better and be the better swim.
I have to disagree with this. In almost every instance that I have swum both (and until last year's Nationals, I think that the 1000 was first of the two races), I have split a faster 1000 in the 1650 than my actual 1000 time. But I do tend to be one of those distance swimmers who takes a LONG time to get into my groove.
Matt,
Good luck if you try this. You've probably already entered Nationals, but ... on the off chance you haven't yet and still want to go down this route of insanity, make sure your Friday events are light to non-existent, especially if you want to have a solid 500 on Saturday.
Also, don't ever listen to Kurt Dickson about back-to-back distance stuff; he's super-human and doesn't slow down ... more than that, he speeds up, especially on that last crucial 50 of any race. ;)
Thanks for looking out for me Patrick! I went very light on Friday...just the 200 fly!!!
And I was already skeptical of distance advice from Kurt, but with this new knowledge, I'll disregard any future posts by Kurt on the subject :agree:
You're probably right. I'm notorious for holding back too much.
It took me a while to figure out how to swim the 800/1000 too. I would always take it out like the 1500/1650 and, like you, my split on the longer event was always about the same as my 800/1000 time, perhaps a few seconds slower. I'm getting better at pacing those events now though. They're quite a bit shorter, so it's OK to be quite a bit more aggressive. Even if you fade, you can usually hold onto a good pace and the pain doesn't last anywhere near as long as when taking out the mile too fast!!!
Actually, 4 out of the 6 swimming the 1650 in my age group are all registered for the 1000 that morning. Misery loves company. The 1650 will be the battle of who fades the least. Bring it on!
(Ok, maybe I do have enough of a screw loose to be a distance woman!)
Hey, if I can race a 3K and 1K back-to-back at the Georgia Games Open Water Meet (in 2013 at the age of 51 with less than 5 minutes rest between the two), then I know you can tackle the 1000 and 1650 at Nationals. :cheerleader:
P.S. What heat are you in for the 1650? I'll cheer you on!
Hey, if I can race a 3K and 1K back-to-back at the Georgia Games Open Water Meet (in 2013 at the age of 51 with less than 5 minutes rest between the two), then I know you can tackle the 1000 and 1650 at Nationals. :cheerleader:
P.S. What heat are you in for the 1650? I'll cheer you on! (I'm in heat #3).
Of course I can swim the distance...but can I swim it at a 1000 pace & a 1650 pace instead of a 1000 pace and an "oh, dear, is she ok?" pace. That is the question! :). The more doubles I do, the more convinced I am I'll swim better in the afternoon even if it doesn't feel great.
If they do combine men & women and they number the heats regardless of course (like, odds course A) then I don't know. That sounds like fuzzy math to me. Looks like 25 total heats. Heat 12 maybe? Somewhere smack in the middle.
I love cheer-ers. No one else from my team is coming. I plan on bumming with some people I kind-of know from local meets. Although, if you're in the 2nd wave and I'm in the 6th wave, that might put me either end-of-snooze or on a total adrenaline high when your heat comes up. If it's the latter, I'll be cheering for you! :)
