I'm not much of a stroke swimmer...that is to say my workouts are generally pretty much just various sets of crawl stroke...at which I'm very strong...for longer open water swims. Now and then I'd throw in a set of other strokes just to break up the monotony. I can swim the other strokes good enough...endurance-wise...except for BF. It was, and is, always difficult for me to make it just 50m BF. I'd have to rest at each wall. And it seemed that I couldn't just "slow down" to pace myself. It was like I'd have to swim the BF all-out or drown. But a year or so ago, for some reason, I began ending all my workouts with a 400 IM (scm). Slowly but surely my BF got better. I started to notice that I could actually slow down some. Still, I'd usually have to rest on one wall, or go into the modified BF with a breaststroke kick in the last 50. But finally...yesterday I did the whole 100 using the correct BF kick without resting at the wall, and was able to swim the entire 400 IM without stopping. We won't discuss time.
Dan
The original post seems to be as much about training for the 400 IM as race strategy.
... more generally, swimming endurance.
I'm not really much of a swim meet participant...more of an open water swimmer. But I do seek to increase endurance, and just like the idea of being more of (not necessarily completely) a well-rounded swimmer. IMO, the 400 IM necessitates a great deal of endurance...like running the 400m hurdles in a track meet. Not the longest race in the meet...but it takes a heck of a lot to complete.
Incidentally...I timed myself again yesterday at the end of my workout and took 20 seconds off my PR (still don't want to mention what the actual time is because it's rather slow even for my age group). But I just like the fact that I can now swim the entire 400m IM using proper BF stroke, and without stopping (in the BF).
Dan
The original post seems to be as much about training for the 400 IM as race strategy.
... more generally, swimming endurance.
I'm not really much of a swim meet participant...more of an open water swimmer. But I do seek to increase endurance, and just like the idea of being more of (not necessarily completely) a well-rounded swimmer. IMO, the 400 IM necessitates a great deal of endurance...like running the 400m hurdles in a track meet. Not the longest race in the meet...but it takes a heck of a lot to complete.
Incidentally...I timed myself again yesterday at the end of my workout and took 20 seconds off my PR (still don't want to mention what the actual time is because it's rather slow even for my age group). But I just like the fact that I can now swim the entire 400m IM using proper BF stroke, and without stopping (in the BF).
Dan
