I wonder if anyone can help me. Thank you in advance!
My goal is to improve my 400 meter freestyle. My time right now is 5:45. I am almost 44 years old.
Coming off six weeks of doing only long, slow swims (2-3 miles) at 125 HR or lower, I performed a 3000 meter freestyle at maximum in an effort to discover my lactate threshold. My time was 47:29.
Right afterwards my HR was 164, so I estimate it was probably around 170 during the actual swim. Average pace was as follows:
1:35 per 100
3:10 per 200
6:20 per 400
My first 400 was, to my surprise, a 6:02. So you can see I got slower later on.
Is this a reasonable approximation if my lactate threshold?
Should I start by training below this pace, say at 140 HR, then build to eventually holding 400 meter pace?
Thank you for any advice you care to give. God bless!
Yesterday I intended to swim 2 miles at 140 HR. My plan is to start slow and move up the HR “ladder” a bit at a time.
Unfortunately my HR was 152, 152, 148, and 144 the times I checked it (finger to neck, floating in the middle of the pool). I suppose I need to slow down! Not easy though. 125 HR I can do; 170 HR I can do. Hard to find the in-between.
If anyone disagrees with this approach I’d love to hear it. Thank you!
I think that if you were training for an open water event then the above approach sounds good. The 400 is a different animal altogether and may require a more distance specific practice - rather than a full 2 miles straight - which is basically what your body is adapting to.
The ideal way to train is to explore your comfort zone and find what gear it requires to swim fast (but controlled) over a certain distance. By getting a feel for the tempo - whether it be a 50 or a 200 - you will know instinctively how to pace without implementing the wrong gear.
That said, if your target race is the 400 - then swim 400's - both straight - and in a broken set, to learn what the tempo per 100 should feel like - This may help you discover how to swim this distance without using too heavy a stroke, so that you don't hit the wall (your lactate threshold) before the 400 is up.
This coach has a good approach which you might find helpful. www.youtube.com/watch
Yesterday I intended to swim 2 miles at 140 HR. My plan is to start slow and move up the HR “ladder” a bit at a time.
Unfortunately my HR was 152, 152, 148, and 144 the times I checked it (finger to neck, floating in the middle of the pool). I suppose I need to slow down! Not easy though. 125 HR I can do; 170 HR I can do. Hard to find the in-between.
If anyone disagrees with this approach I’d love to hear it. Thank you!
I think that if you were training for an open water event then the above approach sounds good. The 400 is a different animal altogether and may require a more distance specific practice - rather than a full 2 miles straight - which is basically what your body is adapting to.
The ideal way to train is to explore your comfort zone and find what gear it requires to swim fast (but controlled) over a certain distance. By getting a feel for the tempo - whether it be a 50 or a 200 - you will know instinctively how to pace without implementing the wrong gear.
That said, if your target race is the 400 - then swim 400's - both straight - and in a broken set, to learn what the tempo per 100 should feel like - This may help you discover how to swim this distance without using too heavy a stroke, so that you don't hit the wall (your lactate threshold) before the 400 is up.
This coach has a good approach which you might find helpful. www.youtube.com/watch
