I am going to add some USRPT training later because I love the idea of fast feedback. I tried a set last October, with target time 2'5" / 100 m (5 seconds faster than the pace on a recent 1500 m T/T) (although not strictly in adherence because I started every 2'20" instead of 2'25" for 20 seconds rest) and within a week I pushed my first failure from 8 to completing all 30, requiring me to "level up". I tried reducing the target time by 5 seconds / 100 m but it became too hard such that I couldn't get through the initial 5.
Afterwards the pool I used closed so I didn't continue this training, but I am looking to resume it when the pool reopens again next week. I will take a 1500 m T/T the first time I get back to the pool.
I consider that a pace is too easy if I can complete all 30 reps without a failure, and too hard if I can't get through the initial 5. How should I identify my initial goal time? Is directly using the 1500 m T/T pace good enough, or should I reduce a few seconds? And if I need to level up, how many seconds should I take away for each 100 m?
I am currently targeting my 1500 m speed in these few months, however eventually I will need to race for 5 km a few months later, and 15 km next year, and will need to modify the workout for that? Does anyone have any hints or should I return to traditional training by then? I want to build up my speed first, then endurance second, because I can swim for 5 - 7 km continuously without problem now, but at a very slow speed (around 2 hours for 5 km).
Why?
I like the discussion about this topic and I can understand both side but to be honest I like to train in my slow pace much more than always do some race pace sets...Like CalvinS said there is many ways to go and to improve..I have found my way and I am totally happy and fine with it.
Miklcct,
As I read this thread, I think you are mixing concepts. As I read articles on the internet, they are mixing concepts.
USRPT is meant to be short distance (25s), all out sprints with recovery time. 30 x 100 with 20 secs rest is just someone's extrapolation to middle-distance swimming and does not really fit into USRPT.
No one can do 30 x 100 with 20 -30 sec rest at 100% effort unless they are prepared to fail after 4-5 repeats. There will be some amount of pace work happening which is not what USRPT is all about. 30 x 100 is geared towards finding/improving your anaerobic threshold to train the body for effort right at that threshold.
Since you say your technique improves with speed, a good set will be 10 x 50 w/ 60 seconds rest and go 100% effort for the entire set. Then, do the rest of your practice at a slower pace.
A good goal for your practices is to think about target heart rates. USRPT is going to have heart rates in the 170+ range - maybe even 180+. USRPT is 100% effort which cannot be maintained for long periods of time (no more than 25-50). Even Andrews has said he needs to do more volume to be competitive at the 100s.
As Jeff and others have said though - working on technique trumps all other training concepts. I have a hard time believing your technique improves as you go faster. Learn how to swim slow with great technique and then add intensity and volume.
And, we are still waiting for video.
30x100 just sounds like the other variation of the T-3000 my coach made us do all through high school. Twice a month. One day it was a T-3000 and then 10-14 days later it was 30x100 on :10 rest trying to hold better on each 100 than your average for the T-3000. There is very little as a coach I wouldn't put my swimmers through, but I always promised my swimmers NO T-3000. F:censor:k that noise. Even with my love of distance, the only thing a T-3000 did for me was put me to sleep. And it was always easy to go faster than my average pace/100 on the 30x100 because my pace was always terrible becuase I stopped caring around the 13-1400 mark.
Sorry I digress, but all this talk of 30x100 was taking me back.
On another side note, I did do a 30x100 set often in college, but it was structured a lot differently:
3x100 @ 1:10 WHITE
3x100 @ 1:20 PINK
3x100 @ 1:30 RED
3x100 @ 1:40 BLUE-ish
18x100 @ 1:50 BEST AVG
Really the first 12 were for "priming the pump." It was the 18x100 best average that was the meat of the set.
I have a hard time believing your technique improves as you go faster.
I actually believe it could. It sounded from his older posts that he was prioritizing DPS over literally everything else. Now, obviously DPS is nice, but too much of a good thing in this case is a bad thing if it means losing the rhythm and balance of the stroke.
Calvin S,
I agree - never did a T-3000 with any team. For 99.9% of the swimmers, they are an exercise in mental boredom instead of physical conditioning or pace. Having said that, I do remember 2 times when we did 30 x 100 on 1:30. I held the backstrokes at 59 when my best was only 54.9. The other time was all 100 IMs - coming in at 1:02s or something like that.
Jeff - I can see your point as it relates to this thread.
Windrath
I am not a beliver at all. USRPT may work for some few guys but for the most of mastersswimmers is USRPT a wrong way to train...
30 x 100 is good for a test one time per month but not more...
Why? I am not a "true believer" but I find USRPT sets to be a valuable tool. For me, USRPT doesn't overload the anaerobic systems enough so I also do HIIT sets. I am a "believer" in mostly race pace work, why train yourself to swim slow? I also do drills, lift weights and taper for meets, none of which are in USRPT dogma, but I still find it a valuable tool and they are challenging sets. YMMV
Why? I am not a "true believer" but I find USRPT sets to be a valuable tool. For me, USRPT doesn't overload the anaerobic systems enough so I also do HIIT sets. I am a "believer" in mostly race pace work, why train yourself to swim slow? I also do drills, lift weights and taper for meets, none of which are in USRPT dogma, but I still find it a valuable tool and they are challenging sets. YMMV
I don't think anybody has an issue with race pace training of the sort USRPT prescribes. I think where the disagreement is is that that is all USRPT does, as well as the other things that come with it - no dryland/strength training, requires specifying training to a very narrow set of events, hard to do in a team setting. If you're just doing a few broken race pace sets, you're not really doing USRPT as a program - the idea of it from what I understand is that outside of warmup/warmdown, that's basically *all* you do.
USRPT found the perfect poster boy for the program in Michael Andrew - a genetic outlier who trains almost exclusively on his own and who's family seems completely dedicated to advancing his swimming career.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a true believer in the pure USRPT form of training.
I am not a beliver at all. USRPT may work for some few guys but for the most of mastersswimmers is USRPT a wrong way to train...
30 x 100 is good for a test one time per month but not more...
Not quite on topic for this post, but close....
I am not a support of USRPT - Ultra Short Race Pace Training. However, I believe in Race Pace Training which most good coaches have been using for the past 30+ years instead of slogging out volumes of low intensity yards.
This is what confused me with Miklcct wanting to add "USRPT" to his practices. I suspect he is using "USRPT" when he really means "Race Pace Training." Even so, his time in the sport does not suggest a 30 x 100 set will be effective.
I also suspect most of us believe a decades old mantra - "Train the way you want to race because you will surely race the way you train."
Miklcct,
As I read this thread, I think you are mixing concepts. As I read articles on the internet, they are mixing concepts.
USRPT is meant to be short distance (25s), all out sprints with recovery time. 30 x 100 with 20 secs rest is just someone's extrapolation to middle-distance swimming and does not really fit into USRPT.
Not true. Rushall does suggest 100s for USRPT. See for example: coachsci.sdsu.edu/.../ultra40a.pdf
Dr. Rushall created "Ultra-short Race-pace Training" (USRPT) to exploit this unique
physiology. He did so on the basis of scientific studies validating the Principle of Specificity in
swimming-studies demonstrating that the energetics and technical skills of a particular race are
specific to the velocity of the race. Accordingly, USRPT excludes anything, like kickboard
kicking, that is not race-specific for stroke, distance, pace, technique, and mental readiness. The
sets comprise serially repeated short sprints, on 15 to 20-second rest intervals, typically 25s at
100 race-pace, 50s at 200 race-pace, and 100s at 1500 race-pace.
