I'm just wondering if anyone can explain the trade-offs and considerations when deciding the number of repeats and amount of rest for a race pace set? If one is training for, say, a 200m race and want to do a set like:
N x 50 on interval I
how do you decide on appropriate N and I? How does the training effect differ if you do more repeats with more rest versus fewer repeats with shorter rest? Are there any guidelines relating the target race distance to an appropriate total distance in the set?
Another way of phrasing the question is: if I determine that I can currently complete N repeats on a time interval I, as I get better how do I decide whether to do more repeats or to take less rest?
Thanks,
Lindsay
Parents
Former Member
Thanks to everyone for the excellent responses! I signed out Swimming Fastest from the library yesterday and in hopes of contributing something back here are some quotes from the section on race pace training:
Guidelines for Constructing Race-Pace Repeat Sets
Rest Intervals The rest interval between repeats should be long enough to allow athletes to repeat at race speed, but no longer. Experimentation and experience is the best way to determine rest intervals for athletes of various ages and abilities. Table 14.7 provides some suggestions based on personal experience.
Set Length The number of repeats in a set should also be determined through experimentation and experience. Table 14.7 offers suggestions for set length.
Here is the 200 event section of Table 14.7:
Repeat Distance: Number of Repeats, Rest Interval
25: 3 to 5 sets of 12-20 repeats, 5-10 sec between repeats; 3-5 minutes between sets
50: 2 to 4 sets of 8-10 repeats, 20-30 sec between repeats; 3-5 minutes between sets
100: 8-12 repeats, 45-90 sec between repeats.
In the Season Planning section I found:
"swimmers should do race-pace training infrequently in the first half of the season. After the emphasis in training changes from improving speed and aerobic capacity to improving anaerobic metabolism, swimmers can do race-pace training more frequently. The best plan is to emphasize race-pace training for only 4 to 6 weeks during the latter half of the season."
I guess I am probably jumping the gun then... :) We did some race pace training at the end of last season and I found it really motivating, but right now I should probably be concentrating on technique and aerobic capacity. The "negative motivation rule" is probably telling me I should be doing more kicking... :)
Thanks again everyone!
Thanks to everyone for the excellent responses! I signed out Swimming Fastest from the library yesterday and in hopes of contributing something back here are some quotes from the section on race pace training:
Guidelines for Constructing Race-Pace Repeat Sets
Rest Intervals The rest interval between repeats should be long enough to allow athletes to repeat at race speed, but no longer. Experimentation and experience is the best way to determine rest intervals for athletes of various ages and abilities. Table 14.7 provides some suggestions based on personal experience.
Set Length The number of repeats in a set should also be determined through experimentation and experience. Table 14.7 offers suggestions for set length.
Here is the 200 event section of Table 14.7:
Repeat Distance: Number of Repeats, Rest Interval
25: 3 to 5 sets of 12-20 repeats, 5-10 sec between repeats; 3-5 minutes between sets
50: 2 to 4 sets of 8-10 repeats, 20-30 sec between repeats; 3-5 minutes between sets
100: 8-12 repeats, 45-90 sec between repeats.
In the Season Planning section I found:
"swimmers should do race-pace training infrequently in the first half of the season. After the emphasis in training changes from improving speed and aerobic capacity to improving anaerobic metabolism, swimmers can do race-pace training more frequently. The best plan is to emphasize race-pace training for only 4 to 6 weeks during the latter half of the season."
I guess I am probably jumping the gun then... :) We did some race pace training at the end of last season and I found it really motivating, but right now I should probably be concentrating on technique and aerobic capacity. The "negative motivation rule" is probably telling me I should be doing more kicking... :)
Thanks again everyone!
