Anybody have advice on how to swim the 1000 free when you are in less than optimum shape?
In past years, I worked out enough to feel I could just swim it by feel--i.e., go as fast as I could without bumping up against the lactic acid tipping point.
I also swam the hour swim and a 1650, so I had some sense of how to pace the 1000.
This year, my weekly workouts have been down by about 30 percent in total yards, and probably a similar amount in intensity. I have, in short, no idea how to make the best of a bad situation and am hoping somebody out there can advise!
thanks in advance...
Former Member
I work out alone. I was wondering if anyone has ideas for working on/improving negative splits. I have been doing 100yd sprints after doing 5x500. this seems to help but when I try working on 1650 or 1000, I don't seem to be able to speed it up with out greatly increasing my stroke count and getting very tired before I'm finished.
One question: I have heard some suggest going out a bit fast at the very start, for maybe 100 yards or so, then settling back into the strategy you suggest.
NOOO! Don't do it!
Force yourself to hold back if you have to. "Oh-two debt" is not something you want to spend the nest 900 yards trying to recover from. Let your neighbors go ahead at the start even if you "feel" like you can hang with them - them run 'em down in the last half or last quarter.
It works - trust me. I've swum it a few times.
Took advice of all, and it worked.
Being in pretty wretched shape, I went out slow in the 1000, then progressively dropped by 250s for an 11:32--a little faster than last year in the same pool, same meet.
Tried the same basic strategy in the 500; did a 5:25.+--again, pretty close to last year, though maybe 1.5 seconds slower.
I find the older I get the slower my sprinting ability. I did a 53.97 on the 100 (thank god for those 3 one-hundredths); 25.05 on the 50, though a 24.34 with a relay start the next day. I hadn't broken 2:00 in the 200 for almost a year. This was the last event, and I decided to go for it, tired as I was. Did a 1:57.07, which for me was very satisfying.
Maybe this will inspire me to try to get in better shape. Anyhow, thanks for all your advice. If I hadn't taken it out easy on the distance swims, I am sure I would have exhausted and wrecked myself.
Jim
Jim,
Your "out of shape" swimming makes me want to quit my masters team, get a satellite dish subscription, and schedule regular deliveries of Breyer's ice cream to my door. Remind me again why you were asking me for pacing advice in the 1000.
Matt
