How do I make friends with this race? It always hurts. I have tried to go out slowly, but then I just slow down. I know I should pay attention to my pace, but this flies out the brain when I race. I am not a seasoned racer. At practice I pay attention to pace looking at clock but do not "feel" it. Should I just accept 1000 hurts, and swim it as fast as I can? This is my best event, but I am not loving it as I swim it.
Parents
Former Member
Let me preface by saying that I am a relatively new swimmer. I started about 5 years ago and have only competed in meets for the past three.
What helps me is to start by swimming 100s on a specific interval to get the feel for the pace. I do the one hour Postal swim in January as a training exercise for the 1000 or the 1650 because I need to understand what the right pace feels like when I'm fresh and when I'm tired. I swim looking at the timer whenever possible so that I can gauge my speed. One year I did the one hour swim twice; the first time I swam it straight, the second time I swam it looking at the timer every 100. I was amazed by how much faster I swam when I watched the clock.
After I can hold the 100s without much rest, I start on 200s. Later, I work up to two 500s and start to think about what I have to do to swim a negative split.
If possible at the meet, it's helpful to have someone who can signal you whether you are making your expected times.
Good luck!
Let me preface by saying that I am a relatively new swimmer. I started about 5 years ago and have only competed in meets for the past three.
What helps me is to start by swimming 100s on a specific interval to get the feel for the pace. I do the one hour Postal swim in January as a training exercise for the 1000 or the 1650 because I need to understand what the right pace feels like when I'm fresh and when I'm tired. I swim looking at the timer whenever possible so that I can gauge my speed. One year I did the one hour swim twice; the first time I swam it straight, the second time I swam it looking at the timer every 100. I was amazed by how much faster I swam when I watched the clock.
After I can hold the 100s without much rest, I start on 200s. Later, I work up to two 500s and start to think about what I have to do to swim a negative split.
If possible at the meet, it's helpful to have someone who can signal you whether you are making your expected times.
Good luck!
