And now how do I fall in love with the 400IM?

Please keep in mind that I am not at this training level: 400 fly 400 (fly/back) 400 back 400 (back/***) 400 *** 400 (***/free) 400 free 400 IM (Suggested set from previous postings on 400 IM.) This is a monster set. It seems you'd have to be quite a ways along the fitness curve to do this and feel like you'd survive. There are obviously some divergent paths to the 400 IM. One is to not do it till you've been able to commit a ton of time and effort into your training, and have several of the above mentioned sets under your belt. If you do this, you'll probably have impressive results. This may be why so few people swim this event in Minnesota. I like the approach that this is just a personal challenge. I know I'm not likely to make a national qualifying time. And I probably won't brag about the result. But I know I can do a strong 200 IM; why not see what else I can do? There's a rough analogy in the running world. There are some obsessive runners who would never ever consider doing a marathon if you had to walk ever in 26.2 miles. But of course, the marathon distance has exploded in popularity, and there are a lot of us who don't feel badly to have walked through aide stations or perhaps caught a break at about mile 23. The analogy breaks down in the pool, of course. We can't float, or walk, and the time of the event is shorter than most people's 1 mile running time. I think where it works is to use the event to push our envelope, not expecting perfection. Then we can share some misery afterwards!!!:drink:

Please keep in mind that I am not at this training level: 400 fly 400 (fly/back) 400 back 400 (back/***) 400 *** 400 (***/free) 400 free 400 IM (Suggested set from previous postings on 400 IM.) This is a monster set. It seems you'd have to be quite a ways along the fitness curve to do this and feel like you'd survive. There are obviously some divergent paths to the 400 IM. One is to not do it till you've been able to commit a ton of time and effort into your training, and have several of the above mentioned sets under your belt. If you do this, you'll probably have impressive results. This may be why so few people swim this event in Minnesota. I like the approach that this is just a personal challenge. I know I'm not likely to make a national qualifying time. And I probably won't brag about the result. But I know I can do a strong 200 IM; why not see what else I can do? There's a rough analogy in the running world. There are some obsessive runners who would never ever consider doing a marathon if you had to walk ever in 26.2 miles. But of course, the marathon distance has exploded in popularity, and there are a lot of us who don't feel badly to have walked through aide stations or perhaps caught a break at about mile 23. The analogy breaks down in the pool, of course. We can't float, or walk, and the time of the event is shorter than most people's 1 mile running time. I think where it works is to use the event to push our envelope, not expecting perfection. Then we can share some misery afterwards!!!:drink: