Once upon a time--say the better part of three decades ago--I could sprint fairly fast. I went 22.8 and 50 flat in the 50 and 100. I have resumed swimming and begun to compete, and I have noticed that I seem to have a governor blade of some sort on my speed. Just swam my first meet and went 28 and 1:02. I know I will improve, but I sense that I may not be able to improve dramatically. Has anyone seen big jumps of improvements for short races? If so, how?
The good news is that I felt really strong coming home in the 100, and it made me think that maybe I should try the 200 and even the 500. In the former case, how do people approach splitting a 200, and what sort of training do you do? Thinking about this in the context of a zone meet in 3 to 4 weeks.
Look forward to your thoughts.
I can finish a 100 really strong, but I absolutely die in anything longer, just so you know. My 200s are pathetic. Go for it though!
For raw speed you can try the aerobic light plan that many on here advocate, less yardage, but all quality. No garbig yards. Work on technique, still, but focus on speed. Lots of fast swimming - 12.5s, 25s, 50s, and 100s. Ande, anything else?
I agree with this recipe for the shorter races. Getting stronger with weights and swimming quality speed sets will bring about good results.
The 200 can be tough no matter what. Even if your were all sprint in your former life...you can build stamina by doing lot's of 200 and 300 yard repeats.
Hi Red60; I think your times sound pretty darn fast. And I think the others have given much good advice but if a 200 swim is coming up shortly, I'd certainly be doing repeat 50s with little rest. I always loved the 200s, they were my favorite, but I found I actually tried to swim them like a 50 pace plus half-second, so doing repeat 50s gave me a better sense of what the 200 would be like.
Good luck and let us know how it goes. And if you want to get into 500s, there are lots of different combinations for that one which of course includes repeat hundreds, 150s, 200s, 250s. Shorter pyramids are pretty good for this distance, too. 2x250s with increased intensity and rest will help. I also love the 500, I guess I now love anything that takes a long time :rofl:.
I also wanted to add that just getting out of the mindset of 50s and 100s and moving into 200s and 500s is part of the battle.
donna
Thank you Donna, Quicksilver, and Flyqueen! These are good thoughts. I have been doing sets of 200s, 150s, and 100s, with some easy/hard sets of 50s plus IM stuff sprinkled throughout. I tend to do the free stuff all on a 1:30 base, and I repeat the 200s on 2:30 to 2:35, the 150s on 1:50 to 1:55, and the 100s between 1:12 and 1:16 or so. I've tried to go to 1:25 for the 100s, but my stroke decays and it doesn't seem worth it. The 50s are getting faster, especially when I do the easy/hard thing I can get a little more explosive and it's more fun.
I will try a few of these suggestions--the 50s with very little rest, the 200 and 300 thing, and I'll try to go with a little less rest on the longer distances to see what I can maintain.
Anyway, thanks! It sure is great to be able to participate in a forum like this--it really is a service to the sport and the community of swimmers.
Although there are a number of people that have posted studies here against the benefits of breath control/hypoxic work.....the fact that every top tier college and USS team uses it works for me.....
Just so you know: I think the point of those studies is that the use is psychological (as opposed to physical), not that they are pointless.
Red,
As for splitting a 200, my preference:
1st 50 - hard, long and strong. take advantage of the speed off the dive
2nd 50 - build to 98% - accelerate into the wall at the 100 so you can...
3rd 50 - ...turn on the jets
4th 50 - hold on for dear life. keep it together on that last flip and bring it home very strong.
be prepared to feel like the horse... :dedhorse:
barra, i hope you're not reading this ;)
Swimmers who live a mile and a half above sea level ...and do hypoxic training ...are not mortals.
Kind of like the sherpa people up on Mount Everest who don't need much oxygen.
No wonder all the Coloradans clean up at Nationals. ;)
i think should stick to the 50 and 100 becase to get a good 200 you are going to have to improve your speed so you may aswell stick to your best events
Warren, good is a very relative term when it comes to swimming times. I don't know what your times are but I guarantee you there are faster swimmers out there. Would you want them to tell you that you should give up on certain events since you can't get a "good" time? I apologize for being so direct but I think your comment warranted it.
About the original poster now...I think he should push himself to take on the 200. Not only will he have another event to throw in his bag of tricks but the endurance gathered from this 200 will likely help his 100 as well. It seems to me that some very good advice for workouts was posted above and I look forward to hearing about your results as you progress.
Posted by Paul Smith: Although there are a number of people that have posted studies here against the benefits of breath control/hypoxic work.....the fact that every top tier college and USS team uses it works for me.....basically use a breathing pattern of something like 3/5/7/9 by 50 on a longer swim....
Paul, I am in agreement on hypoxic sets and I don't think they are a psychological factor as someone else mentioned. The reason I say this is I have definitely benefitted from training my body to swim with less oxygen and I do the 3/5/7/9 sets, as well as 4/9/13 sets (short duration). I find when I am then racing I am able to do so for longer because my muscles are accustomed to training with less oxygen. If I had never benefitted from doing hypoxic sets, then I would have looked for another training tool, but it has benefitted me greatly over years of swimming. Just had to pipe in on this one, sorry if I got off topic.....
donna
