Looking for feedback on some time trials so far this week. Since I am fairly new at swimming I have been training for and competing at 200yd and below. But now I am trying to do longer swims and experimenting.
Yesterday I did a good warmup and then a 500yd free near maximum intensity. My time was 8:40. Then I did a cooldown 500 after several minutes recovery and swam a 9:30. This was very relaxed and I was only 50 seconds slower. That to me does not make sense as I would expect the cooldown to be considerably slower. Then today I did a 1000 and I went out very relaxed and swam an 18:10.
My question is shouldn't my high intensity be more like 20-25% faster than low intensity? I would expect to at least be under 8:00 for high intensity....no?
Is techinque rewarded that much over power in distance events?
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Right now I am swimming
50 in 27
100 in 1:03
200 in 2:30
500 in 8:40
1000 in 18:10
To me it does not make sense. Am I that inefficient? I seem to fall off alot after the 200. My theory is I am mostly anaerobic and my aerobic capacity is not what it should be. As I approach the end of a 200 I feel myself falling apart and my form suffers. I think I need to control my intensity better and distribute the power more efficiently.
What should the % time differentials be for a well conditioned skillful swimmer?
I am really humbled by how difficult swimming is. It's like anything, until you try, you really have no idea. I am doing over 10,000 per week of 80% freestyle 10% *** and 10% kick. I thought I would be alot faster by now. I told myself it will take 3 years to put this together. Maybe I was wrong.
Thank you for posting these times; it helps a lot. I see a big discrepancy between the 200 and 500 times. I think this speaks of lack of swimming endurance and just because you may be swimming 10,000 yds a week,(about 6 miles) that will not necessarily fix this. The reason is HOW are you spending those 10,000 yds. I don't think it will be a 3 year journey. There are lots of ways to increase your speed for lower distances and then take that speed to longer distances. I know you said 80% free, 10% ***, 10% kick but you probably need to do repeat distances, like 50s and 100, with both rest and little rest and keep track on a pool clock or wristwatch. You need to be able to swim, say, 10x100s at say 80% intensity with little rest and eventually keep those hundreds pretty close together in time. The same goes for repeat 50s. The stamina received from doing either sprints or race-pace sets will certainly improve your 500 and 1000 time. Slow swimming will only create slow times; energy needs to be expended over sets. And you also need to be swimming some repeat 200s with little rest and lots of rest (mix and match) so you can back-up those 200s close in time. This will make the 500 faster and feel a lot better. This does take time for the body to become accustomed, but it DOES come; patience is key.
Right now I am swimming
50 in 27
100 in 1:03
200 in 2:30
500 in 8:40
1000 in 18:10
To me it does not make sense. Am I that inefficient? I seem to fall off alot after the 200. My theory is I am mostly anaerobic and my aerobic capacity is not what it should be. As I approach the end of a 200 I feel myself falling apart and my form suffers. I think I need to control my intensity better and distribute the power more efficiently.
What should the % time differentials be for a well conditioned skillful swimmer?
I am really humbled by how difficult swimming is. It's like anything, until you try, you really have no idea. I am doing over 10,000 per week of 80% freestyle 10% *** and 10% kick. I thought I would be alot faster by now. I told myself it will take 3 years to put this together. Maybe I was wrong.
Thank you for posting these times; it helps a lot. I see a big discrepancy between the 200 and 500 times. I think this speaks of lack of swimming endurance and just because you may be swimming 10,000 yds a week,(about 6 miles) that will not necessarily fix this. The reason is HOW are you spending those 10,000 yds. I don't think it will be a 3 year journey. There are lots of ways to increase your speed for lower distances and then take that speed to longer distances. I know you said 80% free, 10% ***, 10% kick but you probably need to do repeat distances, like 50s and 100, with both rest and little rest and keep track on a pool clock or wristwatch. You need to be able to swim, say, 10x100s at say 80% intensity with little rest and eventually keep those hundreds pretty close together in time. The same goes for repeat 50s. The stamina received from doing either sprints or race-pace sets will certainly improve your 500 and 1000 time. Slow swimming will only create slow times; energy needs to be expended over sets. And you also need to be swimming some repeat 200s with little rest and lots of rest (mix and match) so you can back-up those 200s close in time. This will make the 500 faster and feel a lot better. This does take time for the body to become accustomed, but it DOES come; patience is key.
