Oh Breaststroker Gurus

SS, A good way to know when and where the engine failure begins is to do some time trials at least once a week. Can the lifeguard time you? Having the pool to yourself gives you the unique opportunity in being able to customize your training. Try to build into the race. Not too hard... or the back half will be a challenge...But not so controlled that you last fifty is nearly as good as the first one. Everyone is different...so a bit of trial and error is key to getting your personal strategy worked out. At the end of the day...the ideal way to learn more about race pace is to do more of them ...whether they be at meets or time trials.

SS, the 200 *** is a race I've become all to familar with. You are just learning how to race 200s, right? You have to figure out what works for you, negative splitting, positive splitting or even splitting. Ideally, each 50 (sans the 1st) should be swum at the same speed. That takes a lot of pacing practice in practice.

What to do then fellas? I train alone. Tough to get someone to help me on pacing tempo. This is where mental training comes in. Swimming is 80 percent mental, 20 percent physical. Not to say that if you have a strong mind that you, too, could go 1:43 in a 200 LCM free. But if you have done the work that Michael Phelps has done, but not prepared your mind, he will beat you every time. You have to train your mind to swim harder in the middle 100 than you want. I loathe the 200 ***, which is why you'll never see me swim it, but when I did, a lot of self-talk got me through the last 125. Those broken swims are excellent ways to practice race pace. Ideally, if you're getting only 10 seconds rest per 100, you should be within two seconds of your in-season 200, and 1 second of your 100. More rest will get your time closer to your goal. Good luck with the 200 ***.

The only way to learn to pace a race is to do race pace in practice so you know how it feels.I like to do 100s at my 2nd 100 goal time. Others like broken swims. The important thing is to know what the pace feels like. It is very easy to lose concentration in the middle of the 200.My 2nd 50 is almost always my slowest split(something I am working to change.)In the race,concentrate on staying long and strong in the middle 100. One thing I do every now and then when I am feeling masochistic is to swim a 200 sprinting the first 50 and then trying to stay long for the rest of it. This can be a real confidence builder(but don't do it early in your training as it can be a real confidence destroyer.)

As with most 200 strategies, one is supposed to really push the 3rd 50 and hang on the 4th. Of course pushing that 3rd 50 REALLY hurts, and your split is still the same as the 2nd (ideally)... just not fair! That conditioning thing comes into play that 4th 50. A few times in the past years I did not swim MY race as I was trying to beat a teammate or two. Kicked myself both times afterward! I took it out way too fast and didn't have the conditioning to bring it home... Must... be... patient.

That's ideal. Nicely done. I'd love to do that again! Sigh. Need more :drink:s

Rich, just a small note: when told that the first 50 is faster, then the rest even, that does not mean that you sprint it. Oh no, don't do that. It means, exploit your dive velocity into a faster 50. Then, yes, you establish the pace, yes, which will feel harder and harder to maintain as the race goes on, even though you maintain the splits evenly. That is the crucial point, finding that pace.

I'm not scared of the pain (yet lol)...I'm scared of going too fast too early and burning out. I guess I'll have to try a few hadrcore 200's and push it more. See what I can do. Then I can get back to the 100's for pace that I was doing before like you told me Allen. Thanks all for advice and tips.

Last week I split 34.71, 38.37, 38.67, 38.50 (2:30.25) in the 200 ***. That's also 1:13.08, 1:17.17 for a plus 4.09 on the second 100. That turns out to be a very common split for a 200. Check out the top 16 from 2006 USMS SCY Nats. I believe they averaged just a tick over plus 4.0 seconds on the second 100 in the 200 ***.:bow:

Last week I split 34.71, 38.37, 38.67, 38.50 (2:30.25) in the 200 ***. That's also 1:13.08, 1:17.17 for a plus 4.07 on the second 100. That turns out to be a very common split for a 200. Check out the top 16 from 2006 USMS SCY Nats. I believe they averaged just a tick over plus 4.0 seconds on the second 100 in the 200 ***.:bow: 4 secs drop is optimal. I had a negative split though... lol must mean I'm super hahaha Seriously I think it's lack of 200 practices...my knee's been bothering me and stuff so I've limited the full stroke time I've been doing.