200 IM + falling piano = challenge

you needed to go way easier on the fly there's a big diff between your flat start 50 br and your br split on the IM you need to do more conditioning training part of the IM is getting in better shape part of it is mental toughness the last part is correct technique and correct splitting it sucks to be hurting bad at the 100 and still having 100 to go find your easy speed gear, save your legs on fl & back Last meet I swam the 100 and 200 IM, the latter for the first time ever. My best strokes are free and fly. My backstroke is quite lame. My breaststroke is slowly getting better. I have no illusions that I will ever get anywhere near a top ten in anything, least of all an IM event. But I would like to improve, and it give me a sense of accomplishment to swim all four strokes in a race and not drown (though the 200 introduced doubt on that front!) I went 1:16.80 in the 100 (out in 35.83; back in 40.97) In the 200, I went 2:51.82 fly 34.65 back 46.81 *** (falling piano) 53.83 free 36.53 The 200 was really a mixed bag--it felt absolutely horrible in the middle (why, oh why did I enter this event??? I am thinking about 20 yards into the breaststroke leg) but exciting to complete. Any suggestions about IM sets for workouts (I swim alone, for the most part) or ways to think about the 200 race? Split goals, etc?? I'm sort of plateaued elsewhere, so this seems like a good thing to work on for awhile. My zone meet is at the end of this month, and I'd like to get the 200 down around 2:45 if possible.

As I've gotten back in the water, I’ve noticed the irony in the phrase, “the sprint IM” – meaning the 200 as opposed to the 400 IM. In my memory, the IM is just another 200 ... but in the real life of 2008, I now wonder what else I have forgotten about this very challenging race. Here’s what I've learned in the last few months of trying to re-enter the 200 IM: - The 200 IM is all about legs. If your legs go, then you're done. So, add more kicking to your workouts. - This is a “sprint IM” for some people, but for the rest of us, it’s a race to pace. If the 200 IM is about legs, then you should swim the fly without killing your legs. The same goes for the back stroke - some people think that backstroke gets much of its power from the kick - a heavy kick in the second leg of the 200 IM will come back to haunt you when you take your first kick in the breaststroke pull out. The goal of many IM swimmers is to turn their fly and free legs in close to the same splits. - The key to the IM is the breaststroke. Breaststroke is the barrier to entry into IM for a lot of fast flyers and freestylers, and *** stroke is where the all of the people like me, who lack a kick at the end of the race, begin to fade away. Plus, almost everyone spends more time on *** than any other leg of the IM, so: this is the leg that offers the greatest potential for improvement. But as you re-learn breaststroke (I, for one, am trying not to swim the breaststroke I learned 40 years ago), remember that having a killer 50-*** will be of little use in the third leg of this race: for the 200 IM, you need the breaststroke that you will swim in the second 50 of a 100 ***, or better still, the third 50 of a 200 ***. I’ve only swum this race a handful of times since getting back in the water, and have come to understand that it’ll take me a while – maybe more than a single short-course yards season – to find the right pacing and strokes for this race. In other words, all this nice advice is, well, nice, but: it’s easier said than done. Good luck to us all ...

Thanks for the suggestions. Just back from the pool, and tried 'em out. 2 broken 300's. Did not think the third was feasible, so went 200 IM straight, rested briefly, then 100 with what was left. Unpleasant, worthwhile! I also worked *** and fly kick. Funny thing about the fly in the 200 was it felt great, not pushing. I think my backstroke is really terrible, and consumes too much energy. Time to work on that technique, I think. And keep my legs for the last 100, for sure.

Try something like 10x100 IM on 1:45. Based on the times you posted, that interval should be challenging but feasible.

I.M is also about transitions. Be sure to sprint into the turns as not to slow down as your brain/body begin the change between stokes. I've always struggled with this personally. I was always fast at the 100s of each stoke individually but only mediocre at the 200 I.M. in and of itself because of difficulty with the transitions. I would always slow down in thinking of what was next. I had a coach split my 25s and that became sooo evident!

I would recommend doing 200 IMs in practice, maybe broken (at the 50 or the 100), do them reverse order, etc. You should train for what you will compete and if anything, do some overdistance type training (225 or 250s where you do 200 IMs and add rotate an extra 25 or 50 of each stroke through the set). 300 IMs are fun too (75 of each stroke). Again, you can do them broken and take a short rest in between each stroke.

I think my backstroke is really terrible, and consumes too much energy. Time to work on that technique, I think. I'm a beginning flyer, and my back is wretched. I negative split the first couple 100 IMs I tried. I also felt completely wrung out after the back. I recently discovered that I was breathing with every pull on back, basically hyperventilating. My coach told me that mistake is fairly typical. I also tend to overkick on back, despite my kick being generally useless. Check your breathing and kick patterns on back, perhaps you are doing the same. Today I did 12 100 IMs on 1:55 (SCM), concentrating on holding a consistent stroke count on fly and breathing every 3 pulls and kicking easily on back. I did 50 easy and took a 1:00 break, then did 4 x 200 IM on 4:00 with the same focus. I held around 1:40 on the 100s and 3:30 on the 200s against a PR of about 1:20 for the 100. It was a pretty satisfying 2,000 meter main set that rolled by fairly quickly. The intervals were generous enough for recovery into the fly and back legs, and just doing that much fly keeps my heart rate up.

Hi Red, Our times are pretty comparable in the IM's... The first weekend in March I went: 100 IM - 1:16.38 (36.25, 40.13) 200 IM - 2:47.74 (36.41, 47.95, 47.35, 36.03) Yup, I negative split this IM. At the same meet in March 2007, I went: 100 IM - 1:18.32 (37.45, 40.87) 200 IM - 2:50.33 (36.91, 46.65, 48.74, 38.03) Definitely did NOT negative split this 200 IM! Though you can't tell my the split, I killed myself on the fly and was dead after the backstroke. As you can tell, I'm not an IM'er either, but like to swim it because it is just fun. Once upon a time, I was a breaststroker, now due to knees, I'm mostly just a freestyler. My backstroke is just plain horrid. What people have said about not over-kicking the backstroke is good advice. You need those legs for breaststroke! Think about your roll and hip snap in backstroke rather than a mad flutter (oh my, did I actually give backstroke advice? take it with a grain of salt...) Then really work the kick, glide and streamline on breaststroke. I also think it is important to get plenty of air on the butterfly! Our team rarely does IM workouts. I swim by myself at least once a week due to my schedule and usually do IM that day. Good IM sets for me are: 16x75 continuous IM (first is fly-bk-br, then fr-fly-bk, then br-fr-fly, etc... really thinking about your transitions) 2-turn 50's in continuous IM order (start and end in the middle of the pool, might be challenging to do this in a crowded lap swim) 9x100 done as 100 IM, 100 IM, 100 free repeated 3x. The interval should be such that it is HARD to make the 2nd 100 IM and then use the free as semi-recovery. I do these on the 1:30. 4x50 fly on 1:00, 200 IM on 3:30; 4x50 bk on 1:00, 200 IM; 4x50 br on 1:00, 200 IM; 4x50 free on 1:00, 200 IM. There is a decent amount of rest of this set, so I like to descend the 200 IM's and go under 3:00 on the last one. I hope you get down to 2:45 at your zone meet! Good luck! ugh, long post, sorry... I went 1:16.80 in the 100 (out in 35.83; back in 40.97) In the 200, I went 2:51.82 fly 34.65 back 46.81 *** (falling piano) 53.83 free 36.53 Any suggestions about IM sets for workouts (I swim alone, for the most part) or ways to think about the 200 race? Split goals, etc?? I'm sort of plateaued elsewhere, so this seems like a good thing to work on for awhile. My zone meet is at the end of this month, and I'd like to get the 200 down around 2:45 if possible.

you don't want to take that frist 50 fly out like you are competing in the 50 fly :). Long and strong. Same for backstroke. My breastroke is the weak link (i'm a decent flyer and backstroker). At this point, I'm doing everything I can to maintain momentum, but my stroke sucks. Then its a 50 free home with everything you have left, usually not very pretty!

Everyone is saying you took your fly out too fast. What do you think? Was the fly too fast or is it that your *** and back are not good? If you had gone slower on the fly do you think your time would have been faster? I for one don't think your fly was the problem. You just have very bad breaststroke and backstroke. Sorry Red I see by your second post you did explain the problem was the backstroke and the breaststroke.