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.
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Former Member
Frank and Fritz: (nice combo--you guys could go on the road!) my fly felt great, not too fast. My 50 fly in the same meet was 31.6, an improvement from 32.4. The bottom line is that my backstroke is terrible from a technique standpoint. I pretty much need to start from scratch. I've gone to a local coach for a private session or two in recent years (for free and fly), and I think it's time for another one. If I can bring my backstroke up to a level of competence (!) it will help a great deal. The 45 degree thing is a good suggestion. It has been pointed out to me that my head moves like crazy and my arms cross the center line, so there's plenty of work to do!
In general, my race felt great. It hurt, especially coming home in free, but it also felt under control. This has really become my favorite race. If I can get my backstroke under control, I'd like to try the 400. Everything else feels good enough to try.
Thanks for weighing in! This really is a great help, especially the ideas of new things to try and the evaluation of my splits as they relate to each other.
Frank and Fritz: (nice combo--you guys could go on the road!) my fly felt great, not too fast. My 50 fly in the same meet was 31.6, an improvement from 32.4. The bottom line is that my backstroke is terrible from a technique standpoint. I pretty much need to start from scratch. I've gone to a local coach for a private session or two in recent years (for free and fly), and I think it's time for another one. If I can bring my backstroke up to a level of competence (!) it will help a great deal. The 45 degree thing is a good suggestion. It has been pointed out to me that my head moves like crazy and my arms cross the center line, so there's plenty of work to do!
In general, my race felt great. It hurt, especially coming home in free, but it also felt under control. This has really become my favorite race. If I can get my backstroke under control, I'd like to try the 400. Everything else feels good enough to try.
Thanks for weighing in! This really is a great help, especially the ideas of new things to try and the evaluation of my splits as they relate to each other.
