How do these swimmers swim so fast?

Lots of long ones! 200, 500, 1650 free, 200 fly, 200 and 400 IM. All of the above? Seriously, you're a superstar. I don't even know if doubles are a mistake for you. Only your body can be the judge. If you feel like you are never recovering from your workouts and constantly fatigued then you probably need to back off. No Kirk. You are the uber swimmer here. I meant to post my story on my last 500 free. So here it is. I swam it at Auburn in Feb. I completely freaked out/ got psyched out as I was seeded third (of men and women) and was next to Sean Joyce - you know, Kara Lynn Joyce's brother. He swam it in about what you do it in - 4:55. Well, needless to say I am not there yet. He finished about a lap ahead of me. I saw feet on the 1st lap and freaked (not used to that.) I ended up swimming a 5:16 as I lost it. So, it was a heck of a learning experience. I will need more time to get near you in the 500. :whiteflag::whiteflag: Anyway, it was horrible and sort of funny at the same time. I mean, feet on lap one?! So, I think you got our gridge in the bag. :frustrated: Can't wait to see what you go on the 200 fly. What's your goal time? Good tip on the training - listen to my body. I get that just fine!

3x300 at 90% race pace. I do not have the mental fortitude to pull that off. According to many, mental strength has always been a weakness of mine, yet I salute those who can muster the desire to endure the pain. I am curious, how close were you able to keep your times?

Seriously though - I take it from the comments posted (by you uber fast people) that doubles would be a mistake. Would the 2 hours a day be too much? Seems reasonable for the 800/ 1500 and open water - but like I said, I don't want to overdo it!! I really do value your opinions. In my opinion, each distance requires specific preparation in terms of pace and total time. I once tried to train for a 500 in something like three weeks, and I did fairly well, but my pacing in the race was terrible because I had not gotten used to finding the correct pace over an entire season. If you want to do a 25k, that's a crazy long event, and it's going to require crazy long workouts to match. How can you be prepared to swim for several hours in one stretch in a race if you never do it in practice? I wasn't joking when I said that you're training for the Tour de France. Maybe I'm wrong, but 1:09 for nearly an hour sounds like a wall-touch set to me, which is to say that it's pretty much a continuous swim. Very similar to what professional road cyclists do, if I'm not mistaken. They have to be on the road for several hours at a moderate pace in a race, so they train accordingly. A mile is a much shorter event than the 25k, and the pace is a lot faster. That means less yardage and more speed in training. If you want to be a sprinter (and of course you do!), you should cut waayyy back, more along the lines of what the Smiths are talking about.

Yes, you need to focus on long swimming, but not that long. Most people training for marathons, for example, never run 26 miles continuously in their training. Good point. I guess the continuous aspect isn't the most important thing.

I mean really...a 1:09 interval for me is touch and go... if I'm shaved and tapered... For a set of two... If I cheat and go the first one on the 58 instead of the top:oldman: Sheesh...seriously, I think she's training for a 25K or something Now I'm trying to imagine what a scary interval would be.

(S)he...its masters and its great to try all kinds of events..but the old saying "jack of all trades/master of none" really applies with regard to "generic" training that most teams use (or the workout you described). I would suggest that decide each "season" what your priority is (sprint/mid-D/D) and focus the bulk of your training on that...you can then extend up/down a bit for fun but have a focus/mission and try and stick to it. Makes sense. Would training for the flys (with an emphasis on the 100 and 200) and distance frees be focused enough for the long course season? I enjoy practicing these things AND I think I can place best in these areas too. Or would you drill down and specialize even further? Now I'm guessing that I shouldn't even think about asking to throw in the IMs too, right?

The only reason swimmers are fast, they train hard and want to win. It used to be explained as they have heart. They have desire. They are always experimenting with technique, never being satisfied.

I get my aerobic base from breathing all the time.

In fact, "less is more" sounds really good, and swimming "smart" is undoubtedly wise, but I still believe most elite swimmers train a lot in aggregate, whether it's swimming, cross training, weights etc. To say otherwise is a bit like claiming you didn't study for the test you just got an A+ on. This brings me back to my main question, which I think has been answered now. People swimming fast times are very focused on their training and train a lot. As to how they fit all this training in with the rest of their lives, I am still a little baffled. I am guessing most train before their day begins and they pack in family time between 6 and 9 pm and on the weekends.

Sweet fancy moses! This happened to me and my group this morning. BTW, I was swimming with the kids so it applies to them as well. When it was time to swim SLOW, they went FAST. When it was time to swim FAST, they were dead tired. Main set was: 1x1500 neg split 2x750 neg split 3x500 neg split Descend by rounds. Interval was 1:09 per 100 pace - so not a scary interval by any means. Swimmer A - Ascended the whole thing; he started out scary fast w/ 6 beat kick (I knew this was wrong) and almost lapped me on the 1500; by the 1st 750, I was ahead; he got out on the 500s. Swimmer B - Ahead of me on the 1500; then it flip flopped for the 750 where I got way ahead; then he disappeared on the second 750 and 1.5 of the 500s only to reappear for the last 1.5 500s Swimmer C - swam the whole thing at a slow pace but he did complete the set Anyway, I thought it was going to be a very long practice as these guys were swimming circles around me during warm up (again, full on 6 beat kicks during the 4x450 warm up) only to die right after the first 1500. Very interesting. I see what you guys are talking about. I managed to descend; however, my 1st and 2nd 500 were pretty close with the 2nd one being only about 2 seconds faster than my 1st. Knocked off a good 10 seconds for the 3rd 500. I still went out too fast on the 1500 AND went too fast in warm up. It's sort of like we were all trying to claim our territory and position in the pack up front. Very silly. Right on w/ your assessment Rich. I'm trying hard to SLOW DOWN my warm up and BE PATIENT on the long sets.:shakeshead: It is swimming 101. But you throw in some testosterone and it makes things a bit dicier. That's not only a week's worth of yardage but unless you are a kid or a miler/open water devotee the kind of workout that moves me to another lane to workout on my own...(S)he...thought you were a sprinter?