I've never raced a 200, or even a 100 FR; my 50 FR SCY is 26.8.
I'm in a USA meet Sept 20th - expecting to get trounced by kids half my age, but still I want to put in a good showing.
How should I race? What should my 50 pace be? How do I not die on the last 50? etc...
I'm 44, male, swimming masters only 2 years, still learning lots, and open to all feedback - thanks!
Maybe this is obvious, but there is a very fine line between "easy speed" and "going out too fast without realizing it." "Easy speed" is a bad name for it, as it is anything but easy to figure out HOW to achieve this mythical pace. I swam my first (since I was an age grouper) 200 free (LCM) not too long ago, and though I thought I took the first 100 "easy" I was only about a second slower than my lifetime best in the 100 free. Needless to day, I died a horrible death in that second 100. Despite swimming it a couple of times, I find myself doing the same thing in the 200 Breaststroke. Like everybody else is saying, it's a very good idea to work on pace work in practice.
Maybe this is obvious, but there is a very fine line between "easy speed" and "going out too fast without realizing it." "Easy speed" is a bad name for it, as it is anything but easy to figure out HOW to achieve this mythical pace. I swam my first (since I was an age grouper) 200 free (LCM) not too long ago, and though I thought I took the first 100 "easy" I was only about a second slower than my lifetime best in the 100 free. Needless to day, I died a horrible death in that second 100. Despite swimming it a couple of times, I find myself doing the same thing in the 200 Breaststroke. Like everybody else is saying, it's a very good idea to work on pace work in practice.
