How do they relate to race times?
I did a broken 200 IM in practice the other day, took a 80 second rest between 50's while swimming and easy 50 free. Swam each 50 as i wold in the race. Fly was long and rythmic. Back was mostly arms breathing as much as possible. *** was all out, free all out.
Went in order:(push starts on all)
27
32
35
26
Any guesses how that might translate to tapered, shaved, race suited, etc...?
in May I did a broken 200 like this
25 + 5 sec rest
50 + 5
50 + 5
50 + 5
25
total time minus 20, gave me a 2:47 SCM. then 3 weeks later I swam a 2:52 LCM. so I think its pretty close to a race time. at least for me 4 months ago.
thursday I did 6 broke 200s the same way on start 4:00. 1-3-5 were *** and 2-4 back and 6 free
the 200's *** I did in 2:40 2:44 and 2:47
the backs I did 2:40 and 2:42
free 2:28
I think I would have done better with a start 5 or 6min, because I can swim a straight 200 free in 2:28. and in Back I am hopping to go under 2:30 in 4 weeks. but the *** stroke ones seem to be close since I am hoping to go just under 2:40
I would consider doing the broken 200 swim right before a taper, and do the broken 100s during the very early part of a taper:
Broken 200s: break at 50 and take 10 seconds rest between each 50
Broken 100s: break at 50 for 10 seconds and 75 for 5 seconds
I coached groups that did distances up to 200s. I really can't speak for the timing (taper or close to taper) on distance broken swims. I do recall, however, that the distance coaches had swimmers take 15 seconds rest between each 100 if they were doing a broken 500.
This is very similar to what my coach does. But we usually do 100s broken at the 25 with 5 secs rest. I found the broken swims were very good predictors of race performance.
The time for a 200 broken at 50s with 10 secs rest minus 30 secs ~ race 200
100 broken at 25s with 5 secs rest minus 15 ~ race 100
I think you can meet your goal of a 2:05. Your butterfly seems strong so I wonder if you don't have the potential to go a bit better than 2:05 assuming you work on your last 100. I would think if you can get your 200 Free down to 1:50 you can probably be around 2:03 or 2:04 next May.
I rarely do broken swims and usually only do them to see where I am at. My meet time will generally be around 4 seconds slower than my broken swim with 10 seconds rest between 50s. When I am way out from a meet (like now) I might do a broken 200 with 15 to 20 seconds rest and get similar results to when I am tapering and take 10 seconds rest.
Good luck with your training,
Tim
