splits

I got my 200 time down from 2:14 in nov 2008 to 2:10 in april 2009. But my split was 1:01.8. 29.44, 1:01.80 (32.36), 1:35.52 (33.72), 2:10.95 (35.43/1:09.15) ... I won't be swimming SCM again until sept/oct but I plan to try to swim it : 29.5 + 32.00 + 32.5 + 32.5 --> 2:06.5 (1:01.5 + 1:04 ) one of the 17 yr olds on our team swims the 50 and 100 around my times, 27.3 and 1:00.25 but he manages to swim the 200 in 2:07.61. I think the key is conditioning. The first 100 is no problem. The difficulty lies in being able to maintain that pace for the second 100. Ideally, I would like to go out in a 1:01 and come back in a 1:04. So I work on it the whole time. I do broken 200's in practice and try and get that second 100 as close to my goal time as possible. If I swim a set of 100's, on the last one, I will go for my race pace back-half-100 time. When I am exhausted at the end of a training session, I do a 100 for time and see how close I can get it to 1:04. I do race pace 200's, too and get times for every 50 so I can see where I am slacking off the pace and all the time I try to narrow the gap between those 100 splits. I think there is more than one good way to split a race, if your mentality and training is such that you like to take it out and hold on, that's okay...if you do enough lactate tolerance training and can hold your stroke when tired. I would slightly adjust your goal splits: 29.5/32.5/32.5/32.5. You'll have no trouble going out in 29.5, the key is to train your body to hold 32.5 with "easy speed" and when tired. Syd gives you good advice to start you on your way. I would add two pieces of advice: -- try broken 200s with decreasing rest (eg, 8/6/4 secs at the 50/100/150). I find this can somewhat reproduce the feeling in a 200 race. Try to hold 32.5, ideally on your feet if you have a coach to time (I find it difficult to get a time on the feet without a coach to help). -- try 200s broken at the 100, with 10-15 sec rest, close to race pace and not letting your 100s get too far apart. You probably won't be able to go quite at race pace (if you can do 1:05/1:08 in-season, I think that would be pretty darn good) but it is good lactate-tolerance training. A slightly-easier alternative is to take 10 at the 100 and 5 at the 150. Oh, and I don't know your age...but I would advise against comparing yourself to 17-year-olds in terms of splitting. There are teens whom I can beat in most practice sets -- even the longer ones -- and whom I can beat in a 100 race. But they can thrash me convincingly in a 200. I don't think it is just a matter of conditioning but of physiology as well, I think age generally tends to degrade 200s more than 100s. That's just my experience, anyway (I am 44). Good luck.

I got my 200 time down from 2:14 in nov 2008 to 2:10 in april 2009. But my split was 1:01.8. 29.44, 1:01.80 (32.36), 1:35.52 (33.72), 2:10.95 (35.43/1:09.15) ... I won't be swimming SCM again until sept/oct but I plan to try to swim it : 29.5 + 32.00 + 32.5 + 32.5 --> 2:06.5 (1:01.5 + 1:04 ) one of the 17 yr olds on our team swims the 50 and 100 around my times, 27.3 and 1:00.25 but he manages to swim the 200 in 2:07.61. I think the key is conditioning. The first 100 is no problem. The difficulty lies in being able to maintain that pace for the second 100. Ideally, I would like to go out in a 1:01 and come back in a 1:04. So I work on it the whole time. I do broken 200's in practice and try and get that second 100 as close to my goal time as possible. If I swim a set of 100's, on the last one, I will go for my race pace back-half-100 time. When I am exhausted at the end of a training session, I do a 100 for time and see how close I can get it to 1:04. I do race pace 200's, too and get times for every 50 so I can see where I am slacking off the pace and all the time I try to narrow the gap between those 100 splits. I think there is more than one good way to split a race, if your mentality and training is such that you like to take it out and hold on, that's okay...if you do enough lactate tolerance training and can hold your stroke when tired. I would slightly adjust your goal splits: 29.5/32.5/32.5/32.5. You'll have no trouble going out in 29.5, the key is to train your body to hold 32.5 with "easy speed" and when tired. Syd gives you good advice to start you on your way. I would add two pieces of advice: -- try broken 200s with decreasing rest (eg, 8/6/4 secs at the 50/100/150). I find this can somewhat reproduce the feeling in a 200 race. Try to hold 32.5, ideally on your feet if you have a coach to time (I find it difficult to get a time on the feet without a coach to help). -- try 200s broken at the 100, with 10-15 sec rest, close to race pace and not letting your 100s get too far apart. You probably won't be able to go quite at race pace (if you can do 1:05/1:08 in-season, I think that would be pretty darn good) but it is good lactate-tolerance training. A slightly-easier alternative is to take 10 at the 100 and 5 at the 150. Oh, and I don't know your age...but I would advise against comparing yourself to 17-year-olds in terms of splitting. There are teens whom I can beat in most practice sets -- even the longer ones -- and whom I can beat in a 100 race. But they can thrash me convincingly in a 200. I don't think it is just a matter of conditioning but of physiology as well, I think age generally tends to degrade 200s more than 100s. That's just my experience, anyway (I am 44). Good luck.