200 Challenge: Goal time, roadmap and status updates

I would never do that -- I think this is good training for a 400, not a 200. Turnover and pace would be exactly on my 400 pace - not 200. Why train the body for a different pace and distance - the pain will be there no matter what. The set is more about training your body for lactate tolerance -- and learning to recognize the warning signs that you are overextending yourself before it is too late -- rather than "learning" race pace. A broken 200 allows one to achieve race pace when untapered...but it doesn't feel like an actual 200 race does (either tapered or not). Taking 5-10 sec rest twice during the 200 makes a big difference. And it isn't as if I'm way off race pace, either: in the 5 x 200 test set I'll average maybe 2 sec slower than I would swim a 200 at a meet at that time. YMMV.

I would never do that -- I think this is good training for a 400, not a 200. Turnover and pace would be exactly on my 400 pace - not 200. Why train the body for a different pace and distance - the pain will be there no matter what. The set is more about training your body for lactate tolerance -- and learning to recognize the warning signs that you are overextending yourself before it is too late -- rather than "learning" race pace. A broken 200 allows one to achieve race pace when untapered...but it doesn't feel like an actual 200 race does (either tapered or not). Taking 5-10 sec rest twice during the 200 makes a big difference. And it isn't as if I'm way off race pace, either: in the 5 x 200 test set I'll average maybe 2 sec slower than I would swim a 200 at a meet at that time. YMMV.