200 Challenge: Goal time, roadmap and status updates

My goal was to break 1:58. 200 free: 2:01.56 split 27.38 29.73 31.96 32.49 I think you did really well. I went out too fast, and died. Agreed. Even if I just look at the difference between your 100's (57.11 vs 64.45) that gap is too big. A four second gap would have been better. Also your first 100 (57.11) was only 3 seconds off your current fastest 100 and, for me at any rate, that pace is a little ambitious. My own rule of thumb is to swim my first 100 of my 200 no faster than 4 seconds off my 100 time. So, if I were you, I would have aimed for a 58.50 for my first 100 - 28.50/30.00 - then come back in 31.00/31.00. That would have got you closer to your goal time. Having said that, your first 50 was about 3 seconds off your 50 time which is about spot on; maybe a little fast. It looks like the conditioning is not there. If I would have gone out .6 slower on the first 50 and .2 on the second, would that have made the difference to bring home the back 100? Hard to know for certain without trying it out in practice. The time drift between your 50's might have remained the same and your overall time might have just been .8 slower. Some people just have to go out fast to do a fast time: I tend toward that category. I am not sure that going out .8 slower on your first 100 would have allowed you to go under 2:00 but it might have made the race more pleasant! The strength was there, just not the endurance. Yes, given your 100 time of 54 you should be able to go 1:58 (that is if you are, as per Ande's middle distance classification, a double your 100, add 10 seconds, kind of swimmer). Instead, you fall into the double your 100, add 14 seconds (drop dead sprinter) category. But you can move between categories. Last year I also fell into the sprint category. This year, I fall more into the middle distance category. How did you feel on the third 50? For me, this is the most crucial part of the race. It's all about concentration in the face of increasing pain. The time gap between the second and third 50's is always the biggest for me. Also, it is easy to toss around these times: chop off half a second here, add half there.... but it is quite another thing to execute it. We are only talking about half seconds here and there. Actually, your times are very respectable. You just need some fine tuning and that is only going to come with practice. My biggest problem is trying to hold back the 'jackrabbit' (as Paul Smith calls it) in me and slow down a bit, just a tad, on that first 50. I can't contain the excitement and going out too fast can blow the entire race. Practice, practice, practice...

My goal was to break 1:58. 200 free: 2:01.56 split 27.38 29.73 31.96 32.49 I think you did really well. I went out too fast, and died. Agreed. Even if I just look at the difference between your 100's (57.11 vs 64.45) that gap is too big. A four second gap would have been better. Also your first 100 (57.11) was only 3 seconds off your current fastest 100 and, for me at any rate, that pace is a little ambitious. My own rule of thumb is to swim my first 100 of my 200 no faster than 4 seconds off my 100 time. So, if I were you, I would have aimed for a 58.50 for my first 100 - 28.50/30.00 - then come back in 31.00/31.00. That would have got you closer to your goal time. Having said that, your first 50 was about 3 seconds off your 50 time which is about spot on; maybe a little fast. It looks like the conditioning is not there. If I would have gone out .6 slower on the first 50 and .2 on the second, would that have made the difference to bring home the back 100? Hard to know for certain without trying it out in practice. The time drift between your 50's might have remained the same and your overall time might have just been .8 slower. Some people just have to go out fast to do a fast time: I tend toward that category. I am not sure that going out .8 slower on your first 100 would have allowed you to go under 2:00 but it might have made the race more pleasant! The strength was there, just not the endurance. Yes, given your 100 time of 54 you should be able to go 1:58 (that is if you are, as per Ande's middle distance classification, a double your 100, add 10 seconds, kind of swimmer). Instead, you fall into the double your 100, add 14 seconds (drop dead sprinter) category. But you can move between categories. Last year I also fell into the sprint category. This year, I fall more into the middle distance category. How did you feel on the third 50? For me, this is the most crucial part of the race. It's all about concentration in the face of increasing pain. The time gap between the second and third 50's is always the biggest for me. Also, it is easy to toss around these times: chop off half a second here, add half there.... but it is quite another thing to execute it. We are only talking about half seconds here and there. Actually, your times are very respectable. You just need some fine tuning and that is only going to come with practice. My biggest problem is trying to hold back the 'jackrabbit' (as Paul Smith calls it) in me and slow down a bit, just a tad, on that first 50. I can't contain the excitement and going out too fast can blow the entire race. Practice, practice, practice...