So I have decided to focus on the 1500/1650, partly because I seem to have misplaced the three fast twitch fibers I once owned, and partly because guys named Smith are now swimming the 500 and even the 1000. Geek suggested that I build my endurance with dryland work, but unlike him I have a job and limited time to train, and I don't really want to give up pool time. Any suggestions?
I did a set last year that I thought really helped with distance pacing. The first week I did both 4x50 on :45 trying to hold my 500 pace and 4x100 on 1:30 trying to hold my 1650 pace. Then the following week I did 6x50 on :45, and the week after that 6x100 on 1:30. I kept adding two repeats until I got up to 20x50 and 20x100. Then I skipped a week, then the final week (probably two weeks out from Nationals) did both 10x50 and 10x100. So the only weeks you do both the 50s and the 100s are the first and last weeks. All the other weeks you just do one or the other. The sendoffs worked out for me to give very close to a 2:1 swim to rest ratio.
That first week you'll think to yourself "there's no way I'm ever going to make 20 of these," but by the time you get there you'll realize you can. That was the beauty of this progression to me: it helped both physically and mentally.
Other than that I recommend trying to do a set of 3,000 yards or more without much rest at least once per week. Personally I'm not a fan of long swims in workout. I think pace stuff is more rewarding and far less boring. I also do very little dryland. Not to say dryland can't help, but I don't think it's essential.
I did a set last year that I thought really helped with distance pacing. The first week I did both 4x50 on :45 trying to hold my 500 pace and 4x100 on 1:30 trying to hold my 1650 pace. Then the following week I did 6x50 on :45, and the week after that 6x100 on 1:30. I kept adding two repeats until I got up to 20x50 and 20x100. Then I skipped a week, then the final week (probably two weeks out from Nationals) did both 10x50 and 10x100. So the only weeks you do both the 50s and the 100s are the first and last weeks. All the other weeks you just do one or the other. The sendoffs worked out for me to give very close to a 2:1 swim to rest ratio.
That first week you'll think to yourself "there's no way I'm ever going to make 20 of these," but by the time you get there you'll realize you can. That was the beauty of this progression to me: it helped both physically and mentally.
Other than that I recommend trying to do a set of 3,000 yards or more without much rest at least once per week. Personally I'm not a fan of long swims in workout. I think pace stuff is more rewarding and far less boring. I also do very little dryland. Not to say dryland can't help, but I don't think it's essential.
