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.
I do like Kirk's suggestion and will try that when I next train for a mile, but ...
My best season for distance swimming was when we did a ton of 500s and 200s in practice. I personally prefer sets of 100s, but if I really want to get into good distance shape, I find the minimum repeat unit needs to be 200s.
... Jim and others are right. You need some longer distance swims.
Here are a couple of workouts I've done recently that I think are good for 1000/1650 training:
forums.usms.org/blog.php
forums.usms.org/blog.php
Chris Stevenson also frequently does broken miles and I think that is good.
I have no clue what En1, 2 or 3 stand for, but, for me, I think a lot of work on longer distance sets (300 to 600) over 2K to 3K continuously with relatively little rest (e.g., 5 or so seconds per 100) on as fast an interval as you can hold is great for building endurance.
For me, if I ultimately wanted to hold 1:00 per 100 in a mile (a goal not yet achieved as a Masters swimmer, but hopefully next SCY season), I'd want to be doing these distances aiming for a 1:05 pace on a 1:10 interval earlier in the season when aiming for most endurance work. However, YMMV as I tend to swim a lot faster come taper time pace-wise than I can hold in workout.
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.
I do like Kirk's suggestion and will try that when I next train for a mile, but ...
My best season for distance swimming was when we did a ton of 500s and 200s in practice. I personally prefer sets of 100s, but if I really want to get into good distance shape, I find the minimum repeat unit needs to be 200s.
... Jim and others are right. You need some longer distance swims.
Here are a couple of workouts I've done recently that I think are good for 1000/1650 training:
forums.usms.org/blog.php
forums.usms.org/blog.php
Chris Stevenson also frequently does broken miles and I think that is good.
I have no clue what En1, 2 or 3 stand for, but, for me, I think a lot of work on longer distance sets (300 to 600) over 2K to 3K continuously with relatively little rest (e.g., 5 or so seconds per 100) on as fast an interval as you can hold is great for building endurance.
For me, if I ultimately wanted to hold 1:00 per 100 in a mile (a goal not yet achieved as a Masters swimmer, but hopefully next SCY season), I'd want to be doing these distances aiming for a 1:05 pace on a 1:10 interval earlier in the season when aiming for most endurance work. However, YMMV as I tend to swim a lot faster come taper time pace-wise than I can hold in workout.
