The Distance Lane

I think it was Kirk who suggested that you best average of 15 x 100's on 20-30 rest is a decent predictor of a timed 1500. One of the coaches of the age-groupers (who share a pool with us masters) does the following as a test set. The interval gives 25-30 sec rest for most of the swimmers in the group. Three sets of 10 x 100 on 1:30, des 1-3, hold 4-10 for best average. He would tell them to take their HR at the end of each set, and would give them about 2 min recovery between sets. He records people's averages for each set. The coach (Brent St. Pierre) thinks this set is a good indicator of aerobic swimming conditioning. He observed that many other coaches use some variation of a timed 3000 as a test but found that many non-D types have trouble with pacing: they either take it out too hard (and stop trying when the "fail" halfway thru the swim) or not hard enough (so that the performance is not a good predictor). He thinks his variation is good for a much wider range of swimmers. And he gets to yell at swimmers to maintain or improve their average during that painful third set, to get every last drop of effort from them. I agree with the value of the set. I find myself averaging right around my 1000 pace.

I think it was Kirk who suggested that you best average of 15 x 100's on 20-30 rest is a decent predictor of a timed 1500. I did the set twice and held right around 1:13 (just over), so that puts me around 18:20 I am doing the 1500 this weekend, so I'll report my results to indicate if this is a decent predictor (for myself at least). My goal is 18:20.

I ended up with the 1650 of a masters lifetime...breaking my age group LMSC record by 6 seconds, and going an 18:07.57! CONGRATULATIONS!!! :applaud: :cheerleader: :chug:

Another way of breaking up a 1650 in practice rather than the traditional 11, 10, 9, ......2, 1, is doing like this: ... I just hate counting lengths and taking xx seconds of rest. I'd rather have a set distance and interval time to keep me honest... There was another way one of my previous coaches used to do these longer sets. I'm not sure I'm remembering it correctly, but it was a way to descend when the individual elements of the set weren't the same length. If your set was something like 400, 300, 200, 100, then you'd make an open turn after the first 100 of the 400, note the time for the last 300, then your 300 had to be faster then that. Note the time for the last 200 of the 300, then swim your 200 faster than that, etc. Skip

Either I'm blind or someone signed in for you. I had a late entry who wanted to swim the 1650 but I didn't want to create another heat when I had sent out approximate start times based on two heats. She was hanging around hoping that someone wouldn't check-in. The Swim Gods must have been smiling on you yesterday! It is very possible that my father who was walking around the aquatic center stumbled across the checkin table and signed me in. If that's the case...whew...or maybe one of my teammates... :angel:

I ended up with the 1650 of a masters lifetime...breaking my age group LMSC record by 6 seconds, and going an 18:07.57! Also, a big thanks to That Guy for counting my 66 lengths and not getting stuck on lap 43 as had been planned :applaud: :cheerleader: :chug: Great job James! Prior to warmups, James asked me if I was going to stop counting at 43 as previously discussed. I said something like "I'm not sure if there are any numbers higher than 43... I'm trying to remember?" :dunno: So then prior to James' heat, I picked up the lap counter, turned it to 43, and just stood there holding it so that it was facing the start end. Eventually James noticed, laughed, and pointed at me. But once the race started, I gave him an honest count. :D

I almost had a major screw up today at my meet in Olympia. We arrived plenty early, about 8:15am at the pool, warmups were at 8:30, checkin by 8:45, meet starts at 9:00. 400 IM was the first race, 1 heat. I was in heat 2 of the 1650. While heat 1 of the 1650 was swimming, I suddenly realized that I had forgotten the step I was supposed to do by 8:45am (see above). CHECK IN!!! I completely missed this step, as I had entered the pool through an open side door, rather than the front door where I would have seen the check in table. OOPS!! I immediately went to the meet referee to see what was going to happen. He said that since there were only 12 participants in the race, they just left it seeded as it was with the 2 heats of 6 people. I got soooooo lucky. :bliss: I ended up with the 1650 of a masters lifetime...breaking my age group LMSC record by 6 seconds, and going an 18:07.57! Let this be a lesson to all of you in the distance races...remember to check in for your events. I was very lucky this time, but it could have been worse! Also, a big thanks to That Guy for counting my 66 lengths and not getting stuck on lap 43 as had been planned :applaud: :cheerleader: :chug:

Another way of breaking up a 1650 in practice rather than the traditional 11, 10, 9, ......2, 1, is doing like this: 2 x 300 @ 4:15 2 x 225 @ 2:45 2 x 150 @ 2:00 2 x 75 @ 1:00 2 x 50 @ :40 2 x 25 @ :20 ------------------ 1650 @ 22:00 These are just the intervals I used in doing the set. I just hate counting lengths and taking xx seconds of rest. I'd rather have a set distance and interval time to keep me honest from just swimming slower as I got tired. This really make you get moving at the end of the 1650. :cheerleader:

I almost had a major screw up today at my meet in Olympia. We arrived plenty early, about 8:15am at the pool, warmups were at 8:30, checkin by 8:45, meet starts at 9:00. 400 IM was the first race, 1 heat. I was in heat 2 of the 1650. While heat 1 of the 1650 was swimming, I suddenly realized that I had forgotten the step I was supposed to do by 8:45am (see above). CHECK IN!!! I completely missed this step, as I had entered the pool through an open side door, rather than the front door where I would have seen the check in table. OOPS!! I immediately went to the meet referee to see what was going to happen. He said that since there were only 12 participants in the race, they just left it seeded as it was with the 2 heats of 6 people. I got soooooo lucky. :bliss: Either I'm blind or someone signed in for you. I had a late entry who wanted to swim the 1650 but I didn't want to create another heat when I had sent out approximate start times based on two heats. She was hanging around hoping that someone wouldn't check-in. The Swim Gods must have been smiling on you yesterday!

I have a question about heart rate monitors. I have only been back in the water for four months after a 20 year layoff. My background was mid-distance but now I want to do 1500/1650 in the pool and plan to do an open water 5k in about six months. Do any of you train with heart rate monitors? What sort of numbers do you look for when you are trying to build up your endurance and distance? I measured my max heart rate in water and it was 18 beats lower than on land. So accordingly, I am averaging 70-75% MHR during my long aerobic swims of continuous 4000-5000 scy (open turns). If I mix in some random speedplay, I will see peak rates of 80-85%. What are some typical numbers so I can gauge how I am doing? Thank you for any feedback.