Strategy for 1500m free

Set up your week so that you're used to swimming those events on those days. Swim a 1500/1650 every Friday. Swim a 200 *** at race pace every Saturday. And keep doing those long runs on Sunday! I'm doing something similar for my next meet - the 400 IM is on a Saturday so I'm shifting IM Day to Saturday, and the 200 fly is Sunday so Long Continuous Fly Day (for lack of a better name for it) is moving to Sunday. Sunday used to be my lazy no-swim day but that's moved to Monday for the time being.

Tim, Just go to Kino one day at noon and do a test set, 100s on 2:00 or 2:30 to see if you can hold 1:25s or 1:30s on your LCM 100s. If there is a space, obviously. Or, go to your gym pool/local Chandler pool and do a warmup and do a 15 x 100s on 2:00 or 2:30 seeing if you can hold about a 1:15 in yards.

Tim, Good for you. I wish I could be there to count for you. Although I don't swim it in Masters, this used to be one of my favorite events back in the day. A few thoughts: Conceptually, settling into your pace on the 2nd 200 like you did on the 800 is not a bad idea. I like to think of it as 3 x 500, where the only one I'm actually trying to aim to build is the 3rd one. The first 500 needs to almost feel too easy or else you're probably going out too fast. The second one should start to hurt a little near the end, but you should still aim to feel strong. Then, slowly build the last one. I find that counting strokes per lap is a great way to try to stay on pace. I tend to count my right hand entering the water because I always start on my left and that makes a full stroke cycle. Settle into a stroke count on your second and third 100s and then try to hold that through about the 1200 or 1300. After that, you can let all hell break loose. Find someone who can count for you, take 100 splits and provide you simple signals with the counter (e.g., no movement = good, up & down = speed up, side to side = slow it down). As for prep work in the pool, in addition to the 100s, you need to do some longer sets on short intervals (e.g., 3 x 500, 6 x 250, etc.) to get your body acclimated to race pace over a longer distance. As for your 200 breaststroke, make sure you cool down extensively after the 1500, a minimum of 500, and then plan on a slightly longer warmup the next day if you're feeling sore. I assume you're swimming this at the AZ State meet which is a great, cool water pool to race in. Get there early to grab shade under the trees or bring shade.

100s on 1:35 holding 1:30 would be my suggestion. In my opinion if you can make this set then you should be able to hold a much faster pace than 1:30 on a 1500. When I do pace sets I aim for a 2:1 swim to rest ratio and I find that's pretty difficult. So for a 1:30 pace that would mean a 2:15 sendoff. There's no way I could hold my pace with only five seconds rest.

Sprint the first 50, and then hold on for dear life. :-) In actuality, the 3 x 500 is a good strategy. You want the first 500 to feel easy. Some coaches would say "stupid easy", like you could swim that pace all day long and never get tired. Are you working with a coach? If you're working with a coach, you could come up with target pacing per 100, and then if you're able to have someone on the sidelines try to help you signal based on your pace projection for too fast, too slow, or just right. The big thing that people often have trouble with is how a pace feels in practice vs. how it feels at a meet, when you've got much more adrenaline running. Often, you'll want to be toning down the first part of the of the race, so you can come home strong. And no matter what happens, try to build the last 500 to finish strong. -Rick

Either negative split it, do what pwb says by 500 or get your counter to pace you. I have a rhyme for my count pacer - side to side let it ride (ahead of pace), up and down wear a frown (behind pace), hold steady be ready (right on pace). I'm not sure what you can really accomplish in 5 weeks for the 1500 training wise. I'd just do what everyone says and get in some long sets with low rest. I'd probably do some 10 X 300s (world's greatest set), or 20 X 200s or 6 X 500s a few times a week. I certainly wouldn't do any running the week before that race if you want to put up a good time.

Pacing was my biggest concern going into my first and only (so far) 1500. You want to hold a 1:30 pace, which strangely, is exactly what I wanted to do. I was confident I could do it, but was worried I would go out too fast. I did several Xx100 sets holding exactly my goal pace on short rest. I recommend this to help ingrain pacing. I only did 15x100s once, but I did 3 or 4 shorter sets holding my goal pace leading up to the 1500. If you look at my times, you will notice I did go out too fast. I was seeded next to Bobby Patten who holds several 1500 Zone and National records, and I tried to go out with him, before I realized that was moronic. After that I had no problem dropping into my goal pace and holding it until the last 500. If having Bobby on one side wasn't bad enough, I had my wife on the otherside, and she was beating me going into the last 500 (Bobby lapped me twice). So I picked up the pace because I couldn't let her win! She won. Morale of the story, learn your goal pace and stick with it and be happy with that. Girls and old men are going to beat you. This actually requires that you swim SLOWER than you normally would, and minimize rest. 100s on 1:35 holding 1:30 would be my suggestion.

If your goal was to hold 1:30, then maybe I need to adjust mine. You're much faster than me! Ermm... hhmm... The 1500 was Friday evening and everything else was Saturday morning. My goal was just to go fast enough to make the top 10 without expending too much energy that I wouldn't enjoy the meet Saturday. I think I am in much better shape now than I was when I swam the 1500. We will find out Sunday.

Hey, if you really want a great 1500, head up to Flagstaff in a week, train there for 3 weeks and then come down for the meet. This strategy worked very well for Kate Ziegler a few years back (www.washingtonpost.com/.../AR2007061801792.html). My kid's club team saw a number of great 1500s at a meet this past weekend after being up at altitude for a week of hard training.

In my opinion if you can make this set then you should be able to hold a much faster pace than 1:30 on a 1500. When I do pace sets I aim for a 2:1 swim to rest ratio and I find that's pretty difficult. So for a 1:30 pace that would mean a 2:15 sendoff. There's no way I could hold my pace with only five seconds rest. I agree with Kirk. Maybe not 2:1 but certainly more than 5 seconds.