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.
Knowing what I know about Tim and knowing his goal is 22:30, the 1:30s on 1:35 will work for him. He will end up going faster than 22:30 and he will negatively split the race. He has no experience with the 1500 and a little experience with the 800, so going out with a comfortable pace and having plenty to come home strong I think is a good strategy for a first 1500. I used that strategy for my first 1500 last summer and am planning on swimming the event again.
If it wasn't his first 1500, and it wasn't Tim, I wouldn't give any advice on a 1500. It is certainly not a race I know anything about and my suggestions can't be generalized.
I'm not a D guy, but if I were going to prepare a 1500 M fr I'd train for the 1500 in practice, work on endurance, conditioning, racing, speed, and pacing.
Swim several 1500's & further in practice
Before the Race
shave
warm up well
make it so your goggs won't fog
wear a fast suit
in the swim
breathe every 2
use a 2 beat kick
Swim the first 200 way easier than you think you should.
you're going to settle into a pace and you'll settle into a faster ave pace if you don't kill yourself on there
Hold the same per 50 pace for the next lengths 5 - 28
sprint the last 100
Stay relaxed
even to negative splitting is the way to swim it
Sounds like you've done a lot of pace work in practice to know how it should feel and raced 800m already so you know how that feels too.
I have raced only one 1500 SCM, and never specifically trained for it as I was concentrating on my 400, and like PP suggested and 'cos I was way more experienced in a 400, I split the race into 4 parts. That way once I got to 1100m with 400 to go, I could speed up or steady off on the pace as I was back in my comfort zone. So if your distance is the 800, make that last 800 feel like your normal 800 swim.
Good luck!
For the record- I'm right there with you - except much slower. I will be swimming that race this Saturday in my first LCM race ever! I fully expect this to be a record in slowness! (but still a P.R.!)
You know, I was going to swim my 1500 this weekend for time, but maybe I should set the PR benchmark low? I don't think that's in the right spirit, though, because what if I never do it again?
I like the setup that Rick O used, the first 500 "stupid easy."
I once knew a distance swimmer that swore by negative splits, and have been using that to excellent effect in my own swims. I timed him in a 1650 one time and he actually did swim each 100 slightly faster than the previous. Sometimes only .20 second, but progress, nonetheless.
It cannot be stressed too much that the first third has to be very easy feeling to you. Do not panic, the last 500 will feel terrific.
Best of luck!
Swim the first 200 way easier than you think you should. you're going to settle into a pace and you'll settle into a faster ave pace if you don't kill yourself on there
I think this is really the best advice. You can have a coach or your counter tell you if you're holding the pace you want, but ultimately your body is going to tell you what pace it can hold. Personally, I've never used any external method to tell me my pace. My experience is it doesn't matter. If you are swimming too slow, you are going to swim slow. You might be able to pick up the pace temporarily, but you'll probably fall back to where you were and all it will accomplish is making you more tired for later in the race. The key is reading your body and knowing what kind of pace you can hold. What feels fairly easy early on might not feel so easy at the 1000 meter mark!
For the record- I'm right there with you - except much slower. I will be swimming that race this Saturday in my first LCM race ever! I fully expect this to be a record in slowness! (but still a P.R.!)
I'm swimming it this saturday, hoping to break 25 minutes. I've been doing sets of 2000-2500 trying to maintain 1:40/100 on a 1:50 interval in a 25M pool. I do this for any combination of 100s to 500s. I've been almost right on that pace but I'm not positive I'll pull it off. Swim time converter also predicts an extra 24 seconds for LCM but then again flip turns are my nemesis so don't know if that will be a factor.
Any creative tips for a 1500, other than to not die?
Last weekend I completed my first 1500. In order to slow myself down and not burn out my shoulders, I did every other length with alternate-side breathing, and it felt alright. I ended up averaging a 1:51 for each 100 (and later swam the actual 100 as a 1:23.)
If I ever do it again, I'll have to come up with some way to make it not so boring, or get a better song stuck in my head.
