Hi to everyone, I'm a fresh member in here. I started swimming 4 years ago, I consider myself a recreational swimmer but with a tendency to compete in Masters European Champs when I hit 25(am 22 now). To do a short background : I have some decent speed ( 25" 20) in a 50 free SC, but have no endurance, my 1500 best is 19:53, a 5k around 1:16. I also swam a 10 k , time was 2:45. So my question is how to transform that speed into long distance speed, how to gain endurance BUT not to lose speed. Do 400 intervals, 40 sec rest, or shorter distances? I plan to swim 6-7 5k swims, and one 10 k..
The endurance drop off seems to be after the 1500. I've never done one that fast, but my 5K time is the same as yours. I only used to train with 500's and above and never saw my 5K time improve.
I am now using the workouts on the forums which mix 400's with 200's and 100's. In the past two years, I've swum similar times as yours in both 50's and 5K's. I've noticed this year, that my per 100 pace on long swims is starting to speed up as I work in more interval work. Instead of resting 15 sec after a 200, I'll shoot for a set that looks like:
4 X 200 on 3:15 (target 2:55 which is a little faster than my forever pace)
4 X 200 on 3:10 (target 2:50)
4 X 200 on 3:00 (target 2:45)
As I get deeper into spring, I plan to continue to shorten the intervals.
If you're doing 400's, I think should consider shorter rest intervals. 8 or 10 X 400 is a good main set, but shoot for an interval that gives you 15 to 20 seconds rest. When I was doing 500's with 30 seconds rest, I gained the ability to swim longer distances, but never improved my pace.
The endurance drop off seems to be after the 1500. I've never done one that fast, but my 5K time is the same as yours. I only used to train with 500's and above and never saw my 5K time improve.
I am now using the workouts on the forums which mix 400's with 200's and 100's. In the past two years, I've swum similar times as yours in both 50's and 5K's. I've noticed this year, that my per 100 pace on long swims is starting to speed up as I work in more interval work. Instead of resting 15 sec after a 200, I'll shoot for a set that looks like:
4 X 200 on 3:15 (target 2:55 which is a little faster than my forever pace)
4 X 200 on 3:10 (target 2:50)
4 X 200 on 3:00 (target 2:45)
As I get deeper into spring, I plan to continue to shorten the intervals.
If you're doing 400's, I think should consider shorter rest intervals. 8 or 10 X 400 is a good main set, but shoot for an interval that gives you 15 to 20 seconds rest. When I was doing 500's with 30 seconds rest, I gained the ability to swim longer distances, but never improved my pace.
