Ultra Short Training At Race Pace

Is the 30 x 50 the first time you have tried USRPT set? If so, you may want to start with 20 or even 10 to get the idea. When I started this in September, my target time was 32. But I did not start doing the sets at 32. I started at 35. That was too easy so I went to 34 which was also too easy. I spent 2 or 3 weeks at 33 then finally to 32. The fact that you failed three by the time you got to the tenth repeat tells me your target time is too fast. You want to be able to get in at least 10 before your first failure. That is always my goal. Take me through the set you did. What was the interval and what were your times on each 50 including the ones after a rest.[/QUOTEM Yes, this was the first time I did an USRPT set. I train SCM and I set a target time of 32 seconds for each repeat based on my 200 LCM time of 2:08. It went like this: 32, 32, 32, 33, 33, 32,, 32, 32, 33, 33. So that was four failures instead of three as I initially stated. I use a poolmate swim watch to time myself and it doesn't record tenths of a second. It rounds up or down to the nearest whole number (I presume) so a 32 could be anywhere from a 31:50 to a 32:49. Similarly a 32:50 would be recorded as a 33. I used my tempo trainer set on the second function to beep every 50 seconds for my interval time. I didn't rest on any of them. To be honest, my eyesight is not great at all and the poolmate only gives you four seconds to read the lap time before it goes into pause mode. With only four seconds, my bad eyesight and all that heavy breathing I wasn't really sure what time I was doing so I decided not to rest and instead to carry on until I felt I could do no more. I was pretty sure that I saw 32's on the first two but after that it was anybody's guess. I only knew what times I did when I stopped and reviewed my log. The tempo trainer works very well for the interval times but I need to find a more visible way of recording my repeat times (that or get goggles with a prescription). I did another set yesterday but this time shifted my target time to 34. I set the tempo trainer to beep every seventeen seconds. I still recorded my times on my watch but the tempo trainer gave me a reliable way on knowing whether I was hitting my target time or not. All I had to do was to get in before the second beep and I knew I was under 34. On the third beep I pushed off for my next repeat. That meant I was doing repeats on 51 seconds with roughly 17 or 18 seconds of rest. This set went as follows: 34, 34, 33, 34, 34, 33, 34, 33, 34, 32, 34, 33, 33, 34, 34, 32, 32, 32, 34 and then I stopped because I had to leave early. So that was nineteen repeats without any failures but it wasn't nearly as challenging as the target of 32. I am always interested in new ways of training and recently I have got stuck in a bit of a plateau with my 200 training. I am also intrigued by the results you and others have gotten using this method and would like to give it a try and see if it can get me to the next level.

Is the 30 x 50 the first time you have tried USRPT set? If so, you may want to start with 20 or even 10 to get the idea. When I started this in September, my target time was 32. But I did not start doing the sets at 32. I started at 35. That was too easy so I went to 34 which was also too easy. I spent 2 or 3 weeks at 33 then finally to 32. The fact that you failed three by the time you got to the tenth repeat tells me your target time is too fast. You want to be able to get in at least 10 before your first failure. That is always my goal. Take me through the set you did. What was the interval and what were your times on each 50 including the ones after a rest.[/QUOTEM Yes, this was the first time I did an USRPT set. I train SCM and I set a target time of 32 seconds for each repeat based on my 200 LCM time of 2:08. It went like this: 32, 32, 32, 33, 33, 32,, 32, 32, 33, 33. So that was four failures instead of three as I initially stated. I use a poolmate swim watch to time myself and it doesn't record tenths of a second. It rounds up or down to the nearest whole number (I presume) so a 32 could be anywhere from a 31:50 to a 32:49. Similarly a 32:50 would be recorded as a 33. I used my tempo trainer set on the second function to beep every 50 seconds for my interval time. I didn't rest on any of them. To be honest, my eyesight is not great at all and the poolmate only gives you four seconds to read the lap time before it goes into pause mode. With only four seconds, my bad eyesight and all that heavy breathing I wasn't really sure what time I was doing so I decided not to rest and instead to carry on until I felt I could do no more. I was pretty sure that I saw 32's on the first two but after that it was anybody's guess. I only knew what times I did when I stopped and reviewed my log. The tempo trainer works very well for the interval times but I need to find a more visible way of recording my repeat times (that or get goggles with a prescription). I did another set yesterday but this time shifted my target time to 34. I set the tempo trainer to beep every seventeen seconds. I still recorded my times on my watch but the tempo trainer gave me a reliable way on knowing whether I was hitting my target time or not. All I had to do was to get in before the second beep and I knew I was under 34. On the third beep I pushed off for my next repeat. That meant I was doing repeats on 51 seconds with roughly 17 or 18 seconds of rest. This set went as follows: 34, 34, 33, 34, 34, 33, 34, 33, 34, 32, 34, 33, 33, 34, 34, 32, 32, 32, 34 and then I stopped because I had to leave early. So that was nineteen repeats without any failures but it wasn't nearly as challenging as the target of 32. I am always interested in new ways of training and recently I have got stuck in a bit of a plateau with my 200 training. I am also intrigued by the results you and others have gotten using this method and would like to give it a try and see if it can get me to the next level.