coachsci.sdsu.edu/.../ultra40a.pdf
There is a method, which is referred to as the Rushall method which Michael Andrew uses.
Was wondering if you had any critique about this. If this sort of training is a good idea and what are the problems.
Would this also be good for longer events? Like the 400 IM?
Thanks!
Question to practitioners of USRPT:
What do you do if you can't make any (or just a few) swims at the target time?
For example:
My most recent rested and tapered 100 back was 1:05.79. Let's call that 1:06 to make the math easy.
My target time for a 25 would be 16.5. My target for a 50 would be 33.0.
Suppose I show up at the pool, warm up and start into a set of nx25 shooting for 16.5, only to find that I can't break 17 to save my soul. What to do? This does happen from time to time. Sometimes I can identify a reason: did drylands/weights the day before, not well rested, recovering from an illness etc., but sometimes there is no clear culprit. I'm just writing checks my body does not seem to be able to cash. What? Do I just give up and go home? That's kinda not in my character, and I'd bet I won't magically improve the next day if I do. To improve, I need to swim, (except in the illness recovery case of course).
Also, this seems to require a precision in timing that is unrealistic in practice. Despite my best efforts to be systematic with my pushoffs, it would be hard to believe that I am consistent to better than 0.3s or so. Similarly, the clock is read from a different position depending on the finish end of the pool. At one end I may have to look over my shoulder whereas at the other I merely need to look up. Clearly I'm not getting the finish time consistently. Also, one pool where I train has an analogue clock, another has a digital one, further confounding my attempts to be consistent. I've taken to figuring that if I am within 1s or a little more, that's "close enough" and I keep going. It seems to me that it is better to do a fixed number of swims aiming to get as close to the target as possible, but accepting that some days will be better than others. I've actually completed 20x25@16.5 or better, (i.e. 16 with a lot of hang time) suggesting that I should change the target or tighten the interval, but then some days I just never even see the 16.
This situation is worse for 50s. 50s at 100 pace are bloody freaking hard in-season. Doing 20 on 20s rest seems pretty unbelievable. If I could do that, it would be my 200 pace. Should I be targeting my in-season 100 pace instead of my season-ending target pace? That doesn't seem consistent with the USRPT philosophy that I should be training at the pace at which I desire to race.
Do what you can. Don't get hung up on timing precision. (By all means, DO get precise with your technique, breakouts, SDK counts, etc.) Don't do 50's on 100 pace!
Question to practitioners of USRPT:
What do you do if you can't make any (or just a few) swims at the target time?
For example:
My most recent rested and tapered 100 back was 1:05.79. Let's call that 1:06 to make the math easy.
My target time for a 25 would be 16.5. My target for a 50 would be 33.0.
Suppose I show up at the pool, warm up and start into a set of nx25 shooting for 16.5, only to find that I can't break 17 to save my soul. What to do? This does happen from time to time. Sometimes I can identify a reason: did drylands/weights the day before, not well rested, recovering from an illness etc., but sometimes there is no clear culprit. I'm just writing checks my body does not seem to be able to cash. What? Do I just give up and go home? That's kinda not in my character, and I'd bet I won't magically improve the next day if I do. To improve, I need to swim, (except in the illness recovery case of course).
Also, this seems to require a precision in timing that is unrealistic in practice. Despite my best efforts to be systematic with my pushoffs, it would be hard to believe that I am consistent to better than 0.3s or so. Similarly, the clock is read from a different position depending on the finish end of the pool. At one end I may have to look over my shoulder whereas at the other I merely need to look up. Clearly I'm not getting the finish time consistently. Also, one pool where I train has an analogue clock, another has a digital one, further confounding my attempts to be consistent. I've taken to figuring that if I am within 1s or a little more, that's "close enough" and I keep going. It seems to me that it is better to do a fixed number of swims aiming to get as close to the target as possible, but accepting that some days will be better than others. I've actually completed 20x25@16.5 or better, (i.e. 16 with a lot of hang time) suggesting that I should change the target or tighten the interval, but then some days I just never even see the 16.
This situation is worse for 50s. 50s at 100 pace are bloody freaking hard in-season. Doing 20 on 20s rest seems pretty unbelievable. If I could do that, it would be my 200 pace. Should I be targeting my in-season 100 pace instead of my season-ending target pace? That doesn't seem consistent with the USRPT philosophy that I should be training at the pace at which I desire to race.
Do what you can. Don't get hung up on timing precision. (By all means, DO get precise with your technique, breakouts, SDK counts, etc.) Don't do 50's on 100 pace!
