Ultra Short Training At Race Pace

I personally believe in USRPT, and think it can be a great tool for self-coachers. That said, I think so much of a 50 free is start, break-out, and turn, that you'll be hard pressed to maximize your performance in that event without lots of external observation and feedback. If you're self coaching, I would suggest you focus on the 100 & 200 free, and sprinkle in some *** and IM work. I would do this set at every workout: 30 X 25 at 100 free pace on 15 seconds rest If you've been out a while, you probably need to start with a target time of around 17.0 to get enough volume. When you can get beyond 20 without a fail, or can complete all 30 without failing the set, drop your target time a half a second. If you've done a 100 free in 57.something fairly recently, you should be able to get to 14.5 in 2 or 3 months. From there, you may find that you have to start dropping the target time in 1/4 second intervals. I would also do this set at least 3 times a week: 30 X 50 at 200 free pace on 20 seconds rest Even if you're not that concerned about your 200 free race time, the practice doing race quality turns while fatigued will help you close the 100 free better. This set also has some carry-over value for closing the 200 IM. Then you can either sprinkle in some *** or IM work. 100 or 200 *** sets would be similar to sets above. 200 IM is a bit of a tricky event to train for with USPRT. I like the idea of working on individual "transition 50's" (25 fly/25 back, 25 back/25 ***, 25 ***/25 free), but you really have to have a good idea how you split a 200 IM to figure the targets and intervals. Some extra fly work might also be called for, as well, like 25's or 50's at 200 IM race split pace.

I personally believe in USRPT, and think it can be a great tool for self-coachers. That said, I think so much of a 50 free is start, break-out, and turn, that you'll be hard pressed to maximize your performance in that event without lots of external observation and feedback. If you're self coaching, I would suggest you focus on the 100 & 200 free, and sprinkle in some *** and IM work. I would do this set at every workout: 30 X 25 at 100 free pace on 15 seconds rest If you've been out a while, you probably need to start with a target time of around 17.0 to get enough volume. When you can get beyond 20 without a fail, or can complete all 30 without failing the set, drop your target time a half a second. If you've done a 100 free in 57.something fairly recently, you should be able to get to 14.5 in 2 or 3 months. From there, you may find that you have to start dropping the target time in 1/4 second intervals. I would also do this set at least 3 times a week: 30 X 50 at 200 free pace on 20 seconds rest Even if you're not that concerned about your 200 free race time, the practice doing race quality turns while fatigued will help you close the 100 free better. This set also has some carry-over value for closing the 200 IM. Then you can either sprinkle in some *** or IM work. 100 or 200 *** sets would be similar to sets above. 200 IM is a bit of a tricky event to train for with USPRT. I like the idea of working on individual "transition 50's" (25 fly/25 back, 25 back/25 ***, 25 ***/25 free), but you really have to have a good idea how you split a 200 IM to figure the targets and intervals. Some extra fly work might also be called for, as well, like 25's or 50's at 200 IM race split pace.