Hi, I just joined USMS last month. I swim for fitness, and I have been doing this for a long time. I am working on lowering my time in the 500 free because I would like to swim in meets someday. I train on my own almost exclusively, except for an occasional workout with a masters team. I have 2-3 hours a week to practice except during the summer months when I have a lot more time to train due to having summers off from my job as a teacher. My current time in the 500 free is 8:40. My goals are to bring this time down to under 8 minutes by the end of the year and to under 7 minutes by the end of next year. I am 6'1" and weigh 193 lbs. Any suggestions that will help me reach my goals are appreciated!
Montana,
To more clearly apply what pwb is illustrating. You should do sets that more closely mirror the aerobic challenge you will face to break 8:00. To break 8:00, you need to average 1:36/100. The set you need to attempt is 5 x 100 on 1:45 holding 1:36. If you cannot do that, I suggest trying 5 x 100 on 2:00 - holding 1:36.
For me, these sets were difficult. Even though I was swimming the 500 in 5:04, I could not do 5 x 100 on 1:10 holding 1:01s. So, I would do them on 1:20-1:30.
My suggestion to you is to do 5 x 100 on whatever interval is necessary to be 1:36 or faster. Once you are able to do that, shorten the interval and try again the next day (or the day after). The key point is to swim the pace you need to swim 8 minutes.
To be honest, without knowing anything about you (other that age), I suspect you are limited by technique. As you are working on getting the video, tell me how many strokes/length you take. Tell us how far off the wall you can streamline glide before surfacing. BTW - get rid of the dolphin kicks - just push-off as spear-like (aka streamline) as you can be. For what you are trying to accomplish, dolphin kicking is counter-productive (IMO).
I have found 10 x 50 a much better training method. When I was around 5:00 for the 500, I would do 10 x 50 on 1:00 holding :29-30. You should try 10 x 500 on 1:10 trying to hold :48.
Good luck!
Thanks. I’ll try the 10x50 set.
Montana,
To more clearly apply what pwb is illustrating. You should do sets that more closely mirror the aerobic challenge you will face to break 8:00. To break 8:00, you need to average 1:36/100. The set you need to attempt is 5 x 100 on 1:45 holding 1:36. If you cannot do that, I suggest trying 5 x 100 on 2:00 - holding 1:36.
For me, these sets were difficult. Even though I was swimming the 500 in 5:04, I could not do 5 x 100 on 1:10 holding 1:01s. So, I would do them on 1:20-1:30.
My suggestion to you is to do 5 x 100 on whatever interval is necessary to be 1:36 or faster. Once you are able to do that, shorten the interval and try again the next day (or the day after). The key point is to swim the pace you need to swim 8 minutes.
To be honest, without knowing anything about you (other that age), I suspect you are limited by technique. As you are working on getting the video, tell me how many strokes/length you take. Tell us how far off the wall you can streamline glide before surfacing. BTW - get rid of the dolphin kicks - just push-off as spear-like (aka streamline) as you can be. For what you are trying to accomplish, dolphin kicking is counter-productive (IMO).
I have found 10 x 50 a much better training method. When I was around 5:00 for the 500, I would do 10 x 50 on 1:00 holding :29-30. You should try 10 x 500 on 1:10 trying to hold :48.
Good luck!
Thanks. I’ll try the 10x50 set.
