200 Breaststroke

The 9 or 10 strokes was really slow and letting the glide almost stop...but it's good for "feel." I'll have to do some timing of different techniques on Thursday's speed/endurance workout.

Groin pulls can be nasty,disk problems are of course even worse. Ice and rest and then some easy swimming. Take a really long warm-up before doing any race pace workouts. Heal fast!!!

Well I had my second speed/pace workout tonight...it was a bit later than usual.. My times seemed slower than the first time...I maybe have less energy because of the later time or even still be recovering from Saturday's and Monday's workouts. I went 1:50's and 1:45 on some 200's on 4:00 but I was really trying to get good streamlining and what not. I did a 50 too and got about 0:48. The good news is my SPL went to 10 and out 11 on the last length. I was trying to use the turn and pull out a little better and the better timed 200 came out of thinking a bit more and trying to turn quick etc. Bad news is I have some sort of groin/hip issue. It could be related to the herniated discs I suffer from (nerve trapped or something) but it was bothering me, and i didn't want to risk a tear or aggravating somethingminor into a big problem, so I took off. Possibly I was not warm enough, and tweaked it. It's not hurting to walk and stuff so can't be too bad. I'll go easy until Monday...maybe Wednesday... I did manage to knock out about 1000yards...not a huge amount but they were good yards.

I havent read all the replies, so I hope I'm not duplicating here. I like to break the 200 Br down to 50's in the race, and it's a good practice to follow during workout. Depending how strong you are now, you can do 3 or 4 sets of 4/5x 50's. ALWAYS count your strokes by length. I mix this set up several ways. Version 1 (4x) 4x50 Decend swims with the last being all out. For me it's 6 strokes max per length, and I decend from :37 to :32. Do them on a comfortable pace like 1:00 or higher. Version 2 Hold all 4x50 at best possible average on :50+/-. Modify as needed. Version 3 Hold 4x50 at :32 or better on 1:10 or longer. It's all about average, not fry and die. Hold BEST AVERAGE. Version 4 Same set and hold :35 on a :40 or :45 interval Modify as needed. Obviously you should rest between sets according to the version you do. I vary these throughout my training and I ALWAYS MAINTAIN 5 OR 6 STROKES PER LENGTH. Technique is everything as well as ample rest. *** is hard enough to do when rested. I'd be happy to send more if you want to email me directly at ratthedog@earthlink.net. Enjoy.

I havent read all the replies, so I hope I'm not duplicating here. I like to break the 200 Br down to 50's in the race, and it's a good practice to follow during workout. Depending how strong you are now, you can do 3 or 4 sets of 4/5x 50's. ALWAYS count your strokes by length. I mix this set up several ways. Version 1 (4x) 4x50 Decend swims with the last being all out. For me it's 6 strokes max per length, and I decend from :37 to :32. Do them on a comfortable pace like 1:00 or higher. Version 2 Hold all 4x50 at best possible average on :50+/-. Modify as needed. Version 3 Hold 4x50 at :32 or better on 1:10 or longer. It's all about average, not fry and die. Hold BEST AVERAGE. Version 4 Same set and hold :35 on a :40 or :45 interval Modify as needed. Obviously you should rest between sets according to the version you do. I vary these throughout my training and I ALWAYS MAINTAIN 5 OR 6 STROKES PER LENGTH. Technique is everything as well as ample rest. *** is hard enough to do when rested. I'd be happy to send more if you want to email me directly at ratthedog@earthlink.net. Enjoy. I'll try this when my groin is better but 6 strokes will leave me about halfway up the pool...hehe You're doing 2 lengths in about the time it takes me to do 1. :D

That's just what I'm doing, and you certainly have to modify the times and intervals to fit your level. Seeing my actual times will give you an idea of where to start. If you swim in :45, add :10 or more to the interval and so on. Add more time and do them better before sacrificing quality in the swim. I can easily repeat 4 strokes per length, and I know that once I get over 6 I start to get inefficient for a 100 or 200. If you're at 9 or ten, try to hit 8 and hold it without your times slowing. You'll get there. Also, get in some dryland work and keep to sets of 4's. If you take 4x10 strokes in a 100 br, do 4x15 leg curls and leg extensions. By keeping it multiples of 4 you get it into your mind that you are prepared for that last 25 or 50. Avoid sets of 3 unless your in the 75 *** in the near future.

Instead of using a pullbouy I'd recommend using fins, if that doen't hurt your muscles.You can more easily simulate the undulation with fins. I do a lot of breaststroke pull dolphin kick in workouts to save wear and tear on my knees.

Groin pulls can be nasty,disk problems are of course even worse. Ice and rest and then some easy swimming. Take a really long warm-up before doing any race pace workouts. Heal fast!!! Thanks Allen. I think it's just a little tweak and a week of going easy will probably be best. I think I maybe overworked it a bit in the last 2 workouts and it was letting me know last night. I am walking fine, and only feel it if I stretch my groin. I guess can always work on pull/recovery/streamline with a buoy if I want to isolate it, but I'll have to watch that I am not clamping the buoy too hard or I will aggravate it still. Hopefully Santa wil get me the compression speedos and I'll be full steam ahead after Dec 25th.

Instead of using a pullbouy I'd recommend using fins, if that doen't hurt your muscles.You can more easily simulate the undulation with fins. I do a lot of breaststroke pull dolphin kick in workouts to save wear and tear on my knees. I didn't think about that. Well I'll first go easy, on Friday and Monday, Wed I can see where I am at. I'm getting a nice massage tomorrow so hopefully if it's hip/disc related it will free up a bit. I can certainly try the dolphin kick if I want to work arms. The silly thing is I actually think I felt this happen doing frontcrawl... I have 6 weeks until the event I can afford to lose a week of pace work. It's not like I'm going for a record here. Allen thanks as always for the great advice and tips. Rich