So I am a distance free person by trade and also do the breaststroke.
For a little variety I have ventured into the world of IM...I am trying to break 6:00 for the 400 IM and 2:48 for the 200 IM
I am looking for training tips/ideas for strengthening my IM
My best times are 6:05 and 2:51
here are how the splits breakdown...
41.17/50.34/51.56/49.51/47.40/47.48/40.32/37.83 yes my Fly needs A lot of work:notworking: and my back is a little :cry:
My 200 breaks down like this 40.75/46.94/45.05/38.29
I would love any input as I usually do 5000 about 3x a week and have just started doing a little weight training. Thanks!!
Hi Bridget,
I think the kinds of IM sets you mention would be helpful, yes. I also wonder about what you said with your strategy of taking out the first 50 fly fast and then dying. If that is the case, you might benefit from doing some negative split or descending sets in practice in all four strokes. You might find that if you took out the first 50 fly at a more relaxed pace, you would be able to more evenly split that first 100 and have more energy for backstroke. It might be worth playing around with. You could do a set like this:
3 x 50 fly, descend 1-3
3 x 50 back, desc. 1-3
2 x 100 fly, second 1 faster than the first
2 x 100 back, second faster
200 IM, build each stroke (so the first 25 is easier and the second is faster in each)
3 x 50 ***, desc.
3 x 50 free, sec.
2 x 100 ***, second 1 faster
2 x 100 free, second 1 faster
400 IM, build each stroke (first 50 easy to moderate, second 50 faster)
As for fly drills, do you think you have a specific weakness in your stroke you need to work on? One arm fly gives you a chance to work on popping your hips up and pressing your chest down with each stroke while being less tiring. Oddly enough, breaststroke arms with dolphin kick (supposedly a *** drill) is also good for fly if you tend to get your timing off when you breathe. Those aren't too innovative, but I like them. I also like doing progressive 100s of fly drill where you go 25 dolphin kick, 50 3right arm only, 3 left arm only, 25 swim.
I hope some of this helps! Let me know how it's going!
Chlorini
Hi Bridget,
I think the kinds of IM sets you mention would be helpful, yes. I also wonder about what you said with your strategy of taking out the first 50 fly fast and then dying. If that is the case, you might benefit from doing some negative split or descending sets in practice in all four strokes. You might find that if you took out the first 50 fly at a more relaxed pace, you would be able to more evenly split that first 100 and have more energy for backstroke. It might be worth playing around with. You could do a set like this:
3 x 50 fly, descend 1-3
3 x 50 back, desc. 1-3
2 x 100 fly, second 1 faster than the first
2 x 100 back, second faster
200 IM, build each stroke (so the first 25 is easier and the second is faster in each)
3 x 50 ***, desc.
3 x 50 free, sec.
2 x 100 ***, second 1 faster
2 x 100 free, second 1 faster
400 IM, build each stroke (first 50 easy to moderate, second 50 faster)
As for fly drills, do you think you have a specific weakness in your stroke you need to work on? One arm fly gives you a chance to work on popping your hips up and pressing your chest down with each stroke while being less tiring. Oddly enough, breaststroke arms with dolphin kick (supposedly a *** drill) is also good for fly if you tend to get your timing off when you breathe. Those aren't too innovative, but I like them. I also like doing progressive 100s of fly drill where you go 25 dolphin kick, 50 3right arm only, 3 left arm only, 25 swim.
I hope some of this helps! Let me know how it's going!
Chlorini
