Tuesday February 9, 2016

Today's practice was focused on pacing for a 1650 yard or a 100M swim.  Overall we had a great day in the chilly water!  

Our strength as a group: we finished the set very well.  The last 4 rounds, for most athletes, were the best 4 rounds of the set.  And the times at the end, for many people, were very good.  

Our second strength as a group: we generally have had a good practice attitude going at practice recently.  I think we have a few people who are getting more comfortable talking during practice…and when I say "talking" I mean talking about getting after it and keeping the energy level up in the lanes.  

  You have to take hold of the practice and work each other through it a bit.  Have fun with each other, and you will naturally work each other through a practice.  Allow the verbal instruction and coaching I offer you to be just one of the things you hear and respond to at practice, not the only thing your hear and respond to.

Our weakness as a group: getting started.  I felt like today there was too much holding back at the beginning of the set, and as well some holding back during warmup that wasn't necessary.  See below comments for recommendations and ideas about how to improve this as a Team!

Here are two recommendations for getting some improvement on this type of set, which poses a great challenge due to its demands for a high volume of fast swimming:

*Let it flow on numbers 1 through 3 out of 10.  Swim with great walls and crisp strokes.  Split it emphatically -- either get out fast and cruise a little bit at the end, or build it and swim a fast back third.  Have a goal to be within 1.5-2.5 seconds of your fastest swim on a 75, and within 2-3 on a 150.   

*Warmup better. The warmup is meant to get your heart rate up and get your strokes ready to use during the set.  Today, we could have used the 25s better.  Next time, I'll put the 25s on the watch and we will focus better, as a group, on proper stroke counts proper paces.

Our top performers on the 150s side were Shawn and Jack.  My only gripe with the way the set unfolded was that the start of the set was too slow, and there wasn't really a gear change on number two.  Jack maybe the first 3 or 4.  Think about your best 1650s or 1500s -- our team's best milers have done well when attacking the swim to some extent.  Good stroke, great walls, proper body position, longer underwater than the middle of the swim possibly, just cruising but moving well, en route to a strong first 300.

Our top performer on the 75s was Erika.  She had maybe one 42 to start, but was right between 41.7 and 41.2 through the first half of the set.  She got a few 40+ before a 39.9 on the end.   

During the spring, we will swim a set of 75s where we expect to get 3 fast 75s -- not 10.  Let's see if we can get the following at a practice this spring:

75 Fly: 5 girls 44 or better, with 3 girls 43.5 or better 

75 Breast: 6 guys 45 or better, with 3 guys 43.9 or better 

75 Free: 4 guys 37 or better; 3 girls 39 or better

75 Back: first male 39 in T2 history (pretty sure this would be a first for T2 guys!)

This is a chart we were looking at today:

1650 100 P     150 Pace        1650 goal
56.0                1:24.0             15:24             

58.0                1:27.0             15:57

1:00.0             1:30.0             16:30

1:02.0             1:33.0             17:06

1:04.0             1:36.0             17:39

75P                 (200M)           Pace per 50    Ideal 100 splits (2nd 50 pacing) 

38.0                1:54.0             :28.50             27.00 + 28.50 = 55.50

39.0                1:57.0             :29.25             27.75 + 29.25 = 57.00        

40.0                2:00.0             :30.00             28.50 + 30.00 = 58.50

41.0                2:03.0             :30.75             29.25 + 30.75 = 1:00.00

42.0                2:06.0             :31.50             30.00 + 31.50 = 1:01.50

43.0                2:09.0             :32.25             30.75 + 32.25 = 1:03.00

44.0                2:12.0             :33.00             31.50 + 33.00 = 1:04.50

45.0                2:15.0             :33.75             32.25 + 33.75 = 1:06.00

46.0                2:18.0             :34.50             33.00 + 34.50 = 1:07.50

{The 200M is in parenthesis because I do not mean to show that the 75s are an indicator of one's 200M readiness.  The 200M time is simply a note for me as I did the math on this…and I've left it there so you can see how I get the paces.  The math is: three 75s is 225 yards, which is the same distance as 200 meters…so I multiply the 75 by 3, and divide twice to get the 50M pace}

{The Breast and Fly splits are going to be a little bit further apart than this due to the fact that the first 50 is done to the hand touch and the second 50 is done from the hand touch (as opposed to: to the foot touch and from the foot push).