Swim pacing

Deller

 I've been getting a lot of great advice from the Swim Smooth site. (great place in the EN mold with a lot of free stuff mixed with affordably priced e-books),    An e-mail message I just got from them was about something that I haven't thought a lot about - pacing on my race swim.  Honestly, even though I think it's easy to apply the 4 Keys philosophy across the board to swimming, I feel like there's less detail given in the haus race advice about executing the swim.  Anyway, i though this was pretty good advice from the Swim Smooth info:

"Even if you are swimming well at the moment it's very likely that your pace awareness is harming your race performances. It feels normal to start out too fast when you feel fresh and then fade badly in the second half, losing all the time you gained and a lot more. Since most swimmers and triathletes swim this way, it seems normal as everyone around you is doing the same thing. Even in a drafting race where it is an advantage to get on a fast pair of feet, you need to be careful. When you start at the right pace you may lose some meters but then you can work your way up the field, jumping from feet to feet as those ahead fade and slow down.........Remember, if you start too fast you can't recover, the damage has all been done and you will fade badly - losing lots of time and suffering much more than you need to in the second half of the race."

They go on to recommend a "pacing challenge" where you try and get a series of 25 second splits over the course of a 150 meter swim within 1 second of each other.  

I'd love to hear more experienced swimmers' thoughts on this and any other suggestions for exercises to dial in pace.

Eric

kmepham

I use a Tempo Timer, a small waterproof metronome that attaches to my goggle strap and fits under my swim cap. I use it in every swim workout, trying to maintain form and strokes/length at faster and faster tempos. (It's a Total Immersion thing.) Then I use it in races to set and control my pace, similar to how the power meter controls the bike pace and the GPS watch helps control the run pace. All you have to do is hit one stroke per beep and concentrate on maintaining good form for each stroke.

Tom Glynn

I just bought this pretty cool watch called Swimovate.  Link is here

It gives you laps, yardage, average 100's pace, average strokes per 25 yards, and an efficiency golf score.  If you hit the pause button, it creates sets, and gives you data for each set.

There are a bunch of draw backs, like having to pull data manually, i.e. no PC link, but it's a big leap forward I think.  Maybe garmin or someone will buy them and dump a few more R&D dollars for the PC link and software.

I admit to being a data geek, so this is right up my alley.  I now have hard data that says my threshold 100 yard swim takes 149.8 seconds, 24 strokes per length, and a lousy golf score.  The good thing is that I can now evaluate every swim and have hard data, not having to remember the clock data.

Love to hear if any one else has one and if so, how you are using it

tom

Coach Patrick

Eric, I am convinced that the poor form of most of us is severely compounded by the inability to pace well on the swim. Anything you can do to build a mental, no-walls understanding of pacing can only really help!

Sounds cool, Tom. I will tweet it out and see what folks have to say.

Nemo Brauch

Posted By Patrick McCrann on 02 Jul 2010 07:16 PM

Eric, I am convinced that the poor form of most of us is severely compounded by the inability to pace well on the swim. Anything you can do to build a mental, no-walls understanding of pacing can only really help!



Sounds cool, Tom. I will tweet it out and see what folks have to say.

Or you could look at this thread:

http://endurancenation.us.dnnmax.co...fault.aspx

Tom Glynn

Nemo,

Thanks for the post! I read a lot here, but that one seems to have slipped through the cracks!

Interested to know if you use it for more than a lap counter. I've been watching my golf score like a hawk trying to drive it down (without much success!).

I set up a little spreadsheet to write down set information. I've been doing 100's on 2 minutes, so I hit the pause button when done, wait until the 2 minutes are up on the swim clock, hit the pause button again and go. I've been amazed at my poor pacing, erratic golf score amongst other things. Now that I look at it after every swim, I hope to get better. The daily feedback and ability to write it down seems to be making a difference.

I'll also swim continuously for 20 or 30 minutes to see how it falls out. It appears that I get "lazy" if not paying attention and my 100 yard average. When completely focused for the entire time, my 100 yard average decreases by 10-15 seconds compared to "just swim" sessions.

By the way, I've been enjoying the Swim Smooth blog. It's well written.

I'm also a little afraid that IM Texas my be a non wetsuit IM, so now is the time to focus!

tom

HayesSanborn

 I use my breathing pattern has my guide for pacing. I know that if I'm breathing every stroke, I'm working hard and that = X pace. I breath every stroke in a sprint race as an example.  Oly i use a different pattern closer to every other stroke. 

Ironman breathing for me. 

Stroke = breath

Stroke = breath

5 stroke = no breath 

stroke = breath

Stroke = breath

5 stroke = no breath

I have this dialed down pretty well with years in the pool. I think its helpful to develop tools that do no involve gadgets that will not be around during the race. 

 

 

 

Spokane_Al

I use a product called a Wetronome (also from the Swim Smooth folks at http://www.swimsmooth.com/wetronome.html ) which does pretty much the same as Kevin's swim tool and swim with it on most of my longer training sets.



As an aside to Kevin's comments where he stated he uses his tool in races, you may want to check the following discussion on the subject at: 

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=2474358

I guess you can take that for as many grains of salt as you like.

kmepham

@Al, LOL, if I look up "definitive" in the dictionary, I'm pretty sure I won't be finding that thread. The USAT rules state that headsets, radios, and personal audio devices are unauthorized. I don't see how a tempo trainer, even under a swim cap, falls into any of those categories. A headset is commonly defined as headphones with a mike. A personal audio device is a sound reproduction device. Maybe I'd better e-mail Charlie and try to get a definitive answer.

HayesSanborn

 I know at No70.3 you were told to turn off the audible pacing of the garmin which acted like a metonome...

Nemo Brauch

Tom- yes, I've become very focused on the golf score. I find the pool-mate really helpful on that front because it automatically gives you the "efficiency score" (aka Golf Score)- so once again, less math for me to do!! :-) I agree with you that the most frustrating thing is that I can't download the workout file afterwards, but it's biggest valute to me is during the workout.

I also like that the "pause" feature let's me stay on top of those "rest 30 sec" kinda sets without worrying about trying to leave at a certain point on the clock.

I've got a tempo trainer too but frankly I haven't figured out how to use it to help with my swimming (stroke or pace improvement). I think I need to take the time to do the testing that the swim smooth folks outlined so I can figure out my 'efficient' stroke rate.

As for the tempo trainer being banned for races, I could potentially see an argument that it is an "audio device" since it makes a sound. Would be interesting to see what the actual ruling is. I know folks who use tempo trainers on the run as well to maintain good form (it's a chi running thing).

Tom Glynn

I've used the tempo trainer with the Swimovate watch and actually saw my golf score get worse. I think I was so focused on even turnover that my stroke got shorter and choppier. I've found my best golf score when I think "big arms" and try to extend my reach out of the water. The instant feedback on the golf score really makes a difference. My next focus is to get the big arms" and "metronome stroke" in sync.

The watch has allowed me to do mini experiments. One day I may focus on body roll, then 100 yard pacing and maybe next kicking harder. When done, I get out of the pool and see if it made a difference.

It's funny that I can see poor form when looking at other swimmers, but I feel like Michael Phelps and can't see or feel my own horrible swim style. Any feedback helps.

NavyTriGuy

I also have used a Tempo Timer. I use a Sportcount Chrono which is a little tiny stopwatch you put on your finger and activate with your thumb.

In the past, I 've set up spreadsheets with 100 pacing, stroke count etc. It was fun to see my /100 pace sloooowly go down over the course of a training season

Matt Samojeden

I use the tempo trainer for pace guidance and a Sportcount Chrono to count the laps and record the time. The temp trainer has been useful in to different modes. The first is set to a targeted stroke rate of say 55 strokes per min. Having a steady time cycle for my stroke has helped identify imbalances between my left and right strokes and also helped to eliminate some dead spots in the stroke. Also it is surprising how much difference in 100 yd pace can be achieved at the same stroke rate just by being more aggressive on the catch and pull phase.

The second use of the tempo trainer is what the call mode 2. This is setting the intervals for multiple second intervals. Example I set it for 23 second repeats. This is a 1:32 100yd pace. So I will then go do 1000 -2000 yards and know that I should hit the wall every time it beeps. I do this a few sessions and move it to 46 seconds and I should hit the 50 when it beeps. Once this pace is stable I move it to the 1:32 and see how close I pace the 100’s. This approach has helped me build a much better sense for pace.