Dear reader(s) know that I've been working on pacing lately. I'm debating buying one of those pacing aids, but I've already got enough things tucked under my swim cap...I mean, besides my goggles. Do I have room for another electronic device banging on my squamosal suture?
My most recent main set had me doing 2 x 800 at CSS +:10 per 100, followed by 4 x 50 doing 25 fast and 25 easy. My CSS + :10 is 1:43, or something that Gords calls grandpa pace. Or so it feels to me. Anyway, for the first 800, I set my watch to beep every 1:43, so I knew what time each 100 should be done. I finished each 100 about :18 to :12 early. It was killing me to slow myself down so much, but I followed the plan. I feel I now know how to swim a 1:43/100 pace.
But for the second 800, I set the watch to beep every :34, making for a 1:42/100. Why :34 you ask? Well, that's because my stupid pool requires 3 laps for 100 yards. I know, weird. But nonetheless, that's what I've got to work with, so I've adapted.
And this was even better. I liked the constant pace reminder. I still came in between :05 and :02 before the beep, but that's ok. That's the point of these pace awareness sets. Plus, the watch told me each time it stared a new rep, so if I lost count, I could just look at the watch. 24 laps is tough to remember when you start to day-dream...
I will continue the pace awareness sets, no matter how slow they seem. And they aren't all this slow. I've done a set recently that was 4 x 200 on CSS. That one too I finished early by about :05 for the 200. Next time, I'll set the watch to :31 to make a CSS of 1:33/100, close enough to 1:32. All of this in the hopes that the next time I do the CSS test, my CSS will go back down to something sub-1:30!
But meanwhile, I have to consider the pace counters. Any of you use them?
Comments