10Kmarathonswim

Updated Critical Swim Speed

Updated my critical swim speed (CSS) today. Went to the pool to do a long day, and had been planning on doing my CSS for weeks now, but just never had the chance. So today was the day.

It has been a long time since I've done a CSS test. Like, since Moscow, and my itty-bitty 33.3 yard per lap pool. So I really needed to update it. In Moscow I had the benefit of 1/3 more flip-turns. Now that I have access to standard size pools, I need to update the times.

I have the Swimulator ap for my iPod. It's a nice little ap that let's you put in your 400 and 200 times (the basis of the CSS test) and it kicks out not only your CSS but also what you should punch in your Tempo Trainer should you want to use one for pace training...which I do.

Swimulator application

So, after a warm up of 800 meters, I did the 400. My time for 400 meters was 6:41.6. Good enough, I guess. I did some slow laps after to get the HR down to about 105, then I did the 200 in 3:15.4. My awesome little ap told me that meant a CSS pace of 1:43.09. What does that mean, you ask, dear reader(s)?

CSS is designed to give you a pace that you could theoretically hold for 1500 meters (or yards if you did the test in a SCY pool). The CSS won't necessarily be what you did the 400 or 200 in. For instance, at 1:43.09 per 100, my 400 would have been 6:52-6:53 and my 200 would have been 3:26. But, more importantly, if I hold that pace for a 1500, I should swim it in 25:46, which would be a great time for me.

Even better, the folks at Swim Smooth who came up with CSS have extrapolated the pace for longer (or shorter) events. So, after figuring out my CSS today I did 2 x 1500 at my 20K pace, which is CSS + :10/100. Like I said, the Swimulator showed me what my TT should be set for with my new CSS: 25.77 seconds per length. That would work if I were doing reps for an upcoming 1500M or 1650Y race. But I'm preparing for that crazy 26+ mile swim in North Dakota.

So instead, I set my TT to 28.27 (which would be my CSS of 1:43.09 plus :10), then when I was ready I turned it on, put it under my cap, and when it beeped I started my first 1500. Goal was to hit the wall coming out of my flip-turn just as it beeps. I managed to always be a few meters ahead of the beep. In fact for both sets I was somewhere between starting my first stroke cycle (after a nice streamlined push off the wall) and second stroke cycle when the beep sounded.

It's funny. It feels incredibly slow. But if I had to maintain that pace for, say, 20 kilometers, it would probably be perfect, maybe even a bit fast. Actually, the SS guys recommend adding :10 to :20 to the CSS for race pace training for 20K. So I could actually use more time. And for distances like 38K (English channel, or even longer, like my ND swim), they suggest adding :20-:30. As I get closer to that swim I'll do longer repeats, like 5 x 2000 on CSS + :25. We'll see how that goes.

Pacing

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?

Thirsty and tired

Been working the Swim Smooth way lately, and I've noticed I am much more tired and thirsty throughout the day after the workout. I've found here that I don't seem to need as much sleep, as long as I get a nap in on Saturdays. But lately, I've been extremely thirsty and tired enough to nod off on the couch at night.

I think this is because the Swim Smooth system has you swimming at or near your CSS more often. I probably felt this same way back when I had coaching, but that hasn't happened since 2004/5, one glorious year of coaching from the wonderful Frank Shafroth at Chinquapin Rec Center in Alexandria.

But my latest workouts have had some exciting and fun intervals, like 4 x 200 at CSS +:30 rest. Loved it! I managed to hit 3:01 per 200, despite my CSS-200 being 3:06 (now). The CSS workouts, I'm finding, are all about managing your pace, working on pace awareness. I'm getting a bit better at that. And I believe that if I continue to do this, I will be able to work at my ideal pace for longer. Furthermore, I think my CSS will drop.

And, perhaps, someday I'll hit that elusive 1:20/100. One can only hope...

More on CSS

Today I tested my CSS again.  It's been about five weeks since my last (first also) test, which resulted in me having a CSS pace of 1:29. To get that result, I swam the 400 in 5:49 and the 200 in 2:50. That pace (1:29) was hard to hit, especially in my 200 set of the 1000-800-600-400-200 series.  

So today I reswam it. With faster times. My 400 was in 5:48 and my 200 in 2:42. I assumed this meant my CSS pace would speed up, but after punching my times into the calculator, I got a CSS pace of 1:33. Uh, what?

I wrote to the folks at Swim Smooth, and the head coach Paul Newsome himself wrote me back! The math involved in figuring out CSS is 400-200 / T400-T200, where the 400 and 200 swims are in seconds. Sure enough, when I do the math, my time got slower. The point is, by swimming with your CSS, your 400 should improve faster than your sprint speed. My sprint speed increased more than my distance speed, thus the calculator gave me a slower CSS to work with for the next 6 weeks, in hopes that my 400 time would improve more than my sprint speed.

At least, that's how I understood Paul's email. And I think he is right. All these weeks I've been doing this set, I've never made the 200 on time:

1000 at 16:30

800 at 12:54

600 at 9:30

400 at 6:12

200 at 3:02

So now, with a new CSS, this set will look like this:

1000 at 17:10

800 at 13:28

600 at 9:54

400 at 6:28

200 at 3:10

So, that is what I'll swim on Wednesday. 

CSS is hard work

If you've read my blog for longer than two weeks, you've seen my posts on critical swim speed, as per the folks at Swim Smooth. Reading their article in H2Open magazine, I came up with the following workout:

1000 at 16:30

800 at 12:54

600 at 9:30

400 at 6:12

200 at 3:02

I've been doing this workout weekly, but without a watch, I've been relying on the pace clock. Our pace clock does a little half-second stutter every minute, which makes it difficult to use. But now with my Timex Ironman, I can set all five intervals and just swim, no longer having to worry about doing pace clock math (that 12:54 set was particularly difficult).

Well, what I learned today was that those intervals are hard.  My CSS pace is 1:29, and I don't think I kept that pace the entire time today. My times, with my actual pace and how much rest I got, below:

1000 on 15:20 (1:32, R 1:10)

800 on 12:19 (1:32, R 0:35)

600 on 9:14 (1:32, R 0:16)

400 on 6:08 (1:32, R 0:04)

200 on 3:22 (1:42, R haha)

Let me just say that those first four intervals didn't feel that consistent while I was swimming them. I felt dead, which is why I pretty much just gave up on the 200. But I seriously had no idea I was so consistent. I literally just did the math. That's pretty nice, as one of the things that the Swim Smooth folks stress is to maintain your pace throughout the set. However, that is :03 slower than my CSS pace. 

So, I will continue to work on this. I'll retest my CSS in another couple weeks and let you dear reader(s) know.

CSS, again

So I answered my own question.  Yes, those times include rest. 

The set I'm talking about is the pace awareness set written up in the June 2011 H2Open Water magazine:

1000 at 16:30

800 at 12:54

600 at 9:30

400 at 6:12

200 at 3:02

This set presumes to teach you pace awareness. Those times are based on my critical swim speed, basically the same thing as my lactate threshold. My CSS is 1:29/100 (yes, I'm slow. But I'm old too, so I've got that going for me). The non-scientist in me tells people that means that I can swim at a constant pace of 1:29, without crossing into the realm of the anaerobic. (Slipping into the oxygen-deprived world of anaerobic is fine when sprinting to a finish or speeding up to hit a buoy before others, but it is NOT where you want to swim for long distances/times.)

I swam this set the last two Wednesdays. Now, considering both my Timex swim watches (and my POS swimovate, but that's another story) are tango uniform, I've had to do all my timings by pace clock.  Not the most accurate method. Anyway, I hit the intervals above just fine for the 1000, 800 and 600. I think I hit the interval for the 400.  And once I hit the interval for the 200, but the first time I did not.  I had about a 1:30 rest on the 1000s, a little over a minute for the 800s, and less than a minute for the 600s.  (Damn, I can't wait til my new Timex arrives.)

I intend on swimming this set every Wednesday for a while.  Perhaps sometime in the future I'll add a 1200 at the start.  But maybe not.  The entire swim including warm-up and cool-down is about an hour, and I swim mid-day on a work-day, so adding another 1200 at 20:12 to that workout might not be a good thing.  We'll see.

Critical Swim Speed (CSS) or lactate threshold

I've recently completed Swim Smooth's suggested test to determine, without pesky needles and blood draws, my lactate threshold.  To simulate the real test, I swam a 400 free, keeping as constant a pace as possible.  Then rested until my heart rate recovered (about 3:00), and swam a 200.

My 400 time was 5:49, which I was happy with.  My 200 time was 2:50, which I thought would be closer to 2:30.  Perhaps I wasn't completely recovered?

Anyway, according to SS's CSS calculator, my new CSS for 100 is 1:29.  Now...what the hell do I do with that?  How much is that like my cruise pace?  I did a cruise pace test months ago (10x100 with :10 between, with an average of 1:40), so is this the same thing?  SS's website suggests workouts like:

8 x 200 with :20 rest on CSS

So does this mean I should do the 200s at 2:58 (1:29 x 2)?  To add to the confusion, in the June 2011 (3) issue of H2Open magazine, in the article Get Your Pace Right, SS founder Paul Newsome suggests the following main set for "pace awareness."

1000 at CSS + :10 per 100 (1:39)

800 at CSS + :08 per 100 (1:37)

600 at CSS + :06 per 100 (1:35)

400 at CSS + :04 per 100 (1:33)

200 at CSS + :02 per 100 (1:31)

That seems fast. For example, the 400 I did yesterday was 5:49. So for this "pace awareness" set, I should swim the 400 (after the 2400 prior to it!) at 6:12.  That seems okay, I guess....but does that include the rest?  So should my times for the above main set be:

1000 at 16:30 (but try to hit the 1000 at 14:50?)

800 at 12:54

600 at 9:30

400 at 6:12

200 at 3:02?

Should I still stick to my CSS and whatever is left over is rest?  I'll have to try that after I get my new Timex IM watch...yes, faithful reader(s), my last watch finally went kaput.

I also realized that I should figure out my 100 for each of the CSS swims.  The average 100 in my 400 was 1:27, but for the 200 it was 1:25.  So right away I'm getting an extra :02-:04 from SS's recommended 1:29 CSS. Is that supposed to take into account rest?