500 freestyle help

[dankdude65]

I have trouble swimming the 500 freestyle i have a very fast 200 free and 100 and 50 but struggle to hold pace any suggestions

[mmlr38]

If you have a good 200 free, you should be able to hold on long enough to have a decent 500. You'll need a bit more conditioning, of course. And I believe it is important to do sets at 500 race pace on short rest so you get a feel for holding pace. I like to do USPRT sets. My USRPT for 500 training is repeat 50s holding 29 seconds or better on a 50-second sendoff. I do two sets of 30 of those. Of course, as designed by USRPT, I never do the full 60 because I fail out of the set. But that set gives a great feel for the pace and also improves conditioning.

[Gary P]

I have trouble swimming the 500 freestyle i have a very fast 200 free and 100 and 50 but struggle to hold pace any suggestions

Some idea of your baseline times in the 100, 200, and 500 would be helpful in formulating a suggestion.

[SoTxSwimmer]

mmlr38,
Curious why you wouldn't use 100 yd as a distance to train for the 500?
I'm 56 and the national record for the 500 yd free is 4:56, so obviously :29 is not a realistic race pace for those in my age group, but holding 1:05 - 1:10 on 100s swam on a 2:00 interval seems like it might have merit. What do you think? Just seems the 500 requires a mind set of pacing longer distances than the 50, but curious what others think.

[mmlr38]

mmlr38,
Curious why you wouldn't use 100 yd as a distance to train for the 500?
I'm 56 and the national record for the 500 yd free is 4:56, so obviously :29 is not a realistic race pace for those in my age group, but holding 1:05 - 1:10 on 100s swam on a 2:00 interval seems like it might have merit. What do you think? Just seems the 500 requires a mind set of pacing longer distances than the 50, but curious what others think.

The pace I can hold for 60 repeat 50s on a 50 second sendoff, is much closer to my race pace for the 200 and 500. When I do 40 repeat 100s, the pace I can hold is closer to my 1000 or 1650 pace.

So swimming 50s at your 500 pace until you break is a great way to train the pace and feel of the race. Some days with longer sets will help with endurance as well, but for the pacing and muscle specific training, I like repeat 50s to train for the 200 and 500.

[rxleakem]

I found the following thread very helpful in trying to improve my 500 time. The biggest advice that I can give is to take it out easy. Like, 3 seconds slower than you the pace where you feel like you are going too slow on the opening hundred! Good streamlines, build your kick as the race goes on. Posts #6,8,14 have good ideas to employ from some great distance swimmers in the Masters ranks...

http://forums.usms.org/showthread.ph...e%20500%20free

[knelson]

The pace I can hold for 60 repeat 50s on a 50 second sendoff, is much closer to my race pace for the 200 and 500. When I do 40 repeat 100s, the pace I can hold is closer to my 1000 or 1650 pace.

I agree. I think trying to hold 50s at pace is much useful for a 500 than 100s.

[Gary P]

I agree. I think trying to hold 50s at pace is much useful for a 500 than 100s.

I split the difference, using 75s at race pace to train for the 400/500 free. 100s are too demanding; I fall off the pace before I get enough repetitions to get the desired training effect. 50's I find too easy. I can cruise the first 25 off the fresh rest, blast a strong turn, and maybe only "feel the burn" for the last 10-12 strokes. 75s force me to be a little more conservative for the turns (more closely replicating what I can sustain for an entire 500 race), and I have to swim against the burn (which feels like the back 300 of a 500 race) for the entire second 50 of each repeat after about 5 or 6 reps. I can get to failure much sooner than with 50s, while still getting enough strokes at race pace too have a positive training effect.

[mmlr38]

I split the difference, using 75s at race pace to train for the 400/500 free.

I often do 75s as well. 100s are just a bit too long to hold 500 pace for very many reps. 50s and 75s are doable.

50's I find too easy. I can cruise the first 25 off the fresh rest, blast a strong turn, and maybe only "feel the burn" for the last 10-12 strokes.

What amount of rest are you taking? If I try to hold a fast pace (~200 pace) on a sendoff where I get 20 seconds rest, it doesn't take long before the pain starts to set in. I can maybe do a dozen or so and then the burn gets pretty dang intense.

[SoTxSwimmer]

mm & Gary & knel,
that's all good stuff. I'm back in the pool after three decades away and very new to all this usrpt approach. But I can relate to breaking down trying to swim 100's as part of a broken 500. I always start the workout optimistic and they just waste me and my hope of holding a 1:05 pace soon falls into the reality of 1:15 or worse after 4 or 5 100s.
I have a much better result when holding 50s for my 200 pace, just never considered doing the volume of 50s mentioned here. If my desired time for the 500 is 5:25, that breaks down to 10 50s at :32.5 and I think I can hold more than 10 at that pace if I get some rest. Is the amount rest related to age, or the number of reps, or none of the above and just get in shape!

[Gary P]

I often do 75s as well. 100s are just a bit too long to hold 500 pace for very many reps. 50s and 75s are doable.
What amount of rest are you taking? If I try to hold a fast pace (~200 pace) on a sendoff where I get 20 seconds rest, it doesn't take long before the pain starts to set in. I can maybe do a dozen or so and then the burn gets pretty dang intense.

I'm talking about 50's at 500 pace on 20 seconds rest. 50's at 200 pace on 20 seconds rest, that's another story. I do that set a lot. No shortage of "burn time" with that one.