I couldn’t resist.
The plan was to go to the sauna and relax after the gym session, but the sauna is next to the swimming pool and they’d just started lane swimming. So I went back to get my goggles and decided to blast a few lengths just to get it out of my system. I wanted to do a really quick 200m to see what I could do – especially as I am working on speed now.
I did it in 3mins 35sec – the fastest I’ve ever done for 200m. I was really pleased. Then I got to thinking…
That time, if repeated, would see me do a mile in 28mins and 40sec. Not great, but certainly faster than I’ve ever done before. Yet, the winner of the Windermere swam at 23 minute / mile pace… for 10.5 miles!
That’s quick.
Grease Lightning
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Everything is relative! I can’t imagine swimming for 10miles non-stop. It’s good to have a target time, now you can build up towards holding that target in long sets e.g. 5×200, 10×100, 400s, 800s, etc. If you can hold a target time throughout long sets in training you will do it in a race. It will be hard at first but is a great benchmark to track progress towards a goal.
I think swimming for 10 miles non-stop is pretty stupid too! That’s my plan, to work on my speed, then to work on my speed endurance, then to swim faster in the events. Let’s see…
I’ve given up doing the same maths whenever I run: WR Marathon time is 4:45m / mile – for 26 miles!
I’m not sure I could drive that quickly Julian!
That said though, that’s the difference between swimming and running for me. I can’t run a marathon as quickly as the best runners, but I could match them for about 400m or so. With the swimmers, I can’t even sprint 50 or 100m as quickly as the best marathon swimmers!
Holy wow!!! That’s some fast swimming! Great job!