Excel document for 6x100 test sets?

It's really just a matter of calculating your average pace per 100 for whatever the set is (6 x 100
seems to be the standard for your group) & then multiplying that average by a factor that
corresponds to your current PR. (Example: I averaged 2:00 per 100, and my PR for 1500 is
30:00, therefore I'm going to use 15 -- 30:00 divided by 2:00 -- as the factor for making future
estimates with this standard set.) That way, if your average pace per 100 comes down over
time, you would just multiply the new average pace by the factor to arrive at your new
estimated race time.

I'll bet that if you figured out the average factor for a group of 8-10 folks on your team you would
find a number that you could use to make your predictions going forward.

I've done something similar (even using Excel) for much longer sets as a way of tracking my progress
during the year -- I don't really like to "predict" racing swim times as there are too many
variables in open water swims, but at least using a metric helps me track improvement as my training
progresses.

Hope that helps- -Mike

Tom Henderson said:

My masters swim coach used to have a spreadsheet he used for test sets. We'd do 6x100 on 3:00, 95%
effort, trying to be as fast as possible, yet maintain pace for all 6. Then he'd enter our time
and a formula would predict our potential race times.

Any of you ever seen anything like that? His computer died and he lost the one someone had created
for him, and he has no idea what the underlying formulas were.

Thanks,

Tom

Mike Llerandi <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

It's really just a matter of calculating your average pace per 100 for whatever the set is (6 x
100 seems to be the standard for your group) & then multiplying that average by a factor that
corresponds to your current PR. (Example: I averaged 2:00 per 100, and my PR for 1500 is
30:00, therefore I'm going to use 15 -- 30:00 divided by 2:00 -- as the factor for making future
estimates with this standard set.) That way, if your average pace per 100 comes down over time,
you would just multiply the new average pace by the factor to arrive at your new estimated race
time.

I'll bet that if you figured out the average factor for a group of 8-10 folks on your team you
would find a number that you could use to make your predictions going forward.

I've done something similar (even using Excel) for much longer sets as a way of tracking my
progress during the year -- I don't really like to "predict" racing swim times as there are too
many variables in open water swims, but at least using a metric helps me track improvement as my
training progresses.

Hope that helps- -Mike

Tom Henderson said:

My masters swim coach used to have a spreadsheet he used for test sets. We'd do 6x100 on 3:00,
95% effort, trying to be as fast as possible, yet maintain pace for all 6. Then he'd enter our
time and a formula would predict our potential race times.

Any of you ever seen anything like that? His computer died and he lost the one someone had
created for him, and he has no idea what the underlying formulas were.

Thanks,

Tom

Great info, but the formula he had estimated your race time for a 100, 200, 500, and 1500. It
somehow used your average time and the variability in your time from one rep to the next to
calculate your best likely time in an all out race effort.

Ah, that's a different goal, but I have another suggestion: Do "broken swims" to estimate your times
for the longer sets. Here are some examples:

- for your 200, do 4 x 50 w/5 seconds rest at an even pace -- add them up to arrive at your
projected 200 time

- for a 500, do 5 x 100 w/10 seconds rest
- for a 1500, find another clever way to break it up (15 x 100 w/10 works for that one also)

To use one set to project what the times would be for all four target races is interesting, but not
as specific as doing a specific set targeted at one of those races.

Just a thought -- have fun with it!

-Mike

Tom Henderson said:

Mike Llerandi <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

It's really just a matter of calculating your average pace per 100 for whatever the set is (6 x
100 seems to be the standard for your group) & then multiplying that average by a factor that
corresponds to your current PR. (Example: I averaged 2:00 per 100, and my PR for 1500 is
30:00, therefore I'm going to use 15 -- 30:00 divided by 2:00 -- as the factor for making future
estimates with this standard set.) That way, if your average pace per 100 comes down over time,
you would just multiply the new average pace by the factor to arrive at your new estimated race
time.

I'll bet that if you figured out the average factor for a group of 8-10 folks on your team you
would find a number that you could use to make your predictions going forward.

I've done something similar (even using Excel) for much longer sets as a way of tracking my
progress during the year -- I don't really like to "predict" racing swim times as there are too
many variables in open water swims, but at least using a metric helps me track improvement as my
training progresses.

Hope that helps- -Mike

Tom Henderson said:

My masters swim coach used to have a spreadsheet he used for test sets. We'd do 6x100 on 3:00,
95% effort, trying to be as fast as possible, yet maintain pace for all 6. Then he'd enter our
time and a formula would predict our potential race times.

Any of you ever seen anything like that? His computer died and he lost the one someone had
created for him, and he has no idea what the underlying formulas were.

Thanks,

Tom

Great info, but the formula he had estimated your race time for a 100, 200, 500, and 1500. It
somehow used your average time and the variability in your time from one rep to the next to
calculate your best likely time in an all out race effort.