based on that limited info, it's difficult to say. do you need the full 45 seconds to recover--i.e. are pushing hard on each interval? for me, my short intervals are about 5-8 seconds above race pace, depending on the distance of my race. doing somewhat longer intervals(say 300-400 meters) would give a better indication the pace you can hold over longer distances.

---

f/k/a mclamb6

why don't you just do 800m straight through in that pool? That's going to give you a much better estimate than a bunch of 100's with a long recovery between each.

You also might try 10 x 100 with 10 seconds rest between 100s. If you maintain a constant effort that will give you a good indication of what your 1500 time might be.

interval should only be used as a tool to increase pace not as a single training method , you might find as a friend of mine did that you are unable to actually do a constant 800m as you have not yet built up any aerobic endurance interval twice a week then get the miles twice a week , oor you will never know if you can even do 800m , and remember if you cant there are no walls to hold onto in the middle of a lake.

---

Justin

Yeah. For aerobic swim sets, you should be getting 5-12 seconds of rest per hundred swum. If you're needing more than that, you've gone anaerobic on the set.

Open water- it's easy to drive yourself nuts trying to convert pool time into open water time. oo many factors involved- wetsuit or no? currents, waves, accuracy of course measurement, water depth (how much of the swim are you running?) how much of a run do you have to the timing mats.... I've pretty much given up on open water time goals, and decided I'd call myself happy on those days when I'm in the first 10% of the women out of the water, and satisfied if I'm in the first 15%. (and then I get on the bike and get passed by everyone and their 67 year old uncle)

Ballpark pool numbers this season and last for 10x100 will be a 1:40 send off if I'm swimming short course meters, and 1:30 send off if I'm swimming short course yards. That gives me somewhere between 7-12 seconds of rest after every 100. (Never really did get into proper swim shape last year because of some low grade shoulder weirdness) If I'm getting more than 11-12 seconds of rest all the way through the set, it's time to tighten up the interval by five seconds.

And as long as you're able to comfortably swim through 800m a few times, there's no real need to keep doing that instead of intervals. When I was a miler in college, we never really did intervals much beyond 400s- just keep the rest just short enough to lets your arms get happy and keep the technique good and the pace solid to fast.

I totally agree. This really brings up a safety/fear issue that really needn't exist for triathletes. I've never heard a coach or another athlete say that you should only swim intervals or just swim long time trials. However, if you are going to be swimming open water swims, you need to make darned sure you can not only swim the distance required in the race, but do it comfortably. A lot of fellow participants seem to have reservations or even tangible fear about the swim leg. All you need to do to overcome this is practice the distance in the pool and then slowly build your distance in the open water. So for your own safety make sure you are comfortable with whatever distance you are going to race in open water plus maybe an extra couple of hundred yards (just in case you really get off course). Do this in the pool, without stopping.

of course the other thing is , open water freaks some people out the first time you try it , it did me , it tookme a couple os sessions before i could do more than a few hundred meters , dont know wy , just did

---

Justin

yeah I realize not all of us are born with gills, but it sounds like you did the right thing and slowly broke yourself in to the open water thing. It's pretty unbelievable, but I have heard of people showing up to open water swims with no previous experience. That would be terrifying.

for sure , i cant put my finger on what the problem was when i started , perhaps the unfamiliarity or alien surroundings , perhaps the fact that things are predominantly a murky greeny colour and i couldnt see the tiles on the bottom as in a pool gave me a strange lack of any sensation of movement , maybeit just plain felt weird , maybe all of these things maybe non but one thing for sure the insecurity went away and now i kick ass but i think people should always try open water before a race im lucky i have a lake i can train in at will , indeed once the winter is over i train in open water only , but not all are as lucky as i

---

Justin

At the very least, people need to take a day off and drive down to the shore for some general playing around in the water and surf time before their first open water race. Not some planned huge open water workout, but goof around- do some body surfing, some playing in the waves, some runs into and out of the water, some dolphin dives so you get used to pushing off in the sand or muck, get used to how the water moves around you in the lake/ocean and how it tastes different than the pool. Acclimate- if you acclimate you're less likely to panic and have a bad first race in the water. So many people are so focused on the physical side of the swim that they forget about learning the mental side of it.

And yes, build at least a small sand castle.

45 seconds rest is to long. But I'll venture a guess at about 14 minutes for your 1/2 mile in openwater.

---

**********************
I was, now I will tri again!
...
Any time is a good time.
God Bless you my friend.

I'd say you're looking at close to 16mins. If you're holding 1:45 with 45s rest every 100, you're unlikely to better 2:00 pace when you can't stop for breaks.

Like others have mentioned, I think you're taking too much rest between each one. Also, do 4 * 200m and 2 * 400m a couple of times as well. And also swim a straight 1000m just to be sure. All those will give you a much better idea than 8 * 100.