Been reading on the forums about this USRPT stuff. For the uninitiated, as I was only a week ago, this stands for Ultra-Short Race Pace Training. If I understood correctly, the theory is that you do a huge number of reps of short distances, attempting to hit a goal time and with a set period of rest.

In all my readings, it seems a very good training set for those trying to swim pool events, up to and including the 1500. Not sure how it would work for marathon swimming, but thought I’d try it. My 5K sure could use some speed in it.

I read through a webinar’s notes and came up with a workout: 20×100 with a goal time of 1:45, leaving on the 2:05. I based this on my desired 5K finish time of 1:30. What I did was take the number of minutes (90) and divide by 50 (number of 100s in a 5K). This was error #1. (I’ll get back to that.) That math came up with a time of 1:48. I thought that was too slow so settled on 1:45.

Got to the pool. Did a warm up of 300 and then set about to do this USRPT thing. In the literature on this technique, I read that you shouldn’t count any failure in the first 5 sets. This is the time to get your timing down and get in the rhythm. I knew within a couple sets that I had picked too easy a time. I came in at 1:35 for the first two, giving me way too much rest. From set 3 onwards I decided to change the workout to 1:40 on 2:00.

While swimming one of the sets, it dawn on me my math error. I divided the time by 50, to get my per 100 meter time. Problem is, I’m swimming in a yard pool! A 5K swim is way more than 5000 yards. In fact, as I learned later with the help of the Google machine, 5000 meters equals 5468 yards. So my 100 yard race pace for a 1:30 5K finish would have been 1:38. Doh!

The point of USRPT (if I understand correctly) is to not make all the sets. The point is to set a pace that is hard to maintain, and continue this workout till you’ve failed three times or failed twice in a row. The aim after that is to continually move that first failure further to the right. If your first failure the first time you did this set was on #8, then a week later #10, then #12, that means you’re getting fitter. Or so the theory goes. When you do all the sets without a failure, it is time to lower your goal time.

Well, turns out 20×100 on 1:40 was too easy for me. As I got into the zone, I started hitting the wall at 1:37 to 1:39. The occasional 1:36, but never a 1:40. I certainly picked the wrong time. The next time I do this USRPT thing (next week?), I think I’ll try the same workout but goal of 1:38 leaving on 2:00. Not quite sure what to do if I complete that workout with only one or two failures; I might have to check out the USRPT forums for the answer to that. Continue that until I have one or zero failures before changing the time? Unsure.