USRPT Progression

[Tom Pamperin]

I'm starting a thread to help myself track my progress with USRPT and TI. My basic goal is to learn to sustain a 1:30/100m pace for longer distances, with a 7:30 500m swim the first big step along the way. Last spring a was able to do a 7:45 after a few weeks of USRPT sets, so I'm starting there again.

My target set is 30 x 50m at a :45 speed, with :20 rest between attempts. Ideally I will also hold 16 SPL. As per USRPT, after any repeat where I miss the target time, I rest for the next repeat and then keep going. After 3 failures, or 2 failures in a row, the set is over.

Today:

5 repeats before first fail on #6 by 1-2 seconds

rested on #7

failed #8 by 1 second (two fails in a row) so set is over

I didn't expect to get very far at first, so no worries there. I also noted (as expected) that my SPL was higher than my target at 17 SPL and creeping up to 18 and 19 SPL as the set went on.

All right, so that's where I'm starting from. I'll be doing this set twice a week to begin.

Does anyone have any thoughts about how to incorporate SPL control with USRPT sets? My initial thought is to watch what happens, but NOT to treat a 17-18 SPL repeat as a failure for now--I expect as I relax into the demands of the set, SPL will decrease.

Another option would be to hold a strict expectation for SPL, and treat any repeat over the target as a failure.

Thanks for any comments.