Maybe by the end of the 12 week block I'll feel that I've mastered it but currently I hate the combination of pace and the duration. Having to make an effort when tired is tough.
The chart shows distinctly how my strokes per length increases as I fatigue but also as I increase stroke rate. That tends to mean less efficiency and more fatigue...
Today I didn't manage the intended negative splits as well as last week but this actually hides an improvement. In the first 1600m my final pace was with a second of last week but my starting pace 8 seconds better. For the second 1600m the difference was much more marked. For the first 400m my pace was 42 seconds faster and for the last set 26 seconds better.
I knew that I'd started the seconds super set faster than last week and assumed that I'd not pushed myself as much in the first superset as I didn't feel as worn. That might well be true, but if so I've basically worked less hard to achieve the same outcome! (Looking back over a few weeks it's clear my pace has improved by a few seconds for each set.)
Now I need to capitalise on this slight increase in fitness by trying to establish distinct negative splits again without setting off artificially slowly. That means more effort at the end.
