I'm signed up for the USMS Fall Fitness challenge. Can someone explain what exactly I'm supposed to do? The rules/direction aren't really clear to me. Just swim a mile??? Am I suppose to time myself. Report my results to anyone?
Dan
My goal for between now and the end of the year is to swim a mile in fewer minutes than my age in years,
When I was an undergraduate, that was quite an accomplishment. I'm 65. Up until I turned 60, I always thought that if I could swim a mile at all, it would certainly be under an hour, but a couple of shoulder injuries have changed my thinking about that. I do a lot of thinking with my shoulders these days.
I think I can do it, but I have to work up to it gradually but with perseverance.
We'll see.
As far as I can tell, yes, "swim a mile" is the meat of it. I think it said you can log it on the fitness log, but there aren't any scores or formal timing. I gather some local clubs will host the mile swim as an internal even, but it's just a challenge and not a race or competition. I don't think anyone near me is having an event, so I'm just going to do it by myself.
As far as I can tell, yes, "swim a mile" is the meat of it. I think it said you can log it on the fitness log, but there aren't any scores or formal timing. I gather some local clubs will host the mile swim as an internal even, but it's just a challenge and not a race or competition. I don't think anyone near me is having an event, so I'm just going to do it by myself.
Here's a list of clubs that are hosting: www.usms.org/.../fall-fitness-challenge.
Well, thanks for the responses. Seems like kind of a "non-event." I guess it's just something to charge an entry fee and they send you a swim cap. I sign up for these non-meet sort of events because although I'm a USMS member, I'm not really a "meet swimmer" per se. So...all I gotta do is swim a mile...and report it, or don't. Seems easy enough.
Dan
A mile is 1760 yards or 1609 meters. Whether the pool is yards or meters, it will be a little off.
Yep. I swim usually in a 25m pool and generally count 1600m (32 laps) as "a mile." Yet in a 25yd pool I usually count 1800yds (36 laps) as a mile. But now you've got me wondering if this "Fitness Challenge 1-mile Swim" is meant to be a "swimming mile' of 1650 yds??? Not that one or the other is really more difficult. I guess I'm putting too much thought into it.
Dan
Seems like kind of a "non-event." I guess it's just something to charge an entry fee and they send you a swim cap.
None of these "Fitness Challenges" have made any sense. All of them (set lasting 30+ minutes; set totaling 2000+ yards; set totaling 1+ miles) are things that normal USMS teams do at least once a week.
To quote Nike, "Just do it!" Really, the main purpose of this is to raise money for the Swimming Saves Lives Foundation and to get out and get in a good, healthy swim. Nobody will be watching over you, nobody will be keeping track, and nobody cares what you do. I swim 72 lengths of our 25-yard pool which is just over a mile; however, it gets me back to where I started, rather than stopping in the middle of the pool!
Dan, just get out there and have fun! :agree:
These are geared for the fitness swimmer, not necessarily team swimmers. The idea is to get more recreational swimmers involved and active in the sport. Hopefully, they will become team swimmers!
I'm primarily a recreational swimmer, but did join a coached masters team last year. I have attempted to keep up with the workouts but at 70 I can sometimes only complete half what the others (30 & 40-somethings) are doing. It has given me less incentive to enter meets, knowing I would finish poorly even if I did my best. But a self-regulated thing such as this where I compare me to only me, does have an appeal.
