Doing the Math

I'm going to have to use my own money to buy my next swimming suit. Sigh.

I was hoping to earn a fancy Nike racing suit by completing 500 miles in the "Go the Distance Challenge" sponsored by United States Masters Swimming. But I just realized -- I ain't gonna make it.

500 miles in one year doesn't seem like all that much. My buddy Cliff has done more than 20 miles in a single day several times in the past year or so, and probably passed 500 miles around the 4th of July. And I was on pace to do it, myself, through the first few months of 2012. After that, though, I seem to have slacked off. I had a couple of months where I only swam 35 miles or so, and that's just not going to cut it.

So here we are, approaching the equinox--running out of swimming days for 2012. I did the math: If I want a free swimming suit, I have to do 2746 yards a day, every day, for the rest of the year.

I know, that really doesn't sound like all that much. Most of my swim practices cover at least 3500 yards, if not closer to 5000. But I don't swim every day, and unless I win the lottery, I'll probably stick with my current workout schedule, which only includes 3 or 4 swims in a typical week. Maybe I'll try harder to get a free swimsuit next year...but this year's quest has ended.

Oh, I'll still swim, and I'll still track my progress. I'll make 400 miles easily enough, and probably 450. And beginning with our 100 x 100s workout in January, I can certainly strive for 500 miles in 2013.

The interesting thing is that I usually swim more miles than I run in a given timespan. This month, though, my running mileage has surpassed my swimming distance (though not by much.) I'm even doing a trail-running race this weekend -- which I'll tell you about next week.

In the meantime, let me just mention a few other noteworthy data points.

1) Thanks to the generous efforts and information-age genius of Leif Oines, the Foothills Masters Swim Team now has a Facebook page! Check it out: www.facebook.com/foothillsmasters. I'm not exactly sure how the page will be used, but at least it's up and running.

2) I'm considering a new strategy for distributing my own web content. Actually, I've already begun (in a small way), by posting photos from my recent Seattle trip to Facebook rather than uploading them to this blog. (I still do intend to talk about that trip, and about my subsequent journey to Wichita, but that discussion remains in the future.) I may even break up the blogs: "Keeping Pace" could be focused on athletics and workouts, and the Star Trek and TV trivia contests might end up on a separate blog site altogether. History and autobiographical information will stay on "The Shy Man's Life" (www.heggy.blogspot.com), and daily blather about going to the grocery store and doctor's offices, etc, will wind up on Facebook. If you have any ideas about the best approach, please let me know.

3) We are now soliciting donations to help us purchase a new pace clock for the pool at The Ridge. After a significant contribution from the Foothills Rec District, we still need to raise about $500 to afford a digital clock with numbers large enough for old guys (like Desmond) to see. Any small amount helps: I'll gratefully accept checks, money orders, PayPal, cash, gold bullion, and swimoutlet.com gift certificates. Thank you for your support.

For now, though, I'll just leave you with a very simple graphical puzzle and then sign off. I'm planning to do a couple of sprint races at a swim meet on Saturday, and then run a 7.5-mile trail run on Sunday...so I should have some interesting tales of competition and victory (cough) to share with you soon. Have a great day!

What's the common thread here?