"fitness" goal. A bit of an odd one.

fishgutzy

It occurred to me yesterday that it would nice look fit enough that when I say I swim 110 laps that someone doesn't respond "do mean lengths?"
I'm not quite there yet. Still get the question. Not limited to "kids" either.
It would be nice to have the look that stops that laps/lengths question.
Or maybe I should just say the km/miles instead then they can ask how many laps that is

onwarddownward

I just give times when someone asks me how much I swam.

How o you manage to count laps? I can't hold a number In my head while swimming.

fishgutzy

I just give times when someone asks me how much I swam.

How o you manage to count laps? I can't hold a number In my head while swimming.

Finger counter. Digital. 4 digit. Makes it a lot easier to count to 132 (6km in a 25 yd pool).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016J9NE8/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

jenniferfiedler

I just give times when someone asks me how much I swam.

How o you manage to count laps? I can't hold a number In my head while swimming.

To count I made a "counter" out of string and 35 beads. This gives me just about a mile of laps in a 25yd pool (a mile is 35.2 laps or 70.4 lengths). Every three laps or so I stop, move the three beads (or however many laps I did), and keep going. It has worked really well for me.

kcaffee1

I try to break mine into 100 m sets on each stroke. 4 strokes per set. Once in a while I'll lose track of which SET I'm on, but the lap number for that stroke in the set I can at least keep in my head. The days I have trouble are the ones where I push flat endurance - 8 double laps per stroke. I usually loose track around lap 5 because I accidentally count when I'm at the START of the lap, not the turn over of the double lap. Those days I wish I had remembered my phone.

Put the phone in a baggie, and set it the stop watch with a lap function. Tap out each time I hit the starting point. But, I have to get a new baggie because the one I've been using has been showing signs of water inside recently, and I don't want to risk ruining the phone.

fishgutzy

I love this little finger digital counter. Cheap. Easy to use. Nothing complicated. Just a button to click for each lap.
Trying to count 132 laps is a lot easier with a counter.

SkinnyBubbaGaar

FYI - in swim language one "lap" is generally 50 yards (or meters). Most pools in the U.S. are general 25 yards long so one "Lap" would be 2 "lengths" (i.e. down and back) of the pool.

Internationally it is more common for the pools to be 25 meters in length so one lap (down and back) would be 50 meters.

On an Olympic pool the distance is 50 meters in length so the "lap" would only be one "length" on those "Long Course" configured pools.



In most cases here in the USA (ie. YMCA, municipal pool, gym pool, etc) it is most likely that the pool size is 25 yards long so the full (2 length) lap would be 50 yards total.

In that case, a 1 mile swim would be equal a total of:

A) 1760 yards

35.2 Laps (down AND back of 50 yards each lap)

C) 70.4 Lengths (1 direction only w/o turning of 25 yards each direction)


Hope that helps clear things up.

fishgutzy

I just round up. 36 laps per mile in the Y pool. 25 yards per length. 50 yards per lap.
22 laps per kilometer.
132 laps for 6km.
When i am asked how far i swim I get the "do you mean lengths" when I say 90 or higher. For some reason many people think it is difficult to swim 5km or more. If I can do it, any half-fast swimmer can do it. :bigsmile:

RoBalance

I bought a tally counter which is much cheaper (costs like £2 /$3 ) and does the same job as the ones specifically designed for swimming.

onwarddownward

Can you wear a finger counter with swim gloves on?

matthew_b

Since we went on the hijack topic: I love my lap counter. I bought the one that keeps track of every split and I love it. The nice part is that when I was learning to use it, I could go back and see if I missed a click or double clicked by looking at the split times. I figured out that for me, it was best to just record lengths so I didn't have to remember to click at one flip and not the other; I just divide by two when I'm done. I tried laps for over a week and it just wasn't working, but when I switched to lengths I had it down in two swims.

The one thing I discovered is that my 'mile' time went up a couple of minutes. I wasn't telling anyone my times, so it wasn't like I was trying to inflate my speed to show off, I honestly would lose count once I was in my 30's of laps.

I did discover though that it only keeps the first 100 splits. After that it only keeps time and length/lap count.

matthew_b

To count I made a "counter" out of string and 35 beads. This gives me just about a mile of laps in a 25yd pool (a mile is 35.2 laps or 70.4 lengths). Every three laps or so I stop, move the three beads (or however many laps I did), and keep going. It has worked really well for me.

One of the things that I love about the digital counter is that a big personal goal of mine was to see how far I could go without any break to a freestyle stroke. All side breathing, all flip turns and no pause of any kind. So far I've done 50 laps that way twice.

Any more than that and my problem is that I've got to get out and pee.

Macstraw

Growing up swimming in the '70's, a lap & length were always the same thing - runners wound up back at the same point they started upon completion of a lap but us swimmers didn't. People ask me how much I swim, I tell them how many laps - if they ask "just down or down & back" I just answer them, it's not a big deal.

For counting, I've always counted by yards (25 per lap no matter the length of the pool because the math is easy) because I just find that easier to keep track of & remember than counting the # of laps.....

fishgutzy

One of the things that I love about the digital counter is that a big personal goal of mine was to see how far I could go without any break to a freestyle stroke. All side breathing, all flip turns and no pause of any kind. So far I've done 50 laps that way twice.

Any more than that and my problem is that I've got to get out and pee.

I discovered that I swim longer and more cramp free if I take a sip of water or water with MIO Fit every 12 laps.
The most i have done in a single swim is 132 laps, 6km. I suspect I'd have to get out to pee one time when I attempt a full 10km (220 lap) swim.

matthew_b

Good tip on the cramps.

I had a LOT of problems with that in the first year of lap swimming. *KNOCK ON WOOD* I have not had problems in quite a while, but if I do I'll try that.