Swimming is Agile

I've now swam 1 mile -- 32 times up and back in a half-Olympic sized pool -- 3 times in the last week. Today I realized that I organized my swimming routine iteratively: each set builds on the last and accomplishes something new.

1. 5 laps doing the breast stroke (aka frog kick) with little effort. The main point is to limber up.
2. 5 laps doing the breast stroke with effort.
3. 5 laps doing the crawl (aka freestyle) with only leg effort. I keep my fingers separated to minimize any temptation to pull and don't do any reaching with my arms, focusing totally on leg technique. Some people use a kickboard for this kind of practice, but I'm too lazy to stop.
4. 5 laps doing the crawl with leg effort and arm technique. I add arm technique, but my arms don't really do any pulling, just go through the proper motions.
5. 5 laps doing the crawl with leg effort and arm pulling. This might be called real swimming.
6. 5 laps doing the crawl with leg effort and fast arm pulling. My arms are a blur (I like to think), pulling non-stop.
7. 2 laps of my choice: either continue with the crawl or backstroke.

Two advantages become apparent. First, the last two laps are a freebie, even though they're not; the fact that I choose keeps them from being a chore. Second, breaking it up makes it feasible; if I started on set one and had to count to 32, the goal would be too far ahead to mentally grasp. I can count up to 5 comfortably. I never, ever think during my 5th set, "Wow, this is my 25th lap!"

Note that I didn't plan it that way. Before I reached a mile, I had similar divisions, with fewer laps.

Perhaps iterative development infects everything you do, or some people just think that way.