Mile a day?

[BradMM]

First of all, I'm fairly certain that I could go out tomorrow and swim a mile no problem. However, whether it was a "good" mile is another issue and whether I could do it regularly is a big "maybe." ONCE AGAIN, I'm thinking about making swimming my PRIMARY type of exercise and, after reading about the health benefits of longer swims, I was thinking about doing a mile a day. I work out 5x/week during lunch at work so my time is somewhat limited but I can make that part work. I also don't do flip turns so I guess that will slow me down.

I see some of the coaches read here so my question is, should I just go "do it" or should I work on something first or work up to it? I have the open water swim DVD and haven't learned the two beat kick but I don't think the distance would necessitate changing my kick.

This is prompted by (1) blood pressure creeping back up, (2) periodic back problems getting more frequent and (3) I LOVE to be in the water! I think I need more aerobic exercise (less anaerobic) and this just seems more sustainable over time... I'm 55 now.

Thanks,

Brad