Narrower Breastkick

Free-3, Brst-3: Felt tired and a little sore from Sunday's Starland swim but swam today just the same. I'm glad I did. I was practically doing dolphin kicks after every start and turn. Do not kick out too deep. Be sure to feel the pulses/ undulations from the torso and not just the legs everytime. This is to ingrain the habit of correct undulation always.

Am now doing more narrow kick breastkick. I think this minimizes drag especially when knees don't go too far beyond the hips. I just need to glide more for 1 second and face down. Goal next week is to do one freestyle for the whole 25m. I suddenly felt tired and sleepy at the office in the afternoon. It must have been aggravated by the stye in the eye (great rhyme), left eye. Also felt a throbbing pain/ soreness at the left side of the neck behind the left ear.

ID

Free-8, Brst-6: Received by membership ID today after 2 weeks! Tried the new Blue Super Marlin goggles today since I gave away the old amber goggles to Karen. Mang Ruben came with a boy and another guy. The boy made a bazillion laps! He never treaded water to stop. It looked like a demo show and it was all freestyle. There was no coaching to the boy since Mang Ruben just mostly chatted with the guy.

My warmup laps for freestyle were all leftside breathing, front and back. For workout, I did leftside breathing going front and rightside breathing going back. Swallowed water twice. The back streamline were the best so far. There was full breathing going to and back! After the swim, Agnes asked me to sign on an attendance record. I even signed for past sessions. Wow, I thought it was just pay Php1.5 for an ID and swim for a year! Next column was for "Notes". When asked, Agnes replied it was for recording when with companions.

Free Swim at Starland

Starland Metropolis. Only 1 day swim last week due to typhoon Marce's rain. Today, there's free swim (and free food!) for the family at 3pm. This is through the courtesy of Jaime Capati who had her daughter's birthday at the resort. Happy Birthday and thanx Jaime! I wore the Speedo swimcap. Because of the previous rains, the pool was cold. So all of us except Renz wore swimcaps and our outfits were so cool! It put a little class to Starland's swimming pool.

I did complete laps on the pool's length and not on the width. Ha! yabang ah! It was great and some of the laps were even relaxed. I had to get used again to the pool coz it seemed shallow and was up to my chest only. RnR's water level is higher than the armpits. With the previous swims at RnR it seems that Starland's pool became so small in length and width. That's a picture of the Starland lap pool on the left. It's a resorty kind of a lap pool. There's even a waterfalls structure at the left side. This is where I had my swimming lessons way back in 2001.

Gave the old amber goggles to Karen since her pink Junior Splasher lost one rubber gasket. Sandra tried breathing on the freestyle and Karen won't. I did some "racing" with Che. We also did some diving for a bead. All in all, a fun day.

A Week's Vacation

Free-7, Brst-5. Today's the start of the weeklong shutdown at the office. This has something to do with the "over inventory" issue. Okay, back at the pool. I realized that am able to do more laps if turns are done. Obviously, coz there won't be rests in between widths, right? Note, the notation on top regarding the free and brst laps is after the mandatory warmups of 3 free and 3 brst. These warmup laps do not have turns so they are slower.

Did some alternating laps of freestyle breath left, breath right and breast. Right side breathing is so unhurried and relaxed. Tried dolphin kicking. It has potential. Need to undulate from the torso and then feel/ notice the propulsions.

I'm getting a little better on the turns. Need to do them more though. One turn I did was automatic and I thought I was in a trance state, but still felt good and managed to complete the width. I think turns need to be forced for them to improve and to gain stamina.

Speedo Deedo

Free-4, Brst-3. The water was colder than I expected so I wore the Speedo swimcap. The fit was ok and was glad that I used it. I felt the retained body heat on top of my head at the end of the swim. It rained the previous days so that probly explains the cold water.

Mang Ruben came today and immediately did countless freestyle laps (around 20) on the length of the pool nonstop. He was probly there to show off. But I'm not too impressed. I could do that too... someday. Besides, all he did was freestyle and no bilateral breathing. I would've thought he'd do some backstroke as he preached to me the last time we met. When he stopped, he asked whether I was there Monday and Wednesday. I said "sometimes, it really depends when I'm available." No more questions. I guess he got the message that I'm not that interested. I did breaststroke and he had no comment. Same thing with freestyle. You'd think he'd give a sampling of his coaching. Maybe I really don't need the coaching or the distraction. Left alone, I probly could focus on my exercise for fitness. After 30 mins, he left. Maybe too cold for him.

It drizzled and I didn't mind until I realized my swimbag and contents was getting wet. Great that I wore the swimcap! I still feel awkward with the leftside breathing. It feels unnatural, especially the turning of the head. Swallowed pool water a couple of times. Need lots of practice and dryland simulation. Fantastic idea! Try a dolphin at the end of the streamline to further propel you and then do the flutter kick.

Okay, I'm In

Free-7, Brst-6. I turned in my application for club membership today for Php1,500 and I was told the id will be ready on the 3rd day. I felt strong today like I'm hardly catching my breath after each width. Could this be from the 3 long deep breaths per body part stretch? Makes you go... Hmmmmm.

I discovered that I could minimize the hairpulling when adjusting goggles by doing the following: Instead of pulling on the rubber straps, carefully pull on the eyepieces themselves or pull on the two rubber straps at the edge of the eyepieces.

Made a milestone today by breathing on the left side for freestyle. Felt very awkward at first even managing to swallow water. Even the body rotation to the right was awkward. I'm still looking for the right groove. I'll try to be doing the left breathing for the rest of the week. The goggles seem to have been scratched and looked fuzzy. Maybe it's the scratches. Next time just use baby shampoo for cleaning rather than some powedered laundry detergent. Look for Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA). Maybe a diluted solution of vinegar and water could be an alternative? Use a sprayer? To make it moist while it hangs. There's really no need to soak it in the solution coz it seems too much.

Lucky 13

Friday the 13th. I didn't swim the whole week until today coz of typhoon Karen. Definitely try the breathing on other side, the left side, on the way back. Always bring the swimbag even on overcast. You might just get lucky and the sun might suddenly pop-out while on the way to the Carmona - as in today. In other words, don't take out the swimbag from the car!

Wanna be a Member?

There was a father-son at the pool today. They must be vacationing from abroad and look that they stayed nearby. Goggles are foggy. I think they're not clean enough coz they were just washed without soaping the last time. Watch out for abrasives like from detergents coz there are now scratches.

I felt pain on the upper right trap. This was probably caused form the heavy shrugs or some bad sleep position. I talked to Mang Ruben and he mentioned the yearly club membership. Php1,500 for pool use and Php1,500 for coaching or a total of Php3,000. Cheap but I really don't want to spend 1.5k on coaching. I reckon I could educate and coach myself. I'm in no hurry anyway.

I forgot to take Pritor again today. But I wasn't too tired. The swim was relaxed and slow coz of the right trap soreness. I did the stretching with long deep breaths. Very good. For every body stretch, use 3 long breaths. I did two successful back streamline. I noticed that the tummy surfaces when relaxed and it helps that the back is arched. It helps to put the head back to clear the mouth from water surface. But the best is to relaaaxxx. Succeeding back streamline were not as good. Deep end of the pool is only 5 ft as I approached it today. Use feet/ ankle snap at the end of the backstroke kick.

Let's time those laps

Free-9, Brst-5. The pool was dirtier than usual. Some leaves and sand. There was also a 25cent coin. There must've been some coin-diving patrons the previous day. The pool guy put in chemicals for the motor (2 buckets). I tried my new spanking Casio W-751(2685) watch today. It works fine underwater and it's enough for my present needs. It's got an easy-to-read big display. It has a backlight and is water resistant to 100 meters. It's got 5 alarms, a stopwatch, a countdown timer and a black rubber strap that looks tough! I just need to wash it in the shower, remove and wipe dry. Avoid getting soap and shampoo to it.

I need to do 10 deep breaths. Open turns are getting a little better. The grab is becoming lighter. The secret seems to really get close to the wall. New sked is as follows:

• Mon - Swim
  
• Tue - Bike/Wash Car
  
• Wed - Swim
• Thu - Weights
• Fri - Swim
• Sat - Swim
• Sun - Swim