Length and Width

Laps-3: Back to 1 min per lap per length. Did some practice flip turns. Milestone is I'm already diving after facing the wall. Will need to tweak the turn so that flipping is not tilting to one side. I measured RnR pool length and width assuming 1 tile side = 1 foot.
82 tiles x 41 tiles is the area.
Length = 82 tiles = 82 ft = 27.3 yards = 25 mtrs.
Width = 41 tiles = 41 ft = 12.5 mtrs.

Some songs mentioned in the forum that may be good for swim tempo: Hooked on Classics, Overture, We Will Rock You, Don't Stop Me Now, Smoke on the Water, Daybreak, Don't You Want Me, It's a Small World, YMCA, Eye of the Tiger.

CPL at 10, Wet and Dry

Laps-5: Returned to the 2 mins between laps rest. This is to buy time in waiting for the underwear to dry after washing it. Felt relaxed with the 5 laps. Still consistent witht the 10 cycles (right hand) per length. Did today a few attempts to do freestyle flip turn practice. Learned to do:
  • Brief streamline
  • Put arms by side
  • Target getting head between the legs

Conjunctivitis & Goggles

Laps-5: Milestone! Reduced rest between laps from 2 mins to 1 min. Felt a little tired, but realized that breathing enough during stroking should enable one to overcome the tiredness factor. Didn't do much back drills. Pool was chlorinated again. Need to do the following:
  1. Wash chamois towel with soap and then vinegar. It's becoming smelly. Using it makes the skin itchy too.
  2. Replace Mane and Tail shampoo.
  3. Retrieve the empty Eye-Mo big bottle and mark it as swim drop bottle. Mix in "algar" (alcohol and vinegar).
  4. Return dice to Che as it's no longer needed.
  5. Put mothball in drawers where goggles and rashguard are stored.

Am currently taking Fucithalmic ointment for a bout of conjuctivitis in the upper lid of my left eye. I don't know where I got it but Dr. Rey Astorga advised that I always wear goggles when swimming. You just don't know what nasties there are in the pool. The ointment is pretty painful (at least for me) when applied. It kinda feels like the eye is being jabbed by a pen! It isn't liquid like eyedrops that are normally applied. Well, thank God for goggles. The pic at the left are my goggle collection of the same model (black, blue and amber). At Php350 each, it's the cheapest Speedo model that fits me best.

Push It

Laps-5: Reduced the rest time from 60 secs to 45 secs. This will further be reduced in weeks to come to push the cardio capability until no rest is required for the full 5 laps. Learn the flip turn next week in time for summer outings. Yahoo! Options for pushing:
  • Remove the 1 min rest between lengths and retain the 2 mins rest between laps.
  • Cut the 2 min rest to just 1 min so it becomes 1 min between length and 1 min between laps.
Didn't feel too tired today and there is no soreness in the hips and back. But felt very hungry at 3pm. Need to curb this runaway appetite! Next week, it's back to a Spartan diet.

A Wrestling Move

Laps-5, BP-110/80: Learned from nurse that having eaten or being fatigued (me at both instances yesterday) elevates the blood pressure. I continued using the rubberband to count laps. Really neat. Learned a super neat trick while doing backstroke drills. It is the double front kick that looks like a wrestling move. To do it, just stay close to the wall about 1 1/2 feet. Grasp the deck with both arms (this is optional). Pull yourself up while breathing and holding air. Kick wall and go streamlined!

Managed to do one arm drills with right hand. Left hand needs lots of work. Felt soreness in hips and had to take mefenamic acid. I almost took tramadol (the medz I used to take for my back sprain).

Briquette-Making Workout

Laps-3: BP at 130/90. Felt sleepy. 5 people at pool. Did some backstroke drills and not much progress. Need to do more. Ditched the dice and instead used the rubberband attached to watch. It worked really well. Just move the band from 1 finger to another as laps add up. Felt a little sleepy today. I suspect it was due to lingering fatigue from the recent weekend where I finished roughly 6 basins of briquettes = 14(2) + 14(2) + 19(2) = 94 briquettes! A record! The pic at the right shows the newly molded briquettes ready for drying.

A digression. Briquette-making is my own personal contribution to environmental awareness. I recycle paper and organic wastes to create fuel briquettes. I've developed my own process and although presently a little labor-intensive, it is so damned cool! I get exercise (biceps, triceps and shoulders), help conserve the environment and save on fuel costs - all at the same time! See these briquettes in action as burning fuel in our stove (the SuperKalan) as show at the left. I didn't "attack" the walls today. It was more long slow gliding towards the end. Need to be aggressive in attacking the walls.

Back to the digression: At the left pic, somethin's -a- cookin' on the SuperKalan by Irene.

At the right pic, chowtime! What better way to enjoy the fruits of your labor than with your loved ones. And hey, we didn't need to go far. This is just in our front yard right under our mango tree which was generous enough to provide us with sweet ripe fruits for dessert!

Kung Hei Fat Choi !

Yesterday, Laps-6: Dice inside trunks even with no pockets. Water was green.
Today, Laps-6: Minimized kicking. Noticed the forward momentum when rotating more. But this slows down the turnover of arms.

Swimming in Rectangles

Laps-6: A fast length is 34 secs. Dice kept inside the trunks pocket. Maybe should start buying trunks with pocket? Left goggle pouch in bag. Today I start the count on the dice first before the lap swim. I then move to black line and swim. At the other end, I move over to the white tiles and swim. It's like swimming in a circle (rectangle?). When I get back, I progress the dice count. I swallowed a little water at the 3rd lap and it was awful. There was lots of gagging and I had to stop. Just can't seem to shake off the gag/ barf effect. Felt tired in the afternoon around 4pm inspite of (or is it because of?) the heavy merienda of pancit, sapin-sapin and barbecue.

"No Dice"

Laps-6: Used 1 small dice to count laps. For each lap completed I increment count by moving the dice with the correct count facing me. Placed the dice inside the goggle pouch. Rest 2 mins between laps. Rest 1 min between lengths. Slow swim at 25m length is at 35 secs. Felt tired and sleepy with muscle soreness late in the afternoon.

Longer Layoff

Resumed swim for this year despite the cap crisis. Was quite sometime before the weather cleared up. Always overcast skies during lunch made it uninviting. Also had the colds and allergies for 2 weeks. Today went for a few easy lengths. Half lenght breast and half length free. Already forgot to stretch legs. Did 2 1/2 serious laps. Had 2 min rest between lengths.