A Couple of 100 Free's

I suprrised myself today when I did a couple of laps (50m) twice. I didn't have anything special in mind to do today other than a relaxed swim. I didn't even plan on coming at all. But this nagging thought in my mind just kept saying:
  1. "It's still free! Take advantage of it. By August you'd have to pay per entry."
  2. "It isn't raining. The sun's peering from a distance. It'll be a nice day.
  3. Buddy, you choose: your work or your health?"
And so I succumbed. Just on a whim, I started a free and said to myself I'll take it slow. I still practiced exhaling more on the nose and after a lap, I felt I could do one more and I did. The difference in the past is that I didn't push myself off the wall too strongly and I didn't raise my shoulders too high as I grabbed the deck. I just wanted to be relaxed in swimming and off the walls.

I realized then that I probly exerted too much effort previously in rising off the turn and pushing from the wall when there was no need to. That is, if the purpose is just for long distance swims where the key is a relaxed swim. Well, something in me asked what did I do differently today that allowed me to do this? Was it the Ube-laden Tasty bread (Php55) I bought from Urban Chef at the canteen which was so yummy? I had 3 slices this morning with cream-egg and it was good! Or was it the new breathing style where I exhale through the nose while swimming and blowing out hard after pushing off the wall? Maybe it's the latter.

I wanted to do more of these 100's when I noticed in the pool floor what looked like a thin stick. It moved! Uh huh, an earthworm. Now I wouldn't mind these creatures there in with me, but I had my tummy full and so I felt a little queasy. The VCO (virgin coconut oil) I gulped last night isn't helping. Going back after the turn, I switch lanes and there was another smaller earthworm. And so that was it for me and got out.

Resort's Up for Sale

I was late at the pool today (7:30am) coz I brought Sandra's baon to school. DH (on CIL) woke up late this morning and rice was cooked late.

Today at the pool was the resort owner, old man Randy. I've never seen him swim and for an owner, I would've thought he'd kick ass with awesome swimming. Nah, nothing like that. The guy wore speedo trunks alright, but he had the whole enchilada gear of mask, snorkel and fins. He probly forgot his kickboard, buoy and paddles. Anyway, all he did was freestyle, and some kicking (no stroking) laps - nothing extraordinary.

Me, I did the lengths, coz he took my lane and was doing lengths. Yah, okay, he's the owner, right? So I took another lane and proceeded to do a mix of the four strokes, free, breast, back and even fly! My, I should do these lengths more often. The pool floor seemed cleaner this time. The pool boy's must've known the owner would be swimming.

Sometime later, a henchman came and talked to Randy. I couldn't help over hearing, but yup, it's confirmed: the resort's up for sale. He said the 4.5k sqm property is being sold for Php6k s or close to Php27M. He said his kids aren't interested in coming home from America (old news to me) and so he's selling it. Too bad. But I'm wondering who'd have that chunk of money to buy it? It'll probly be a corporation or partnership that'll spruce up the place. Sometimes, I wonder what it'll be like if I had my own pool at home. It'll probly never be cleaned. Sure I love to swim, but the idea of maintaining a pool, ugh, from what I've seen, turns me off.

Exhale from Nose in the Fly

I'm still on sick leave but after taking the munsci kids to school, I went for a swim. And since there was no hurry, I stayed at the pool until 9am. Yehey! And just to feed me there, I brought 3 bananas and lots of water. The pool floor was still dirty though. I don't think the pool boy was into cleaning thoroughly as he claimed. So I stayed mostly on deepend side where the floor tiles were cleaner. The dirty tiles elsewhere certainly affected how much I wanted to stay and practice. And so it was mostly widths for me today. I would've wanted to do lengths, but ... ugh... yuck.

Today I felt that I wasn't exiting my arms out cleanly in fly. It was as though I had too much water to push out and it was delaying the recovery. And so I experimented on a couple of action items to see if they improve the recovery:
  1. Undulate more. By doing so, the body doesn't stay flat and when the torso rises, the arms should be at a height where they could clear the surface.
  2. Focus on exiting with the pinkies out. This way, the hand at the last instant, will slice the surface rather than continue pushing more water.
So far, the 2 above seemed to help. Is it the correct solution? I don't know, but I'll look more into it and continually search for solutions.

I also experimented on breathing out through the nose rather than the mouth. I felt it cleared easily after finishing a width. I was not used to it before, preferring just exhaling through the mouth. Sigh! Decisions, decision. I can't imagine exhaling FULLY from both at the same time though.

Talking of solutions, here's a book I've been keeping all these years (long before I even got swim lessons). I've had it since college, just kept it, hoping to finally use it someday. Needless to say, it's a rare book now. And it's been a very good reference.


The photos are those of famous swimmers like Mark Spitz, Gary Hall Sr., etc. and the pics, though black and white, are very clear. Here are frame-by-frame shots of the sidestroke. Notice the frayed and splitted middle of the book.


The drawings are a bit crude and funny though. They remind me of the ancient scientific drawings of the renaissance men like Da Vinci's flying machine.


Visual Anticipation

Today, I did fly on the length and it wasn't as smooth yet as I want it to be. For one thing though, I learned something I've been missing all along and that is to visually anticipate the breath when coming up for air. Watch as the surface of the water appears and this way, you can gauge how soon it is you could breath. I did it in fly and noticed it was so much easier to breath. I did it in breast and the effect was the same thing. It is such a simple and common-sense concept but something I just didn't do in breathstroke in the past. What happened then was I just tucked my head down and when it was ready to breath, I didn't gradually anticipate for it, but rather just jerked my head up for air from the tucked position. Yeah, silly me. And it seemed to just tire me out. With this new technique, I now feel much in control and more relaxed when coming up to breath.

I was sent home again today by the Clinic since my right eye remained red. Before going home, I went to swim again.

Sore Eyes

I didn't swim last Monday coz I had to finish the csv's for the dataloaders. Che has had sore eyes since Friday night and I've contracted it Monday morning. I was sent home by the Clinic for a 3-day SL. I'm taking Tobradex. It's the same medz the kids are using. Coz of the eyepain, there wasn't much I could do. I couldn't even read for very long. The eyes would water and I had to give them a rest and then sleep. So for this vacation, I didn't do any apt work even though there were screens to sand and paint. I figure the dust from the sanding would aggravate my eyes' condition as they're still red.

So I settled for light stuff like brief reading (I've read the highbeam articles), watching videos from the 12-in-one DVD cartoons with Renz and Sandra. Both of them have been absent from school for sore eyes too. Sandra didn't have school last Tues, June19 coz of Laguna day. I also cleaned my swim radio for accumulated dirt. I reviewed some of the old swim videos and sorted some old karaoke videos. It's all basically light work.

Dyok Taym!
Last Sunday, Renz was all up and bright to greet me: "Happy Mother's Day!" Uhm, it was Father's Day.

Today's Karen's 13th Birthday! Happy Birthday Karns!


Some of the highlights of my reading the highbeam articles:

ON WHY SWIM?
African-Americans are realizing that swimming is a total body workout that improves cardiovascular condition as well as works and tones muscles simultaneously. And for those looking to slim down and tone, swimming provides a more efficient exercise than lifting weights by attacking every muscle in different ways. "When you lift, you're lifting on a two-dimensional plane because you're just pushing or pulling," Davis says. "The results will plateau. Swimming is on a three-dimensional plane. You're pushing and pulling, but you're attacking the muscle in different angles at different points. No two strokes are the same."
---
Swimming is probably the all-around healthiest exercise option. Whether you are old or young, physically fit or not, swimming can help you feel and look better.

In fact, swimming a minimum of three times a week for 20 to 30 minutes each time can improve the condition of your heart, arteries and lungs, lower your blood pressure and reduce your percentage of unwanted body fat. It also works all your major muscle groups, unlike other options which tone only your legs or arms.

For New Year's fitness resolutions or for just trying to work off the holiday bulge, swimming is the quickest way to tone up and slim down. Water provides 12 times as much resistance as air and swimming laps for one hour burns more calories than aerobics, running, bicycling, walking, or weightlifting.
---
Swimming is the perfect exercise for lifetime fitness. No other activity provides so many health benefits with so few dangers. The older athlete is especially concerned about staying healthy because consistency is essential for a fitness program to be effective, and avoiding injury is the key to consistency. Water is a wonderfully forgiving medium. Gone is the jarring of running. Absent are the dangers of cycling. Dogs, cars, angry people, potholes, curbs, inclement weather, and even air pollution are potential injury-causing factors that can be avoided in the environment most often encountered by the fitness swimmer. The swimming pool is a safe environment by design.
---
Athletes weary of battering their bodies with running and high-impact aerobics are taking the plunge into swimming. The reason? Swimming has the lowest injury rate of any vigorous sport.

"One of the things that a lot of people like about swimming is it doesn't have the impact on the joints that running does. So, it's very beneficial for people who have bad knees and bad backs,'' says Dave Markus, health and fitness director at the Southwest YMCA in Saratoga, Calif.

ON SACRIFICES:
By and large, kids don't regret what they have missed," Mr. Murphy says. "They say they got so much on the other side. They traveled, made friends in other countries. It is the sacrifices that help make them the special person they become.

ON OPEN WATER:
When you conquer your fears, ocean swimming can be a glorious experience. "I really, really like it," says Bolster, who after years of pool training recently headed to the open waters. "Once you get into a comfortable rhythm, it can be very Zen-like out there." Wantagh's Nancy Tischler agrees. Although she, too, grew up with a dad who swam the sea, she stayed put in the pool. "Most people worry about sharks and fish," she said. "I was just afraid of being over my head." About two years ago, she took the plunge - and now swims in the ocean almost every summer morning. "My life has begun again," she said with a laugh. "It just feels so free out there."

ON AGE AND IMPROVEMENT:
"If you want to improve your swimming you have to swim five times a week and vary your strokes," said Geer. "You need someone to critique you because you can't see what you're doing."

He attributes his speed to mastery of a wide range of strokes, which gives him greater endurance and strength. Right now he's concentrating on the breast stroke.

"You can't defeat age, but you can master activities," said Geer. "You learn how to propel yourself in the water, how to better feel the glide and slide through the water. It's like dancing well."
---
Searfoss shows her daughters, who range in age from 2 to 9, the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. "It's important for them to see exercise as a part of life," she said. "It's good to see what you can do and maintain when you're older."
---
The reason some 70-year-old swimmers can outperform teenagers is because swimming is such a technical sport. Proper stroke mechanics and efficiency can compensate for the superior strength and endurance of youth. This makes swimming the ideal sport for the older athlete who wants to enjoy the thrills of improvement in a physical activity. Past the age of 50, the well-trained athlete is at a physical stage where further training will not produce a big change in performance. Improved technique, however, will extract every bit of physical potential that's available. We've seen numerous swimmers who have been able to match performances from their youth through a combination of careful training and better stroke mechanics. The results for swimmers who pick up the sport late in life are even more dramatic. As they learn how to swim more efficiently, they do lifetime bests every time they dive into the pool. It's a great feeling for them, and their coaches, too!

Of course swimming isn't going to transform someone from the "old-old" age group into a teenager. It can, however, certainly help the 90-year-old live a fuller life. There are some losses of physical capacity over which we have no control. Nevertheless, there are many more that readily respond to increased use by becoming stronger, more resilient, and more youthful in function. We have to take the bad with the good and be glad we can win at least some of the battles against aging, even if we eventually will lose the war. It's essential that we never give up. We may have to make a few compromises along the way, but we must never capitulate.

ON AGING CONSIDERATIONS:
The adaptational feature of the leisure repertoire concept also underscores the emphasis on competence. If, as Deci and Ryan state, perceived competence and self-determination are innate needs that continue throughout life, then deprivation of opportunities for perceived competence and self-determination may result in significant psychological problems for the individual (e.g., Seligman, 1975). As people age, the number of genuine leisure choices is eroded by a series of age related constraints (e.g., illness, diminished financial resources, fear of crime, lack of transportation, etc.). No matter how free the individual is to choose what to do during free-time, if the person cannot act on a choice, then it is not really a choice at all. Therefore, though we acknowledge that self-determination is essential to intrinsically motivated leisure activities, we likewise contend that perceptions of competence regulate the array of activities the individual has to choose from.

Adaptation to aging is partly a matter of maintaining or enhancing competence, thereby retaining self-determination through a repertoire of leisure activities (Mobily, et al., 1991). If the aged individual can maintain or even enlarge the number of (competently performed) activities in his or her leisure repertoire, then age related constraints are less likely to eliminate all leisure options. For example, competent participation in swimming may be substituted (Iso-Ahola, 1986) for competent participation in jogging that was surrendered because of osteoporosis. Hence, the older person with more viable activity choices in free time (i.e., a larger leisure repertoire of competently performed activities) has the psychological advantage.

ON ADULT LEARNERS:
"It's so important for everyone to learn to swim no matter what age," Ms. Harvey says. "We encourage people to learn to swim at a very young age, but it's important for adults to learn to swim if they didn't when they were younger."

"It takes old-fashioned practice, practice, practice," Mr. Strange says. "Many people don't want to embarrass themselves in lessons. They don't want to admit they can't swim, so they don't try. The only embarrassment is not trying. The ones who try are the heroes."
---
These are the calculations you make when you are a swimmer who cannot really swim, someone who might have passed diving exams, perhaps even saved people from drowning - in certain conditions. But you don't breathe properly when you swim, you don't relax in the water, and your first thought on starting out is of how far you will have to go, and how soon you will be out of the water again.

I was tired of being one of these incompetents, only half able to enjoy a holiday by the sea, and only half sure that, the next time, I could save someone's life or my own. I went to find a teacher, more than 35 years after I had first swum a width of the municipal baths. And the more I told friends and colleagues about what I was doing, the more I uncovered people who felt the same stigma, who had grown up suffering their failing in silence.

ON TECHNIQUE:
The changes, such as slowing your kick or recovering your arm elbow-up and close to your body, may seem small, but incorporating them into your swimming can make an enormous difference. That's because swimming, like golf and skiing, is a technique sport.

Because water is a thousand times denser than air, "a swimmer with poor technique expends three or four times the energy to cover the same distance. That means that a slight woman with a well-honed stroke that barely ripples the surface can outdistance the muscular fellow kicking and beating the water to a froth.

ON THE USE OF SUITS:
"Proprioception, that is, muscle awareness, is the most important element that a suit lends to our bodies. The suit presses against the skin in such a way as to give an athlete the feeling of being stronger and more in control. The suit creates compression that allows the nervous system to provide better feedback on where the body is positioned. Soccer players, for example, create a proprioceptive effect when they tape their feet. The close-fitting sleeves worn by baseball players and the tight suits of ballet dancers perform likewise."

ON STAYING COMMITTED:
Many beginning swimmers soon quit because they find their swim workout boring. If your workout lacks variety and is the same every time, your enthusiasm may also take a nose dive. You can make swimming more interesting and get more out of your workouts by varying the distance, stroke, and intensity of your swims and by working on different parts of your body at different times.

Another way to vary your workout is to change strokes. Instead of swimming freestyle (crawl) or breast-stroke, try alternating strokes between laps. By working on all four strokes--breastroke, backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle--you not only make the workout more fun, but you also work different sets of muscles.

ON PONDERINGS:
But Americans' love affair with high-calorie foods - and a warm television to eat them with - still prevails.

"We've become a spectator nation. We are happy to watch the million-dollar athlete on television, but we don't want to do anything ourselves," Tom McMillan, the former basketball star and congressman and now co-chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, complained last year.

Sixty-six percent of Americans regularly watch TV while eating dinner, says TV-Free America, a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C. that organizes national "TV-turnoff" weeks each year.
---
Not all those who claim the title "ocean swimmer" actually are. In some surveys, Laughlin suspects, "people who go to the beach two or three times, take a dip and come out again after five minutes, or go in waist deep - they respond as having 'gone swimming.'"

In contrast, "Someone who can swim a quarter mile, 100 yards from shore - that's truly ocean swimming, and there are not many who can do that. If you look out 100 yards from shore, you're not going to see many people out there, swimming parallel to the beach for some distance."

My Appreciation for the Fly

I know this post is contrary to what I've been saying all along regarding my giving up on the fly in this entry. Why the change in attitude? Hey, I'm learning new stuff and yes, I'm damned excited with the Butterfly stroke. Or maybe it's the new goggles I'm using? Maybe I'm starting to see the Fly in a different light with these goggles?


Actually, these "orange jelly" goggles belong to Karen now. But what the heck, I might as well use them. I'm so tired of using old scratched and blurry goggles that it's a relief to be using clear goggles. Maybe they're a good luck charm with my fly attempts coz I started using them when I started this fly thing.

I was at the pool really early today. I took Dada to school coz they're sponsoring the mass and so I was at the pool a little past six. I looked forward for a long practice time and boy, did I learn a lot today!

Take it Slow
I put to heart today what I learned in the article in the preceding post. I focused on the keyhole pattern and did it slow. It's surprising that body undulation comes naturally even as I flystroked in such a relaxed manner. Not only that, I was moving too - not very fast, but at least moving and getting the groove of it.

Prepare for the Breath
In the past few days, I was screwing my form and streamline when attempting to breath. I thought the breath to inhale was rushed and I felt always suddenly jerking my head upwards, causing slight neck pain. So today instead of tucking my head down all the time, I gradually raised it when it was time to breath. This gave me a good view of the water surface and the cue to prepare me to breath as I broke the surface. Here's where I fully appreciated the clear new "orange jelly" goggles.

Over the last 3 or 4 width laps, I imprinted the above learnings to the stroke so I'll always remember the feeling of how it is to have good technique. I'm happy today.

The Butterfly Keyhole

Here's an interesting article I got off the internet. It describes the butterfly stroke and later, the keyhole pattern in the fly arm pull.

THE BUTTERFLY STROKE

The butterfly stroke has the reputation of being difficult to do because those who have not learned to do it properly try to rise too high and go too fast. It requires only moderate effort if done slowly and easily.

The butterlfy stroke is faster than any stroke except the crawl. It's used for competetive swimming and as another step on the ladder of aquatic mastery. It's not used for lifesaving or as a resting stroke, or for distance swimming or for recreation. The buttefly stroke is sometimes used for its showmanship value as part of a synchronized swimming routine. (???)

Start the stroke by kicking the dolphin kick slowly, arms stretched overhead. Time the first arm pull to coincide with a downward kick of the legs. Thrust your chin forward and inhale as you pull. Recover your arms over the the water while your legs are lifting. Kick down again as your head, hands, and arms dive into the water. That is the end of one butterfly stroke. Exhale and, as your legs lift into position to kick again, prepare your hands and arms for another pull. Thus, one arm stroke, two downward kicks, and a breath constitute one stroke, but you must take time between strokes to prepare.

THE BUTTERFLY ARMPULL

To do the butterfly armstroke, pull with both arms simultaneously. Flex both wrists to point your fingertips downward and, by bending your elbows slightly, turn your palms slightly outward. Begin the pull by slicing (sculling) your hands outward, around, and inward, bending your elbows and turning your palms to facilitate the sculling action as if you were trying to draw a large circle with your fingertips on the bottom of the pool.

Leave your elbows as far forward during the first half of the circle, pulling with your hands and forearms. Bring your shoulder muscles into play by beginning to pull with your upper arms as you hands and forearms pass your ears. With elbows bent at 90 degrees, press back and inward toward the centerline of your body until your hands complete the circle nearly touching under your chest. Allow your wrists to begin bending back to keep the palms perpedicular to the line of effort (they will be forced into that position if you simply relax them slowly as you push. Push straight backward toward your feet, extending your elbows and separating your hands enough for them to pass, palms up, outside your thighs.

Keep your elbows straight as you lift both arms free of the water. Begin to bring both arms forward over the water with palms facing upward until your arms are nearly at shoulder level. At that point begin to turn your palms down and continue to bring both arms over the water to enter as far forward as you can reach, in line with your shoulders. Keep your elbows high on the entry, as though you were reaching over a wave with both arms. Allow your head, hands, and upper torso to dive "over a wave" to about a foot beneath the water, then bend your wrists back to turn the fingertips up and glide toward the surface. As soon as your hands return to the surface, flex your wrists to drop your fingertips in preparation for the next stroke.

Do not begin the next stroke as your hands enter the water. Allow time to dive, reach, and glide to the surface before starting the next stroke. The whole stroke resembles drawing a keyhole with your hands: The circle at the top followed by a straight push from your chest to your thighs circumscribes a keyhole shape.

Quick Recovery on the Fly

Fly practice today was at the deepend, although the one-arm fly drills were done on the length as warm-ups. Today's practice was again on form. The width is short so I only do 3 dolphin kicks and these are shallow kicks where I'm closer to the surface. I then do 4 to 5 strokes to complete the width. On the length, I'd do more dolphin kicks, maybe 6 or or more, and coming off deeper from the wall.

Practice was at the deepend width this time. I experimented the straight push-back pattern against the "keyhole" pattern. I thought the keyhole pattern semed more natural for me. I even felt getting faster as the arms were nearing the hips. I think it may be because I've been doing this pattern eversince I started. The pattern seems more complicated and it does call on different shoulder, arm and back muscles unlike the straight pattern.

I noticed today that my arms weren't clearing the water adequately. It was like my upper arms and biceps would hit simultaneously with the finger tips thereby making a huge arm splash. I wanted clean hand entry into the water. I tried recovering the arms quick right after they come out and that spelled the difference.

Fly on the Length

When I arrived, the pool looked really weird today. There were areas in the water that looked mysteriously blue while the rest was the usual light green tinge that I was accustomed to. The pool guy was also IN the pool today. Okay, must be cleaning time. When I dove and swam, I saw that in those blue areas the pool floor was brushed really clean! No wonder the color was so mysterious. I've been so used to the green tinge all these years that seeing those very clean tiles is new to me. The pool guy also had the vacuum on as he was cleaning the pool floor.

After a few widths of fly, I tried a whole length and finished only 3/4ths of the way. I'm still struggling on the breathing department obviously. It feels like I lose the little speed I have whenever I breath. For a short lap, I could breath on the third stroke. That means two strokes with head down and then breath on the third. If I breathed every stroke I'd be moving like a turtle. But still, I think I'll just try the lengths on the fly next time. Even if I fall short, I'd just resume from where I stopped. It's just a psychological barrier for now.

Balancing the Stroke

I recently saw a drill on GoSwim regarding Shoulder Rotation for Freestyle. It dealt with balancing the stroke especially for those who breath unilaterally (one-sided). Since the tendency is to favor the breathing side, the stroke becomes lop-sided or unbalanced. The drill mentions the use of a heads-up free stroke coz it is one sure way to balance the strokes. This is because the head is facing center forward and you can always see the arms clearing the water. I agree with this.

Ever since I started heads-up free, I noticed that my freestyle is now relatively symmetrical even if I breath only on the right side. My problematic left arm now clears the water surface with ease. So when I read the article, I said wow, that makes a lot of sense. This may just be the breakthrough I need to finally learn bilateral breathing.

I spent a short time today at the pool. It was back at the lame butterfly strokes. Somehow I still couldn't find the groove of breathing correctly. Since I still don't have the stamina, I always feel tired after 4 strokes. At my last short laps, I remembered about the rule that said "the hips go up when arms enter the water". I tried that and felt the much needed undulation in effect. Wow! Gotta do that more often.

Another Cleaning Weekend

Ugh. Another back breaking work for DH and me. Unit C's much tougher than we thought! The previous tenants left it looking clean and good, but did some damage in the process. Some of the stuff we did:
  1. Replaced clay putty with Acrylic sealant (not so easy to apply as Silicone).
  2. Put in white sealant in door and door jamb gaps
  3. Pulled out (arrgh!) the old floor strainer which had nasty sharp edges poking out and replaced it with a new one.
  4. Scraped off peeling paint on the 2nd floor window sills and repainted with semi-gloss white latex.
  5. Scraped off flaking paint from the iron stair balusters and painted with epoxy paint.
  6. Repainted the floor strainer at the laundry area.
  7. Took out and scraped off some corroding parts of the CR screen frame and painted with Sphero Gray Epoxy paint. Apparently, Arelene's maid, Claire used some very strong cleaning acids that corroded and rusted some of the fixtures.
  8. Replaced one of the concealed hinges in kitchen cabinet. This needs further tweaking.
I'm feeling body pains all over - hips, thighs, butt, delts.

Just on a whim, I had warts cauterized today. We have it free at the clinic once a quarter and you need to sign up in advane. I didn't had my name listed prior. I just saw the sign at the clinic today and decided to sign on the waiting list. And I was right, there weren't many people there. It was my first time for this procedure and the one at my left eyelid was relatively bigger. It took the longest to burn. I guess I won't be swimming for a couple of days. I'll take the time to rest.

Today's the first day of classes for Che and Karen and I took them to school. Karen's a little tensed (coz of assignments?) while Che's smiling (must be the weight she lost). Good thing it didn't rain this morning although thunder was heard early on.