A Better Day Today

DEasy: Today's definitely much much better than yesterday. Sun's out and somehow this time I heard the birds' chirping much more cheerily. Is it just my better mood that's why I noticed them? Maybe. In the silence of last week's workout, I also heard some dove's with their morning (mating?) call. One dove sounded like it was just over the fence and the other, was maybe 2 blocks away judging from its faint replies. I just weren't sure if they were blackdoves though.

I tried something new with today's free. Rather than do the usual right breathing where I just looked to where I happened to face, this time I set my eyes FOREWARD. I have a pic of Hackett where he does this. I believe this slight tweaking sets a more foreward direction for the stroke and even gives me a lower and more streamlined head profile.

I've devised a very relaxing and fun routine that combines the Elemback and the Tread (or headup breaststroke). This is a continuous cycle that won't require you to stop, stand or push off a wall. The key is how to change stroke and reverse direction at the same time. Here are the steps to the stroke changes:

Tread to EBack:

1. Continue sculling while starting to lean back.
2. Continue with frog kick until vertical while maintaining arm scull.
3. Once the body is vertical, change frog kick into a walking or bicycling motion that feels like climbing.
4. The arm sculling now changes into the double arm stroke of elemback.

EBack to Tread:

1. Continue stroking while starting to raise the torso.
2. Do sculling motions with both hands to make you upright with the legs in a still "sitting" position.
3. You might do 4 or 5 circles of these hand sculls to right you up completely.
4. When vertical, stop sculling and put arms forward to start breaststroking.
5. Put legs back to frogkick.

The towel's starting to get a musty smell so its time to wash and put vinegar. Algar drops need to be replenished too. Hmmm, why not just keep a sealable bottle of white vinegar. I heard it can be handy too for jellyfish stings if you happened to be on a beach.

On a different note, I'm now in a really good mood to revive my piano practice. All those action items yesterday were all a piece of cake! The answering machine worked immediately and was easy to clean. The bulb didn't need replacement and switched on magically. The switch worked well after taping. No hitch, no hassle whatsoever. Hey, maybe it's A SIGN! The stand's legs didn't require sawing. The setup measured 28.25" from floor to top of keys. Besides, it's too much hassle to cut-off coz it'll require drilling the stop hole. And the standard height is 28" to 29".

Now practice time... hmmmm... Am thinking of rising at 4am for this using my melodious cellphone alarm to gently wake me up. It won't be so bad. I could first fill-up the jugs and then put on the airpot. This'll limber and warm me up and keep me awake. Coffee will be ready in a jiffy. I'll practice until around 5:30. That's the time when Karen and Sandra will be getting ready for school. I'll keep the piano open while I take coffee. I hope keeping the piano open would entice them to practice or play at least. I'll turn it off once they leave. Then it's time prepare to leave for the morning swim.