Swim Drills

My first swim class and I was late. 

I went home early after my training, felt a fever acting up and bundled under the covers to sweat it out. Too soon it was nearly 6pm, so I swallowed Actifast and got going. But I was unfamiliar with the area so I got lost. 

 When I arrived the other students were already there. My instructor, Mr Lee, introduced me to everybody by saying that I am a triathlete! I tried telling him that I am attempting to compete but everybody was looking at me like I'm a hotshot swimmer. There's this one guy, Ng, who asked me about my time and all. I was instantly nervous. He had me swim 100m to assess my style, and I got so excited that I went too fast and I burned down at the last 25m. I choked and sputtered in front of them. so embarrassing! hahaha..

 

 He then asked us to do kicking drills, which nearly wiped me out. My thighs were burning. After that it was one arm stroke drills, which I sucked. Then, the best part of the evening, he had us swim across the pool (17m) with only a single breath, kicking all the way. I nearly died! And then, as if the torture isn't enough, he has us tread water with our hands above the surface of the water, all the way. Of course I failed that. My legs simply weren't strong enough. To end it, he asked me, Ng, and this malay dude to race 100m. I went charging the first 100m, but lost steam and came reallll slow, breathing like an asthmatic. What a humbling experience! To think I was a hotshot swimmer in my 3k pool - well of course, when everyone else were elderly grandpas and uncles! hehe.

 He asked me what my goal was, and I told him to be able to swim long distance while conserving energy. Ng's target was all about speed - he wanted to do 100m in less than 1:40. The malay dude wanted to be able to swim; he was practicing his breaststroke mostly.

 All in all, a good tiring workout, but too short to my liking. Can't wait for the next class. 

Great Swim

You know how runners always get that high? It doesn't happen often, but we are all lucky enough to have felt it. Your body seems to respond. Your legs feels springy and light and your heart doesn't hurt and you just feel awesome. I've felt it enough to know that I love running. And today is no exception, except I felt it during swimming.

 I've felt it before in a swim. After struggling in the water suddenly it's like entering this 'zone' where you're just gliding through water. I was struggling the past few swimming sessions because I was so determined to 'correct' my swimming form to no avail, and today after struggling for the first 2 100m, I just, glided. Everything worked in unison; my strokes, my bodyroll, my balance were in sync and I stopped caring about my overturn and anything else. I just swam. And swam. It felt wonderful... like falling in love. hahahah it's true!

 I was so psyched that I continued till I did 1km. 

 10x100m of bilateral 5 strokes each.

Swimming 3k

I spent lunchtime at work going through the SwimSmooth website and staring at the animation for long minutes. According to Mr Smooth and the site, I have horrible swimming style. As I mentioned in the earlier post, I overturn when taking air, my strokes cross the midline and I do not have the 'catch'.  I was determined to at least correct my bodyroll today.

 The attempt was horrible. Obviously, a self-taught swimmer's not going to get any better with her form if she's the one teaching herself, and have no idea how she looks like in the water. I had to idea what I was doing. Somewhere in my 4th lap, I actually breathed in water through my nose and I was at the 25m mark. I had to struggle to the end, swimming short strokes and trying not to choke and cough. My breathing was awful because I was concentrating on too many things: my strokes to go straight, to 'catch' and to breathe with one goggle underwater. When catching a breather I noticed that all swimmers overturn. Finally after trying in vain to breathe properly, I chucked them all off and swam just the way I know how. I mean, I'm not going to the Olympic or even competing. I was just going to swim for as long and as much as I could for my fitness.

 I did 1000m of easy freestyle with maybe 2 laps of side drills. Can't wait to swim on Wednesday. No, I can't wait to RUN.

Easy Light Swim

Yesterday went for a swim after 2 days of being stuck at some work meeting in Cyberjaya till late. I went with a friend this time, and we decided to go to the nearest, 3k, because it is an indoor pool (it was raining). 

 I've always liked 3k pool. Maybe because I'm just so used to it, but swimming there feels so much smoother than any other pools I've tried since. Of course, in my opinion, nothing beats Shah Alam Aquatic pool yet - it's amazingly deserted even during peak hours. I think that would be one of my main criteria in choosing a good public pool. Others include:

1.  warm water
   
2.  even 10 ft depth
   
3.  proper swim lanes
   
4.  DESERTED
   
5.  separated for women and men
   
6.  open till 10 pm
   

I have yet to find one that has at least 3 or 4 of the above. UITM pool has no 5 and 6, but is cold as ice and is gradually sloping instead of being even 10ft. Shah alam aquatic center has no 2 and 3. Which I like cause you just feel professional. Kelana Jaya has no 1, a great surprise and a pleasure during these cold nights. 3k has... well to tell you the truth 3k has none but I still like it anyway. I'm such a creature of habit!

 I also realized that when it comes to sports or working out, I'm the solitary type. Bringing a friend yesterday was not exactly a bad idea, but it disturbed my swimming goal (to do 1km) because I sort of feel guilty leaving her hanging at the pool sides. She is starting to swim regularly but since she smokes so much she could only do a short breaststroke before getting winded. I usually charged ahead with my laps without talking to anyone but yesterday I had to stop in between laps so that we could talk for a while. I realized then how I enjoyed going to the pool alone and having nothing but myself and the water around. What a great release to be focusing on just your swimming. We planned to go swimming regularly but I hope she gains fitness soon so that she could join me in doing laps. I don't want to make her feel bored waiting for me to finish my laps.

 so yesterday was an easy 600m, left and right (or bilateral? or whatever), 5 strokes each. Planned to go swimming today but felt extra tired so probably Sunday morning would be great. I need to work on my form - found out that my stroke is bad: i sliced using my thumb, my catch is awful, my stroke crosses the midline, and I overturn too much when exhaling. Urgh, what a downer!

knackered!

My usual daily routine starts at 520 am. That's when I usually wake up. I leave for work around 6-610, arrive in the office at 655. I'm usually tired at the end of the day. 

 Today, I vowed to go swimming. And I did. Planned to go with a friend but he bailed out at the last minute so it was just me. I jumped into the pool and did a straight 50m x 16 laps of freestyle, right and left, 5 strokes each. It was awesome to have your lungs burning up and your heart pumping. The only difference between swimming and running is that when you run out of breath you can stop and catch it if you were running but when you swim you have no way but to manage your breathing the best you could. But it was an awesome half an hour spent.

 I went to Kelana Jaya pool and i was told that the pools were open to both men and women. However, the pool I went to (they have 2) were all full of males. I swam there wondering why they are giving me weird looks and later, ONLY WAAAAY later, at home and finishing my isya' prayer that I realized: that pool is for males only. i mean, my friend who went there lately told me the pools are separated for men and women but when I called them in the morning they said it's only separated on Fridays. But apparently not so, as I found out today!