If you think I did this because I am planning to join a triathlon, no. I don’t need that kind of stress, exhaustion, and emphasis: competition in my life. As a person who grew up wired to always achieve something, winning, and being on top is an “always” or “as it should”, those competitions are a big Naaaaah. I just want to really chill lately. Perhaps this is what being 30 is about? Kidding.
My swimming besties
It was the second week of January when I finally decided to take a plunge, look for swimming lessons I could take in Marikina. Syempre, sa malapit na lang tayo para tipid sa pamasahe and who knows, I could use my bike for transpo? Oo, swimming lessons in January. Paka lameg! I think na overcome naman ng anatomy kong hindi magkasakit. There's a day I got colds or that was once again my rhinitis but was able to mitigate it right away. On the fourth and fifth day, I think my body adapted already, less chills or shivering.
I was contemplating if I would really push through it, of course, may cost itong involve and most of all, my schedule. Wala akong problema sa commitment but weekends, mostly, are my time for myself na I could just lie down or do anything I want without thinking or focusing on a task at hand. O kaya sleeping late as, weekdays, for work, oblige me to sleep a bit earlier as I need to wake up by 6 am or before (6 am shift ko, eh). Kung merong pipigil sa akin ituloy ‘yung swimming lesson, it would be this more than my fear of the water. But I committed to it. The reason why I said no to all Friday and Saturday night outs and appointments (hence Bibliolater sessions, our book club, were done on Thursdays these past few weeks). Because I think I needed to really sleep more given the rigorous activities I would be having the next day. And also said no to all weekend galas (except for Amelia’s birthday). I felt so committed that I even forgot to catch up on the series I was regularly watching at 1:30 am Sunday. Yes, that was GAP the Series.
Prolly, some of you already know that a fortune teller in Quiapo told me to be careful with water. That I might slash will die of the water. When he mentioned that, my friend and I looked at each other. More than laughing, both of us were worried as I really don’t (didn’t that time) know how to swim. Sa lahat nang sinabi ng manghuhula noong araw na iyon, alam kong dito siya may tama.
But it wasn’t my fear of the water that was the total reason why I decided to spend 10 hours of my lovely morning of weekends in a pool, with a coach, trying to breathe in and out of the blue liquid, all while thinking if I really don’t have body coordination. Siguro mga 10% lang ito. 90%? Was because I thought of doing something new, of learning something new. Pwede ring, para magwaldas ng pera. Wow, daming time, daming panggastos niyan?
My stuff whenever the classes start.
Did I spend way too much to make sure I commit to this new adventure? Yes. To the point that I bought four towels, two in regular sizes and two in smaller sizes, only to use one of them in all five days. Did I mention I bought three pairs of goggles? That was just really supposed to be one pair but I didn’t know I shouldn’t be wiping the lenses and just air dry it. So the very first pair got smudges I could no longer remove (The second one was because I needed it right away the next day so I bought something random and all the water is getting inside so palit ulit). I also have four swimming caps. LOL. Ayaw ulitin ‘yung ginamit kahapon, Althea?!
Don't wipe, just air dry. Those water marks will leave once you dip into the water anyway.
Did I learn freestyle? Yes.
Can I perfectly swim doing that? Of course not!
But am I confident that I can float and kick? Absolutely! And that’s all that matters to me.
Did I learn other techniques? I guess so. I think I can back float without arm pulling, and without fearing I will sink. So makasu-survive ako maski paano.
Did I drink pool water? Too many times I could count, including the times I needed to get some air during the freestyle.
Did I feel relief after releasing water from my ear/s? Definitely. In the shower, catching water from the shower head, pouring it inside my affected ear/s, immediately bending my neck to get the water out, and capping it off with, Finally! All the damn time.
Video taken by Coach CJ.
Aside from how to swim, did I learn a thing or two? Yeah! I learned I have high buoyancy (so why was I so afraid of sinking?!) and that sharks struggle to see colors and detect objects hence nauso raw ang mga swimwear na mas colorful or printed, so sharks don’t think you are a prey. (Oo, ito talaga natutuhan ko! Chos lang ke Coach.)
I kinda felt I was already OK after the third day as I already knew how to float and kick, though not yet very efficient and not yet sounding like a well-oiled machine. Not that I said to my coach I’ll no longer finish the last four hours but I guess that’s what classes are for. Teachers would like to see your potential, make sure that if it wasn’t perfect, as there’s no such thing, you at least reach the maximum efficiency. And that’s what Coach CJ did to me, that in return, naisip ko, Sige na, Thea. Binayaran mo ‘to. ‘Wag ka muna magpaka chill. But of course, knowing me, there are times I no longer hold my breath when I know I still can. This is again Thea being the Chill Thea who says, I know how to do it already, I won’t exert too much effort anymore. This ain’t a race nor there’s a trophy waiting for me at the end.
But for the last four hours, I told myself, let’s try. Let’s try to push it to almost the limit. So I tried holding my breath under water for all 30 seconds of my warm ups and cool downs of kicking. Tried not to stop to touch the floor when I no longer had oxygen in me halfway and instead, continued kicking while holding on to the kickboard. Of course, I didn’t perfect this. A lot of times, I still touched the floor. Or I did it but then I already felt tired after a few kicks and I totally stopped again.
Last day! The only day I took pictures. The guards were kind enough to allow me to park my bike.
Aside from proving 1000% my body coordination really sucks, because swimming is really more about focus — thinking of only what you need to think about like not bending your knees too much, push your legs downward but the ignition should come from your hips (don’t cycle! Oo, bikerist ka pero ibang padyak ‘yung swimming), let your left ear touch your left shoulder when you get air out of water, use your nose to exhale underwater and inhale through your mouth as your right arm recovers, think like you’re doing a spike in volleyball when you do your arm pull, don’t bend your elbows right away, and point your fingers upward to get your proportion before they touch the water again. See? These are tons of things I have to remember every time, all while thinking Don’t panic. Relax! Naaalala ko sila ngayon but when I put them into action, of course wala na naman akong body coordination — I realized that if I really just put myself into it, I would be able to do things I have little to no knowledge about. So bakit hindi ko kaya gawin ‘to sa Math at sa mga pagba-bike ko, no? Like beating my own PRs (Personal Records). But then, that would contradict why I bike and why I decided to learn how to swim. (Ang haba bago pumunta sa point, no?)
I bike for leisure. I joined swimming classes for the same thing. Because I’ve always believed that, if you want something to be fun, don’t make it a requirement. (Yes, applicable din ito sa mga pa meeting niyo or mga activity sa work. LOL. At least for introverts like me.)
So after 10 hours, what now?
I guess ayain si Noel magpunta ng Sports Center and check if lulutang ba talaga ako sa depth na mas matangkad sa akin.
I took my classes under Marooners Swimming Program. They teach kids and adults. Even if you’re 60! They also cater to kids with special needs and as I saw it, the coaches are kind no matter how old you are and they will adjust their training styles as needed as it’s not one size fits all. They also have group classes. Nag solo sessions lang tayo since you know, introvert.
(Nadagdagan na tayo ng powers bilang isang powerful human being. Chos. So kapag may nag aya ng swimming or beach, I think I’ll be OK.)
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What do you think, Awesome?