Swimming Lessons Day 3: Free Styling

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I think I'm already getting the hang of it. Well, sort of. I find that I still need to shove fear and apprehension once in a while. Sometimes, I just throw my body in the water to go to the face-down floating position. I just have to remember to take in enough air through my mouth.  My little experiment with inhaling through my nose to prevent abdominal muscle pain didn't take me far enough to the other side as there just isn't enough air to sustain me.  The pain was still there at the start but it subsided.  I'm beginning to think it's just the anxiety and tension causing the tightness in my upper abs. Whatever it is, am just glad the pain was gone after a while.

Swimming Lessons Day 2 : Treading the Waters

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So, I lived to write about my first day at swimming lessons.  I must admit,  I am still having some anxieties just thinking about attending my 2nd day in swim class, knowing that my instructor wouldn't just let me stay in my comfort zone right at the pool gutter for the whole duration of the lessons.  Like I said, it's a mental battle for me.  A good way to prepare myself is by visualizing what I'll be doing next, but simply thinking about it sets my heart racing lol!  There's no escaping the inevitable and I have to eventually let go of one of my safety nets.  

Swimming Lessons Day 1: Breathe Then Let Go

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The dreaded swimming lesson has commenced last Tuesday.  

Day 1:  Breathing, Bubbling and Floating

I am just probably good at hiding the panicked look on my face. In reality, I was close to wailing as the instructor never got in the water to ease us and become comfortable in water. I felt I needed some coaxing into the water, a bit of telling me what to actually expect and give some assurances or at least make me relax. I needed her to be beside me in the water. None of that happened. The instructor simply told us where to get down on the pool while she's comfortably sitting at the edge.  

Learning How to Swim...Finally (or Hopefully)

High school swim meet

Just thinking about my impending lessons makes my heart beat faster.  I am kind of torn with the excitement of learning a new skill and the fear I have, which is the real reason I never learned it in the first place.  It took me this long (with a lot of coaxing from a colleague) to finally put my foot down  and learn how to swim...and hopefully, I will really learn.

I know...I know...I may really sound silly, specially to those of you who are seasoned swimmers.   But I know I am not the only person in the world with the fear of drowning.  Even good swimmers drown, you know.  So that makes me a prime candidate for drowning, and it doesn't require a lot of effort to drown me lol!

In the News: Boston Marathon Bombing

I will be diverting a bit from my health topics, but as a runner, you will understand why I am posting this.

I was just browsing through posts in my Google Plus page and I kept seeing something about Boston. As I read on, I came to realize why it was trending. And minutes after reading news clips and looking at photos, and as I write this, I am still having major goosebumps. The Boston Marathon bombing happened while I was sleeping comfortably in my bed.  I didn't have an inkling that something so terrible and devastating happened on the other side of the globe.  I am so far away from the tragedy and yet I felt the anguish and fear.   

Q and A: Tips for Starting An Early Morning Running Habit

SeaWheaze Lululemon Half Marathon

Just a little "Question and Answer" post...  Tet of Tet's Little Finds and Cute and Dainty blogs had a question in my previous post. Here's +theresa montino 's comment:

"May I ask, how much do you spend to run every morning if you have free time? I want to run as early as 5am too but I was so lazy pulling myself in bed at this time.. Give tips please!"

I Heart Corn

I came from an early morning run just a few hours ago. It's a holiday today, so no work schedule. I took that opportunity to run, only wishing that I woke up even earlier and jogged at around 5am, when it is much cooler. I can't say that I had a blast, since the summer heat is really zapping my energy. I did manage to run for more than 30 minutes, well run-walk-run as always. I have not had the strength and stamina to run continuously for that length of time, and certainly not in that kind of summer heat.

NatGeo Earth Day Run 2013

NatGeo Earth Day Run

Gearing up for my next 5K running event for this month, we've chosen to register in the National Geographic Earth Day Run this coming April 28.   The run is all about promoting environment conservation.  There was no mention of beneficiaries but they did say for every runner, they will be planting 3 trees and will be tagged with the runner's name.  A tree named after me...cool.  I just wish I could indeed see those trees grow up.