surviving 1600

today was the first time in a long time that i swam.  and when i say swam, seryosong swim. initially i intended to swim lang around 500m, or pwede rin tipong 1200m, tutal ang goal naman was to familiarize myself with the water eh. it's been a while since i last trained for swim. the last 'long swim' i had was during my impromptu aquathlon last March 2014. after that, wala nang serious swim.

in the first place, bakit nga ba ako ng decide mag swim kanina?

summer pahabol

well for one, pahabol kuno sa summer season. parang buong summer time, i was never in the pool or beach or what. walang kahit anong resemblance na nag summer sa akin. ndi ako nangitim, hindi ako namula, wala. loser ba? hindi naman kasi may important akong ginagawa for now na i am sure the sacrifices will be worth it down the line. 

usual swim day for me. pero parang ang bagal ko (well, as if naman mabilis ako diba?) and during my swim session, ang dami kong realizations.

realization #1: mahirap mag improve if you don't want to get out of our comfort zone.

sa swimming, to be more efficient, kailangang mag adjust para mas smooth ang galaw. alam ko sa akin, maraming kailangang i-correct, tulad ng  FORM (sa high elbow, ok na, pero ung ibang facets nun, such as pull, etc, kailangang i correct para maging mas efficient). isa pang kailangang i correct was ung drag ng legs, kailangang i taas ung legs habang nag ki-kick para mas smooth ung glide ng katawan. lastly, ung breathing ko affects ung parang streamlining ng katawan. minsan bumabaliko baliko.

all these were formed during my early swim lessons nung kabataan ko. marahil walang naka pag tutok para ma correct para maging mas efficient. there will always be times na tulad nga ng sinasabi nila eh, old habits die hard nga. PERO if i really want to improve, ehh kailangang maging open to changes and feedback ng taong alam mo eh ang hangarin eh to help you improve diba. 

realization #2: we have to pay the price 

you may be wondering, ano daw? anong connect nun sa swimming? well, other than entrance fee, shempre ung pagiging open to changing old habits have a corresponding 'price' ika nga. so in this case, anu-ano un? 

sa arms/pull kailangan mas mag effort sa akin sa ngayon. bakit? kasi ndi ko nga nagagawang mapush ung sarili kong mas mabuti para mas mabilis. anong price nito? sa akin ngayon, masakit na shoulders hahaha! yeah yeah it's something i know dapat ndi sumasakit, pero since 'maling movements' ako, ayun, ung untapped muscles, or something, nagulat hahaha ayan mahirap mag shower hahaha. kailangang ung pull or push sa tubig mas ma effort, naramdaman ko naman sha, pero shempre nabigla si arm muscles and shoulder muscles, ayan, ngawit. nag sisisi ba ako? ndi naman, ayus lang. sabi nga nila, sa umpisa lang naman yan mahirap eh, pag nasanay ka na, sisiw na yan.  

sa kicks, kailangan ng conscious effort na continuous sha (yes i know, for triathletes, we want to conserve leg energy for the bike and run part, eventually, darating ako dun ulit, for now, survival mode na hindi pagod ang goal hahaha!) sooo nung unti unti ko shang naitaas, eh mas mabilis dahil na sstreamline din ung katawan eventually, 

sa breathing naman, medyo mas conscious effort na wag mag liwaliw ang katawan pag nag bbreathe. kasi dun minsan na didiskaril ung parang direction ng body, ehhh shempre hassle diba? sooo ayun. unti unti naman daw shang na adjust, pero alam ko marami pang pwedeng i-improve dun. 

realization #3: just keep swimming sabi nga ni dory.

since swimming is a muscle memory sport, i honestly believe that i should train my muscles to do the 'correct' method. pero how will this be done? by continuously training for it, doing the correct things in order to succeed (in this case, success is become more efficient, and eventually faster without being pagod). sa muscle memory, tama ung sabi nila eh, ulit ulitin mo araw araw, hanggang dumating sa point na kahit naka pikit ka alam mo paano gawin. kasi sanay na ikaw. everyday execution din. tama naman. and naniniwala akong tama un 

pero eto ang pinaka important na realization, realization #4: one must have a goal

tama naman, para ka kasing tanga kung gawa ka ng gawa, pero wala ka namang patutunguhan. parang nag papagod ka lang for the sake of what? wala! sooo dapat may goal/ target.

minsan nakakasawa pag tinatamad nang gawin ung goal, lalo na if alam na pwede namang next time. ako aminado, sakit ko un. may times na konti na lang then i'd rather stay complacent. pero at the end of the day, sinong nalugi?  ako pa rin. bad trip diba?  umeffort ka na rin lang, bakit di pa tapusin ng todo!

kaya ano ang final say?