36

I had planned to join the rest for a swim session in Bukit Jalil for the 530-730pm slot but was bogged down with work.

By the time i left the office it was 8pm already and obviously the gang had left the pool as well.

Thus, not wanting to skip training, i decided to shoot straight to Bukit Jalil despite the traffic etc.

It was surprising to see that there were loads of people at the pool even at 845pm. From exercise and the sport point of view, this is a good sign. I was encouraged to see parents monitoring their children swimming in the pool and coaches giving instructions from the pool side. I bet some of them were around 10-12 years of age but their swimming skills are second to none.

Motivated what i saw, i started my swim training with strong adrenalin flow. The water was a bit colder than usual maybe because of the weather outside.

I didnt time myself because my water proof HRM had gone kaput. shishhhhh.. (had to look for a new one now). Thus, the training was more to see how far i can last. Distance. Distance. Distance.

My swimming is not as desirable to many and i am still struggling to correct my strokes rather than going for performance. But sometimes, when you're drown, you just have to pick-up and save yourself. No one will do it for you. You have to do it yourself.

I know my techniques are awful but i just have to hit the pool and make the best out of it using my half-cooked knowledge.

It's true when people were saying that swimming is the most technical discipline in SBR especially if you're not a natural swimmer or trained from young. It takes time to learn the techniques, more so to perfect it. I am far from achieving both.

In triahthlon, the saying goes further as 'swimming is not going to win you races. Running is. But swimming can loose you the race.' For me, the saying would be like 'swimming is not going to win me races, ever. Running too. But finishing the swim can make me finish the race, god willing.'

Thus, the only solitary solution is to train, hopefully get coached, train and train again.

For this year, swimming will be my top agenda. I may not be able to swim like a fish or the like of michael phelps but i wish I can swim without much fear, sufferings and technically adequate. At the moment, I can only do breaststroke but one day, i wish to do freestyle with ease.

Anyway, i did 36 x 50m yesterday. My longest ever swim. A good sign, stamina-wise. I felt that i still had some gas in the tank but night was getting a bit too late already. Motivation was sky high but i just had to pack up and go.

36, man. Last year, you wont believe - i was just floating and hanging on the pool wall.

I will remember this number. Just the kind of tonic i needed really badly.