Breathe Breathe Breathe

After relaxing for 2 days, my leg cramps are no more and am ready to start again. I decided not to take part in the exercises today, so went directly for shower, waited for sometime and went to the pool. The trainer started off slowly today with not much drilling in the first 15 mins. He asked us to go from one end of the pool to another by just floating. Normally I am only able to cover half the length (gulp). He asked us not to stand or stop in the middle of the pool, To breathe he told us to take our head out, inhale and then dip again, without stopping the movement of our legs.

I tried but could not succeed, I did stand up ( but a little further than the middle .. he he). Now came the freestyle practicing....Today it feels that I was able to perform freestlye for about 3-4 strokes.... but I am not sure myself.. just as the bell rang TRRRRRRRRRNG. The trainer told us not leave BUT to do 6 LAPS of freestlye (thud)....and he made us do that in whatever manner we could......

Too much!!

Yeah, too much exercise today before starting took it's toll. The exercise we were made to do was sitting on the ground and then jump in the air stretching out our hands again and again.. abt 20 times. This put extreme pressure on one's legs and ultimately mine started aching..something like cramps on the thighs....As if the exercise was not enough, I was facing the strict trainer (remember trainer #2) and his drill. 20 mins. into the pool and after frantically trying to cope with the group, I decided to sneak to the other side and practice a bit of freestlye alone. NOT surprisingly I was not the only one, a few others too joined me (he he he). Now we 4-5 people tried practicing on our own.... but unfortunately my legs were too strained to do any productive activity. Finally TRRRRRNG.. and off I went....Thank god that tommorow and day after is off (yeah it's only for 5 days from tuesday to saturday)

A Compliment !!!

As usual I am standing beside the pool... but without the shower....remember to do exercise first then goto somewhere(ha ha ha) come back all wet and jump into the pool..........

hiding from the trainer #1 so that he won't send me again I stand quitely in the corner...but he looks at me and (whew) he remembers that I don't know how to float using my feet. Thank god I am spared today, so with a happy face I merrily practice floating using my feet... just 15 mins into the water and I am able to cover half the distance of the pool (width wise) by floating.. (wow). Have I learnt it? Am I doing it allright? .. just when these questions where hovering my mind............................I GET A COMPLIMENT from the trainer himself..(gr8 work dude)...and now he thinks that I should go and join the other group..... piiiiiiiiiiiiiishhhhhhhhhhh. AGAIN. (let me practice here atleast for today man....) but no I had to go there.. so here I go and join the other group and again the drill starts (one side to another and back and again and back)......pant pant pant hfff hff hff ... it's so tiring and strenuous.. finally he spares us and starts teaching the hand movement...

...crouch in the water upto your neck.. make a paddle of your hands annnnnnnnnnd start paddling..after every fourth paddle take your head out, breathe and then go again...remember to move your hand from the shoulder... after practicing a few strokes at the same position, we are now told to put them all together i.e float using ur feet and also paddle using hands and also breathe every fourth stroke. whew.. .that was tough...when I started moving my hands, my feet stopped and when my feet moved my hands stopped.... TRRRRRRRNG.. time over, couldn't practice much of hands today.. one thing I noticed was that my hands were touching the pool floor !!!!! I later realised that I was keeping my hands straight while paddling, however my hands should have been bent from the elbow ......will try that tommorow

oops!!

I was a bit depressed yesterday cos the trainer did not teach me anything. He just left me alone ..... dunno why..

....but here comes the third day..I am standing beside the pool watching everybody do some exercises... I decide to join them...I took just 2 or 3 steps and everybody starts to leave (god knows where). I thought they were from the previous batch and were leaving but surprising everyone started coming back ALL WET!!! oh oh now I realise they went for a shower after the exercises...

So thats the way it goes..you come in the morning, do some exercises , then go for a shower and jump in the pool... so after 2 days and 1 scolding I realise that (yeah I got one from the trainer ... :( )

anyways... I go into the pool .. mistakingly the trainer thinking that he has taught me to float (paddling my FEET ) and also using my hands (WOW) sends me to the other side of the pool ( remember the one where water was coming upto my chest). ?????!!!!?????

and I thought that the other trainer is going to teach me all this...
to my horror I was the only one poor chap in the whiole group who had just learnt how to float the previous day.. and now I was being told to float using feet and arms from one side of the pool to the other five times again and again... but fortunately the trainer no. 2 realised that I was a novice sent me back to trainer number 1..

I cleard his misconception and he taught me how to move my feet and float. A lot of my time was wasted in dragging myself from one side to another, gasping for breath, tumbling etc. etc. ..

Now with only 10 mins. left to practice... I did my best to learn and practice it ..who knows if he sends me there again tommorow..TRRRRRRRNG

....................and I managed to open little bit of my eyes today under water..

Am i ready !!

So now the previous day has passed analysing myself... talking to friends and learning from there experiences...

The second day has come...

I reach a bit late at the pool... the previous batch has already left.. and my group is already in the pool.... I walk towards the pool and somebody starts shouting at me...... ????? wats wrong...oops I am wearing the slippers... forgot to remove them... so I rush back to the shower room...remove my slippers .... run back to the pool and confidently jump inside the water... without giving a second thought I sit in a crouching position inside the pool and leap forward....make my hands straight put my head in water and HERE I GO.,,,I AM FLOATING... LOOK EVERYBODY....I AM FLOATING.. so my confidence building up has not gone waste... I did float a few feet WOW... I am on top of the world.....

but the trainer is not looking at me... he has left me to practice floating and teaching the other three the next step... :( .... so I am left out that means... I can understand hat ...since i couldn't do this floating thing yesterday.. I will have to do it today...

So not letting my morale down.. I practice floating again and again and again... but nobody is noticing me.. ( i mean the trainer) Am I doing it right... I am able to float alright but.. i don't know if it's correct or not... I am able to relax.. thank god for that.. I am no longer in Panic mode.. and my body is completely under water.. . i feel an unusual feeling of drifting away.. maybe because I am not opening my eyes inside water... I feel my body taking an arch like postion.. my stomach too relaxed and sagging to the bottom while my feet and arms nearly out of water...

TRRRRRRRRRNG the bell rings... time passed very quickly today... maybe because i came late....

Today's analyses

1. I will try to keep my body straight tommorow
2. Most importantly I will try to keep my eyes open under water... I have never done it...

let's see how things turn out tommorw.. I hope the trainer does not ignore me ....I am already left out of the group...

I am there

Time : 7:00 A.M
Venue : Home sweet home

(yawn) I had a sound sleep (surprisingly) even after so much of tension. After finishing the routine job (u know).. I try to relax and pass whatever time is left. I wake up my room partner (didn't I tell u about him)... Oh I completely forgot... anyways how does it matter.. he will go with me alright but he knows how to swim.. he will be in the other pool and sadly won't be there to support me.

He is ready now with the bike and off we go... we are just about there......... oh no the bike is punctured....what a day to start of with !!! (ill luck) .. anyways we park the bike there and walk down till the pool.

Time : 7:50 A.M
Venue : Swimming Pool :-(

I am there I am there I am there....... Finally i am there standing in front of the pool.. waiting for the previous batch to move out..... TRNNNNNNNNG the bell rings.. so the time has come.. I gather up some confidence and go into the water... oooooooh it's deep, the water is coming up to my chest.. just then the person standing next to me asks "Is this your first day". I reply "Yes".. he says go to the other side of the pool... this side is not for novices..

I move to the other side and to my relief.. the water here is shallow.. just up to my waist.. THANK GOD..

There are only four people in my group (All novices)... now what... where is the trainer??? Ahh here he comes.. all of us are in red caps and he is the one in blue cap ( interesting)... he asks all of us take a deep breath. stop it . and put our head in water... (gulp). Hmmm... let's see if i can do it.... Here I go 1.......2.......3 (splash).... (pisssssssssshhhhhh) .... water water everywhere . in my nose, ears.... it's so uncomfortable... with ur ears going (hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn). Oh god!! why did i enroll here ... it's not for me...... but something inside me was saying that I got to face it... I got to do it .....I HAVE TO LEARN.... no matter what.. so here I go again and take another dip.... it seemed better this time.. The trainer gives a nod and now STEP 2...

STEP #2

The trainer asks us to keep our hands on the pool floor and straighten out our body in water... our legs touching straight and touching the pool wall for support... OK ..... here I go..... this is easy.. now what....he asks us to push our feet away from the wall, straightening our hands and float.... what........... what ....... what..... how can this be possible...... It's not done.... I will sink if i move my hands... NO WAY..... but but .... the other three did it... now it's my turn.. woooooooooosh...

and i start falling down... my WHOLE HEAD under water.... water water everywhere.. oh no what an awfull experience.....I am unable to do it after so many tries..
The trainer comes to me.. he asks why are you not able to do, when the other three have done it... I say to myself "they must have done it befor" It's NOT POSSIBLE to do it on the first day man... I know I will take some time to adapt.. and I will do it someday...but definitely not today...

I try to dip my head under water many times and try to adapt my body to it... TRRRRRRRRRRRRNG here goes the bell.... so 30 mins are over..

Finally the period of agony is over... I walk out of the pool...

I try to analyse what went wrong... the whole day I have been analysing and preparing myself for tommorow.... some points I would like to improve upon tommorow

1. Self-Confidence - When all the others can then why can't I.. even the fattest of people can swim (there is one in my group too.. and amazingly he could float)
2. Try to relax - I noticed that my body becomes stiff.. I get into panic mode.. I will have to calm myself.. but I think that will only come when I get used to the environment.. maybe tommorw

so the whole day I am reading tips on the internet...doing positive thinking and talking to myself....

Let's see what happens tommorow....

Enrolled !!!

Knowingly or unknowingly, delibrately or willingly I have enrolled for swimming classes. My age 24 yrs. going to be 25 soon... with no experience of getting into water except for bathing everyday :) , I am a little nervous, scared, freaked etc. etc. ..... ahh! anyways there is a FIRST time for everything....eagerly waiting for tommorow morning (wait) am I eagerly waiting ????????............................................ I don't think so.

Let's see what tommorow has in store for me.........