Man versus Mooseman: Training Log 4

Swim class again this morning, and this time some progress to report: I can do the drills now, back-kick, side-balance, hide-your-head, and I even added an arm-stretch stroke which I can use to practice free-style strokes. My right-side breathing is also much improved (I'm a natural left-side breather with the crawl, but you need to use both side for free-style.) And, I didn't have to drink half the pool, or rinse my sinuses, either. While I'm quite sure I'll have my bad days of training in the water in the future, as I'm not out of the reeds yet with my technique, I can see the headlamp of that oncoming train, and my head is now hard enough not to give way, even to that apparition. I've also got some photos taken of me, as mentor Anna was willing and able with my digital camera. See my photos below:

 Photo 1: Still a bit deep in the water, but my stroke is improving.

So I'll be back in swim class when next we meet with the team, and hopefully not missing any of them in the future. I know I'll need the work.

Photo 2: My mentor, Christine complains about being photo'ghed so early in the morning, but Mentor Anna (far left) doesn't seem perturbed. Anna took the photos of me here.

I'm proud of being happy with my work in swimming, despite my tendency to be sardonic about my skill levels. I know I've counted on my body in the past to make "me" look good to my favorite people, with mixed success--usually because I think it should work better with less effort. I know I'm no Olympian, and certainly will never be in the water. But being coach-able is one of the prouder things an athlete can achieve, and it has certainly been no mean feat for me. And probably even harder on my coaches.

I'll be back next time with more stuff on training, probably getting in some running and cycling. Can't drop those two balls while I hold this one up, no matter how highly for the moment. Thanks for reading, and please help me out with my fund-raising! - Dale