Im Westen nichts Neues

All Quiet on the Western Front. OK perhaps I watched movies too much but lately the title seemed to linger around the RBU world. Yes, we did talk about it this morning - rare blog updating. After our swim session - a dip for me actually. It may be due to no local events or races. Or also maybe everyone too secretive about their training? Hehe. The later would be too provocative la kan? However, with big events coming up at least on the fourth month, we have ample time for a good training window. At least a solid base training, the building blocks so they say.

OK back to what these dads were doing this morning. Yes, finally I managed to convinced myself to plunge into the pool with these Great Whites. I've been contemplating too much lately. To swim or not to swim. Kenyir la, PD la, open water swim la. Semua melopong je. Nak masuk Trikidz, obviously I will scare the hell out of those cute triathletes.

A small window for me actually. It's a school day, replacing CNY. So, between 8.00 a.m. and 12.00 p.m., a 2 hours casual dip with buddies won't do much harm I guess. My first attempt at Pusat Akuatik Nasional - tu dia aih! Terus peringkat nasional! Lol. No lah. It's because location wise, convenient for everyone. It was an adhoc arrangement and a last minute confirmation. Since dads are all flexilble people, everyone seemed easily agreeable with the plan.

Two olympic size pools and a dive pool. All covered. Weekend entry is RM5. Lepas roti telur & teh tarik, that would summed up to RM10 for me today - breakfast and swim. Nice pools, nice crowd. They have strings, so we occupied one lane and the system seemed manageable.

With strong swimmers all around, I get loads of tips. Caring is sharing. So I heard about triathletes, they share and share a lot. That's what happened in US, so I read. The first basic one I got from Nik was how to put on the swim cap. Pretty much tricky on dry land, but tips by Nik, it was successful only at one attempt. The trick was to fill the swim cap with water, hold both hands at the side of the cap and put it on. You'll complete two tasks - putting on your cap and a shower. Hehe. Bring along a shower gel & toothbrush while you're at it - kompom kena halau.

To let friends help me, I did a demo and they observed. Yep, 360 observation. From behind, from the sides. And at one time I was stunned when I saw this huge figure lying face up on the pool floor! It was Syah! Bila pulak great white ada bulu dada?!

I put myself as zero knowledge and took in every knowledge they shared. First comment, I have fast legs. They would easily drain me for long distance. And the knees were too flexible. Use the hip muscles since their bigger. Then the stroke for forward propulsion. Then the breathing. Whoa! That's a lot for a single attempt to synchronise everything eh? No worries, I'll do it one at a time.

We kinda swam and chat, swam and chat. More on technics and sharing experience with some nonsense thrown in to chase the shivers away. Lucky la nobody asked for teh tarik by the pool. I hope I didn't take too much of your time guys. And thanks for everything Ian, Nik, Syah, Azmar - hopefully Saiful dah belajor cara sighting. A repeat is a must.

Gauging from the attempt, I think I had to squeeze in time for this. Everything require time actually but juggling and balancing is the biggest of all. Anyway, with the rhythm and the boogy of the gliding motion cutting through the fluid, it kinda get to me. Hopefully, like running and cycling, though we cannot chat lambung during swimming cause that will only empty the pool, we still can make it a group activity. Darn it. I forgot about the open water thing. They've done it la. OK will try to join next one!