What a great week. The goodbyes have been long with much promise of getting together again to swim and share more good times. This AM a good number of us met again at the far end of the Big Maho beach at the house for a final swim. Afterwards was a leisurely breakfast. More goodbyes.
Even this morning I was discovering more things about my freestyle stroke. Long swims are great for that. Terry had estimated about 6,000 strokes for our swim yesterday--with that many opportunities for improvement. And imprinting.
I found today, after watching my videos last night back in our Harmony Studio, that some of what I felt looked not quite right on video had to do with exaggerating drills and also not videoing myself frequently enough. I had memories from last summer and you know, that's just too long ago. I was talking with Celeste today about my tendency to wait for someone else to tell me what to do. I enough a sufficient amount of knowledge to improve a lot on my own. But I do still need video. My body feedback is good but I need to use my coaching eyes as well. Then I can tie them together. Terry talks about many concrete ways to track progress, the Tempo Trainer being one. I think I'm ready to go home and keep moving.
This week was a great way to start the New Year. Alan is now PADI certified. I'm stronger, having pushed way past my comfortable usual recovery or "that's enough" practice time. It's a good way to go back and maybe get my tail back to Masters. Terry was very positive about that. He said it's a good test of focus. I'm complimented that he feels I can now do a workout and remain aware instead of mindless.
In looking back at my week's goals--I'm not there yet--as I said at our session last night, I didn't suddenly have all wisdom absorbed in myself and I can instantly swim the way I want (faster and with technical excellence), but I do know what my next steps are and have an idea of what I want to feel. It will take patience and persistence. OK. Challenge on!
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Friday, January 18, 2013
Maho TI Open Water 2013 Day 6
What a day! Most of us finally got some sunburn--we were just out for a long time! It was grey and drizzly when we woke up, not exactly setting the mood for most of us to go on a long swim. I wasn't feeling biased one way or the other. After a free day I was ready to go. Unfortunately, not doing the "optional" day left me a bit out of the loop. Well, it made for quite a series of adventures. I'll try to keep it to the swimming but, with the workshop emphasis on swimming with friends, it's hard to leave out the people aspect. What a great bunch of folks. A wide variety of abilities, ages, vocations, from different parts of the country, from other countries...but everyone interested in getting to be better swimmers, or being able to do easy distance, or wanting to get over their fear of open water.
We all did varied distances , depending on what we felt like doing. Sarah and I decided to stick with the 3.5 mile swim. It was sunny, gorgeous...aqua water, some chop...some fun fish (a little black shark of some sort, some rays, great little blue and yellow fish...at the end of the afternoon workshop, I saw some little needle nose critter...it was really pretty! Maybe five inches long. Maybe I can find out what it was.
We swam, our particular group, from Little Maho, to Big Maho, to Cinnamon Bay, to Trunk Bay...and then back to Cinnamon. That's when the fun began as far as getting back to Little Maho. The details hadn't exactly been worked out clearly, so many adventures followed that are entertaining in retrospect. I ended up with Sarah lending me money to buy flip flops because Keith had my Keens because he stopped at Trunk, but the taxi times were wrong so we didn't hook up at Cinnamon, so we had to take another taxi but only had $14 left among us (as I'd just bought the sandals because I couldn't climb the Goat Path or walk the road barefoot)--but it cost $16 for four, but Sarah talked the cabbie into taking four people for $14--and we get to Big Maho and realize that Andrew can't walk the Goat Trail because he doesn't have shoes either, so I take Sarah's shoes (which I could have borrowed, we now figure) and she and Andrew swim back to Little Maho while I climb that dang trail in flip flops which is not fun. But we all meet up at the snack shack and I treat Andrew and Sarah to lunch because, by gosh, we've just made it through an adventure...never mind the people taking taxis who got stuck behind a truck that had some problem on the hill and people were switching to cabs on either side of the truck...oh, never mind. By the time we ate it was a half hour before we had to be back down the Goat Trail for our final taping and technique work.
The swim, though, was the best distance swim I've ever done. Finally, I wasn't wishing for it to be over. I was present, I was paying attention, I was learning, I was observing, and I was sharing the experience with friends. I think we surprised the heck out of some beach goers, wondering who the heck we were, this mass of swimmers coming in. We did some tight pod swimming and finally got the gist of it. It was a great leap for a lot of us.
After our final session we had all of a half hour to get dressed and back to the restaurant to review the videos. While I'm happy with my stroke I am always looking ahead and dissatisfied. But I can see I need 2 beat kick work and some time getting my hands lower to the water again. I'm putting out
unnecessary effort for most circumstances. So it's time to slow down and get back into getting better. The faster will follow. It has already. That's it for today. I'm spent! Our last swim is in the AM and some folks have gone already. It's been a grand week.
We all did varied distances , depending on what we felt like doing. Sarah and I decided to stick with the 3.5 mile swim. It was sunny, gorgeous...aqua water, some chop...some fun fish (a little black shark of some sort, some rays, great little blue and yellow fish...at the end of the afternoon workshop, I saw some little needle nose critter...it was really pretty! Maybe five inches long. Maybe I can find out what it was.
We swam, our particular group, from Little Maho, to Big Maho, to Cinnamon Bay, to Trunk Bay...and then back to Cinnamon. That's when the fun began as far as getting back to Little Maho. The details hadn't exactly been worked out clearly, so many adventures followed that are entertaining in retrospect. I ended up with Sarah lending me money to buy flip flops because Keith had my Keens because he stopped at Trunk, but the taxi times were wrong so we didn't hook up at Cinnamon, so we had to take another taxi but only had $14 left among us (as I'd just bought the sandals because I couldn't climb the Goat Path or walk the road barefoot)--but it cost $16 for four, but Sarah talked the cabbie into taking four people for $14--and we get to Big Maho and realize that Andrew can't walk the Goat Trail because he doesn't have shoes either, so I take Sarah's shoes (which I could have borrowed, we now figure) and she and Andrew swim back to Little Maho while I climb that dang trail in flip flops which is not fun. But we all meet up at the snack shack and I treat Andrew and Sarah to lunch because, by gosh, we've just made it through an adventure...never mind the people taking taxis who got stuck behind a truck that had some problem on the hill and people were switching to cabs on either side of the truck...oh, never mind. By the time we ate it was a half hour before we had to be back down the Goat Trail for our final taping and technique work.
The swim, though, was the best distance swim I've ever done. Finally, I wasn't wishing for it to be over. I was present, I was paying attention, I was learning, I was observing, and I was sharing the experience with friends. I think we surprised the heck out of some beach goers, wondering who the heck we were, this mass of swimmers coming in. We did some tight pod swimming and finally got the gist of it. It was a great leap for a lot of us.
After our final session we had all of a half hour to get dressed and back to the restaurant to review the videos. While I'm happy with my stroke I am always looking ahead and dissatisfied. But I can see I need 2 beat kick work and some time getting my hands lower to the water again. I'm putting out
unnecessary effort for most circumstances. So it's time to slow down and get back into getting better. The faster will follow. It has already. That's it for today. I'm spent! Our last swim is in the AM and some folks have gone already. It's been a grand week.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Maho TI Open Water 2013 Day 5-Swimmism
I am playing hooky, as it is basically a day off. There was a hike/swim/hike, swim/swim/hike, hike/swim/swim option--was that clear at all? Over to Waterlemon (sp?), which is supposed to be gorgeous. About a 3.5 mile swim there. Honestly, with this cough hanging in and my tired legs (stairs mostly!) and body, I just slept in. Felt a tad guilty although there is no reason for that. I figured Alan and I could have a late breakfast and then we'll take Mr. Frett's taxi down the mountain to Cruz Bay for a leisurely afternoon. I’ll tell you, though--if I'm smart, I'll use this week to jump start getting really strong. My legs, after groaning for awhile, just kick in--so to speak--and they seem to be adapting, even in this short period.
I should just do the condo stairs when I don't have the cello or a load of groceries. Here there is no choice, unless you want to walk a long V of a road to get down to the main campground office, restaurant and shop area. And from there it's more steps down to the beach. I've got it down to maybe ten minutes from up here to the beach. That's a lot of down and up. But it's beautiful! That helps. The Goat Trail, over to Big Maho, is mostly okay, although I definitely have knee challenges if it is at all slippery and damp. If we're over there tomorrow for a class or swim, I think I'll just swim over. Funny that I'd rather do a ten minute swim than a five minute hike!
I'm trying to remember Terry's ratio of swim to run...I think he said 3.8 to 1. So if you swim a mile it is the equivalent of a 3.8 mile run. Then a 10 mile swim is like a 38 mile run, hence it is the swim marathon distance. Close to the 42 miles. He says it is better for your health, long-term, to swim rather than train to run. I'm sure he's talking high level. I noticed Shane didn't respond--he's such an extreme tri person. I wondered if he wouldn't debate that point. But maybe the benefits just outweigh the down side. I think that's what any dedicated athlete or athlete learner would say. Or sport practitioner would say. Like you practice Buddhism...you practice Swimism. Hmmm. Maybe two m's, what do you think?
Swimmism. I like this--hope it doesn't get copyrighted, I'd like to use it. Swim-ism.
I should just do the condo stairs when I don't have the cello or a load of groceries. Here there is no choice, unless you want to walk a long V of a road to get down to the main campground office, restaurant and shop area. And from there it's more steps down to the beach. I've got it down to maybe ten minutes from up here to the beach. That's a lot of down and up. But it's beautiful! That helps. The Goat Trail, over to Big Maho, is mostly okay, although I definitely have knee challenges if it is at all slippery and damp. If we're over there tomorrow for a class or swim, I think I'll just swim over. Funny that I'd rather do a ten minute swim than a five minute hike!
I'm trying to remember Terry's ratio of swim to run...I think he said 3.8 to 1. So if you swim a mile it is the equivalent of a 3.8 mile run. Then a 10 mile swim is like a 38 mile run, hence it is the swim marathon distance. Close to the 42 miles. He says it is better for your health, long-term, to swim rather than train to run. I'm sure he's talking high level. I noticed Shane didn't respond--he's such an extreme tri person. I wondered if he wouldn't debate that point. But maybe the benefits just outweigh the down side. I think that's what any dedicated athlete or athlete learner would say. Or sport practitioner would say. Like you practice Buddhism...you practice Swimism. Hmmm. Maybe two m's, what do you think?
Swimmism. I like this--hope it doesn't get copyrighted, I'd like to use it. Swim-ism.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Maho Open Water 2013 Day 4
Day 4--Maho! And I am one pooped and relaxed pup. The workshop aspect this AM was groups rotating coach to coach to work on different focal points. Sighting was interesting. I probably need to get some big, wide ol' goggles and give myself room to see. Of course I don't have tons of experience but--it might actually help. I guess once you've done a lot of open water you have more experiences to draw on and you can read courses better...follow shorelines, buoys, trees, the sun, a trusted group of swimmers. There's a lot to it.
There are so many aspects to swimming well. And it's fun to work on integrating them all. And to get to the point where they join together and you can just enjoy swimming--like this afternoon's long swim--we'll, that's pretty amazing. It was a triumphant return after our 2.2/2.3 mile swim over to Cinnamon Bay. There was some bona fide chop out there and we were swimming into the wind on the way back. So the challenge was to stay low to the water. My issue is, again, tracking. I haul off and follow a group and suddenly I'm thinking--hey! We're supposed to be inside the buoys! But the bottom line is that it went MUCH better than last year. Terry was pleased that I stayed so low to the water...he said I looked like a chop slicing machine...or something close to that. Chop cutting? Wave slicing? Geez, a few hours and a glass of wine later and I can't remember a great compliment. I did find the sore spot in my left arm and figured out why it hurt. I was pulling slightly ahead of my rotation on the left side. I asked Dave C. about it and he said yes, but drive the hip sooner...they are attached but my arm timing is good--even--so the HIP is late! Wow. Subtle and huge. You can cure in the wrong direction and cause another problem!
So we are going out to swim, or knock around, and view bioluminescence tonight. I can't say I feel like standing up let alone clambering down these stairs to the beach. I'll let you know if I make it--maybe post some pictures on FaceBook. I've been coughing and hacking away something fierce. In the water I am fine, but at night...whew. It's been a tough slog. Even NyQuil doesn't seem to do much. Thank goodness for long nights of sleep.
We did learn of the death of a snorkeler last Sunday and were reminded of the need for safety, caution, awareness and paying attention to those around you. A buddy system, like we've been doing this week, is really important. Nature is not playing.
There are so many aspects to swimming well. And it's fun to work on integrating them all. And to get to the point where they join together and you can just enjoy swimming--like this afternoon's long swim--we'll, that's pretty amazing. It was a triumphant return after our 2.2/2.3 mile swim over to Cinnamon Bay. There was some bona fide chop out there and we were swimming into the wind on the way back. So the challenge was to stay low to the water. My issue is, again, tracking. I haul off and follow a group and suddenly I'm thinking--hey! We're supposed to be inside the buoys! But the bottom line is that it went MUCH better than last year. Terry was pleased that I stayed so low to the water...he said I looked like a chop slicing machine...or something close to that. Chop cutting? Wave slicing? Geez, a few hours and a glass of wine later and I can't remember a great compliment. I did find the sore spot in my left arm and figured out why it hurt. I was pulling slightly ahead of my rotation on the left side. I asked Dave C. about it and he said yes, but drive the hip sooner...they are attached but my arm timing is good--even--so the HIP is late! Wow. Subtle and huge. You can cure in the wrong direction and cause another problem!
So we are going out to swim, or knock around, and view bioluminescence tonight. I can't say I feel like standing up let alone clambering down these stairs to the beach. I'll let you know if I make it--maybe post some pictures on FaceBook. I've been coughing and hacking away something fierce. In the water I am fine, but at night...whew. It's been a tough slog. Even NyQuil doesn't seem to do much. Thank goodness for long nights of sleep.
We did learn of the death of a snorkeler last Sunday and were reminded of the need for safety, caution, awareness and paying attention to those around you. A buddy system, like we've been doing this week, is really important. Nature is not playing.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Maho Open Water 2013 Day 3
So today we started at 7:00 AM with a full group swim. We covered roughly two miles. The water was a good temperature, the sun was rising...we saw a rainbow over one of the islands. On the way back I saw a turtle come up for air. I wanted to tell it to keep it's head down to breathe but I'm not sure the turtle would appreciate human swim humor. And maybe he was sighting. ;)
Almost all of us went to the camp restaurant for breakfast. It was a great chance to visit with new and old friends and I enjoyed it immensely. We were all ready for a good meal. Alan, in the meantime, continued work on his scuba certification. (Tonight we are both virtuously tired.)
After taking some photos of the beach I figured I could use some down time and headed back for lunch at the top of the hill in our Harmony Studio. Plus the down time gives your mind and body a little time to process.
The afternoon work and practice time was spent focusing on the 2 beat kick. And from that we worked into the X cross body connection and how that kick/rotation makes the arm enter--so you don't even stab and entry. The motion, your swim power train, makes the hand/arm/shoulder entry inevitable. But boy, the time and work it takes to get to the point of understanding it somewhat...well, I've had glimpses, but I feel like--I really do have a new level od understanding in my bones. Dave said he doesn't teach kids about pulling or pushing but gets them set up so that the propulsion just happens.
I felt a bit tired putting the extra umph into my stroke. Ah...but no hyper-extension of arms! Full length through knuckles...a feel, again. I'm not used to it so maybe I'm overdoing the kick at the moment. Dave has lots of power and it looks fast and easy. But as he said, do you think Shinji (Takeuchi) learned an easy 2 beat kick without doing the over-emphasized version?
And we talked about elbow position and opening the arm-pit into the back muscles...again that power point of entry and hold/push and inevitable follow-through, vs. lifting out...watching someone illustrating over days makes it much clearer than my words. You hear Terry--you hear your TI instructor--you watch videos--you use focal points--you find feedback to judge what you are doing--you practice--you integrate--you think you have it...do you? What do you feel? What is tangible feedback? What are your goals? How do you continue to grow and improve? Just--the stuff that makes life and learning and sharing in others' life and learning so
Almost all of us went to the camp restaurant for breakfast. It was a great chance to visit with new and old friends and I enjoyed it immensely. We were all ready for a good meal. Alan, in the meantime, continued work on his scuba certification. (Tonight we are both virtuously tired.)
After taking some photos of the beach I figured I could use some down time and headed back for lunch at the top of the hill in our Harmony Studio. Plus the down time gives your mind and body a little time to process.
The afternoon work and practice time was spent focusing on the 2 beat kick. And from that we worked into the X cross body connection and how that kick/rotation makes the arm enter--so you don't even stab and entry. The motion, your swim power train, makes the hand/arm/shoulder entry inevitable. But boy, the time and work it takes to get to the point of understanding it somewhat...well, I've had glimpses, but I feel like--I really do have a new level od understanding in my bones. Dave said he doesn't teach kids about pulling or pushing but gets them set up so that the propulsion just happens.
I felt a bit tired putting the extra umph into my stroke. Ah...but no hyper-extension of arms! Full length through knuckles...a feel, again. I'm not used to it so maybe I'm overdoing the kick at the moment. Dave has lots of power and it looks fast and easy. But as he said, do you think Shinji (Takeuchi) learned an easy 2 beat kick without doing the over-emphasized version?
And we talked about elbow position and opening the arm-pit into the back muscles...again that power point of entry and hold/push and inevitable follow-through, vs. lifting out...watching someone illustrating over days makes it much clearer than my words. You hear Terry--you hear your TI instructor--you watch videos--you use focal points--you find feedback to judge what you are doing--you practice--you integrate--you think you have it...do you? What do you feel? What is tangible feedback? What are your goals? How do you continue to grow and improve? Just--the stuff that makes life and learning and sharing in others' life and learning so
Monday, January 14, 2013
Maho TI Open Water 2013/Day 2
An iPad in the USVI running off of one's iPhone as a hotspot...is still a bit limiting. I get stuck and can't see or edit the bottom of the page. So I guess I have to be concise? Yeesh.
My laryngitis is fine when I'm in the water. My body is happy with the salt water I guess. But it was rough sleeping last night. I left my terrific herbal throat spray at home and boy, could I use it. I hear some similar dry coughs coming from some of the other Harmony Studios down the hill from us. Well, so that's the rough part.
Other than that--I feel like I'm learning a lot really fast. Of course I'm not able to implement it all immediately, but I "get" more every time I do something like this. I can see how far I was reaching forward...and not in a good way. Elbow extending to the point that you are giving away your power. So Dave Cameron had us working on rotation and the entrance of the arm...hard to explain (especially after a glass of wine). Tomorrow we are going to do some drills with one pointer finger entrance, first and pinky entrance. In the afternoon will be two beat kick. For me, Dave was looking at my video and said my hip rotation timing is fine but my arms are slow...and I think he means my catch/push is late.
We did a two mile or so swim--Whistling Cay--with buddies. So I swam with Sarah. It really helped with paying attention in a different way. I found that, on distances, I barely kick! It's like I am conserving energy and just working the front end! So I practiced using more total movement, kicking up my speed. Why do I disconnect? I guess I'm concerning about maintaining my speed and ease. I felt some left arm tension too. That left arm. I'm not entering the same as the right. Well, there's lots to pay attention to. This year I am sighting less often.
Oh! Dave had us do a great drill this AM. Kick right foot to right breath, left foot to left breath...but when you breathed you were supposed to keep the goggle out eye closed! Well, that was weird. When I breathed left I closed everything, including my mouth, and didn't breathe at all! The idea was alligator sighting. I'm a lot better at it this year even though I haven't spent lots of time on it.
Uh oh--can't see the whole page anymore so I guess I'll stop for now. We missed Dave and Clare, by the way. Back to New Paltz for work I guess. Miss you guys!
My laryngitis is fine when I'm in the water. My body is happy with the salt water I guess. But it was rough sleeping last night. I left my terrific herbal throat spray at home and boy, could I use it. I hear some similar dry coughs coming from some of the other Harmony Studios down the hill from us. Well, so that's the rough part.
Other than that--I feel like I'm learning a lot really fast. Of course I'm not able to implement it all immediately, but I "get" more every time I do something like this. I can see how far I was reaching forward...and not in a good way. Elbow extending to the point that you are giving away your power. So Dave Cameron had us working on rotation and the entrance of the arm...hard to explain (especially after a glass of wine). Tomorrow we are going to do some drills with one pointer finger entrance, first and pinky entrance. In the afternoon will be two beat kick. For me, Dave was looking at my video and said my hip rotation timing is fine but my arms are slow...and I think he means my catch/push is late.
We did a two mile or so swim--Whistling Cay--with buddies. So I swam with Sarah. It really helped with paying attention in a different way. I found that, on distances, I barely kick! It's like I am conserving energy and just working the front end! So I practiced using more total movement, kicking up my speed. Why do I disconnect? I guess I'm concerning about maintaining my speed and ease. I felt some left arm tension too. That left arm. I'm not entering the same as the right. Well, there's lots to pay attention to. This year I am sighting less often.
Oh! Dave had us do a great drill this AM. Kick right foot to right breath, left foot to left breath...but when you breathed you were supposed to keep the goggle out eye closed! Well, that was weird. When I breathed left I closed everything, including my mouth, and didn't breathe at all! The idea was alligator sighting. I'm a lot better at it this year even though I haven't spent lots of time on it.
Uh oh--can't see the whole page anymore so I guess I'll stop for now. We missed Dave and Clare, by the way. Back to New Paltz for work I guess. Miss you guys!
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Maho TI Open Water 2013/Day 1 continued
It's a little after 6:30. The wind is kicking up. We hear of a "swell" coming. That means there's a storm out there somewhere. Honestly, I'm going to let the folks in charge worry about that. We deal with what we're given as far as weather!
Now as far as swimming. It is downright odd, to me, to be a coach and always feel I have so much more to learn. I understand that that is both good and, frankly, realistic. But it also sometimes makes me doubt what I DO know and what I AM good at doing. I suffer from cello snootiness sometimes. And while I have some of that in swimming, I really tend to fold when faced with ideas or directions from folk with more experience than I have. And this includes people who think they know better but don't, necessarily. That's not so much the case here, fortunately. But I do tend to feel torn sometimes. Am I after grace? Am I hoping for speed while knowing I'm not an Olympian, of course. Why, when I aim toward speed, does it translate into effort? My stroke rate goes up, although I tend to contain that fairly well. But do I go substantially faster if I increase my effort? No. If I'm stuck at around 3:20 for a comfortable 200...why can't I get that to a 3:00? Is that a NECESSARY goal? Of course not. But I see much, well, rattier looking swimmers, frankly, and they can do it. And yes, my age and older. So--is it silly to want to be faster? Shoot. Why not under 3:00?
I get this stuff going through my head. And then I find, today--that now my tree hug, wide arms are too wide. I used to cram in too close to my side. And now I'm actually bringing my elbow--good lord--too far forward?!?!?! Is that even POSsible? Gads! It IS! I dislike hand lead so much and I'm so flexible that I can overdo that. But then I've given away the power of my hold/catch. Dave Cameron had me hold my am overhead and try to punch his hand away. "Don't pull back at all before you do it," he instructed. Nothing. Zip. So I have a concept going here as to why I haven't had that power that I think I should have. I should be able to move quicker with the forces available to me without busting my tail just whacking away trying to magically just make it happen. I really hope I can unlock a next step here.
Then there is the plop left foot (out of the water). I've had that for awhile, too. It's in my two-beat kick. But enough on this for now. I hope I really can get past some confusion that has eaten at this proprioceptively and athletically challenged being--me. And how can one play the cello well when one is so distrustful of one's placement in space? Hmm. I try to help my students get that trust. I hope to learn more about my body through swimming to swim better, coach better, teach cello better, play cello better...and not have to watch my feet when I walk. Dr. Kraskin, where are you? Glasses.
OK...so on to the pavilion for a more formal group get together. I tend to cringe about the meet and greet things because of my Essential Tremor stuff. At least this year I know more people so I'm less worried about speaking.
Now as far as swimming. It is downright odd, to me, to be a coach and always feel I have so much more to learn. I understand that that is both good and, frankly, realistic. But it also sometimes makes me doubt what I DO know and what I AM good at doing. I suffer from cello snootiness sometimes. And while I have some of that in swimming, I really tend to fold when faced with ideas or directions from folk with more experience than I have. And this includes people who think they know better but don't, necessarily. That's not so much the case here, fortunately. But I do tend to feel torn sometimes. Am I after grace? Am I hoping for speed while knowing I'm not an Olympian, of course. Why, when I aim toward speed, does it translate into effort? My stroke rate goes up, although I tend to contain that fairly well. But do I go substantially faster if I increase my effort? No. If I'm stuck at around 3:20 for a comfortable 200...why can't I get that to a 3:00? Is that a NECESSARY goal? Of course not. But I see much, well, rattier looking swimmers, frankly, and they can do it. And yes, my age and older. So--is it silly to want to be faster? Shoot. Why not under 3:00?
I get this stuff going through my head. And then I find, today--that now my tree hug, wide arms are too wide. I used to cram in too close to my side. And now I'm actually bringing my elbow--good lord--too far forward?!?!?! Is that even POSsible? Gads! It IS! I dislike hand lead so much and I'm so flexible that I can overdo that. But then I've given away the power of my hold/catch. Dave Cameron had me hold my am overhead and try to punch his hand away. "Don't pull back at all before you do it," he instructed. Nothing. Zip. So I have a concept going here as to why I haven't had that power that I think I should have. I should be able to move quicker with the forces available to me without busting my tail just whacking away trying to magically just make it happen. I really hope I can unlock a next step here.
Then there is the plop left foot (out of the water). I've had that for awhile, too. It's in my two-beat kick. But enough on this for now. I hope I really can get past some confusion that has eaten at this proprioceptively and athletically challenged being--me. And how can one play the cello well when one is so distrustful of one's placement in space? Hmm. I try to help my students get that trust. I hope to learn more about my body through swimming to swim better, coach better, teach cello better, play cello better...and not have to watch my feet when I walk. Dr. Kraskin, where are you? Glasses.
OK...so on to the pavilion for a more formal group get together. I tend to cringe about the meet and greet things because of my Essential Tremor stuff. At least this year I know more people so I'm less worried about speaking.
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