THE WATER IS MY SKY

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 5, 2009
"The water is your friend. You don't have to fight with water, just share the same spirit as the water, and it will help you move." -- Aleksandr Popov

When I swim I always feel like I am flying, especially in the ocean. Sailing over the coral I can just imagine how a bird feels while soaring over the tree tops. The freedom, the peace, the magic of it all. Why did I take 48 years to learn to swim? Well, that's me waxing poetic for the day ...

I’m glad it’s my recovery week. I’m tired and going shorter distances this week is just what I need.

Today was an easy day on the legs. I rode the trainer for about 30 minutes working on a little sprint action -- getting the legs moving super fast on an all-out cadence for 30 seconds at a time. After a short rest I’d do it again, and again.

I also did a lot of stretching today trying to work out the cramps and aches and pains.

Masters tonight was a longer set. I think I swam 3,300 yards. The workout included a bunch of 200s, a 600 and then some smaller sets. I seem to lose some technique as I get tired. Trying to work on that though.

Hurricane Felicia is still headed our way and is now a Category 4 hurricane. It’s expected to weaken before it gets here so we should just see some rain and a little wind.

Here's a few swim-related quotes that I like:
H2O: two parts Heart and one part Obsession. ~Author Unknown

Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

No man drowns if he perseveres in praying to God, and can swim. ~Russian Proverb

Chlorine is my perfume. ~Author Unknown

If the world was flat I'd probably swim off it. ~Author Unknown

It's a good idea to begin at the bottom in everything except in learning to swim. ~Author Unknown

If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do all the rest have to drown too? ~Steven Wright

Sometimes God calms the storm. At other times, he calms the sailor. And sometimes he makes us swim. ~Author Unknown

Seventy-five percent of our planet is water - can you swim? ~Author Unknown

What goes around comes around, just like a flip turn. ~Author Unknown

Seven days of no swimming makes one weak. ~Author Unknown

If you want to learn to swim jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you. ~Bruce Lee

When the earth floods from global warming, the swimmers will rule the world. ~Author Unknown

If you have a lane, you have a chance. ~Author Unknown

Swimming: From the outside looking in, you can’t understand it. From the inside looking out, you can’t explain it. ~Author Unknown

Oxygen is overrated. ~Author Unknown

Swimming - what real men do while boys play football. ~Author Unknown

He who burns his bridges better be a damn good swimmer. ~Author Unknown

Chlorine: the breakfast of champions! ~Author Unknown

Do men who have got all their marbles go swimming in lakes with their clothes on? ~P.G. Wodehouse

We swim because we are too sexy for a sport that requires clothes. ~Author Unknown

I simply can't understand
Why swimsuits are in such demand
They're soggy and damp,
Bind like a clamp,
And hold about three pounds of sand!
~D.R. Benson

I can't fly, but swimming is the next best thing.... The water is my sky. ~Author Unknown

Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement - and we will make the goal. ~Jerome Fleishman