ScribbledBabbling.com

August 15

So I spent the 500 peso bill in my wallet for pasalubong last night. Well, I wanted the souvenirs for my own but bought it as pasalubong so that it would not appear that I was too selfish.

I managed to convince Mommy that flip-flop cellphone charms, magnets and keychains are cute so she also bought her own set of giveaways. I solicited a promise from BM that he will be the one to buy me my keychains for my collection.

Anyway, I remembered one thing that I needed to pick up for myself. A Boracay nightshirt! My old one has now been reduced to tatters fit for the rag bin. (As it should be since it’s more than 10 years old!) I saw a yellow and a red one last night but will be looking around again to look for more when I get the chance.

Had a late start today as I stayed up late watching TV with Mommy last night. Had a quick breakfast then headed back to the pool for another swim. This time BM joined us while Mommy played photographer. I stayed longer than the others trying to get enough courage to do a lap of the pool’s length. I tried several laps of the pool’s width and I must say that that was the first time I’ve pushed myself to do swim laps in 12 years! I’ve gone swimming in the in-between years, yes. But those were simply just for fun and play. Today I forced myself to get back into laps the way I did when I was still training to swim.

I try to live my life by the credo, no regrets, but if there is one regret that has always bugged me, it’s the fact that I didn’t take my swim training to the level I could have excelled at. My first swimming coach told me that I could be a competitive swimmer. To make that point he brought me to cross the 10-foot-deep part of the pool and had me doing laps. I didn’t have any idea how deep 10 feet was when I was 8 years old so I followed my coach blindly. Only when I saw that his feet were not touching the floor of the pool did it dawn on me that 10 feet was more than double my height at that time. So, I panicked, stopped at the middle of the lap and clung to the gutter for my dear life.

When I got back to swimming, it was 7 years after that summer of swim training. For PE class. By default, those who chose to do swimming over gymnastics (which I also trained for!) were part of the swim team though we didn’t really compete. I was really out of shape and I didn’t really take it seriously. I only wanted to pass PE that time.

So now, I’m horribly out of shape, fitness-wise. (I AM SEXY. And that’s the final word on that!) My stamina is not what it used to be. My lung capacity has been diminished. My strokes are not as efficient as it used to be. I know I need to get in shape. I could live with getting into shape via swimming since I really need to increase my resistance and strengthen my lungs once again.