Run, Monday April 25, 2005

Went for a 12 minute run this morning was nearly a mile.

Rest, Sunday April 24, 2005

I was still recovering from the flu/seasickness on sunday so spent most of the day resting, and eating whatever small snacks I could get down without feeling too sick!

Freediving, Saturday April 23, 2005

The day started at the FIU pool. Martin ran us through some basic stretches which was excellent as I haven't stretched properly in years. After that quick warmup we hopped in the water to do statics. I supervised my buddy while he did his statics and after a half hour in the pool with only a 3mm shortie I was cold.

I started my statics with a 1:30, 2:30 and 3:00 minute warmup. My last static I had hoped to go to 4:00 minutes but unfortunately I quit early. My buddy started the signals a half minute early so I couldn't decide if I was at 3:45 or 4:00 already. Erring on the side of caution I came up at 3:45.

After finishing our static warmup we left to meet at the boat. We met at the hillsborough inlet boat ramp at 2:30 and after a quick load took off for the gulf stream. The wave action looked fine when we got there, but the wind was picking up.

We got into the water and started with 4 pulldowns, one to each of 5m, 10m, 15m, 20m. It seems like my comfort in the water is limited to about 1 minute as each of the 4 pulldowns was to about that time. Definitely something to work on!

With the water action picking up and nausea setting in for me we started practicing counting our kick cycles to 10 and 20 m. I managed 3 dives to 10m for 10, 7 and 6 kick cycles but was feeling more and more nauseous everytime. On my first dive two 20m which should have been 7 kick cycles to 10m and 7 smaller to 20 m my mask came off underwater. On the next dive I bailed at 10m as I was feeling really sick and my ear was sticking.

I waited while the others finished their dives and while we pulled up the ropes, had a small bout of seasickness and got back on the boat. The ride in was manageable, and I felt better for having emptied my stomach into the ocean.

All in all it was an excellent learning experience. I recommend the performance freediving course (link above) to anyone with an interest in freediving.