Merry Christmas

I know I haven't updated this blog in quite a while. Been knda busy lately. But have a Merry Christmas everyone.

Kedah Meet

Some memorable pics taken during the Kedah Meet, 14 to 15 November 2009:

Good job to them and all others from PST.

Exams suxorz

SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) exam is currently underway and should be over in a week or two. Looking at some of the questions the SPM candidates are facing this year makes me grateful I'm not in Form Five anymore.

I wonder if anyone ever answered their questions in this manner before:

Looking at clouds

Saw some cool cloud formations this morning at PISA. I've always liked looking at clouds. So it's not a surprise that my school teachers have often told me to "get my head out of the clouds".

I like the way how the clouds "shroud" the mountain, as if engulfing it momentarily. Or rather, as if the storm is rolling over the mountain, consuming it in the process.

Kinda makes you feel something's gonna poke its nose through those clouds ...

Strong winds

There were some strong winds at PISA today which blew off a piece of the roof.

Something that belonged here (circled in red) ...

... ended up wrapped around a tree.

Fortunately, no one was hurt when the piece of the roof blew off. A smaller piece broke off later and landed on the road (can be seen beside the speeding black car). Luckily, there were no damages either.

Fun and games

Gave the kids some time off for fun and games on Sunday.

I didn't notice the guy in the background trying to get to his bag on the right.

The game was filled with a lot of yelling and grabbing. Khai Xin on the left seems to have stubbed her toe. Either that or she's in the "one-legged penalty zone".

It was actually against my better judgment to give the kids fun and games when we're in competition season and with so many meets just around the corner. But the turn-out during earlier workouts had been satisfactory so I thought, "oh, what the heck!"

I doubt that we could afford many more fun and games sessions, so the kids better enjoy whatever little RnR they get during training.

That time of the month

It's that time of the month again ... reporting time, I mean.

Yay! Reports, reports, and more reports!Blechhh!

Ordinarily, I don't mind doing reports and I'm actually very punctual with my reporting. But this month, it's a little harder to do any reporting since my POJ (Piece-of-Junk) computer keeps hanging, restarting and simply turning itself off every few minutes.

Non-techies won't understand what this means.

So, I slowly took my POJ computer apart, carefully removing each part and remembering where it came from and how to put it back.

Don't try this at home kids!

And voilà! Narrowed the problem down to a bad RAM. So after chucking that bad boy away, I re-assembled my computer and amazingly, it turns on and stays on! Hurray!!!

Hmmm ... but now I seem to have a bunch of screws left-over. Oh well, optional screws I guess.

Ok, so now with my computer fixed, let's get back to doing reports ...

... or maybe not. First things first, right?

Which do you hate most?

Of the three miserable cretins listed below, which would you hate most:

1) A liar
2) A traitor
3) A gossip

Back to coaching

The water polo meet is finally over.

For the past three days, I've been waking up at 6 AM and coming home at 8 PM. Super tiring.

Going back to my usual coaching routine will seem like a holiday after these past few days.

Time to get a new computer

My desktop computer has started working again after 3 days of major formatting and reinstalling software. For some sick reason, this POJ (piece of junk) keeps turning itself off due to heat problems. The problem is, when the POJ restarts, a lot of software stop working. When my Windows stopped booting up, I knew it was time to re-format.

Thankfully, I could still surf the web with my trusty laptop from Starbucks, albeit shamelessly. But I can't get into Facebook for some reason. So, I could only surf, blog, whine, check mail, surf and whine some more while at Starbucks.

Thanks for the free Internet, but no thanks for the ultra-expensive latte.

Starting today, I needn't visit Starbucks anymore to satisfy my daily web addiction. Hurray! Finally, the last piece of software has been installed, and even better, Streamyx is still working! Double hurray!

So obviously, the first website that I visited was Facebook, since that was the only site I could not surf to during my 3 days of Net blackout.

Hoo-boy ... was that a mistake!

Immediately after reading some comments, I immediately wished I had not fixed my computer. In fact, I felt like putting an axe right through my computer screen.

It suddenly reminded me of the many Facebook-related dismissal cases I've read on the web. Furthermore, images of "Mutiny on the Bounty" flashed through my mind.

It has made me realize that I've made some rather foolish choices.

Pruning

Wikipedia defines pruning as:

"Pruning is the process of removing certain above-ground elements from a plant; in landscaping this process usually involves removal of diseased, non-productive, or otherwise unwanted portions from a plant."

Bottom line is, pruning can be tough, but necessary in order for a tree to bear fruit.

The Bible also mentioned this in John 15:5.

Snip! Snip!

I guess teams need to do this from time to time too.

One-week break

The 52nd Malaysia Open Water Polo Championship will be held at PISA during the weekend. Pool setup for the meet has already been completed on Tuesday (one day early). This means that the PISA pool is now ready to host a water polo championship. This also means that PST is now without a pool to train in for nearly a week.

For my swimmers and I, this grants us a one-week holiday. Great news, right? No, not really. Not at all in fact.

The fact is, we're already behind schedule, and taking more breaks will not help anyone.

During the Raya break a few weeks ago, some kids missed training because they were "going on holiday". This month, kids are missing training because it's "exam month".

I can imagine the following scenario: 1) After exams = "chill out time", and 2) Year-end school holidays = "serious holiday time".

When will it be "training time"? *Sigh*

FInally, it died

Yep, it died at last. Who? What? My desktop computer.

Now blogging from Starbucks with my laptop. Anyone wanna sponsor me a new high-end, dual core desktop computer?

Déjà vu

It's an all-too-familiar occurance.

Here I am, staying up late at night doing reports and preparing / editing / augmenting workouts for my athletes, but my athletes don't give a damn and are missing training sessions as easily as they would a dental appointment.

Here I am, attending meetings with ISN and MSN, arranging for the use of the gym and for personalized gym workouts to be written for my athletes, but my athletes give even less than a damn about the gym sessions and are skipping the gym sessions simply because "daddy said 'no need'".

I wonder who will daddy blame when his kid ends up 2nd, 3rd or 4th placing next year.

I'm starting to wonder if I'm doing all this for the right reasons.

MSN Anti-Doping Talk

I attended an Anti-Doping Talk conducted by MSN on 6th October. No, I'm not into doping, but it was a talk for the Sukma swimmers and as a Pelapis coach, I had to attend it with my swimmers.

Frankly speaking, I didn't find it very good. It seemed to be aimed at scaring athletes about the side effects of doping rather than educate the athletes on the moral implications and consequences of doping.

Me in ... errr ... "deep concentration".

A major portion of the talk was 18SG and on many occassions I was hoping that the under 12 swimmers that were attending were not paying attention. What's more, the p'shopped images were simply lame.

Oooh, time to wake up. Speaker right in front!

Although some of the info presented was informative, I was hoping it would be done with better, more detailed handouts with the talk emphasizing less on the 18SG subjects

Photos shamelessly ripped off without permission from Beverly Wong's Facebook.

Aeroplane

Kena aeroplane / 747 / PPK again today by a swimmer. Sigh ... I guess some people never learn. A SMS message only costs 30 sen. Disappointment leaves a scar.

Full-day session

Yesterday, Sunday 27th, marked the end of the one-week Raya school break. Although some schools resumed classes earlier on Thursday, the majority of schools had their holidays until the 27th.

For the team, the holidays was a time to catch-up in terms of mileage and intensity. Admittedly, some kids had been missing sessions prior to the holidays and the one-week break was a much-needed "catch-up" time.

We had a full-day session (9 AM to 6 PM) on Thursday with most of the backup squad in attendance. Prior to this, we had been having heavy double sessions.

Warm-ups. Moderate physical took place prior to their morning swim workout.

Kicking practice. Some kids at the other side of the pool are already having trouble making the interval time.

Lunch break. Food, glorious food!

Rest time after afternoon physical, also referred to as K-O (knock-out) time. A much, much heavier swim workout awaited these kids.

18 Sept declared a School Holiday

Friday 18 September it seems, has been declared a holiday for all schools. I sincerely hope that those who have been inactive recently or throughout the year, but hope to represent the team in an upcoming national meet, will take this opportunity to prove that they are worthy of a place to compete in the team's name.

As it has been for quite some time already, swimmers in other clubs in Penang and other states in the country are doing more sessions than swimmers from PST. I only hope that PST swimmers can understand that if we are to achieve anything near the national standard, then we must be prepared to put in more sessions too.

KSN Meet Invite

We've been invited to a swimming meet by KSN (Kompleks Sukan Negara) known as the "Kejohanan Jaguh Renang KSN". This meet will be held from 10th to 11th October (Saturday & Sunday) at Bukit Jalil. It's a friendly meet, and the first three placings will be awarded medals, certificates and cash prizes. Anyone interested? Let me know.

Test set inevitable

Ok, there's no denying it, there's a test set -- no ... two test sets -- coming soon. The purpose of test sets are to analyze the performance of swimmers -- whether or not there's improvement, as well as to increase anaerobic threshold. In other words, it's to check whether or not you're improving and how fit you are.

It's not painless, I'll admit, but necessary and part of the training process. So, for those of you who've been having late nights, time to hit the sack a little earlier.

Delayed SPP

Ok, things aren't working out the way I had planned them. The swimmers' strokes still suck. Some of them aren't even trying. They're either thrashing the water or just making the necessary movements to move forward. As a result, there's no stroke efficiency, reduced propulsion and a lot of wasted time and effort.

Due to this, I've decided to delay our entry into SPP and spend more time in GPP working on technique. Granted, it delays our progress, but unless swimmers take stroke technique seriously, then we're in serious trouble as far as progress and development is concerned.

Jerm's time trial today was a disaster. It opened my eyes as to how serious and severe his stroke errors were. This is the result of reversibility I suppose. I wonder how many kids will encounter this before they understand the importance of training consistency. Worse is, I wonder how many kids will quit the sport as a result of what Jerm's experiencing.

New info ... SUKPEN & OKH

1. SUKPEN or SUKan PENang will be held from 28 (Sat) to 29 (Sun) November 2009 at the PISA Aquatic Center, Penang. Swimming events will very likely be held on either of these days. It should be no more than a half-day meet.

2. Competitors for SUKPEN will be representing their respective districts. PST belongs to Daerah Barat Daya (DBD), which is occupied by i) Permata Sports Management, ii) Bukit Jambul Country Club and of course, iii) PISA Swimming Team. Selection of swimmers for DBD will be made by the Team Coaches of these three clubs.

3. In view of this, there is no clash between the dates of SUKPEN and the National Inter-Club (or OKH). The OKH is scheduled to be held from 3 to 5 December 2009 at the Paroi Aquatic Center, Seremban.

Name failure

Actual name of a shop in Spain.

Another one

Here's another weird dream that I've been having:

Dream #4
I'm in a town. The town appears deserted. A group of people and I wander from shop to shop only to find the shops deserted. Then it happens - a plume of smoke overhead. Somewhere on the other side of town, a shop disappears in a plume of smoke. We (the people with me) rush out to the streets and take shelter in a nearby shop. Just then, the shop we were in goes up in a plume of smoke and debris. It's then that we learn that the town rebuilds itself by destroying its old, useless structures.

What does this dream mean?

It concerns me that this dream (and the ones mentioned in an earlier post) occur on an almost nightly basis, meaning, they seem to repeat themselves as if they're part of a bad Astro re-run. It makes me almost afraid to go to sleep since I know what's waiting for me in dreamworld.

In these dreams, I can't change the outcome and my movements seem to be restrained. Can anyone help me decipher these dreams? Or maybe an escape from them? I hate dying in my own dreams.

Weird dreams

I've been having a lot of weird dreams lately. Most of which are re-runs and even recycled dreams; meaning, I've had them before. I know how it's gonna end, but I can't change the outcome. I've no idea what these dreams mean, so maybe someone out there can help me decipher them:

Dream #1
I'm at the PISA Aquatic Center main pool. It's in the evening and the pool is crowded with swimmers and kids. The sun is shining brightly outside. Feels like a weekend afternoon. I don't see my kids training, and I'm about to go for a dip in the pool. I dive off the starting block and plunge into the water. When I surface, it's dark ... it's night-time and the pool is deserted. The doors are locked and there aren't any lights on. The silence is eerie. I'm the only one in the now-deserted swimming pool.

Dream #2
Again, I'm at the PISA Aquatic Center main pool. A training session is underway. It's early morning so the pool isn't open to the public yet. It's just us in the pool. I'm preparing the swimmers for a sprint. There are kids on the starting blocks waiting for my signal while others are lined up behind. I walk forward (away from the kids) and blow my whistle for them to go. When I look back, everyone's gone. The pool is empty. It's still day-time, but the floor is dry and the water is undisturbed.

Dream #3
Now this one is a little scary. I've been asked to give swimming lessons. I arrive at the student's home. It's a large, luxurious house with many swimming pools of various sizes. There are people everywhere. Some cheerful, others chatting happily. My colleagues - coaches from other teams - are there as well. Some for swimming lessons while others for poolside parties. Everyone is in a pool of their own in this house. I'm asked to conduct my swimming lessons in a pool which is empty. This pool is empty except for a silver-coloured fish swimming at the bottom of the pool. I dive into the pool and without knowing, I touch this fish. When I surface, the world is totally different. It looks like there had been a war. The once-luxurious house is now in ruins with wreckage everywhere. The sky is an eerie red and orange. I'm now standing on the bottom of the now-empty pool. There's no sign of the silver-coloured fish. I find myself desperate to escape.

I've had Dream #1 and Dream #3 before when I was going through very rough times. It surprises and scares me that I'm having the same dreams again now. Premonition? Imagination working over-time?

Ok, ok ... back already

Phew, I've had a busy past few weeks. No time to update this blog or my own website even.


First, there was the course in Bukit Jawi. Course was good, and participants were all school teachers. I particularly enjoyed the times when I told the school teachers to "keep quiet".

Bukit Jawi Golf Resort is a beautiful club. Really beautiful. 36-holes. Wow. The only downside to it is the flies. I mean, they're everywhere. Flying into your hair and even your clothes. Hope they'll find a solution for it soon.

Then, there were the meetings with ISN to arrange workouts and gym sessions for my team. I've finally gotten the gym sessions started with ISN preparing the gym workouts.

This week, I've finally come up with the qualifying criteria for the National Inter-Club Meet in December. I've "dumbed" down the QT to 50th placing of the previous year's National Inter-Club. Despite this, less than 5 kids will actually qualify. But worry not; apart from QT, there are other qualifying criteria as well, such as training attendance and performance. All these will be taken into consideration.

Month-end is coming, so that means it's report time. Ugh! The workouts for this week have been really easy on the kids. Sculling practices, drills, more sculling practices. The calm before the storm?

Time Trials

This had been planned for quite some time already, but the original plan was to hold the Time Trials during end-August ... the week that I'd be away, and also the week that most kids would be away from training due to school exams. So, I had no choice but to re-schedule and bring the Time Trials forward one week.

Kids are not doing so well for their pet events during the Time Trials. This is expected, but what's not expected is how badly they're actually doing.

The Time Trials will be conducted until Friday. This gives kids who can't attend on a regular basis a chance to take part in the Time Trials. If they still can't make it, oh well ... I guess it's obvious where their priorities are.

"You can't have your cake and eat it"

Have any of you ever seen those moist and juicy-looking cakes on display at bakery windows? Well, some of those at display are actually made of wood and painted to look moist, while others are actually made of wax.

Well, that's pretty much how I'm feeling right now. I have my piece of cake, but can't eat it ... not because I don't want to, but because it's inedible. It's just there for show, and I'm part of the show.

PC Fair day 3

The third and final day of the PC Fair at PISA. Thank you very much.

The traffic at PISA becomes worse with each day of the PC Fair. Fortunately, the location of my usual parking spot is still unknown to the public ... muahahahah!

Today was the last of the heavy sprint / speed workouts. Tomorrow starts with the transition from GPP to SPP. I'd also need to take into consideration that it's exam time for most of the kids this week. So that means I need to reduce the intensity and stress during workouts. It's not easy to put everything together in one neat package. I wonder if the kids appreciate the effort that's been given to them.

Zeke was a no-show again today. That's worrying because his attendance has been real crappy this whole month and last month he didn't make the 20-session requirement. I hope he gets well soon and re-joins the workouts.

PC Fair day 2

Parking during the second day of PC Fair was still manageable. My usual spot was still available.

The training session for Saturday was quite disappointing for me. My top swimmers failed to do their best times during the sprint sets.

On Saturday also, we welcomed back a foreign swimmer whom I thought was not gonna train with us again for the year. Having her back in the team again was truly a welcome relief. What's more, the good news her mother gave me made me feel like my burdens had been lifted off me.

In another note, my piano still sounds a wee bit off tune despite the two tunings its gone through. I'm quite disappointed because I was hoping to have a fully functioning piano this weekend. What's more, the total costs for the full repairs is still gonna be somewhere around RM600.

Anyway, have a good weekend everyone.

PC Fair day 1

Today was the first day of PC Fair (or Pikom Fair, whichever works for you). I was thinking that the parking today at PISA won't be that bad. Boy, was I ever wrong!

Even on the first day, parking was like crazy! People were parking cars outside PISA already -- a common sight you'd see on the 2nd and last days. But this was just the first day!

But anyway, I bought some printer ink catridges, took part in a lucky draw, and walked away with a free Epson travelling bag. Whee! :P

Training went smoothly. The new "Intermediates" had trouble keeping up though, despite the fact that it was still a taper workout. But nevermind. They're adjusting ... I hope.

Taper and time evaluation

Today's workout was a taper workout. I took this as an opportunity to do a time evaluation for my senior swimmers.

The times for those tapering was as expected, but the times for my senior swimmers were not exactly up to my expectations.

This shows that we have a long way to go before we can present ourselves at any competitions. If the times of those who have been active are below expectations, what should I expect of those who are inactive?

On another note, I had my piano tuned today. It seems that a lot of strings need to be replaced. So the total tuning and repair cost is gonna come to something like RM600.

Ouch!

Anyway, if it needs to be done, then it has to be done. Just have to bite the bullet I guess ... or maybe, increase training fees ... hehehehe ... just kidding. =)

Stupid things that I do

Yesterday was my day off. My temperature was back to normal, so I decided to spend some time driving to clear my mind. I decided to drive over to the Penang Bridge. I stopped somewhere near mid-span, got out and decided to look around. (It's illegal to stop on the bridge by the way.)

Man, it's a looong way down.

I took out a 20 sen coin and dropped it into the sea below. It didn't even make a splash; it just disappeared into the waves. Took only a few seconds to disappear.

Just then, a PLUS Ronda pickup showed up flashing its lights and I went, "ok, ok, I'm going".

Drove over to Butterworth but missed the "Pusing Balik ke Pulau Pinang" exit. Ended up going in circles and even ended up at the dry dock where the PPSB ferries get repaired or retire. Gosh, those ferries really look old and in a sorry state. I wonder how I will be when I retire.

Finally made it to the Butterworth-Penang Bridge toll plaza. Since I had a Touch N Go card, I decided to take advantage of it. When it was my turn at the toll booth, I confidently touched my Touch N Go card at the reader thingy. No response. I touched again. Lagi no response. I must have whacked the card dunno how many times until a PBSB personnel showed up and told me my card was faulty. He then directed the frustrated and very-upset queue behind me to the toll booths nearby.

The now-angry queue behind me grudgingly did so, and wasn't going to let me cut it in front of me after my unsuccessful Touch N Go. So after some hand waves, help from PBSB personnel and after receiving some curses and fingers, I was able to pay the toll by cash and go home!

Sheesh! This little excursion took nearly 4 hours.

See how a bad situation can get worse?

Fever

Woke up this morning with a 99-degree temperature. After my bath, temperature became 100 degrees.

Drove to PISA for morning training. Felt like throwing up once I got there. Ended training early and went to the doctor. Temperature was 100.5 degrees at clinic. But no sore throat, no coughing, no flu-like symptoms. Doctor told me to take my temperature every few hours and take a few days off.

Doctor asks if I've been outstation lately. I tell him I was in Miri, but that was like, one month ago. Then he tells me, in a matter-of-fact tone, "the newspapers just reported that someone died from H1N1 in Miri recently."

Very comforting.

Drove home. Can't stop thinking how comfortable my bed is going to be after taking the medicine.

Parked my car outside my gate, let the dogs into the house, opened gate, went in, took medicine, changed and went to lie down. Ahhh ... that felt so good. Nice soft pillow, ceiling fan humming quietly, window blinds closed, room darkened ...

But what's that car sound outside my house?

OH CRAP!

I left my car outside with its engine running and doors unlocked. What's more, my front gate was wide open!

So quickly went out, drove car into porch, closed gate, let dogs out, locked door, and went back to bed. Ahhh ... now that's better.

Fortunately, temperature had gone back down to 99 degrees at lunch time. But I decided to cancel the evening training session just in case.

Time out

I actually had a program to run today, but decided on giving the kids fun and games instead since its exam season.

On another note, I've finally finished all my reports. Now only left one report to complete for MSN.

Anaerobic workout

Quite a tough workout for the kids today. But they pulled through it. Overall, they did quite well today.

Best part is, I get to wake up late tomorrow morning.

Stroke correction

Did stroke correction today despite having a slight fever.

Went quite well I think. Some errors were fixed, but it was real annoying when some of the kids started throwing pull buoys around. Let's hope everyone uses what they've learned during their workout sessions.

I'm looking forward to waking up late tomorrow.

Hard physical, easy swim workout

It alarms me that two swimmers suffered cramps during the swim workout today. Physical was hell, yeah I know, but the swim workout today was an easy one. Perhaps there wasn't enough swim conditioning? Hmmm ... something to look into.

I'm also quite disappointed in the swimmers' stroke techniques today. Still quite messed up despite two days of stroke corrections. I'm planning aanother stroke correction session tommorow. But should I ...?

LOL

Who am I?

Strictly speaking, I'm a lonely nobody.

I'm a 36-year-old swimming coach. I train swimmers for competition for a living. It is my bread and butter ... my rice bowl ... and it takes up all of my time. But I'm not complaining. I love my job. I love my swimmers.

Who are my swimmers? My swimmers are the swimmers of PISA Swimming Team. It is my team, my career and my livelihood. The swimmers can be a pain at times, and their parents are a bigger pain at times, but they are still my swimmers and their parents are part of the package. I love them all.

God blessed me with this team. I have no complains.

Hellooo World!

I really don't know why I started this blog. Just to have a place to rant and rave I guess. An "outlet" for my feelings since everything else is so under the microscope. What's more, I was thinking, "my swimmers have blogs of their own so why not me?"

So, who are "my swimmers" and who am I? I think I'll save that for another post.