Hey gang, we leave Tuesday for 18 days to "work" on a couple of back-to-back Alaskan cruises (I teach adult arts & crafts classes aboard ship.). When I was training for Nationals, I was SURE that by the time I finished Nationals, I would want to take those 18 days off from swimming to rest my shoulders and just do dryland work. But, after many bad nights of sleep in a row (heat intolerance issues at Nationals), I did a crash and burn last night (thanks to 2 Tylenol PM), and had an awesome workout at the pool. I had forgotten, after 31 years, how GOOD it felt to do a hard post-taper swim! :bliss:I feel great and started mourning the loss of pool access during my travels, until I remembered the ship's tiny indoor pool! :D I obviously won't be able to "swim", but I CAN do drills... I'm thinking the feet first scull, kicking with my hands up against the wall, egg beater kick, and, ??? For various reasons, I won't be purchasing and bringing a tether or any other eqt. besides my suit and goggles. So, if you can recommend drills based on the size of the pool, I would greatly appreciate it. Below is a photo I shot of the pool last year, while working aboard ship.
Thanks! And, happy travels to any of you who have summer travel plans, as well. :)
P.S. I don't have a laptop (or fancy phone), so I'll be off the forums during my travels- unless I pop into an internet cafe. I'll miss you guys!
Or.. are you a swinger or not and getting naked on deck. See, you have to make Elaine miss the forums so she won't leave again.
Awwwww, thanks Alison! :bighug: Thanks for your warm welcome back to the forums! But, no can do. If there is one passion I have that is greater than swimming (and chocolate :bliss:), it's travel! But, my next trip isn't until Oct., so you're all stuck with me and my Comic Sans (and Smilies) until then! :D
Cords are a great travel toy. Lunges around the ship walkway, use the stairs always, don't eat too much - have fun !
They're great! The HOA manager let me borrow one from the gym for the cruise (I thanked her with chocolate from Alaska :D ) and now I'm hooked!
I've been "working" on cruises since 1983 (mostly since 1996) and I swear by the no elevator rule. I always take stairs, workout in the gym on sea days (before or after I teach my classes), walk miles and miles in port, and eat my normal, healthy, sensible food during the day (yogurt and granola for breakfast and salad bar with low-fat dressing for lunch). At dinner, all bets are off. I love seafood, so I always go for the seafood appetizer and entree. And, if chocolate is on the menu for dessert, I'm all over it! :bliss: Otherwise, it's chocolate ice cream (which is always available).
I've been on 38 cruises and have only gained weight on one of them (1 pound), when I couldn't keep my hands off the mudslide (CHOCOLATE!) cookies. Otherwise, I either stayed at my same weight or have lost a pound or two. At 5'71/2" and 123 lbs., I don't need to be losing any weight, but if I do, it does allow for a little more chocolate in my otherwise very healthy diet! :bliss:
Hey Forumites! I'm back from Alaska and back in a 25 yd pool! Unfortunately, it's 40 degrees warmer here, though, and our indoor pool has shot up to 86 degrees, due to the greenhouse effect. :bitching:
Back to the positive... :D
Vancouver and Alaska were AWESOME! If any of you decide to do an Alaska cruise, make sure to go on one that includes Hubbard Glacier in the itinerary. It's six miles wide and rises 350 feet above the water. The captain was able to navigate the ice field and get within 400 yds. of the glacier and sit there for over an hour while we watched an amazing show of calving (huge chunks of ice breaking off). Some were so dramatic, the falling ice caused large swells that made our huge ship rock. Amazing!
Ok, back to the subject. As you can see by the photos below, I did my sculling drills in the ship's tiny pool. (Now, I DID use the LENGTH of the pool, rather than the width, and, I DID put my head back in the water for my feet first sculling, but I wanted to pose for these shots.)
Thanks to all of you who wrote with suggestions, I had plenty of drills to keep me busy, when I wasn't trying to dodge others who were in the pool along with me, most of the time...
What I DIDN'T take into consideration was the effect of the ship's rocking on the first sea day... Yikes! I had to get out due to my Meniere's causing sea sickness while I was IN the pool. Once I got out, I was fine! :blush:
Otherwise, the stretch chord I brought with me worked great in the gym. I just wrapped it around the dance bar in the aerobics studio and swam my strokes dryland! :bliss: And, the gym was great.
Cheers!
Elaine-iaK :D
