Total Immersion Malaysia Level 1: Current Packages Available

I've received several inquiries about the cost of taking Level 1 and Level 2 and here's the latest information hot-of-the-press for Level 1 (see also how to get your RM25 discount HERE):

Level 1 Package Price: NOOB Swimmers

• For noob swimmers (can barely freestyle 25 m), take the 'Complete Step-by-Step' package that gives you eight (that's 8) sessions in the pool. Each session is 1.5 hours long. 
• You'll get video analysis of your stroke (tip: wear a nice swim suit!) and tips on how to improve your current stroke
• You'll learn the 'superman', skating, over switch, snorkel swim, and breathing. (See Bambi do the 'Superman' HERE). 
• Receive a certificate, course notes, cool blue 'Can you swim well' drifit shirt, 'Easy Freestyle' TI DVD and TI Silicone swim cap.
• Price: RM838 (if paid in full. Instalment pricing available too). This works out to about RM70 an hour. Good value considering all the quality stuff you'll get. Also, TI classes here in the US cost USD70 an hour... *sigh*
• Miscellaneous expenses will be RM100 for a snorkel. You might be able to buy secondhand from TI graduates, or borrow. You'll be using the snorkel in Level 2, so it's good to have one. 

Note: This is a scuba snorkel.
You'll need the center-mount snorkel,
the sort that Finis makes :p
(see clickable pic of the Finis Swimmer's Snorkel
 below for an idea of what it's like)

Level 1 Package Price: GOOD Swimmers

• For good swimmers (no problem freestyling 25 m), take the 'Express Class' package that gives you an intense weekend (two-day) course. Count on 4.5 hours of solid instruction per day.
• You'll cover everything the noobs cover, and receive all the goodies they get also. 
• Price: RM645 (if paid in full. Installment pricing available too). This works out to RM71 an hour. Again a bargain considering TI classes in the US cost USD70 an hour ... *SIGH!*
• You'll need to beg, borrow or steal a snorkel for the classes. Or buy one.

Here's my two cents, having taken both Level 1 and 2 myself: You'll need to be prepared to work hard and it's not exactly pocket change, but this is one investment that is worth scrimping and saving for. Why? Because  you'll come away with the ability to swim 'fishlike', effortlessly, and even when you're 90 years old, you'll be able to enjoy the pleasure of an effortless swim and all the accompanying benefits. Not to mention, Total Immersion swimmers look stunning in the water (see TI coach Shinji Takeuchi swim on Youtube).

Ask Advanced Aquatics (Contact Page or Facebook) about signing up. Say Grace sent you to receive RM25 off the package price! You're welcome to subscribe to my blogposts to receive TI updates and promo notifications in your email inbox (click on 'subscribe by email' on the right sidebar). I'm currently putting together a video of my swim before and after TI (Level 1 and 2). Stay tuned!

Questions? Comments? Love Total Immersion? Leave your message at the bottom of this post - I LOVE hearing from you!

xo Gracie

p.s. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click. Thanks for supporting my blog!

Total Immersion Classes Malaysia: RM25 Discount off Level 1

Folks,

Since Total Immersion came to Malaysia last year, the programme has taken off big time! Advanced Aquatics who provides TI classes in Kuala Lumpur has graduated over 60 fishlike swimmers for Level 1 so far, and word of mouth from TI converts (including yours truly) continues to draw more people in.

Is Total Immersion for me?
Yes! TI will help you swim more efficiently. You'll use the high-elbow, gravity-aided 'spear' and hip rotation to slice quietly into, and glide powerfully through the water. (All technical-sounding but it basically means 'to swim fishlike' :p). And you'll be pleasantly surprised that you're going farther with so much less effort since your stroke will no longer be powered by churning arms and legs (as conventionally taught), but instead, by your core. Yes, that's right - your core (read: abs). 'How am I going to swim with my core?', you may ask. Well you'll find out when you start your TI journey :)

For triathletes (who comprise the majority of TI students), a more efficient swim translates to having more in the tank for the bike and run legs in a triathlon. That makes for a more enjoyable race, maybe even a spot on the podium :)

For total noobs who just want to be able to enjoy swimming instead of struggling breathlessly to get to the other end of the pool, swimming will become relaxing - even effortless ... Total Immersion completely changed the way I swim, the way I perceive swimming, and distances of 4 km (such as for the Ironman swim) or more, are now achievable. I smile when I remember how 25 m in the pool was such a 'workout'!

Where can I find more info?
Hook up with Advanced Aquatics through their Contact Page or through Facebook to ask about the Level 1 Total Immersion class packages. Say Grace sent you to receive RM25 off the package price! Advanced Aquatics also has great value-added promotions from time to time and you can stay updated by liking them on Facebook. You can also subscribe to my blogposts to receive TI updates and promo notifications in your email inbox (click on 'subscribe by email' on the right sidebar). I'm currently putting together a video of my swim before and after TI (Level 1 and 2). Stay tuned!

Questions? Comments? Love Total Immersion? Leave your message at the bottom of this post - I LOVE hearing from you!

xo Gracie

p.s. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click! Thanks for supporting my blog!

Total immersion students imprinting 'high elbow' in their muscle memory at the Sri KDU pool. Small class size and experienced coaches ensure you'll receive personal attention and progress well.

How to Survive Triathlon Swim Starts: Beach, Deep-water, Pontoon

Most triathlon noobs are nervous (if not straight out terrified) of swimming in open water, and the thought of being mauled, punched, kicked and/or swum over at the mass swim starts, adds a thousandfold to the trepidation. How does one get off to a good swim start? This post covers the types of starts, and what you can do to survive the swim start. Now, I'm most definitely not any expert on triathloning and haven't done any Ironmans or anything like that, but I can claim to having survived a bunch of swim starts :p

Types of Starts

A common start is from the beach, where tri- (or try-) athletes run into the water and keep running until it becomes more efficient to swim, then they start swimming. A few dolphin dives are usually thrown in for good measure, between the run and swim bits. A variation of this is a start in the water, just off the beach. Here, racers are about waist deep and can proceed directly to the business of swimming upon gun start.

Starting in waist deep water at Moraine State Park, Butler YMCA Triathlon 2012.

Deep water starts have the swimmer taking off from a treading water position. You'll see this is Ironman races. And pontoon starts such as seen in the Olympic triathlon events or ITU races, have swimmers dive from a platform. The Port Dickson International Triathlon Sprint had a pontoon start the year I took part.

Triathletes launch off at the pontoon start at the London 2012 Olympics. Photo from london2012.com.

Start Survival Strategy
If you're a total newbie taking part in your virgin triathlon, the best way to have an uneventful (read non-violent) swim start is to hang back and let the crowd go first. If there is a buoy line marking the course and you wish to swim right next to it, you can do that after first letting everyone go first. If you're next to the line and at the front of the start group, you risk getting boxed in and swum over if you don't swim fast enough.

Letting others go first helps avoid water-maulings at triathlon swim starts. Photo by Reza Ali.

For fast swimmers on a beach start, you'll do well to run side-to-side style with your knees high and pulling your foot out of the water. Dive when it is deep enough, then dolphin a few times by pushing off the bottom and launching yourself forward. That will get you ahead of slowpokes (like me) who wade in leisure-like. It's a good idea to do a practice run on the beach where you'll be racing, just so you know how many strides you'll take before dolphining.

The Port Dickson International Triathlon Olympic Distance beach start. Note Hong Kong pro Lee (front) with high knees, feet pulled clear of the water, and side-to-side run stride. Photo by Tey Eng Tiong.

There are a few ways you can execute your pontoon start. Again if you're not fast or if you're nervous in any way, start at the back of the pack. Make sure there's enough clearance in the water so that when you dive (or cannonball) in, you won't land on someone else. For deep water starts, the key is to get from a treading water position into a more horizontal position about 30 secs before the gun start, then use a breast stroke kick to start the swim.

That wraps up today's post. I'll cover sighting and breathing in my next one. (Which is going to be funny, because I have a problem swimming straight myself!).

How did your first swim start go? Any tips for newbies? I LOVE hearing from you. Please leave your comments at the end of the post!

xo Gracie

p.s. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click. Thanks for supporting my blog!

The Rachel Carson Trail: Secret Treneng Files

The past two weeks I have been running every few days at the Harrison Hills Park. Nothing major, as I want to be careful to prevent Mr Plantar Fasciitis from rearing his ugly head. I've also been trigger-pointing myself throughout the day and that has effectively stopped my heel pain. (I promise I'll blog about my plantar fasciitis cure soon. Promise!)

Today I decided to try a section of the Rachel Carson Trail, which conveniently starts right next to our home. With the Rachel Carson Trail Challenge (34 miles) fresh in my mind, thanks to my ultra marathon buds Ben Brucker (who won first place - out of 582 participants - with a sub seven hour time), I now harbored some vague hope of attempting it next year :p

I'm going to call it the Rachel Carson Obstacle Course. In the short 5 km section of trail I went on, I had to climb over 6 fallen trees, ford two rivers, flee from a mob of feral horses, a rafter of turkeys, assorted deer, a rabid fox and other wildlife!!

Ok, well, I'm exaggerating just a bit, about the river crossings. They were just little streamlets. 

And ok, the horses weren't wild, they were just trying to be friendly. 

Just seconds later I was fleeing for my life as the horses started running towards me. Maybe they wanted a carrot.

But I had to cross an electric fence. For real.

Nathan Intensity Race Hydration Pack for Women: Buy or Not?

I'm *this close* to buying this pack. I'm finally (thanks be to God and to trigger point therapy) back on the trails pain-free again, and my existing packs (Camelbak Skeeter, Reebok, Salomon etc) ain't gonna cut it for my planned longer runs.

While there is the newer model (2.0) of the Nathan pack, this partickular one is on sale, and it receives glowing reviews from a bunch of satisfied reviewers. About 99% of the reviewers on REI use it for their ultramarathons. Maybe if I possess this pack, I could also somehow run an ultramarathon too! :p

Ok, gotta do some preventative plantar fasciitis triggerpoint therapy now.

xo Gracie

Shipping Service from USA to Singapore etc

Triathlon can be a very expensive pastime (or fulltime actually!) and I'm always looking for deals on tri suits, wetsuits, and other awesome tight-fitting neoprene thingies that if successful in squeezing a body into, can either make said body look hawt or like a papaya.

The other day Ironman and Coach, KS messaged me asking if I could help purchase some triathlon stuff for him from Bike Shop Liquidators. Apparently there is a Huge sale going on there right now. Apparently, there is Always a Sale going on there even. I like sales :p

My search of Google Shopping shows Bike Shop Liquidators as one of the cheapest for the 2012/13 Pearl Izumi P.R.O In-R-Cool Tri Shorts among all the online shopping sites. KS certainly did his homework on this one. It's a bonus that free shipping is offered to anywhere in the US for purchases above $99. The plan is for the goodies to be shipped to my address, then for me to forward them to KS halfway around the world. Unless I really like the stuff and wanna hang on to them.... just kidding! If it's to Australia, I'll use USPS First Class International Air Mail (cheapest option for anything under 13 oz / 370 g, 10-14 business days) or Priority International Air Mail (second cheapest option that also offers flat rate priced boxes, 6-10 business days). Priority is expensive, e.g., $47.95 USD for a medium flat rate box to Australia. You can check out the shipping rates at USPS.com. I'm not shipping to Malaysia unless you totally absolve me of all responsibility if your item gets stolen by the postman or confiscated by customs - I've had too many bad experiences shipping to Malaysia and don't want to risk it anymore. If you have friends in Singapore I could ship it to, that's better - you can pick up from them in person after I send to Singapore, k?

Feel free to email me if you have any questions, need or quotation, or want my help purchasing and/or forwarding stuff to you ya. For the time being, I'm doing it at no charge, since I am testing the waters to see if it's a feasible venture for me.

xo Gracie

100 km Hill Ride in Rural Pennsylvania: The Secret Training Files

These hills on which I currently undergo my secret treneng, are in the region of Pennsylvania that was the training ground and from whence were launched the careers of cyclists like Floyd Landis, who went on to win the Tour de France in 2006. That he was stripped of the title for doping does in no way take away from the hard fact that these hills are real. And to mere mortals (like me), these hills are painful, but in the nicest way possible.

Two weeks ago, chillaxin over dinner with Spencer, for no reason, a string of words flew out of my mouth that my brain didn't really authorize:

Grace: "Hey, can we go for a 100 k ride?"
Spencer: "Erm, ok......."
Grace: "Really?"
Spencer: "Ya"

Ohiopyle Odyssey: my longest ride to date

Today Spencer and I met with Jessica and Daniel at Ohiopyle for some bike riding. I didn't quite plan on it but it turned out to be the longest ride in my life so far!

We first hit the must see spots in Ohiopyle including cucumber falls, the natural slide, and the Ohiopyle Falls. Then all packed with food and drink we set off for Connelsville on the rails to trails. I think the stopped every 5 miles for food. It felt just like a trieathlon! If you haven't done this rails to trails route I highly recommend. It's very scenic, crossing the youghegheny a few times and going alongside itost of the way. A 20 mile ride out and back. Once again I overdressed but that's okay. The weather was lovely, starting out at 50°F and climbing to a high 65°F.

On the bridge just out of Ohiopyle town

Rails-to-Trails

Rode a great flattish section of the Rails-to-Trails yesterday with Spencer and Mark. Started at Freeport up till about Sarvee 7 1/2 miles then back. As usual I overdressed compared to everyone else but that's okay :). it was about 10°C outside. I had on longsleeve Pearl Izumi shirt, a Pearl Izumi vest, a Pearl Izumi thermal tights and was basically a cycling advertisement for Pearl Izumi. (Pearl Izumi please contact me to negotiate my very reasonable payments for promoting your products hehe).

I found out that it is 20 miles from Freeport to Butler. Would love to ride this sometime soon!

A click on any ad below this post will put a few cents in my pocket, from the advertisers. Thanks for supporting my blog!

xo Gracie

PD Swim-Bike-Run 2012, Instalment 1: The Swim

Folks! Here's the much anticipated report of the swim at the 1st PD Swim-Bike-Run held 28 Jan 2012. It's gonna have to be short this time.

If you recall, we were supposed to do loops of 500 m out and 500 m back. The plan was to have the anchor kayak paddle out 500 m and stay put while we swam to it. Thus we could do as many 1 km loops as we so desired. It's 'supposed' to look like Map 1 below...

Map 1: Grace & Kayak on 14 Jan 2012. 500 m out, 500 m back.

Why do I say 'supposed'? Because the Real Route the kayak took (Justin wore the Timex Global Trainer on his wrist) is Map 2 below: