I could have swam with Diana Nyad!

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Sheryl Checkman

Diana Nyad swims 48 hours in Herald Square

How many times do you find yourself saying, “If only…”? For me the latest version came when I walked over to Herald Square a couple of week nights ago and saw Diana Nyad at about the 12 hour mark of her 48 hour swim to benefit the New York victims of Hurricane Sandy. Being a swimmer myself, I thought how cool it would be to swim beside her for a few laps. I walked over to one of the security guards and asked how one would get to join her in the pool. Alas, I would have had to sign up weeks ago! If only I had found out about this opportunity to swim beside Diana Nyad in time to sign up, I would have had an experience of a lifetime! But, just standing along the edge of the pool, so close to the water that I could have touched it was still an amazing experience!

Diana Nyad is an inspiration! After 30 years she finally realized her life-long dream to swim 103 miles from Cuba to Key West this past September. Her failed attempts over the years never caused her to give up that dream. While the thought of all those hours in the water makes my skin prune, I admire her determination and I applaud her success. It just makes me want to keep on striving to achieve my dreams. After all, anything is possible if you keep going after it!

Maybe I’ll send Diana one of my Life is Balance® “Take a breath” inspirational t-shirts!

Ready…Set…Action! Behind the Scenes for my Sony Action Cam Video Shoot

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Sheryl Checkman

Last week I received an email selecting me to represent NYC in a very cool project called the Moving 212 sponsored by Sony and Flavorpill. My assignment: pick up a SONY ACTION CAM from the NYC Sony Store, along with a bundle of mounting accessories (which I get to keep!) and shoot some video from the unique perspective that only I can see while doing something…er…active! The Sony Action Cam gives you the ability to capture action from a variety of views not possible with a regular camera.

I arrived at the Madison Avenue store on Tuesday morning and was introduced to Tim, one of the store Sony Experts who was going to train me on using the Action Cam and all of its’ accessories. No sooner did I sit down when Tim brought over a shopping bag packed full of some pretty cool swag!

Tim spent about an hour showing me how the Action Cam worked. He even showed me this cool app called Sony PlayMemoires that I downloaded from the App Store which allows me to view what the camera sees and change the settings right from an iPhone or Android device as long as you are in a wi-fi area. We couldn’t get the app to work on my iPhone in the store but I was able to figure it out when I got home. So I am able to use my iPhone, my iPad and my Google Nexus 7 Tablet…cool!

When I left the store I headed home to plan my upcoming shoots! I have to deliver 2, 5-minute video clips using the Sony Action Cam. Since I won’t be skiing during the time frame that I have, I decided to try out my camera in the swimming pool. Later that afternoon, I got a call from Brian at the agency with some suggestions as to how I could best film myself in the pool.

Armed with my new camera, waterproof case, google mount and headband mount, I headed off that evening to the Olympic pool at my gym, Asphalt Green to see what cool footage I could get. I first attached the camera to my goggle strap and started to swim laps. I swam for about 40 minutes, all the while changing around the camera position as best I could as well as trying out a few different strokes. I wouldn’t know how it all looked till I got home and could view the footage on my computer so I was shooting blind, so to speak.

When I got home and took a look at the footage, I realized a few things. First, I need to make sure that the camera is right side up where I place it (the first bunch of laps I swam were upside down!) Thankfully, QuickTime allowed me to correct that on the computer! I also realized that placing the camera on my google strap was not the best idea since each I turned my head to breathe, the camera turned with me! A whole lot of footage like that will be sure to give someone a headache watching it! A better position I think would be on my back so the camera can capture more of me swimming. With all of the stuff that Sony gave me, the one thing missing was a belt ;to strap around my waist. But not to be deterred by that detail, I rigged up something that will hopefully work. I had a neoprene waist belt that I had bought to hold my waterproof case for my old iPod that I no longer use. I used one of the adhesive mounts that came with the camera to the plastic on the belt and tonight I am going to see how it works!

Stay tuned for my next post which will take you with me on swim #2! Till then, as my Life is Balance swim t-shirt says, “Don’t Forget to Breathe!”

Swimming for fitness also balances life

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Sheryl Checkman

I love to swim. Ever since my dad taught me to swim when I was 5, I’m most at home in the water. When I was younger, I used to race. I was on my summer swim club’s swim team and later, in camp I was known for my speed. Other kids excelled at softball or archery. I won races. I no longer swim to compete however. I swim for exercise and to relax. There is nothing like a long swim to stretch out my muscles after a long day. What is nice about swimming, is that you use all your muscle, with little or no stress or impact to your joints. My usual routine is to swim a little over a mile in the pool. In the pool at my gym, Asphalt Green, this is about 72 laps (or lengths of the 25 yard lanes). This takes me between 40-50 minutes, depending on how I am feeling.

If you’d like to calculate how many laps you need to swim a mile, here is how I did it:
1 mile = 1,760 yards
pool length = 25 yards (pool lengths vary so be sure to ask how long yours is)
1760/25= 70.4 lengths

I swim back and forth repeating the lap number in my head so I can keep track, boring, right? Not since I discovered the waterproof headphones and ipod case that attaches to my goggle strap. I have lots of songs programmed into my ipod shuffle, which makes my swim ever so much more enjoyable! This is the same system that Olympic champions, Natalie Coughlin and Michael Phelps helped to design and both use for their workouts.

Want to know what I listen to while I swim? Here’s a sampling of one of my playlists:

Get Your Own Free Hypster.com Playlist.

The symbol on the image above is the Life is Balance® swim design. I am gearing up to having that design available on t-shirts in the next couple of months. Sign up for our newsletter and like us on Facebook for access to our sales, Fan-only coupons and be the first to know when new styles are available!