Day 56: October 30
What did I read?: ハイ☆スピード!
How much did I read?: 4 pages
How long did it take me?: 1 hour 31 min
Felt like hard going today…my weak point is still reading the narrative-style parts, that’s for sure, I get so tired so quickly. 
It was quite interesting, though - we get a little glimpse into each character’s head, about how they’re feeling and what they’re thinking about during this (I assume) final practice session before the big race.
First, Makoto - we learn why he didn’t cry at the graduation. Because it’s not over yet - they still have the big race, and until then, all he can feel is this passion and excitement to do his best. 
Then, it’s Nagisa’s turn, and we see some lingering doubts in him. Is he really good enough to be swimming with these sixth years, or is he just a burden, slowing them down? That thought spurs his desire to swim as fast as he can (and that, in turn, seems to make him actually swim faster).
Rin is…thinking about Haru (honestly is that even a spoiler at this point 
) - he didn’t manage to beat Haru’s previous time when he was practicing freestyle on his own, though he tried like 20 times to beat it. But he’s noticed that Haru isn’t as fast as he used to be, either. In fact, Haru is the one slowing the team’s times down. Though there’s nothing obviously wrong with his stroke, he’s not fast and graceful like before. He’s almost like a different person - like he’s rejecting the water, like he hates it 
(which is…probably accurate, based on that realization Haru had after Rin told them he was going to Australia). Rin’s not sure why Haru’s swimming is messed up, but it’s making it hard for him, too - without Haru, he doesn’t know what he should be aiming for. But, even with Haru’s current drop in performance, he feels certain that one day, Haru will snap out of it and be fast again. And then he’ll be pulling ahead of Rin, yet again. There’s still that feeling of Haru always moving out ahead of him. Of never being able to catch up. And that spurs him on.
As for what’s on Haru’s mind…we will learn that another day because brain tired
But it’s interesting because they all have kind of different motivators - different reasons for swimming their hardest. Which is different from what Haru thought before, about all the team members needing to have the same goal - namely, to win the race.
Good words
浮力 (ふりょく) - buoyancy; floating power
息継ぎ (いきつぎ) - taking a breath (while singing, swimming, etc.)
たちまち - in an instant; in a moment; immediately; right away; at once
緊張感 (きんちょうかん) - feeling of tension; air of tension; tension; nervousness
足の裏 (あしのうら) - sole of foot
足手まとい (あしでまとい) - impediment; burden; encumbrance; hindrance; drag
先に立つ (さきにたつ) - to take precedence (e.g. sadness taking precedence over anger)
突き破る (つきやぶる) - to break through; to penetrate; to pierce
欠落 (けつらく) - missing; lacking
根本的 (こんぽんてき) - fundamental; basic
がむしゃら - reckless; daredevil; frantic; foolhardy
滑空 (かっくう) - gliding (through the air)
あがく - to struggle (using one’s arms and legs); to flounder; to flail about (in kanji: 足掻く)
似ても似つかない (にてもにつかない) - quite unlike; not bearing the slightest resemblance
どうなるものでもない - can’t help; won’t make much difference