Perseverance and patience

Although I usually post on Sundays these days, it's a Friday night and I'm sitting here thinking... Ahh...dangerous business, that's for sure. That thinking stuff can cause problems sometimes. I went surfing today and opted to take my new board. Galveston had waves, but they were mushy and quite disorganized. So taking the 8'1" was risky, but I knew I knew I wanted to try. I made it to the outside four or five times, but never really managed to catch one of the waves. I caught several in the whitewater and had a great time. (...going to bed...will finish this on Sunday)

SUNDAY
Perseverance...that's what I was thinking about on Friday. I'm trying not to get discouraged with my surfing or anything else in life. I know that the only way to get better is to keep trying. I watch Brian and some of the other guys/gals surf and they make it look so easy. I think about the past two years and try to figure out why I'm not better at the sport, but then I try to look back on my cycling time and realize that two years after I started cycling, I wasn't riding with the fastest people either. When I watch the waves, I'm still not very good at judging which ones will form and how long they will take to reach me. In life, I watch people like my parents who have been married 50 years, and like the surfers I watch, they make it looks so easy, easier than it is. It's all about perseverance: keeping strong despite the obstacles.

PERSEVERANCE: steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. (dictionary.com)

I used my cadillac of surfboards today -- my 9'6" Senator board named Petal. I surfed with Brian, Robin and an old friend from grade school named Sydney. She's newer than Robin and me and doesn't live near enough to a coast to get much practice, but she's staying active with the sport and persevering.

Washing machine waves again!

Sundays! Sundays are busy for me. Although I usually go to an early church service before doing my workouts, lately I've been either not going to church or going on Saturday afternoons so that I can work out early on Sunday mornings. It's not only my regular surf day, it is also my run day when I don't get a chance to do a brick on Saturdays. Since I was busy traveling most of yesterday (getting home from North Carolina included plane delays...eek), I didn't get a chance to ride or run when I finally made it home. I just unpacked and relaxed. So, I knew a seven-mile run would be part of my Sunday.

I got up early this morning. I was pretty sure there would be waves. Sure enough there was. I ran my measly seven miles. Training for a half-marathon requires discipline. I need to add miles that include hill climbing and have decided to make Wednesdays my long-distance days. Aargh! Not looking forward to this Wednesday. I will run from home and at mile four, I will cross the Kemah Bridge. I need the hill practice. In fact, perhaps I will just drive or ride over to the bridge and get my mileage by just crossing back and forth. But, I digress. This blog is about surfing. After the run, I was excited to turn on the computer and see waves on my favorite webcam. (www.gtownsurf.com) I loaded up my new 8'1" and made my way to the 43rd street pier.

Several surfers were already out by the time I got there at 9:30. Brian was down there, as was his partner/helper Travis. Brian was going to surf with me until his noon lesson. As it turns out, his noon lesson canceled, so he stayed out a little longer with me. I practiced going to the outside on the smaller board, which is a chore; especially on rough days. However, I made it out several times. I got pushed over and beat up along the way, but, all in all, did quite well getting out. Once on the outside though, I got pushed by the current to the inside. I probably could have stayed steady on the outside with some of the other guys, but I knew I was still in practice mode on the new board and didn't want to get in the guys' way. Several other newer surfers and kids were practicing on the inside, so that is where I went. I'm glad I did it for the practice. I managed to only get washed off my board once. I caught just about every wave/whitewash I decided to attempt to surf. So, all in all, it was a pretty good day. Now, if I can only get that same confidence on the outside with the more experienced surfers.

When I got home, I decided to peal off Dana's old wax since it was melting from the heat and would be easy to get off. It definitely was easy. However, without the wax, I found some dings and some uneven spots on the board. Dana thought there were a couple of dings, so I'm not complaining about Dana. One of the bad ones had been fixed, but another will need to be repaired. Brian is going to take a look at it and decide what might need to be done.

It's an old saying, but still rings true: You can't judge a book by it's cover. Well, you can't really judge a board with it's wax. To see something in its purest form, you have to see it with fresh eyes without all the real or perceived facades.