I guess no day could be really bad that included surfing (or running or cycling for that matter). However, today was quite trying for me anyway. I didn't really feel like I had my game on when I made it to Galveston bright and early this morning. I had a fantastic day yesterday. I participated in the Saturday morning run in Kemah with a great group of positive, upbeat runners and got in a 5.2-mile before heading over to my cycling club ride and cycling 60 miles. It was fantastic! I had a pretty decent run and ride. I opted out of the 25 mph group at mile 40, but I can honestly say that I chose to leave the group. I might have been dropped after that, but I didn't get dropped at that time. I dined with some good friends last night, which ended the day in a wonderful way. However, Sunday was a slightly different story.
I woke up ready to surf. However, I was quite sluggish in getting ready and didn't make it down until 9 a.m., which is almost two hours after I usually make it down. Once there, the waves looked weak, but rideable. They were quite sloppy, but I made my way out. Brian had some lessons, Robin was helping with photos and all of his assistants were at work, so I was out without the others. A few people were already surfing, including some annoying shortboarders. I tried to take the rip out, but it was difficult, which should have been my clue. I could never find a break in the waves. In fact, no matter where I tried to get out, I had a hard time. Once out, I had even less success. I caught a few and even managed to successfully turn to avoid some swimmers. (I still need a lot of work with turning.) But, my mind wandered! I watched another young girl catch wave after wave successfully. However, I was feeling discouraged about surfing as well as some other frustrating events in my life. I didn't have a clear mind. I wiped out several times, which is something that hasn't happened to me more than once every third session in a while. In one particularly bad wipeout, I got hit by "Sunshine's" fin. It was disastrous. I surfed the next wave, but decided that the wipeout and subsequent "finning" was a sign for me to call it day. After all, I'm running a half-marathon next weekend, which won't be good if I can't even walk. I'm a little bruised, but it could have been much worse. I'm also a little bruised mentally. I want to surf better! I also don't want to look like an idiot when there are so many others at the beach.
I decided to investigate/google "mental game." I just haven't had a good mental game lately. I've found a website from a life coach, but other than a few testimonials and a Mental Game Power Quotient quiz, I don't really see anything useful. I found several golfing sites also. I found one thing on one of the sites, that I thought could help actually. It said: "The most important thing you can do mentally to give yourself the best possible chance of success is to focus your attention on what you want to have happen." I guess it's similar to some surfing advice I heard, which is " Look where you are going and you will go that direction." I need to keep my attention and my eyes looking down the line of a wave and imagining that I can surf it.
