January stuff

Unfortunately, no surf materialized this weekend. I was keeping my fingers crossed for today (Sunday), but the east winds blew way too hard and, although there were at least some ripples today, they were quite rough and unmanageable. My surf guru called to say that the waves might get better as the day progressed, but he doubted it. The wind has definitely been howling lately, which almost always causes the conditions on the water to either be completely flat or totally messy depending on the wind direction. From what I have deciphered on my own, if the wind is howling directly out of the north, the surf is flat. However, if it's like today, out of the east, the waves are just slop. The air temp this weekend has also been quite chilly. This doesn't stop me from surfing most times, but I can honestly say that if the waves are not that great and the temp is cold, it is much easier to decide to stay out of the waves than it would be if the air temp was warm. I'll surf slop in 90 degree weather, but in a chilly 50 degrees, I will definitely find something else to do, which leads me to my next topic.

Surfing is not my one and only sport. I became a cyclist in the 1990s...well, actually, I became a cyclist in 1970 when I received a fabulous bicycle from Santa. (I named it "Lightening.")Although I put quite a few miles on that bike and subsequent bikes I had as a kid, I didn't take up the sport seriously until I was close to 30. I have been regularly raking up the mileage on my two wheels ever since. This includes some pretty intense Saturday and Sunday group rides. My usual riding includes a 60-mile jaunt on Saturday followed, during the summer months, with a 40-mile excursion on Sunday. I add to that cycling with spin classes at my local gym. Since they offer approximately six classes daily, I can push myself as hard as I like. I added running to my repertoire a year ago and have since run about four half marathons and a couple of 10ks. I like to say, though, that this is my cross-training for surfing. Because of this exercise, I can honestly say that I probably last longer in the water than most beginner surfers. I'm not saying that this exercise makes me a better surfer, 'cause it certainly does not, but I do think it helps me withstand the paddling and "roughing up" I receive from the raucous waves. One of the "organizations" I follow on Twitter is Surfer Magazine. I enjoy their tweets and the articles and pictures they attach. One of the articles they posted last week was a feature titled "How to Stay Fit." The intro paragraph stated: "Although the act of actually riding waves is obviously the best thing for your surfing, there are a myriad of different exercise routines practiced by surfers in an effort to step up their game in the water." They listed a workout offered by surfer JD Irons. He says they usually do a 45-minute workout that includes 100 jump ropes, 100 jumping jacks, 30 pushups, 30 sit-ups, 15 step-ups, 10 burpies (not sure what this is) and a 1/4-mile run. I get my cardio from weight machines and spinning/cycling (they get it from the jump ropes and jumping jacks), but the other items they list on their routines are probably something I should look into. I do free weights, which helps my arm strength, and I also work on an ab machine, which should substitute for the sit-ups, but I might want to consider some step-up exercises. I'm sure that helps with the pop-up. It might be time for me to re-examine my workout routine and add some step-up exercises.

Finally, I was excited to receive my winnings this week from an online contest I entered. I don't remember exactly when I entered it, but it was an online contest sponsored by jettygirl.com. My response/name was randomly drawn and I won a traction pad and bars of wax from Sticky Bumps. Needless to say, I was thrilled to find out I won. A gal can never have too much wax! (Wait, does that sound funny?)