Surfing Again, at Last

It's been a little over two weeks...actually, almost three...since I've been surfing. The waves always seem to come during the work week when I can't make it out. I was hoping for some waves on Friday afternoon because I knew that I would be working on Saturday (UHCL introduced it's new mascot -- the Hawk), and I wouldn't be able to surf if the waves were good. Friday was too messy according to my surfing contacts, and, fortunately, so was Saturday. My report early today (Sunday) was that it was messy again. I decided to run instead and got in five miles, but once I returned home and looked at the Galveston web cam, I decided I must go down.  I'm incredibly busy lately, but I felt like a good surf session would help strengthen my soul.

I surfed at 37th today instead of
my usual 43rd Street jetty.

Since I have my first marathon coming up in June, I needed to run today. I also had some responsibilities at church this morning, so I knew even if the waves had been decent, I wouldn't make it down this morning as early as I would have liked. I really prefer getting down to the beach by 7 a.m. because fewer surfers are usually out at that time -- usually just the locals.  I also had a lunch scheduled with my mother and father, but I was able to convince them to eat in Galveston. Once lunch was over, I drove over to the Seawall, which was full of other enjoying April. Although the sun was shining, the temps were a little on the cool side, which meant that I would probably need a wetsuit. (The water temps were quite cool too.) I found a parking spot on the hotel side of the Seawall between 36th and 37th and opted to surf there. Waves were breaking beyond the jetty, but they weren't all holding up very well. I made my way out and immediately turned back toward the beach when I saw a powerful wave come my way. I caught whitewater but it was still incredible to be out surfing again. I caught several more whitewater waves while I was out and was able to practice turning and looking forward instead of down. I wanted to catch some waves as they were breaking instead of just catching strong whitewater, but only accomplished that once. I definitely need more consistent practice. I can't go two weeks between sessions. Just like my running and cycling, I need to surf more. As the water warms, the days get longer and the busy-ness subsides, I'm sure I will be able to do that.