Changing things up!

Although I usually surf on Friday afternoons, I decided to surf on Friday morning this week. Robin and I have been interviewed by the Galveston County Daily News and today they wanted to come take pictures. The only time they could do it was this morning. Fortunately, I discussed a schedule change with my boss and she was okay with me working in the afternoon rather than the morning. The pic was at 8 a.m., so I had a couple of hours to surf and still get home, clean up and make it to work by 1 p.m. As a matter of fact, I actually made it to the office by 12:30. Pshewww...it was hard leaving the beach though when everyone got to stay behind and surf.

The surf itself wasn't that great. There were waves, but they were rough and closed out fast. I pearled only once, but I also missed some waves that I should have been able to surf. Surfing the waves today was like trying to surf in a washing machine. Waves were small and rough, coming from many different directions. One surfer, however, seemed to be doing great. He was going to the outside and riding these strange-forming waves a long way. When I was on the outside, I couldn't find a wave that would stay a wave long enough for me to ride six inches, let alone halfway down the beach. He had no problem. I chatted with him, and he told me he had been surfing 35 years. Wow! He seemed to hop from wave to wave. I hope I'm still surfing in 35 years! I have fun now, but sure wish I could get better at this.

I returned today (Sunday), for my second regular weekly session and found the waves quite small...if possible, smaller than Friday. However, the ripple was just enough to give me something to play around with on my board. On Friday, I had taken my 8'1", but because of how flat it seemed on the webcam today, I took my 9' Softop. I caught a few, but Robin said the waves were better the 30 minutes she surfed before I arrived. I think I got down there at 8:05 this morning rather than my regular 7 a.m. Isn't that always the case? The waves are always better when the surfer asking about the waves isn't there. Today (Sunday), that was me.

I stayed for about three hours anyway and had a ball. I got extremely frustrated at the beginning though. I was in a grumpy mood to begin with, then I went out on the west side of the jetty and, although Travis, one of the C-Sick instructors, and Brian were catching the occasional wave, I was having trouble catching one. I went to the east side of the jetty and caught them, finally deciding that I might need to stay on that side. The waves were breaking fairly close to shore, so I had to move in close, but once I did, I caught just about every wave I attempted to surf. Thank goodness! I hate getting so discouraged when I'm having a rough time. I start re-thinking every aspect of my life -- maybe I should give up surfing, maybe I should just stick to cycling and running, maybe I'm really no go at anything, maybe I've made all kinds of wrong decisions... But, after surfing a couple of small waves, I decided that I just need to practice more. Travis told me to move up on my board in the smaller waves so that I could get propelled forward. I usually pearl when I move forward, but it worked for me a couple of times today. Change. I just need to change positions depending on the wave. I guess changes are sometimes needed to make things right in all circumstances, whether surfing, working or just living!

Wishing

"If you can't be with the one you love, honey, love the one you're with." If you can't surf at a place with waves, surf what you've got. Hmmm...waves have been bad lately. Friday they were too flat to even play on and today wasn't much better, but I still loaded up my board, as well as a board for a friend who wanted to go out and practice, and made my way to the 43rd street jetty. Brian and Robin wanted photos of the three of us with dry hair, possibly for his website or for a story that is going to run in the Galveston County Daily News. So, I definitely had to go today whether I wanted to or not, or whether there were waves or not. Lately, I've been doing quite a bit of running. And, on Saturdays, I run and bicycle, which makes them pretty rough days physically. I'm not complaining though. It's what I enjoy. I'm not sure why, but I really like the way I feel after it's done. By afternoon, though, I must admit that I'm dog-tired. Fortunately, I got a good night's sleep last night!

I had a few short rides today. I pearled once though, which is odd when the waves are so crappy. But, I just swam back out and waited for another small little curl to come through. My arms are sore tonight from paddling so much to catch the waves. Not only did you have to be exactly in the right position, but you also had to have incredible patience. The waves would look as though they were coming in sets, but just as I would get into position to paddle, the wave would dissipate. I would get pushed closer to shore, have to swing the board around and paddle back out. I didn't have to paddle far though since the waves were breaking so close to shore. I'm sure Brian thought they were perfect for lessons. He had several sets of lessons and board rentals going on today. This of course can also make surfing difficult on days like today's. I constantly had to be aware of other people watching for the same waves or in front of the wave. In addition to the people taking a lesson, other swimmers/vacationers were in the water. Usually, if I get down early enough (by 7) I have the waves to myself for the first three or so hours, but when I get down at 8, take photos and don't make it out into the water until almost 9, I don't have much time before the beach is filled with other beach goers. Before long, little ones are in the water. Then when the waves don't break until close to shore, I have to watch out for youngsters who might be bobbing along in the water. Oh well, at least I get to surf. However, I might have to find real surf soon!

I'm contemplating another half-marathon even though I thought San Fran would be my last. I'm liking this running "stuff." In particular, I like running with a group. Training runs are the pits, but I'm even getting better about making the most out of those. A friend suggested they should be more meditative, which really helped me with consistent breathing during my last run. The next half I'm considering is in Huntington Beach, purely because of the medals. They look like surfboards!!! I bought a new pair of running shoes today. So, I guess I should never say never.

Half Marathons and more

I usually post on Fridays and/or Sundays, but this past weekend was a different kind of weekend for me. One of my newest hobbies is running. Actually, I think I wrote about it back in the fall/winter, but running a half-marathon is a bucket list item. Although I had run one in February (in Austin), I wasn't pleased with my finish time, which was considerably slower than I thought it should be. I ran injured back then, but by April, was injury-free and, by May, started training for another one. I chose the San Francisco Marathon/Half-Marathon in July because it was the only place that would be cool that time of year. The time snuck up on me, and all of sudden this past weekend, I found myself in San Francisco. I thought I might be able to surf a little while I was there, but when I planned the trip, I guess I didn't really give myself enough time. I flew out there on Friday, completed a little sightseeing on Saturday, ran on Sunday and was back on the plane for home Sunday afternoon. psheewww... It makes me tired reading it. It also makes me wonder what I was thinking to pack in so much activity in such a small amount of time. So, needless to say, I had no time to surf. I did, however, have time to read about surfing.

Several days before when googling surfing books, I found a book called "Surfing's Greatest Misadventures: Dropping in on the Unexpected." I downloaded it on my iPad in iBooks and chose it as my travel reading. Although I didn't get a chance to finish it, I am more than halfway through it. The first few chapters dealt with sharks, and more viciously and precisely, shark attacks. As a new surfer, I probably shouldn't read about shark attacks, but I felt a strange kind of "distance" from these stories. I guess everyone thinks it won't happen to them, but I'm pretty realistic in thinking that if, by some odd chance, it happens to me, there is nothing I can really do about it. The stories were gruesome and quite frightening, but I can't let them frighten me. After the first four or five essays, the stories became a little more lighthearted. Perhaps "lighthearted" isn't exactly the right word, but it's the only word that fits right now. The stories included some tragedy, but mostly self-imposed tragedy. One of my favorite essays so far, is one written by a Houston Chronicle outdoor/fishing writer named Joe Doggett called "Baptism with Bradshaw." Doggett apparently surfed at Flagship before deciding to go to Hawaii to surf North Shore's Sunset break with Ken Bradshaw. Bradshaw also came from Texas. His native surf beach was Surfside, before he eventually made his way to Hawaii and became a sponsored big wave surfer. In the essay, Doggett goes to visit Bradshaw, gets taken out on some waves -- real waves and when faced with a huge wave, can't follow through.

"I sat with my head down and exhaled with a whoosh. Then I turned again. My initial reaction was: I'm a dead man." He ended up "turning turtle" to get to the inside. "'I'm way out of my league," I said, gagging and choking, pulling myslef back onto the board. 'I need to get out of here.'"

Ummm...I found this story interesting. I've felt that way before even on just the small waves in Galveston when a storm was coming in and the waves were only 4-ft. I've also felt this way other times in my life when things seemed beyond my control. I've worked real hard to regain control, but have come to learn that some things are out of my hands. Sometimes, no matter how bad I want something to happen, I can't make it happen. Sometimes, other people decide. Those times can be difficult and sad. Surfing, running and cycling can certainly help me through it as long as I know my own physical limitations.