Questions

Where are the waves when I can surf? Why are the best waves early in the morning on days that I have to work? How can I become a better surfer if I don't get out into the waves at least once a week? Where should I go on my next surf trip? Should I stick with my 9' or should I experiment with different sized boards? Do I need another board?

Questions: I have so many questions about so many things. I would certainly like to surf more, but I don't want to give up anything else I do. I love to run and cycle, but I know the only way for me to get better at surfing is to do it more often. I usually get to surf twice a week, but this summer, it seems, has been different. No waves means no surfing. While I got to surf last week twice, this weekend has been a dud. I was hoping to surf tonight, a Tuesday night surprise, and although it looked good early today, it was a bust. A simple phone call resulted in the bad news: IT WAS FLAT! I opted to bicycle when my surfing session fell through. But, I sure wanted to surf.

Although Wednesdays are my run days followed by dinner with friends, Thursdays are wide open and I'm hoping some waves appear. And, I hope they hang on for Friday afternoon and return on Sunday morning. I want some surfing time to strengthen my skills and clear my mind. And, maybe I'll even find a few answers.

Restless

After surfing,  I usually
spend a little time relaxing
with a sandwich. This
is a sign from one of my
favorite places.

Sometimes, no matter how good things seem, I want something more. I should be perfectly happy that I get to surf at all, but, no, I want to surf more and I want to surf whenever the waves are perfect and not just when I have time. Oh my! Last week, it became painfully obvious that I wasn't going to have the time to go surfing on Friday. I needed to spend some time with family and Friday was the only day I had for it. I checked the surf report, and it looked as though there would be waves on Thursday. And, there were. It was choppy, but at least the waves were ride-able...if you could make it out. I struggled with the current, but still managed to catch one or two; although, I must admit that most of them were whitewater by the time they reached me. I made it to the outside, but I still caught most of my waves after they broke. It seemed that no matter where I was, the wave broke just before me. I caught one or two as they were breaking and had a ball. Those were my longest rides. I turned some and tried to get a good position on my board. Had a ball! It just feels good to be out there. I surfed on the east side of the 36th street jetty, and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to get out there. I hear that the waves Friday morning were better with the wind being slightly out of the north, but I don't care 'cause at least I got to surf.

Rain tapped the window early on Sunday morning, but by the time I got out of bed, it was more than a tap. It poured. The surf looked "okay" early on, but I didn't feel like loading up to go all the way down just to find out that it was lightning and that I couldn't go in the water. I waited until the storms let up and checked the webcam again. By about noon, it looked windier but less stormy. So, I packed up Roxanne (my 9') and headed to 43rd. At least five other surfers were in the water when I got there. While watching the webcam, I had noticed quite a few go out and leave, but the place was never empty. I think all of the weekend warriors like me were just glad to have something to surf. I hadn't surfed at 43rd in awhile since I had been surfing at 36th. I felt like I had come back home. On rough days, like Sunday, I enjoy having the rip current to take me out. I'm not sure I caught any of the waves that day as they were breaking (maybe one), but I had so much fun. I didn't have a lot of time, but I tried to make the most of it. Although I was surrounded by very experienced surfers, I never felt uncomfortable. And, I seemed to catch as many as them, even if I was catching the waves after they broke. One of the regular surfers there that day told me that I would be better off if I bent down a little more to lower my center of gravity. That's interesting since I had been told by someone else that I needed to stand straighter. I thin I understood what the Sunday "dude" was telling me though. I just need to work on bending lower in my knees. I didn't mind the critique at all since I'm sure he has been surfing much longer AND more often than me. I only get down to the beach a couple of times a week and he probably makes it down every day. I just have to keep trying!

I'm anxious to go somewhere again so that I can surf in calmer, formed waves like those surfing in the Pacific get to experience. I'm thinking about combining two of my sports in September by possibly running a marathon in Costa Rica and then going surfing. Not sure if I will get to do it, but I sure like planning as if I can. It gives me hope and makes me smile! I might want more, but I definitely need to realize that life is good and that the waves I have are better than no waves at all.

Disappointing Weekend and Weeknight Surf Reports

So tonight was going to be the night for me. After finding out there were no waves on Friday and that the Saturday and Sunday surf was a small mess, I was just sure that I would go surfing one night this week. I had hoped for tonight. I looked at the surf report early this morning and it mentioned that, perhaps, the wind would lighten up this evening and even change to be a little more from the north. If that happened, the mushy, small waves would clean up a bit for the afternoon. I looked at the webcam periodically throughout the day, but it didn't look like things were going as predicted unfortunately. At 4:30, I spoke with my Galveston contact who said the wind was howling, the tide was out, the current was strong and the waves were mush. I was sure sad to hear it and even contemplated heading down to the 43rd Street jetty anyway.  I thought, "It can't be any worse than it was last Sunday...or could it?" I looked at the webcam over and over, walked outside to look at the approaching weather and, ultimately, decided that it just wasn't in the cards for me to surf tonight. Too bad! The forecast for this weekend doesn't look all that good either. I'm antsy to get back out; not sure why.

When I can't go surfing I usually
can find something else to keep
me busy: either running or cycling!

Because I didn't go surf, I decided that I had to do something to fill the time. I was a little late for spin class and the wet roads from earlier rain as well as the dark clouds made cycling unsafe. I opted for a run. I'm still recovering from my marathon a couple of weeks ago, but need to keep on my two-days-a-week plan since I have been accepted to run in the Houston Marathon coming up in January. Also, with the cloud cover, I realized it would be a little cooler tonight. And, I was right. I decided I would run six miles. I made it three miles before the clouds that had been building shook loose. I got drenched, but the rain made it a much cooler run than I have had since May. I also only had a couple of steps of knee clicking, which is good since I've been worried about that. It went away early in the run and didn't return. Thank goodness. While I had a good evening, I still would have rather been surfing!