Sloppy cool waves and some warm-up moves

I was hoping for more today. Despite an early report from Surf Dude Brian via Robin that said sets were small but clean, the beach surrounding the 43rd street jetty was a washing machine. A surf friend who has been working on his yoga certification offered to lead a pre-surf yoga session on the beach. So, several of us (including some who weren't planning to surf today) made our way to the beach early to "get our moves on." Since the instructor wasn't there when I first arrived, I decided to surf a few minutes before the yoga session. Some of the guys were out already (Neil and Bob), but from the shore, I wasn't impressed with the waves I was seeing. I watched a few minutes from the seawall before putting on my wetsuit and heading out. (The air temp was warm, but with the water temp at 67 degrees, I felt certain that the water would be too cool for me without my 3-2 wetsuit; therefore, I opted out of the long-sleeved 2m top and/or springsuit for the full suit. I'm glad I did. Although Brian and Robin were in shorties, the water was too chilly for me.) It was an incredibly choppy day, which meant rough paddle-outs and difficulty reading waves. AARGH!

I'm feeling quite discouraged about my surfing lately. I say "lately," but I think if I looked back on my posts, I would find a discouraging note about surfing at least one out of ever five or six of my posts. I guess I should just chalk it up to inexperience, but I SOOOOO want to be a better surfer. Is it possible I'm spreading myself to thin on not focusing enough on one sport? Since taking up running a little less than a year ago, which was added to an already full cycling schedule, I've started to wonder if I'm trying to do too much. (Not to mention, that my house is a mess, which means that maybe I'm spending too much time on frivolous things. MY INNER VOICE SAYS "NO WAY," LIFE WAS MEANT TO BE LIVED, BUT THAT OTHER VOICE SAYS, "WELL, MAYBE...") However, maybe I'm just expecting too much. I've only been surfing about 2 1/2 years, so maybe I'm at the skill level I'm supposed to be at for someone my age. I wish I could turn off the little competitive voice that always nags at me to want more or to do better or to expect perfection. For one thing, I can't be the best at everything and maybe, just maybe, it's okay to be just pretty good. Or, in the case of surfing, maybe it's okay that I will never be real good. In the book, "Born to Run," the author writes about a tribe in Mexico who are outstanding ultra marathoners. And, one of the things he notes (and I'm paraphrasing) is that they run like children...they run just because they can, and they almost always smile while doing it.

Is okay to just do something 'cause you like doing it? The author of the book suggests that is why this tribe is so good at running, because they like doing it so much. But, I know that is an oversimplification. I can like cycling, running and surfing a lot, but that alone won't make me better. However, maybe if I relax and just enjoy the sport, I'll eventually get stronger. And, actually, that happened with cycling. I got much stronger in my fourth and fifth year of participating in group rides, so, perhaps, in four years, I'll be an even better surfer. I just need to enjoy where I'm at right now and know that the skills will develop with a lot more practice!

**The photo is from my recent trip to Costa Rica. I wanted to take a photo of the sun rising this morning, but it was a little overcast early on, with sun eventually peaking through; however, it was too bright to capture the ambiance of early morning yoga.