A New Year Filled with New Adventures

I've been neglecting my blog lately. The holiday season combined with some added responsibilities at work as well as marathon training has kept me from having the time to sit down and write about my surfing. Of course, all of this coupled with weather has also slowed down mine surfing. While I had ten used to surfing twice a week, the last couple of months, I've been only surfing once a week at best. Although Texas had a couple of cool spells in the fall, the first part of December was pretty warm. By Christmas week, temps were in the 70s and I was lucky enough to have some small waves to surf on Christmas Eve.

I loaded up my 9' because of the wind and the thought of having to control my 9'6" as I walk from my car down to the shore. I also brought my 5-4 wetsuit, and I'm very glad that I had it because the water temps were in the low 60s, which is just a tad too cold for a 4-3. The waves were weak and small, and although the dude I was surfing with didn't have trouble catching any waves, I had a more difficult time. I paddled like crazy, which was not only necessary because of the weakness of the waves, but also because of the strong current caused by the winds. It was hard to stay close to the jetty, which was necessary because that was where the surfable waves appeared. I caught a few though, and that always makes a session worthwhile.

Surfline originally promised waves for the last week of December. All of the surfers were betting on at least four good days of waves at the end of the year. However, just as weather forecasters cannot predict the weather, neither can surf forecasters predict waves. Although I, too, had been hoping for lots of surfing during my time off from work, I only ended up with my Christmas Eve surf. Since the holidays, the waves have been awful…except for when I'm at work. In fact, this past week, those lucky enough to get to Galveston during the week had two exceptional days of California-like surf. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it unfold on the webcam and reading about it in the many Facebook posts of surfing friends. Waves were gorgeous, and I hope that one day soon, we can have waves like that on the weekend.

Right now, my focus is on the Houston Marathon, which is next week. This will be my fifth marathon.

I have another one scheduled in February, but will more than likely, drop back to the half marathon distance. After that, I plan to take a little break from full marathons. I won't say "never," but I want to quit the training for full marathons for a little while. That might actually give me a little more time to surf. We'll see. Keeping my fingers crossed for nice waves throughout the rest of the winter and into the spring and summer. Happy 2016!

Finally, Some Waves

I stayed away from the water for the past three weeks for a number of reasons. One reason, and the biggest reason, is that I was busy with my

Although it was rainy, the waves were actually quite
nice at the 43rd Street Jetty. The photo doesn't do it justice.

final weeks of training for the Marine Corps Marathon. Although my training went well, I didn't finish as fast as I had hoped. Although I planned for a 4:15, I didn't finish for thirty minutes after that. My final time was 4:44. It was a great run, though, and I would do it again if I had the chance even though it is impossible to PR because of the crowds and the hills. My favorite memories of this run will be the Marine Corps band playing the Marine Corps Hymn at about mile 10 and the Blue Mile that honored Marines who had lost their life serving the country. What a touching run it was! I will recommend this run to all my running friends. And, if I ever get a chance to run it again, I hope that I can get a better time.

This weekend has been a good weekend for waves. But before this weekend, we haven't had much for surfing, which is yet another reason I haven't been out. Beginning on Friday, the wind started blowing and the waves started building. Surfing reports on Friday suggested the current was strong and the waves were rough and surf would be better, hopefully, on Saturday. By the next morning, the waves looked much bigger, but the current and consistency of the waves looked rough. The forecast was for the waves to clean up a little, but they never did on Saturday. The next forecast suggested that Saturday would be the day that things cleaned up. And, while the waves were building, the weather was stagnate  and only offered clouds and rain. One forecaster said that the sun would start coming out on Sunday, but by this morning, it didn't look like it would be clearing soon. And, the current still looked awful.

I was determined to be in the water this weekend. I felt a little relieved when the weather didn't clear up and the waves didn't build on Saturday as first forecasted. I had a family party to attend that would take most of the days. Don't get me wrong, I love my family and the gatherings, but I would have been a little disappointed if I had missed the best wave of the week/month. I noticed late on Saturday, that the prediction for clean waves had been pushed to midday on Sunday. Perfect!! The weather forecasters had also said the weather would clear, which didn't happen at all. But, the waves cleaned up. Not only were the sets easy to read, the waves were big. The only problem I had was reading them correctly. I either paddled to soon or too late. I caught a couple but it was after they had broken. What a bummer! I need help with the timing aspect of surfing. I had fun nevertheless. And, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a few more waves at least one day this week. I love surfing!

Beginning to Get Colder Way Too Soon

I was excited that the waves from last week stayed around through the weekend. It has to do with the north winds and the beginning of the fall season. I've been a little sad since the days started getting shorter. I want the days to be long and the air to be warm. It's still rather warm right now, but the when the northers come through and the air temps are only in the 80s, I have to wear a long sleeved rash guard. After hearing about perfect waves all week, I went down after work on Friday, despite a report that the waves were dropping fast. I drove to the 43rd St. jetty to see what the waves were like. About seven other surfers were out. Most of them were on the east side of the jetty, but two of them were on the west side. They seemed to be having fun without all the problems facing the crowds on the east side of the jetty. So, I paddled out on the west side. I caught a wave almost immediately, but after that, I waited. I eventually caught another, but by that time, the other two surfers had moved to the east side of the jetty. I hung out a little longer on the west side, and caught another, but the waves were definitely getting smaller and coming through even more sporadically than when I first arrived, and definitely smaller and more sporadic than earlier in the day. I eventually moved to the east side and caught a few there. All in all, it was a wonderful day

By Sunday, the waves were as pretty as they had been during the week. I had some morning responsibilities but, fortunately, the waves held on until I made it down by 1:30. In fact, they were beautiful. I had received a text from dude Brian saying the waves were going flat and he was leaving the beach, but it looked great to me. I went out at 37th and, although there were three or four others already out, there were plenty of waves for everyone. By friend David also drove down and we spent the next couple of hours catching wait- to shoulder-high waves. The were fast and big. Had a BLAST! It was a great way to wrap up the weekend. The only negative aspect was that I had to wear a long sleeved rash guard for the first time this season. There was just enough coolness in the air to make being in the water cold. Bummer! Although it is flat right now in G-town, a north wind is blowing through, and this Friday afternoon is looking pretty nice on SwellInfo's forecast. Hmm. Despite my proclamation that I probably wouldn't be surfing on Friday until after my Marine Corps Marathon at the end of the month, I might have to make an exception this weekend. What the heck?!? I'll just have to go to bed earlier that night to rest and relax before my training run on Saturday. 22 miles of running the next day will definitely give me a workout.