In The water

This past weekend I got in the water. Temps were in the high 80's all weekend at the beach; it was a weekend of golden sunshine and fun wave time with all the boys in my life.  Saturday just my oldest son, Lohgan, and I went to the beach at Oceanside Harbor. Lohgan thought it was great to be teaching me.  Once he made sure my wetsuit wasn't on backwards or anything he had me lay on the sand and we practiced the pop up.  I can tell you now that it's much easier on sand than out in the water.  Lohgan took note that I am "goofy-foot," meaning that I naturally stand on the board with my right foot leading.  I guess it's called goofy because more people naturally stand with their left foot forward. (By the way, one way to figure out whether you are regular or goofy is for someone to come up behind you and push you forward rather hard.  Whatever foot you naturally put forward to catch yourself is how you will naturally be most comfortable leading with when you surf.  Saw that in one of my You Tube videos.) Once in the water we began with my son helping me get lined up and pushing me into waves.  Can I just say HILARIOUS! We had the perfect conditions for hilarity: choppy, larger-than-usual waves, my unsteadiness on the board (it doesn't stay steady like my yoga mat), Lohgan with a GoPro rolling, to make sure nothing video-worthy gets by him, and my sheer determination to not get out of the water until I rode some white wash in at least once or twice.  Saturday's session was about two hours, and of the probably 30 waves I attempted, I succeeded in standing up on and riding in about 4.  Success!!  Success??  Success.

Sunday was even choppier, and this time the whole crew came down. Both my husband, Scott, and Lohgan had turns helping me out on Sunday, but it was Scott's suggestion that I move South, closer to the jetty, that finally got me upright on my board during this session.  That, and his strong push into the waves.  He also suggested I position myself very close to where the inside set of waves were breaking so that I could make use of the momentum and power in that water right after the waves broke.  I stayed in the water for awhile after he got out, and I was able to catch two waves on my own.  The best ride of the weekend was a wave I caught myself and rode all the way in.  Not a super fast-moving wave, but enough that I got a nice long ride, and that was really fun.  Another highlight to Sunday's session was time I spent pushing my youngest son, Dakota, into waves on the board.  He's a natural, and I loved watching him just pop up so easily- grinning back at me and cracking up every time he crashed.  


My learning in the world of surf this week was quite a bit:  

• I learned that wetsuits are awesome- took the wimp factor away and made me comfortable.
• I learned that I'm a goofy foot.
• I learned that when I push up on the board I have to try to do so evenly.  I tend to push harder with my left hand and tip over.
• I learned that I can't wait until everything feels perfect before I stand up.  I have to stop thinking so much and just DO it- pop up.  Scott's advice: As soon as you feel the wave grab you, give one hard paddle with both arms, and pop up.  That advice landed me my one prize wave this weekend.
• I learned that either I need to strength-train my upper body, or surfing will strengthen my upper body.  How did I learn that? Because Monday morning when I got out of bed I took notice of how sore my arm and chest muscles were.  Wow!  It didn't feel like work when I was doing it- but apparently it was a great workout.  Bonus!  :)

 I am really happy I chose to do something active for my 20% project.  Being an online teacher and student I spend a lot of time sitting, and in front of a screen.  Committing to a very physical activity that gets me out of my chair and away from the screen into the sunshine is a good thing in my life right now. Here is some video footage from my surfing adventures this weekend:

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