Showing posts with label My Wave. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Wave. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Do You even Surf?

 My surfing journey for the past 9 years has been in fits and stops.  Things have changed though.  


I live at the beach now!  For the past year, I've been a fairly steady and competent bodyboarder.  Last fall I got a 7'6" Mick Fanning softtop.  I ditched the crappy old amazon board.  I struggled on the MF and didn't really get any wave time to speak of.  I hibernated all winter, pulled out the bodyboards in March, and tried the Mick again in June.  It was a STRUGGLE!


I finally decided to go back to square one, and start all over again.  I got a 9' Catch Surf Odysea log.  It's got tons of volume!  For that past month I've been getting out most days.  at first, my stamina was such that I could only do a few minutes at a time, but each session is a little longer.  I'm focusing on going slow, and really becoming a surfer.  My paddling is stronger, and I feel more confident on the board and in the ocean. I even feel less shy about being out around other surfers.  I feel like I'm doing pretty okay at reading the waves- the year of bodyboarding really helped.  Right now, I  feel like I can catch a wave, or stand up, but not both at the same time.  Total kook problem!


I plan to start blogging my surf sessions and tracking my goals so I can see myself progress.  I don't want to get too obsessed about it though, and make it more about the blog than what the blg is about.  In theory, it should take about 30 hours in the water to go from "Beginner Beginner" to "beginner."  I will spot myself a few hours and for tracking purposes start at 0:00 today!



Saturday, March 6, 2021

Serious Fun

It seems strange to say that I want to get serious about surfing, when it is for fun. Perhaps it's more accurate to say I want to commit to surfing this year. Surfing is a skill, a sport, and an art that I want to, if not master, at least become proficient at. With that in mind, I'm setting some goals for the year.
-The biggest goal is to stop worrying about what the other surfers in the water think of me. As long as I follow surf etiquette and stay out of their way, nothing else matters.
-Get in the water every day I can. Even if there isn't good surf, getting out will help me improve my skills.
-Have fun and enjoy the process. Phil Edwards was the first to say that the best surfer in the water is the one having the most fun, so this will be my benchmark for being the best surfer I can be.
-improve my pop-up.
-on land, work on getting fitter and stronger. 
-improve my wave reading skills

I plan to set goals for each surf session, and log my surf sessions to track how I do!

Sunday, February 21, 2021

...and refresh

I obviously did not go boogie boarding every weekend last year, or any weekend last year. Public transit became a big no for me. I was back to the same old problem: no ride to ride the waves.
It was an odd year. I started working from home in March. It was a gift. My dog was getting old and I loved being home with him all day, every day. 
Then, in December, my beloved dog died. Four days later, one of my two cats followed him. It was truly the most heartbroken I have ever been.
I healed and am healing by taking care of myself. I started working out consistently again, and have been going a little longer every week. I stopped getting takeout. I started buying flowers. 
Then, last month, my roommate, best friend, and chauffeur got a car! 
Because of my lapses in fitness, and the quarantine 15, I no longer fit into my wetsuit. I had been planning on getting back in the water when the wetsuit fit again, or it was warm enough to go without, whichever happened first.
Yesterday morning we took coffee to the beach for a sunrise walk. That's all it took. I don't think I can wait. I ordered a new wetsuit yesterday. With free shipping, it should be here by Friday, March 5. I plan to get in the water on March 6!

Recap

Well, the past four years just flew by, didn't they?

2017: I never did start taking my board out every weekend. Without a car, any trip to the beach would require a zipcar. I did surf nights again that summer, but didn't become the regular (goofy) surfer I wanted to be.

2018 and 2019 I got one week of surfing each year, thanks to a family rental in Maine. It was not enough.
I also let my fitness slip a bit. It was easy to lose my motivation when there was no surf in sight.

  I came up with a plan though. I got a boogie board. My plan for the following year was to go to the beaches that I could get to on the T. While it wouldn't be a longboard, boogie boarding would help my timing and wind knowledge. 
And then 2020 happened. 

Monday, February 20, 2017

How I Finally Nailed My Pop-up

I think the most frustrating thing about the fist surf lesson I took was attempting the pop-up.  I was really discouraged.  

I think the most empowering feeling was nailing my pop-up last summer and riding a wave into shore. 

The hardest thing about learning the pop-up is that you can read about it, and be told about it, and watch it, but a lot of it is just getting it. I went into surfing last summer understanding the concept of it.  I've read so many books and watched so many videos.  The first thing that helped, of course, was increased upper body and core strength.  The second was confidence.  I told my self that if I could do crow pose in yoga, I could pop up. 

My fist session I got some wobbly pop-ups, but didn't catch a full ride.  I already knew, however, that I was doing so much better that two summers previous.  What finally got me up and riding though, was my hand positioning.  I had been setting my hands more like I was doing a plank, or a push-up, or crow.  Once I moved my hands right under my chest, under my boobs really, I was flying.  

Now that I've nailed the pop-up, this summer's goal is to get my wave timing down.  I can't wait.

How Surfing Has Changed Me

Surfing is transformative.  It is so hard to describe to a non-surfer what is so magical about the experience of gliding over the water.  I've found that I have changed since I began surfing, sometimes in ways I never expected.

  • I am less anxious and more brave. Facing the power of the ocean, and standing up on water makes me feel as if I can do anything. I took my first airplane ride last fall and loved it. I think surfing helped.
  •  I am more invested in my workouts and fitness.  Getting fit for surfing is both motivation and goal.  
  • I don't care about being skinny; I want to be strong.
  • I am more patient. The experience of being in the line-up, waiting for a wave has taught me to relax a little when waiting for other things.
  • I have become more passionate about protecting the environment, and especially the oceans. 
  • I've become very interested in the weather. Weather = Waves!
  • I'm more relaxed about storms, since now I know that there may a swell as a reward.
  • I've completely lost interest in fashion magazines.
  • I don't care as much about fashion and makeup.  Sure, I want to look put together for work, but it's not a huge priority anymore.
  • I've become a very boring conversationalist.  I can find a way to work surfing into just about any conversation!  
I'm excited to see where surfing more will take me! 

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Where I am now....

My plan for the winter was to continue building my upper body and core strength, and be ready to hit the waves at every opportunity.  On cyber Monday, I bought myself a 3/2 fullsuit.  No more rentals!  

I could not wait until women's surf night started up again. And then, the day I found out the exact date, I got home and found I had won an Amazon gift card.  I decided to do something impulsive with it.  I bought a board. I am now the proud owner of a 9 foot! 
It's not fancy and not custom, but it's my first board.  I spent all my birthday money (thanks mom, dad, auntie and gran!) on what I needed to get in the water- wax, racks, hood, booties, gloves and a beautiful 5/4 wetsuit.  As soon as I got everything I needed, the waves went flat. I am ready to hit those cold winter waves!  I obsessively check the forecasts, praying for a Nor'easter to hit a day or two before the weekend.  It's gotta happen soon!

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

The Real Beginning....

I never did get back on a board the summer of 2015. But, at the end of the summer, my best friend and I looked at each other, and decided it was time to get in shape.  For real this time.  She became a Crossfitter (but that's her story).  I had as my motivation and my goal getting fit to surf.  And I did.


I started going to Women's Surf night at Surfari. I was nervous the first time I went.  I wasn't afraid of falling, or wiping out.  I was afraid of failing and being frustrated. That first night I didn't nail it, but I didn't fail either.  My on-shore pop up was strong.  Once in the water, I felt in control and confident paddling.  I wasn't nailing the pop up, but it wasn't because I wasn't string enough, it was more about timing and finesse.  My last wave of the night I got the pop up.  Staying up would be a story for another day. 

My A-ha moment

I knew that really getting the pop up would be like casting a Patronus...I would be able to do it once I knew I could do it.  The magic ended up happening in a SUP lesson.  Once I knew I could get up and stay up on the paddleboard, I knew I could get up and stay up on a surfboard. The next night, at surf night, I did it.  I had a few short rides, and then my last wave of the night I rode it all the way to shore.  It was a official.  I was a surfer.

Last summer was the best of my life.  Every week I felt more confident in the water and on the waves.  I went from the super gigantic beginner boards to the merely huge.  By the end of the season I could even manage a left turn. I'm a goofyfoot, so the right turn has eluded me so far.  That summer was just the beginning of my surfing life.




The Beginning

Three years ago, when I was 39, I set a goal for myself.  Send myself to a surf camp for my 40th summer. Surfing was something I had always been fascinated with, always dreamed of doing, but never thought I would do, but why not?

That summer I ended up winning a two day camp from Wahine Kai in Maine (sadly no longer in existence.) I was a year ahead of schedule! 

It was both wonderful and terrible.  Wonderful to be in the water on a board.  Terrible because I realized that I was not in shape for surfing at all.  I'm a good swimmer and am accustomed to the ocean, but even just paddling around I felt out of control.  And actually catch a wave?  Forget it.  I sort of popped up, once.  And promptly wiped out.

Yet somehow, it was an amazing, fun, exhilarating experience.  I knew I would be back....