Weak waves, running for miles and Labor Day weekend

This past week has been incredibly flat! But when you are trying to train, you have to go out anyway. Seriously, the only thing that improves surfing is more surfing.

All in all it was a good surfing week, little crowds, 2-3ft zippy waves and 2.5 hours per session 😁

Then, I decided to go for a run on Saturday. See, my husband has officially lost 75 pounds and to keep us motivated we do these little challenges. Whether its miles running, intensity minutes or number of workouts, these challenges are all in good fun.

Well, since I have been surfing so much my running has taken a back seat, so Saturday I decided to run. And I kept running for 5 miles.

Now, I havent run 5 miles in about a year, so afterwards I was sore, tight, and sleepy. The only thing that is making me feel better is yoga 😁

I’m not sure if running and surfing are a good combination. Followers, what other exercises to you do to accompany surfing?

Getting competition ready

So, as some of you might know, I’m competing in Women on Waves in October here in Santa Cruz.

To get ready for it, I have taken a surf coach, and let me tell you what a difference a coach makes!

I’m actually not a proponent for surf lessons all the time…most of the time you just need to practice and you can learn surfing on your own. BUT, for this occasion I wanted some help.

I have to say it’s super humbling to be taught basics and fundamentals again. OH, and big surfing change is that I’m a goofy footed surfer…so I gotta get used to that.

After my first week of training, I was so tired and had bruises in places I

didnt know you could bruise! But becoming stronger everyday.

This week starts my second week of training with a coach…let’s see how it goes…

When you step on a piece of glass…

Last week started like any other especially because I’m training for Women on Waves.

I got up early for my Monday morning paddle session with low expectations since no waves out there.

I caught a couple of fun little waves but mostly paddled to build up strength. When it was time to go in, I headed for the very high stairs.

I stopped at the seaweed bottom landing to tie up my leash and felt something sharp on the bottom of my foot. Stepping again, thinking it’s just a rock or shell, I tried to move the rock or shell off. When I stepped again, the feeling was sharp.

I immediately looked at the bottom of my foot and to my surprise it was a piece of glass! At the bottom of a long staircase on the beach!

My reaction was to remove the glass (obviously) but then my foot started to bleed. So, I bled up the stairs to my car and drove to work to take a better look.

At work, I could see that it was punctured, so unfortunately that means trip to the ER to get it cleaned thoroughly because the water is filled with bacteria.

Everything is fine with my foot, but most disturbing is that the glass was basically in the ocean.

How hard is it to keep a beach clean?

Last week we had a Southern Hemi…

So last week we had a freak Southern Hemi swell…making 8-10 foot waves. Now in Summer, that’s super weird for Santa Cruz!

I decided that last Thursday would be a great day to surf since I’m technically in training for WOW(Women on Waves). The Thursday swell was declining, waves more manageable, however still incredible waves.

If you follow my blog, you know I’m a dawn patrol surfer, which means to catch a swell like this, I need to be out in the water by 5:30 am. So I diligently got up early and made my way to the beach. By the time I got there, already 30 people in the water! I was shocked!

I walked to see the waves and I found a friend on the rock, who wasn’t suited up. Shes a good surfer, more summer surfer, and she looked frightened. She was nervous to paddle out since her surf buddy already left her.

Being the person I am, I told her to suit up and we will paddle out together. What stuck with me was that I am becoming a better surfer since these conditions didnt even phase me, but I also have become a surfer to help other surfers. Kinda cool 🤙

Btw…The waves were beautiful! About 5 feet, super clean, and the water was WARM! We never have warm water!

I had a blast of a day!

I decided to become a competitor

I would say I’m a fairly competitive person. I always enjoyed winning or placing in events, but when it comes to surfing it was nothing I wanted to compete in.

I guess that changed when I heard Women on Waves (WOW) was coming

back to Santa Cruz. It’s a fun contest, not to competitive. It’s like a color run.

So like any competition, one has to start to train. I have started to introduce my yoga training with Beachbody workouts again and of course a lot of surfing.

I’m excited to document my progress here as well.

So the week went…

The week went OK! Not great, but OK. I got to surf and practice yoga up until Monday, and then by Tuesday the surf was FLAT! Mondays surf was awesome though…three people in the water and great waves!

I decided to do other cardio workouts instead trying to keep momentum. I finally got to surf again on Friday morning which was crowded and ok surf, still not great.

I did however pick up a bunch of trash in and out of the surf water Friday…which was gross…pick up your trash people!

Anyway, tomorrow starts another week of surfing for me and I’m super excited for it!

First day recap: Surfing and Yoga/Cardio

Today was a successful yet exhausting day. Mainly because yesterday I thought it would be a good idea to run a couple of miles, so I woke up sore and tired.

Getting up at 4:45 to catch a swell is an art form. I personally love surfing early AM because it’s not as crowded and I get a full day, however it’s hard to wake up sometimes. That was this morning. BUT, I pushed myself and and got ready for the water.

When I arrived at the beach, I greeted my surf buddy and we entered the water. Now, we have been going through a heat wave so actually the water wasn’t very cold. That’s always a welcome surprise for an ocean that’s usually 58 degrees Fahrenheit.

The waves were small but steep, and soon after 6:30 am, started to get very congested. We surfed for about an hour and a half then decided we had enough for the day. We both did more paddling than actually surfing but it’s a good workout.

Tired and salty, I arrived home and showered. Sitting on the couch it was a daunting idea to practice yoga in the afternoon. I decided to give myself a few hours of rest, get some work done and relax.

All throughout my hours of rest I kept trying to motivate myself to practice yoga later in the day.

I am proud to say it actually worked and I did a 45 minute yoga session and a 20 minute cardio session.

Today was exhausting but I’m excited for the waves tomorrow!

6 days of workouts…starting tomorrow

It is officially Summer! Best time of the year for me! I love how it stays lighter later and I can surf longer.

Tomorrow starts a challenge with a buddy of mine to surf and practice yoga for six days in a row. The challenge is surf in the mornings, yoga in the afternoons.

Of course, I’m going to document it here. We decided on just six days to see if its even possible to do this much working out in a row and keep down full time jobs.

More to come

Also, thank you so so much to craftysurf.com for my Florida surfer swag!!!

A full week of surfing

Photo Credit: Robert Milici

I have been recovering from World Oceans Day at work, so I wanted to catch everyone up on my full week of surfing 🤙

Now that’s it’s easier for me than ever before to surf then go to work, I have been taking full advantage of my good fortune.

A couple of weeks ago, low tide and waves were particularly good each AM, so I made it out each morning.

I know there is a lot of talk about how ocean is good for you, but I did find an overall difference surfing everyday. I was happier, I was stronger and overall felt great.

I guess there is something to this “Vitamin Sea” thing afterall

So I took a little break…

So I took a little impromptu break. Between Logjam! 2018 and my new job…I have just been swamped lately.

Good news is that I have been surfing a bunch! Part of that is dedication on my part but also part is my jobs location. I’m lucky enough now to work in Santa Cruz so basically I can surf whenever.

My next goal is competing in the Women on Waves contest, so I will be keeping daily journals on my progress.

Oh, and I had my first encounter with a water photographer. You can find him on IG @wanderingsurfer. Heres my pic below

It’s good to be back!!!