5 Life Lessons I Learned From Surfing

Photo: Oriana Fowler/Surf Simply

A year ago, I was on a beach in Costa Rica doing something I never dreamed of doing - learning to surf. I'm not exaggerating when I say that surfing changed my life. I never would have thought that I would own two surfboards, surf in NYC, religiously check the surf forecast and obsess about anything and everything surf.

For me, surfing felt like I was coming home. Don't get me wrong. I was terrified and it was hard but there was something about being out on the water, the camaraderie, and yes, the hard work that just fit. When I read this post by MizFit, it all made sense to me.

"I am often surprised at how often the things we don't think we'd ever want to do ignite new passion in us when we simply try them with an open heart and open mind."

Photo: Oriana Fowler/Surf Simply

Though the process, I've learned some important lessons that go beyond the water.

1) Check Your Expectations
I am normally not a braggy braggy person. I believe in the idea of hard work and that if you work hard, you will make progress. At the same time, I do have high expectations for myself. I felt like I should "get" surfing and be good at it. I understood what I needed to do technically but I couldn't manage it. I was extremely frustrated. Only when I adjusted my expectations did I start having fun and, consequently, start surfing better. I learned how to be more forgiving of myself.

2) Slow Down
Learning to surf seemed so overwhelming at first. How was I supposed to paddle, catch a wave, stand up on the board and ride the wave at the same time? There were so many things to think about. My surf coach started from the basics and slowly added one new step at a time. He made learning to surf feel manageable and I learned to slow down. For me, this was such an important lesson. I have a tendency to rush through things in life or become overwhelmed when things start piling up (work, family, etc.). Now, instead of being overwhelmed by the big picture, I try to focus on one thing at a time and breathe.

3) Commitment
One of the most important lessons I learned was about commitment. When you paddle out in the ocean, you have to be committed to make it past the breaking waves. If you're not, you will be continually battered and pushed back to shore, exhausted. When you paddle for a wave, you have to be committed to catching the wave.  If you are wishy-washy, you can get into trouble and potentially hurt yourself or another surfer. Surfing taught me to trust my judgement and instincts and to stop second guessing myself.

Photo: Oriana Fowler/Surf Simply

4) Patience
There's a lot of waiting involved in surfing - waiting for the ocean to calm down so that you can paddle out, waiting for a set of waves to approach, waiting for the right wave. I learned to sit on my board and to appreciate the amazing gift it was to be in the ocean.

5) Learn something new
It was an incredible experience to learn something completely new in my mid-30s. How many opportunities do you have to do that? I was so far out of my comfort zone but I think that was why this experience was so rewarding. Yes, I pushed myself physically and mentally. Yes, I fell countless times, got water up my nose and earned new bruises. But, there's something about learning a new sport that made me feel incredibly alive. It made me happy. This experience has made me more open to try new things and to be uncomfortable because the reward is often so great.

Source: fromupnorth.com via Christine on Pinterest

So You Want to Learn to Surf - What Do You Wear??

Surf bikini from Desi's Bikini Boutique - a Costa Rican designer. It's a reversible suit but I'm not sure I'm brave enough to wear the animal print side!

{Note: I anticipate that this will be one of many posts in which I'm ignoring the fact that I'm having knee surgery soon and pretending that surf season and other fitness adventures are just around the corner for me.}

You've made the brilliant decision to learn to surf. Whether you have decided to take one lesson while on vacation in Hawaii, California, Costa Rica or another warm water locale or to spend a full week at a surf camp like I did, your next question undoubtably is, "What in the world do I wear?" OK, that was my first question.

If you are headed to tropical waters, you don't need much. For women, you need a bikini/swimsuit, a rash guard and possibly a pair of board short, depending on what you're comfortable with. For men, you need a pair of board shorts and a rash guard. While I used to think that rash guards were silly, they are pretty important, especially if you are a beginner surfer. Not only does a rash guard protect you from the sun, but it protects your stomach and torso from chafing as you paddle and move up and down on the board.

I feel like it's easier for men to find a pair of board shorts. There are lot of brands out there - Quiksilver, O'Neill, Billabong, Rusty, Volcom, etc. and really, they're board shorts. However, you don't want to buy a pair of bulky swim trunks that are going to chafe and/or ride up on you when you're out in the water.

For women, it's a little more complicated. I don't know about you but I've never purchased a functional swimsuit, except for the Speedos I had to wear for swim practice. For my first trip to Surf Simply, I didn't really think about what I would need from my swimsuit. I knew that I wanted it to be cute, fit well and not fall off while I was in the water. I bought a bikini top and bottom from Athleta. I mean, they show women surfing in Athleta swimsuits in their catalog so that must mean that their bikinis were good for surfing, right? I wasn't sure where else to look.

While my bikini served me well on my surf trip, I did learn that the bottoms have to fit properly i.e. don't buy it a size bigger because it's more comfortable which is what I tend to do! You want your swimsuit to stay put and not move around when you are paddling, turtle rolling, or trying to catch a wave.

Since then, I've purchased two surf bikinis that I love. One from Desi's Bikini Boutique, which is made by a Costa Rican designer, and one from Calavera Swimwear which is based in Newport Beach, CA. I love that these swimsuits are made specifically with surfing in mind and therefore meant to stay put!

Surf bikini from Calavera Swimwear - Wicked line, Graffiti pattern and Pure bottom.

Both suits are made from material that does stretch not out in the water and both are highly adjustable. As you can see from the picture above, instead of a typical halter or open back top, the straps cross in the back, creating a much more secure fit. You can cinch the straps down pretty tightly (which is what you want to do) and then tie it in the back. Again, the material is such that the tie doesn't loosen in the water. It stays put. The Calavera suit actually crosses around the bottom of your chest twice before you tie it off, again creating a more secure fit. I actually prefer the cross-back style. I find that when I wear a halter top for too long, my neck starts to hurt, especially surfing when I have to keep my head and chest up to paddle.

The bottoms are also adjustable. The Desi suit has a single tie on the side of the suit that you can tighten. The Calavera suit has ties on both sides so that you can adjust the fit to your body and again, make sure that it's tied on snuggly.

Lastly, I have a pair of Roxy board shorts that I love. I didn't want a pair of long board shorts because I thought that they would annoy me in the water with all the fabric. I found these short shorts last year and they provide an extra level of comfort and security when I'm in the water. I don't always wear them but I like having the option.

What do you wear when you surf or play in the ocean? 

An Apology to My Back and Shoulder

Dear Shoulders and Back,

I'm sorry. I haven't been treating you very well. You've been abused by all those years studying hunched over books followed by years of sitting in front of a computer. You've been trying to tell me to take better care of you. You started with my posture, shoulders rolling inwards and forward while shoulder blades started drifting farther and farther apart. Then, you started developing muscle imbalances. Some muscles became over-used and tight while others became under-stretched and shortened. Finally, you threw my alignment off. The muscles in my middle back and between my shoulder blades, neglected from working all day at a computer, started to lose their mobility.  Shoulders - it became harder and harder to pull you down and away from my ears and stand tall. 

I really started to notice my neglect when I started surfing. It was hard to paddle on a surfboard. I couldn't fully lift up my chest from the board to look up and see where I was going. It was also hard to breathe. Then, when a good looking wave presented itself, popping up to ride it was a challenge because my chest wasn't open. 

I thought all that I had to do was strengthen your surrounding muscles and everything would be OK. But that didn't work, huh? It just made my already dominant chest and front shoulder muscles even more tight. I didn't realize that I needed to improve your flexibility and mobility first, especially along the mid-back. I needed to be able to stabilize and control the movement of my shoulder blades before I could build up your strength. With greater mobility around the mid-back, Shoulders, you would start falling back and away from my ears and it would be easier to maintain proper alignment and increase your range of motion.

So, I promise to treat you both better. I promise to become more aware of my posture so that I can counteract these muscular imbalances. I promise to:

• Stretch my chest muscles, for example, standing in a door frame with my arms out to either side and elbow bent up at a 90 degree angle and leaning forward into the door frame.
• Use my foam roller to gain mobility in my middle back by doing passive foam roller stretches (lying down on a foam roller in a vertical position placed at the base of my spine) as well as actively roll out my back (with the foam roller in a horizontal position just above my belly button and rolling back and forth along my spine). 
• Do scapula squeezes, pulling my shoulders back and down while squeezing my shoulder blades together and holding for a few seconds 20 times, three times a day.

Let's work together to relax, retrain and lengthen your muscles. We already had one falling out - literally you fell out of your socket - so let's stay strong and healthy so that we can surf, swim and do lots of other things together for a long long time to come, okay? 

love you

Christine

{Here are two great articles on Surfline, one keeping shoulders strong and injury free and one on paddle power advice from some of the world's best.}

Paddling Out and Paddle Technique

Learning proper paddle technique at Surf Simply.

Photo: Oriana Fowler/Surf Simply

I think that the hardest part of surfing for me - both mentally and physically - is the paddle out. Standing at the water's edge, I have to psyche myself up so that I can keep my fear and anxiety at bay and so that I don't feel intimidated by the waves. Well, at least less intimidated. You never know how it will go or how the waves will treat you. Sometimes it's super easy and you can paddle out with dry hair with just a couple of press-ups up and over the tops of the waves. Other times, you get punched and slapped by the waves and do what feels like a million turtle rolls to make your way through the waves. It can take 20-30 grueling minutes to finally get out past the breaking waves and be in position to actually catch a wave. 

I know that I need to build my paddle endurance and strength. Aside from surfing, the best way to do that is by swimming. Yesterday, I finally had a chance to get back in the pool. I don't know why it's so hard for me to find the time to swim. I love to swim. There's a pool nearby. I've already paid for a swim pass card. I think that it's mainly the hours. Lap swim is in the morning and in the evenings, which makes sense. I love working out in the mornings and would love to swim then. However, lately, it's been near impossible for me to wake up before 7am or 7:30am because I've been staying up way too late at night. I know that I need to be better about going to sleep earlier at night.

Yesterday, it was so lovely to be back in the water. Swimming brings me a sense of calm and peace. Maybe it's the methodical motion of my arms and legs and the repetition of doing laps. While I am not a huge fan of running miles and miles around a track, I manage to lose myself in my swims. Swim, turn, swim, turn, swim...

While I felt like my arms were moving through molasses at first, I was able to pick up my pace and get a decent swim. I ended up swimming 2500 yards:
- 600 warm-up (200 swim, 200 pull, 200 kick)
- 500 pull
- 500 swim
- 2 x 200 swim
- 4 x 75 (alternating slow, fast slow and fast, slow, fast)
- 200 cool-down

A big part of paddling (and swimming) is learning to be efficient with your stroke. You want to make sure that every stroke counts and helps propel you forward rather than feeling like your hands are just slipping through the water. How do you do that? Well, you want to lightly cup your hands so that you can "grip" and catch more water. There should be a little bit of space between you fingers. Your hand shouldn't be tightly closed ice cream scoopers (as my son's swim teacher likes to call them) but they shouldn't be splayed wide open either. As your hand enters the water and you begin to pull section of your stroke, don't pull straight back. Instead, you want to make a S-curve through the water as you pull back. Why? Because you'll displace more water. More water displaced = more movement forward.

What intimidates you? How do you build up strength and endurance to take on something that scares or intimidates you? Do you have any paddling tips?  

Disclaimer: I'm not a swim coach or instructor so this is just what I've learned as I've worked with some amazing swim coaches over the years and what works for me.

Storing surfboards in an apartment - where exactly?

Okay, now that we own two surfboards, um, where exactly do we store them in our apartment? So that they are out of the way, yet easily accessible when we need them, and not in danger of falling on top of our children? Yeah, that wouldn't be so good. Right now, this is where our boards live - in our entryway next to our closet. They are kind of act as decoration right now and definitely serve as a conversation starter among our guests. Plus, there's an increasing trend in surf decor, right?

But I know that this isn't necessarily a sustainable solution. We've spent all this money for nice, new boards but in their current arrangement, the boards could still fall down and get banged up or worse, hurt someone. I started to look into what options were available and quickly was overwhelmed! There are so many! Did you know that there was even a whole blog devoted to all kinds of surfboard racks? It has a tremendous amount of information and reviews about the different types of racks. 

There seems to be three main options for storing your surfboard indoors - on the ceiling, on the wall and vertically on the ground. The method that you choose depends largely on how much space you have, how many boards you want to store and how often you use each board (i.e. do you use some more regularly than others and want them to be more accessible) as well as your personal home style and aesthetic. For us, I'm considering a vertical rack or a wall sling. The wall slings are pretty cool in that it's low profile and can hang more or less flush against the wall. We have a long narrow hallway where it might fit well. 

Last surf session of the season

I have been meaning to post this for a few weeks now but the weather here on the East Coast has been so unseasonably warm that I kept thinking that there would be a chance that I could make it out to surf again.  But, looking back, I am kind of glad that my session in the water a couple of weeks ago was my last for the season. I had a lot of fun. It was a good way end to my first few months of surfing.

A week or so before Thanksgiving, Ed and I went out to Rockaway with a friend - someone we met while in Costa Rica and who we have since become friends with. That morning, I was a bit reluctant to go out.  It had been a little while since I last surfed and I think that I was anxious and nervous and excited all rolled into one. You know that feeling you get sometimes when you don't do something for a while? You begin to think that you can't do it? That's what I was feeling and I was starting to get into my head too much.

It was a beautiful day. Crisp blue skies. Low 60s. Light wind. And there were waves. Nothing huge but some decent waves coming in with some regular frequency and shape. The waves weren't crumbling or breaking too fast. The only problem was the water temperature. It was probably in the mid-50 degree range - not freezing and comfortable with my wetsuit on. But, since I don't own gloves or booties, my hands and feet got cold quickly so that when I caught a wave, I had a hard time gripping my board and adjusting my stance. As much as I tried and stared at my foot to will it to move, I couldn't square off my stance.

I had a lot of fun out in the water. My goal for the day was just to work on my positioning out the back - not too deep and not to shallow - and just catch some waves. If I stood up and rode the wave, great but I really wanted to deal with the issue I had been having the last couple of times that I had been out surfing. Namely, my constant nosedives and inability to catch any waves. During our morning out in the water, I felt like I was finally starting to get a feel for surfing at Rockaway, a better sense of where I needed to sit and what the waves needed to look like when I try to catch it. There were no nosedives!! Not only that, but I felt like I caught four to five decent waves - which is a lot for me!

I think that by tempering my expectations, I was able to have more fun. There was just one thing that I wanted to work on that morning but, in the end, the rest kind of just fell together by itself. I wasn't expecting to catch a ton of waves and to pop up and ride them all beautifully. I think that by removing that pressure, I was able to relax more and just enjoy being out there. I think that that's something that I often forget about. I can get so focused on how I perform and what I can or cannot do that I often don't take the time to appreciate the moment before me - the beauty of being out on the ocean, the gorgeous day, the time with family and friends.

There was this one surfer out that day who I couldn't stop watching. He moved so smoothly, paddling and catching a wave, standing up and riding across its face. It looked almost like he was moving in slow motion, making everything look so effortless. There were a couple of times when I was sitting off the shoulder of a wave.  I would watch him as he caught the wave and start to move towards me. The lip of the wave would just start to curl over and it almost looks like he's in a barrel, albeit a minuscule one where he's literally squatting down on his board to get as compact as possible. But it was beautiful. I want to be able to surf with such grace and effortlessness.

Turtle Rolls

Oops

Now, about those turtle rolls. Can I just tell you one thing? I really really don't like turtle rolls. I know that hate is a strong word but I am pretty close to hating turtle rolls. Yet, if you ride a long board like me, turtle rolls are a necessary evil.

With a long board, you can't really duck dive under the waves. The boards are too big and buoyant that it is nearly impossible to submerge the whole board, and with control, to get them under the waves. So what do you do? Hopefully, you've watched the waves and waited for a lull so that you can paddle out with dry hair. Maybe you even found a rip current to help carry you out the back. You've timed your paddle out such that you are able to weave in and around the waves to get over its shoulder before it gets too steep or else do a press-up and over the tops of waves before they break, maybe punching through the last one or two waves. However, there will be times when you are caught paddling out and your timing isn't perfect. A set starts to roll in and you are caught in the impact zone. You have two choices - 1) turn around and go back to shore, or 2) battle your way out.

Basically, a turtle roll involves flipping the board over so that you are beneath your board underwater as the wave passes over the top of the board. Once the wave passes, you then flip the board back over and hop back on and continue paddling. Sounds interesting, right? That's what I thought. I basically laughed out loud when my coaches began describing this technique. You want me to paddle straight into an oncoming wave at maximum speed, flip myself over, hang out underwater while the wave passes and then just nonchalantly get myself back up on the board and keep going? Sure.

My sessions would go something like this.

Coach: Right, we're just going to roll right through this one.

Me: OK (turtle roll, swallow a bunch of water, climb back on my board breathing heavily, stunned and scared)

Coach: Great. Now climb back on top and paddle. We're just going to roll through the next one too. 3, 2, 1 and roll.

Me: (repeat above, a bit more flustered and mumbling to myself, OMG OMG OMG)

Coach: Great. Keep paddling. Keep going. 3, 2, 1 and roll.

Me: (repeat above, even more fluster)

Coach: Fantastic. Now, just one or two more and we're almost out there. Keep paddling. Here comes another one. 3, 2, 1 and roll.

Me: AGH!!!!!!!!!!!!

I seriously thought that turtle rolls were going to be the one thing that kept me from surfing. They are taxing. Physically, my shoulders were screaming after a couple of sessions paddling out. Psychologically, I didn't think that I could do it. Even as a strong swimmer, I would find myself completely out of breath once I made it through one wave only to be faced with another wall of whitewater. Oh yeah, and that fear of the ocean thing starts to kick in pretty strongly when you're hanging off a surfboard underwater.

But I know that turtle rolls are an important tool I need to have and we came to an understanding. They still aren't my favorite but I don't necessarily dread them in the same way. I know that I can manage about 4-5 turtle rolls before I start to think about going to shore. OK, maybe more like 4. Each time I do them, I try to work on one specific part of the technique. This helps to take my focus away from my fear and anxiety and gives me a concrete task to concentrate on.

Smack. Oops again.

As for technique, here's what I learned.

1) Paddle into the oncoming wave. You want to make sure that you are paddling straight with some speed, as opposed to lying on your board and waiting for the wave to get to you. If you do the latter, the wave will definitely knock you off your board and tumble you around.

2) When the oncoming whitewater is about a board's length away, that's when you begin the turtle roll. After a couple of tries, you begin to get the feel for how long it take you to get off your board, flip over and punch through the wave.

3) Grab the rails of your board. Bring your hands back down towards your ribs so that your elbows stick out like chicken wings. Bringing your hands back is super important and will ensure that you will be in the right spot when you get back on your board. Hold tight!!

4) Despite the "turtle roll" moniker, you don't just want to roll off your board. Push up slightly with your hands and then jump your legs down off one side of your board. You want your body to be as pin straight as possible in the water so it helps if you are able to jump down with a bit of force. That way, your body acts as a bit of an anchor, keeping your board in place and keeping you from being knocked around by the turbulence of the wave. When I just roll off my board, I find that my body immediately goes horizontal and I'm much more likely to get thrown around and/or lose my grip on my board.

5) Now, you're hanging off your board underwater. You've flipped yourself so that your face is facing towards the shore and your back is facing the on-coming wave. Holding on the rails of your board, forcefully move the board over your head in a backwards stabbing motion. Basically, it's like you are trying to pierce through the oncoming wave with your board. Sounds weird, I know, but the force helps to punch through the wave, again reducing the amount of turbulence you are likely to experience from the ongoing wave and whitewater.

6) Once the wave has passed by (and I promise you will know when that is), roll back over onto your board. Remember, your board is pretty damn buoyant so when you bring the first rail under water, you can guide it down into the water and in towards your body. You can then kind of scoop your body up with the edge of the board as it rights itself in the water. Then you don't need to exert as much energy getting yourself back up on the board.

7) Get back on your board and keep paddling. Even if it seems impossible, try to get a few paddles in before the next turtle roll. That will help you keep making some forward progress to the outside!

8) Last thing, don't let go of your board! Not only is that a no-no, it's super dangerous and you could seriously injure another surfer in the water. I know it happens sometimes but try your hardest to hold on to your board!

Understanding the basics or how to handle a surf board so it doesn't smack you in the face

One of the things that I really appreciated about the coaching at Surf Simply was the way the coaches were able to break everything down into simple and manageable steps and to build on those steps at each lessons so that it didn't seem overwhelming. They didn't just tell you to "feel the wave" and didn't speak in technical surf talk but used very specific, concrete language that you could understand and relate to. Plus. delivering feedback on my miserable surfing in a British accent always seemed to make the situation seem slightly brighter.

We spent the first two days in the whitewater, learning the mechanics of our board and how to control it before even thinking about venturing out the back to catch unbroken waves. We learned how to accelerate the board (by shifting your weight forward) and how to decelerate (by shifting your weight back). We practiced this over and over again, sliding our bodies up and down the board while lying down. Those rash guards really earned their name during those first few days. Once we practiced that, we moved on to learning to turn our board left and right and the difference between trimming turns and carving turns. Back in our room after our lessons, I frantically tried to take notes and scribble drawings so that I could remember all the things I was learning.

But, by the end of those first couple of days, we had the tools we needed to feel comfortable and confident in the water...in theory. While I rationally understood what I was supposed to do, it was a different story trying to get my body to do what my brain was telling it to do. I felt like a stumbling fool most of the time. There was just so much to think about and remember. It's hard not to rush it when the urgency starts to rise as you feel the wave begin to pick up the back of your board. Instead of thinking about bringing my hands back and looking up so that I can stand up on my board, I'm just thinking, "Crap Crap Crap!!" And trailing behind me are the cheery sounds of my British coach saying, "Right. Nice one. Just climb back on your board and give it another go." Sure.

Yet, it is an amazing feeling to catch a wave, even in the whitewater and feeling all of that power behind you. And that's what hooks me and sends me on this quest to experience that feeling again and again.

Photo: Oriana Fowler/Surf Simply

OK, here are some of the basics (more for my own benefit than anything).

Trimming turns are gently banking turns that allow you to ride across the face of the wave. For me, as a natural foot stance (meaning when I stand on the board, my left foot is forward), I shift my weight to my toes, keeping most of my weight on my left toes, to trim to the right and shift my weight to my heels, keeping most of my weight on my left heel, to trim to the left (backside). Obviously, it's the opposite if you stand with your right foot forward or goofy foot.

Carving turns are sharper turns that allow you to quickly change direction. To do this, you need to shift your weight back in order to lift the nose of the board up in the air so that the board basically pivots around - the pivot point being the tail of the board. However, by bringing your weight back to turn the board, you've also in effect stepped on the brakes and slowed down the board. So, once the board comes around, it's critical to shift your weight back forward to accelerate again.

OK, sounds great in theory, but how does this actually work? How do I actually make this happen out in the water and shift my weight back and forth and left and right? Well, apparently, it's all about the stance. Our coach also hammered into our head a "stance mantra" that would help us get up into the most stable position each and every time.

Feet: Slightly wider than shoulder-width, feet perpendicular to the length of the board

Hips: Squared off and weight forward
Hands: Hands are out to either side of the body i.e. one hand in front and one hand out by your bottom
Head: Look up and where you want to go!

For me, the one thing that I need to remember is to make sure my knees point inwards - kind of like you are knob-kneed - rather than pointing outwards like they do when you are doing a plie squat, especially my left knee (my leading knee). When I consciously remember this, I find that I'm more stable on the board and I'm less likely to dig the front of my board into the water or fall off the back of my board.

Surf Simply has created a set of podcasts that go through all the fundamentals which you can find here.  I have found them to be great, straightforward refreshers on the various lessons we learned.