Warm-Up Surf

That's all today's session was. I got wet in preparation for another assault on Malibu. I even drove to Malibu today but talked myself out of getting in. Okay, okay!!! I wimped out and didn't get in. I saw a crowd and just couldn't get myself fired up to go in. Part of it may be the fact that I know I will probably be there tomorrow. I also wanted to do an easy session and not tax my shoulder too much. And frankly, the next time I go to Malibu, I'm going to take it seriously. I'll have to put my game face on (or else I'll end up sitting there and trying to stay out of the way). I don't want to stay out of the way. I'm not going to this party with the intention of being a damn wallflower . . . again. Since this is the place of the party wave, I'm going to have to act like I was actually invited and just ride the waves with everyone else. So, anyway, I got all serious this morning and waxed my board before leaving the house, thinking it was time to arrive at the beach ready to surf. Mind you, it's kind of hard to wax your board in the house when the living room floor is occupied by either a Thomas the Tank Engine track or a Hot Wheels track. As I drove to the beach, I made myself calm down and stop thinking. I knew I was going to Malibu so I was psyching myself up. I didn't know if I'd surf Malibu but this is the kind of mindset I need when a place has gotten the better of me. I default back to my days racing that dumb bike. I have to do that or else I will literally over-think the situation; I'll end up giving in to negative thoughts. We all have those. You know what I'm talking about. You hear your little voice tell you how much you suck when you miss a wave. I arrived at Malibu in a good space mentally. I was calm and ready to surf. Then I saw that there was a crowd and all of that calm went right out the window. What's up with that? Nobody cares how I surf. But I care and I know I'm a better surfer than I've shown Malibu. Again, I didn't get in, but I did take the time to watch and try to learn some things. Perhaps I feel I don't surf well enough to even stick my big toe in the water at Malibu. I don't know.

I ended up at Sunset. It was mostly flat but sets rolled in periodically. The session was just what I needed. I did a lot of sitting and paddled very little. For the first time in awhile, I let the tweeners go by and only went for the bigger waves. One of my rides was great. It really does help to look at the wave, doesn't it? Now that I've developed that habit, my surfing has changed for the better. I didn't even try to walk on this wave. Instead I worked it, going up and down the face as much as I could. That's something I've found hard to do when going backside, but I've been watching the ASP tour and I've been paying attention to how those guys and gals position themselves when going backside. I guess I learned something. The one funny thing that happened today was on the first wave I paddled for. There were very few people out and the place was virtually empty. Well, I started to paddle for a wave, realized it was turning into a left, smiled, and paddled even harder. Well, there was a guy paddling back out in front of me. He looked like he was spent. He must have been. As I was going for that wave, he stopped right there in my path. I had no choice but to let it go. What was funny was his reaction: "I am SO sorry. You had that wave! You were in it! I owe you $5. I'll give you $5 when you get back up to your car." I was laughing too hard to be mad and told him it was okay. When the next set approached, I told him to get ready. He told me the next wave was all mine. I wouldn't take no for an answer and reminded him that there weren't enough waves to have that attitude. If we were going to get any, we'd have to catch them together. Now how can I tell him we have to do the party wave thing and then wimp out because of the party waves at Malibu. Yes, I know. My husband says it to me all the time: "You're weird."