Surf: 3.9 ft at 16.0 s from the WNW at 289°.
I might have gotten a little over ambitious with the new years resolutions. Yes, I want to get back into the swing of things, but taking out my fish (which I’ve barely ridden since getting hurt) in conditions I knew would be bigger (not huge, but still not the gentle softies of NYD) may have been unwise. Oh, and I’ve got a mean barking cough, too.
The first tip off probably should have been taking my board out of the bag to find the glassing around the fin cracked. Damn. I taped it up.
Second tip off probably should have been the shooting pain on a duckdive halfway out to the lineup. I turned around, I bellied in and tried to stretch it out.
I paddled back out, made it this time (with surprisingly little pain when diving), but was just not feeling it. I wasn’t trusting my board (mostly because I didn’t want to damage it further,) not trusting my body (both ability to dive or keep a good breath,) and really, I just wasn’t up for this.
I still wanted to try so I went for one. I blew the take off and got wrecked. I started coughing. Oh man. It was embarrassing and actually pretty scary. I could see the next wave in the set right there but could not stop coughing long enough to get a good breath. Fuck. I was panicking. I went under, did the best I could, came up and tried to calm down and stop coughing before the next wave.
If there’s anything I’m proud of in this disaster, it’s that I did regain my composure and I used that next wave to belly in.
It was frustrating and embarrassing, but a good reminder that: while it’s great I want to get back out there, it’s not something I can stubbornly force. I have to be gentle in the right places, and tough in the right places.
Oh and stretch more. I need to stretch more.