Look familiar? That’s not a good thing… Photo: Mark McInnis
I’m the girl who wrote, Date a Girl Who Surfs, so you can imagine what it is like for me to be spending less time in the water lately. No bueno! I spent a lot of my summer in Las Vegas. Yes, I said summer in Vegas. What’s a surfer girl doing in Vegas? Well, I guess I was focusing on my career for a little bit – and it was HOT! Can you say mermaid out of water?
Since I’ve been back spending more time in Southern California over the last month, I’ve been really busy trying to find a life, work and surf balance. Though I have to admit the “surf” part has been losing out in the “balance” of it all. Remember when I said no bueno?
When it comes down to it, there are no two ways around it. I just haven’t been surfing enough lately. Here’s 9 ways I knew that I had been out of the water too much lately. If you can relate, perhaps you have been too.
1. I can count on my fingers the number of times I’ve been in the water in the past month.
2. When I got on my board the second day back, my ribs hurt – not a good sign – that hasn’t happened in a long time!
3. After not wearing a wetsuit for a while, my neck was chafed after my first paddle out.
4. I have extra bars of wax in every purse and travel bag I have to remind me of the surf, even when I’m away. However, there are none in my car nor with my surf gear – d’oh!
5. After my first couple of sessions in the water, my back went out – guess I haven’t been keeping my surf muscles properly tuned up.
6. I’m definitely not getting the same wave count I normally get. I’m fumbling more on the pop-up (grrr), and I’m not charging as I normally do.
7. Paddling out with my normal surf buddies, I’m getting dropped in on a lot more because they think I won’t get into the waves as much as I normally do. For the most part, they are right.
8. I’m having a really hard time getting my butt out of my warm, toasty bed every morning for dawn patrol. I’ve become one of “those” surfers I always dreaded as a dawn patroller. Oh no!
9. My friends, business partner and others keep asking me, “Shouldn’t you go surfing tomorrow?” because my mood is definitely nowhere near my normally perky self!
Perhaps you can relate. It’s definitely not a good feeling. But sometimes it’s okay to let life get in the way of our surfing – as long as it’s not permanent! I’d love for you to share some of the ways you know you’ve been out of the water too much lately and how you’ve motivated yourself to change that.
