Published Wednesday, September 30, 2009 1:45 PM
Updated Wednesday, September 30, 2009 1:45 PM
Surfing is like riding a bicycle, sort of … okay not really. Once you learn to do it, you never forget how. But if you’re out of shape, overweight, and get winded just from throwing a beer can in the recycling bin, then you’re going to have problems. Worse, you’re probably going to become twice as frustrated as a beginner because you know what to do but your body refuses to do it.
Fortunately, for an old guy, I’m in decent shape. I’m no super athlete, nor am I in the throes of mid-life crisis. I’m not even that much of a health nut; I just like to justify my vices more than anything else. But I do exercise pretty intensely nearly every day and one unintended consequence is this rediscovered ability to do certain things I had all but given up two years ago. But I digress.
If you’ve never been on a surfboard, you probably do not realize all the muscles one uses. Think about it. First, you are lying prone on a hard flat surface with the ocean constantly moving beneath you. In order for you to keep from being pummeled by incoming breakers, you have to get that board out to the water beyond where the waves are breaking. So you are going to paddle, possibly against tide and current, as hard as you can between sets of breakers just to get out.
Now that you are out, you may rest a few minutes, catch your breath, ease the burn in your screaming arms, chest, and shoulder muscles, but soon a swell is going to start walling, you’re going to pick your line and start paddling until you feel the board lift with the wave – then you’re going to do a quick push up, plant your feet, stand, and hopefully maintain your balance as you guide that board down the face of the wave and turn with the direction it’s breaking.
It’s the ultimate in cross training; you have just worked out your entire body, maintained your equilibrium, and completed a wind sprint all at the same time. And when you finish this ride – and it may only last a few seconds – you’re going to do it all over again.
Sounds mindless, right? So does everything that requires a lot of hard work, precision, and practice -- but the payoff is indescribable.
My first few minutes out in the water off Folly Island were interesting. I found myself paddling an 8.5 foot long board, a rental, no less, into a deceptively powerful ocean. The currents were swirling, making it difficult to walk the board even through shallower water. Then when I climbed aboard and started paddling, I soon realized I was side-slipping down the beach with a current that from the shore I couldn’t even tell was running.
There are all sorts of other little things that come back to you when you haven’t been out there in awhile. For one, it won’t be long until you remember the nose of the board needs to barely plane the water. Too much in the air and stall and miss your takeoff, which I did. Too much in the water and the board will dig in and throw you keister over kettle, which happened more than I care to admit.
And your “eye” is out of practice as well; that wall that is forming into a nice shoulder suddenly flattens and passes right under you as you paddle furiously and fruitlessly after it. Or worse, you allow yourself to drift inside a little too far and the next thing you know, a huge -- well, okay, 3-4 feet -- wall of water is about to break right on top of your head.
But in the space of about 45 minutes, I was able to tap into an old rhythm, one I knew a lot better a few years ago. I got a couple of nice rides – nice enough so that my Beloved said she could see my idiotic but ecstatic grin from 200 yards off shore.
The next day, I began to stiffen. The day after that, I was exquisitely sore, especially my sternum, which I forget always takes a beating from every session.
Oh yeah, there’s something about sunlight reflecting off water and white plastic that really intensifies its power that one will not feel until a day or so later. In some cases, the burn is so intense that even a cool bed sheet fluttering across your bare shoulders will feel like a dose of hot lava.
It’s worth it.