back at it

After a few days off to let my bruised ribs heal a bit I was back to training yesterday.  We had an epic day weather-wise... 80 degrees, sunny, low humidity and a little breeze.  Perfect.

Of course, as soon as I cleared the point that little breeze picked up to 15 knots, so I spent the better part of two hours hammering into a headwind and 1-2 foot waves, which was fine.  It increased the intensity of the workout and I scored a few cool shots like this breaking through the wind swell.

And don't forget, if you paddle upwind for two hours you get rewarded on the trip home.  I was able to catch a few rides on the return trip, surfing the small waves the wind had kicked up.  Here I am digging deep to catch a little swell. 

After my ten-mile training session, I still had enough energy to take the kids out for a bit (must be the superfoods from Moveable Feast).  My daughter Tizzy jumped on board first.

Then Al, Windy City Waterman Webmaster Extraordinaire, joined us...

... but Tizzy wasn't about to let Al out-style her, so she decided to stand up and get her surf on.

Then her cousin Penny took it a step further and insisted on doing the paddling too.  The kids have such a blast out there.

Finally I spent an hour or so working on agility, doing drop tail turns that I need to have in the bag for racing and surfing.  Here you can see I've moved to the back of the board to sink the tail and create a shorter waterline so the board can turn on a dime.

Once you complete the turn, you scurry back to your normal paddling position and dig in to get the board moving again... remember, momentum equals stability! 

 

Then, whether racing or surfing, you want to get the board up to speed fast, so put your head down and PADDLE.

And I'll leave you today with one for Charlie, my man at Naish.  How many Naish logos can you count in this shot, Charlie?  I'm workin' for you baby, workin' hard!  No, seriously, Big Thanks to Naish for helping make all this possible.  Every great day on the water is an amazing gift, so get out there and experience it!

And don't forget to come down to Windward Boardshop next Thursday, July 7th, for our Party with the Pros event featuring Karen Wrenn and Chuck Patterson, Naish Pro Stand Up Paddle Athletes.  It's going to be a blast!