Like minded individuals

Yesterdays' deep water running session was quite successful in that I managed to push fairly hard throughout the 45 minutes and wasn't overly tired... in fact, I wasn't tired at all. The pool was really full and I chatted to a man and his wife who thought I must be very tall to be walking in the pool at the deep end. Is that how I look? Like I'm walking? They aren't the first to ask me if I'm walking.

Getting home, I began to notice my shoulders were really aching. Graeme told me this will be the shadow boxing I did the day before. I had found that part of the circuit really easy, so was surprised to be aching. Today it is even worse and I have DOMS in my abs from the jack knife exercises. I suppose 60 reps of those will make you ache, won't they?

Last night as I watched a film called Chalet Girl (romantic comedy based around snowboarding), I thought about different sports and different groups of people. My Facebook friends probably consist of around 85% who are runners. I thought about how snowboarders/dance crews/horse riders etc, all have like minded individuals as friends (in real life as well as on social networking). It was only 10 years ago that surfing consumed my every waking moment, and I thought I'd never want to do any other sport EVER...and here I am now where running is the "be all and end all".
I have to admit that I only surfed for around 2 years. I had a bit of an incident you see... I had been surfing all afternoon, getting lost in my own little world, when I looked up to the shore line to see I really was in my own little world... Saltburn (the seaside town I surfed near) was a tiny spec on the horizon, and I realised I had floated very very far out to sea. To cut a long story short, I must have been caught in a rip tide (stupid... I even knew where the rip tide was and that I should avoid it), and it took me over 30 minutes to paddle back to the shore against a very strong tide. My shoulders were in agony for days after that! It scared me so much that I only went surfing once or twice after that. Graeme would always ask me to go, and I'd always find an excuse why I couldn't make it.

Despite all of this, I refuse to sell my surfboard and wetsuit. Don't ask me why, but even when money is tight I always say "No way" when it comes to getting rid of it. So, yesterday I pulled out my Quicksilver surf bag and turned my wetsuit from inside to out, ready to try on. It was a struggle... I only managed to get it up to my chest and then bowed out gracefully realising I am now not the same size I was 10 years ago. I remember having to have the wetsuit made for me because I was too small for the size 8 that they had in the shop.

I thought that surfing may be a good cross training exercise and so posted on Graemes' Facebook wall did he fancy going surfing on Saturday (but I'd need to hire a wetsuit). I thought that if I made it public I would have to go and face my fears. He didn't answer (because he's crap like that) and instead when he got home said, "Well, if the car is at the garage we can't go". So, we are going to see what happens with the car and take it from there. I think surfing is probably one of the most difficult (by way of cardiovascularly tiring) exercises I have ever done... Yes, I even think it's harder than running. I am a "natural" footer too, which means I lead with my left (good) foot and not the offending broken one. This will make it easier with the fracture (I think!).

So, I'm off to the podiatrists tomorrow to see how my foot is progressing. I'll ask him if he thinks my foot could withstand a bit of surfing and take it from there. ANYTHING to keep me occupied!!!