Athletic Adventures

So, where is "cr"? "cr" is Costa Rica. I went on a week long surf camp with two friends. We went to Nicoya area, Playa Tamarindo at the Witchs Rock Surf Camp. My two friends, Mark and Jas are much more experienced than I am. We all learned quite a bit. For me, though I have quite a bit to go to be more comfortable in the water, being able to surf or paddle in the water daily was awesome. We also met some awesome fellow surfers from Cali, Tokyo and Calgary Canada. It was a great vacation adventure. I think we may go back sometime too!

the beach is awesome. i finally got to go out in the water today, get some surf time. didn't spend too much time in the water though, unfortunately. got tossed pretty bad and chickened out and exited the water, after about 20 minutes.

after rinsing off, made my way back to manhattan beach pier for my volleyball class. had a blast, but should've ate something as i was hungry and my feet weren't moving very fast!

For Blue Lake. About three miles up from Lake Sabrina in Bishop California. We went hiking up there, camping at Intake #2, Upper Campgrounds (yeah, imaginative campground name). Anyhow, cool trip, quite a hike, and awesome pics (as soon as I get the film developed!) 2.5 hours up to about 10,200 feet and 2 hours down. 3 plus hours chillin', fishin', and hangin' out. (Trip members, Amy, Bert, Isaac, Paula, Jeff Shimoyama, Jiyu Yamada, Sasagu, Rex, Sawako)

Yeah! I had a blast today, though I am pretty tired now. Went to the surfing lesson this morning, almost didn't because I woke up later than I wanted to. But I decided to jet out there, and I even made it without paying for parking (and no parking ticket).
The weather, was overcast... the air was a bit chilly, but the water was warm. I wore a shorty wetsuit, and they gave me a 9ft board. The surf was a bit hard to predict, you would get pounded for a while, then a lull, where there was nothing going on. The group was still around the inside, and the waves weren't really breaking on the outside much. It was a bit crowded, but I had a blast. I am now thinking of getting my own board and maybe my own shorty wetsuit. Chris suggest we go sometime on a Friday, because I am a bit stressed at work... all I know is I had fun today and the surfing sure got me relaxed and energized for the day, so maybe a Friday surf - lunch would be nice =).

Surfing is all Chris' fault. Well, I can say it is, but I guess I've always wanted to learn, just that my co-worker Chris is a surfer, who has been doing it for over 40 years, got me thinking. His many stories got me excited to actually try surfing. So, when my away-from-work Memorial weekend fell through, I figure the next best thing was to be a beach bum all weekend, with a bit of surfing. My first try was Saturday and I hurt myself, sprained foot (who knew you could sprain your foot!). But that is okay, because I did catch some cool waves, as well as learn some surf lingo. Cuz, like, we were catching waves on the inside. =) (okay, still learning the lingo). Anyhow, I did ride some waves in, still getting the hang of standing up on the board in time to ride the wave. But the times I did get it right, I was reminded of a song the Beach Boys sang, "...Catch a wave and your sitting on top of the World..."

So, its been a while, but I did complete the Wildflower 2004 Mtn Bike Course Triathlon. The date evades me at the moment, but I think it was at the end of March.

My current training has been sporadic, a few bike rides, a run or two. Last week I ran 5K. Been encouraged to try to run once a day, that's cuz my co-worker who is like 60 runs once to twice a day. But recently, as of five days ago, can't run for a while as I sprained my foot surfing. So, that is currently my new sport, trying to learn how to surf, and the first lesson, though fun and great, I ended up walking away with a bit of an injury. Ah well, learning pains, eh?

Okay, my blog may not appear that I am training, but I am . I started using this blog system on beginnertriathlete.com, so I am now tracking my training there. I am going to see if there is a way to post the training, but right now, you have to be a member to view other folks' blogs. Anyhow, this weekend is gearing up for a tri-camp training weekend. Woohoo! I am both nervous and excited all mixed together.

Went swimming this morning, for about a half an hour at my gym. It is a 25 yd/lap pool. I am using the fins, but I know that I need to come up with a workout to do during the week and should probably go to the coached events at LMU when I can.

So, played tennis again this Sunday, it was a blast. I think Sundays are going to be Tennis days =).