Nurse on the Run

Last week, I took a solo vacation to Malpais, Costa Rica to learn how to surf!  It was a fantastic week and I’m still sad that it’s over, but I’m having fun recapping it for all of you.    If you missed Part I, check out Planes, Trains, and Automobiles for my story on the traveling part of traveling!

Now…let’s move on to the best part of the trip, and the part I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for…SURFING!!  It was my favorite part of the trip, and I’m SO excited to share it all with you.  Here we go!

Costa Rica is a great place to learn to surf, as the waves can be pretty even and there’s a wide range of waves to choose from, so it’s a great location for beginners as well as more advanced surfers.  I had absolutely no surfing experience prior to showing up in Costa Rica…I don’t think I’ve even seen anyone surf before, except for in the movies.  Six people were at surf camp with me, and only one person had surf experience before, so we were all kind of starting together.

sunday surfing – ground school

Beach where we surfed every day!  Playa Hermosa.

Our first day of surfing started with “Ground School,” where our instructors taught us what to look for on the beach when picking how a place to surf, what kinds of waves to look for, general safety rules, how to lay on the surfboard, and how/when to pop-up on a surfboard.  This last part is pretty much key, as it’s how you go from laying down on the surfboard to standing up.  We practiced on the beach multiple times, and let me tell you…it’s soooo much easier to do on the beach than it is to do on a surfboard!  Something about stability under your feet, I suppose. 

To get us started, our surf instructors would tell us when a good wave was coming so we could hop onto the surfboard.  They would then tell us when to paddle and give us a push when the wave hit us while instructed us when to pop-up.  You have to wait until you feel the push of the wave behind you, otherwise you’re trying to pop-up in unstable water.  This ended up being my biggest problem, as I would try to pop-up too early, and it’s really hard when you have a bunch of turbulence under you!

I actually got up on a few waves, and my best wave of the day was when everyone was convinced I was going to fall off since two waves collided behind me, but I stuck it and rode the wave most of the way in!  Just gotta get low to keep your balance.

For the record, you could see Gisele’s house (you know…the super model) from the beach we surfed on.  I like to think she was watching us to get some pointers all week.

monday surfing – switching to the hard top

Morning surf chat to check out the waves!

Every surf morning starts out with stretching and pop-ups on the ground so we can remind our muscles how to do them before doing them in the water.    My instructor told me that I was being upgraded from a soft top surfboard to a hard top surfboard, which means I was doing something right on the first day!  Beginners are started on a soft top board because they safer (less fins, softer top) and float better so it’s easier to get up on.  The hard tops have more fins and are better for turning since you have more control over them. 

We got some more ground instructions on how to speed up (put your weight forward), how to slow down (put your weight on your back foot), and how to turn (put your weight on your heels/toes), then we headed out into the water.  Due to a big storm the night before, the waves were choppier and quite relentless, which gets quite tiring in the water as you fight wave after wave.  Since you learn to surf on the white water (after the wave breaks, vs the green water which is before the wave breaks and is where more advanced surfers surf), you don’t just roll over the waves, but you have to jump over them.  Surfing is a great workout!

After fighting a bunch of waves, I finally caught a great, long ride!  It was awesome, and I actually had a moment to think, “Oh my goodness!  I’m doing it!!  I’m surfing!!”  Best feeling in the world!  You’re never more in the moment than when you’re up on a surf board, and it’s an amazing feeling.

tuesday surfing – crazy waves

Surfer chick. 

Like I said above…surfing is tiring!!  My whole body was sore, and everyone says that day three is the roughest because you know what you’re doing, but your body is really tired from all the work it’s been doing.  My hips and ribs were especially sore since they lay on the board.  The waves today were absolutely CRAZY due to (another) big storm we had the night before.  The waves were huge, choppy, and many came in sideways!  The waves you want to ride in on are regular and are going straight in to the beach,

They videotaped us yesterday, so at breakfast we were able to see how what we were doing and what could be corrected.  I had a tendency to pop-up to early, which I already knew, but was evident in the videos.  I tried waited an extra couple seconds to pop-up, and it made a complete difference!  Telling myself, “Wait…wait…” and giving an extra few paddles really made it much easier to stand up and I fell a little bit less than before.

A photographer came out for Tuesday and Wednesday surfing, so she got some great shots of each of us out on the waves.  So good!

wednesday surfing – have faith in your feet

Rockstar.

On Wednesday, we switched our surf instructors so we could get a different perspective on what we’re doing and how we could be better surfers.  My new instructor liked to have group meetings with goal setting beforehand, so we had a little chat prior to heading out to the waves.  My goal was to wait to pop-up since that was what was giving me the most trouble.  One of the other women’s goal was to “have faith in her feet” because she never felt like she was standing on them, even though she was.  I loved this saying instantly, as I think it applies to surfing and the rest of life, especially as a runner.  For a moment, I even thought about changing the name of this blog to “faith in my feet.”  True story.  (Thoughts??)

This was THE BEST day of surfing out of the entire week.  The waves were amazing and a million times easier to catch than the past two days.  I was catching a ton of great waves, and at one point everyone else in the group went in for a break, but I stayed out, so I had the ocean to myself and a little one-on-one instruction with my surf instructor.  Can’t beat that!  My instructor asked me if I ever surfed before (nope!), and she said she was impressed and that I was doing great for a brand new surfer!  The conditions were awesome, and I even caught a wave allll the way in, to the  point where the fins hit the sand!  Love it.

thursday surfing – final waves

Turning on the waves! 

I can’t believe how fast the week went!  Soon enough it was our last day of surfing, and I just hoped for a good day so I could end up memories of surfing instead of getting beat up by my surfboard.    The waves weren’t quite as good as yesterday, but I was still able to catch a few good waves.   By this point, I was much more confident in popping up on the surfboard, and I even would turn down the wave to get a little longer of a ride.  So good!  When it came time for the last wave of the week, I caught an excellent one but somehow ended up sitting down on the board…not ideal, but I had a lovely last ride in.

surfing wrap-up

Surfing is AWESOME.  Really, there’s nothing like getting up on a wave and having a moment to realize that you’re surfing.  You’re totally in the moment when you’re up on the board…not thinking about work, not thinking about what’s for dinner…just surfing!  Love it.  Surfing was an amazing experience and I’m so glad that I got to learn and that I wasn’t too shabby at it!  I definitely plan on surfing again, this time with a little more clue as to what I’m doing.  I think everyone should try surfing (really…do it!), so you should let me know if you want to plan a surf vacation…I’ll totally go with you. 

some more photo evidence…because it’s cool

Surf group with our boards and instructors!

I fell…A LOT.

WAR PAINT.  Or faces covered in zinc to prevent sunburn…hot stuff.

Falling with a smile on my face.

Loooooove it.