Hitting the Beach

What's the first thing you should do with a few days off? Hit the beach, obviously. I broke out my EPIC V12 and took a quick road trip out to Charleston, SC during my break after trials.  Cloudy weather; beautiful waves.  Charleston was getting hit with some thunderstorms and rough winds leading to decent sized swells traveling North-South along the beach of Isle of Palms, my favorite coast line in Charleston.  After a long and grueling winter of training on flat water and in a cold weight room, there is nothing more freeing than hitting the beach with my ski.  It truly feels like home again.

It's funny how everything happens on a bigger scale in the ocean.  The waves are bigger; the boats are bigger; the water's wider; the paddles are longer; my smile is bigger.  I swear I put in more effort on that paddle in the ocean than any flat water workout, without even noticing it.  I played, surfed, sprinted for waves, and found myself back at the beach hours later completely exhausted- yet, more level-headed.  There is something very peaceful about chancing a wave versus chasing an competitor.  The ocean is my happy place. 

I spent hours doing laps in the waves that day.  On my last half hour, in the middle of a big ride, I looked around to see I was in the middle of a big pod of dolphins doing the same thing I was: surfing.   I was very thankful for the trip.  It cleared my head and rebooted my body for another few months of tough flatwater training.  I think it's crucially important to have an reset button for when life gets mentally tiring.  I call mine: a 4h road trip to the beach.