Day 3 - Session 6

My new streak is to have more than 365 sessions in 365 days. So I always have to have my sessions ahead of the days passed. I surfed 5 times on Saturday and I did not surf on Sunday. But I got out there this morning. So the total is 6 sessions on day 3 - I have 3 in the bank - a new challenge. Also, I'm committing to updating this blog every day, even if it is just to say Day X - Session X.

Surfed the contest this weekend. Got 7th again. So both my WSA finishes are 7th's. Oh well. I've gotten 4th in the Repercharge heat 2x now. Frustrating. The waves were bad, but I've been surfing poorly as well, so I'm actually surprised I made it through my first heat. I actually did so in both the open division and the masters division and got 4th in both heats following. I'm going to work hard to get ready for Pismo. My surfing has to get sharper. I want to consistently be in the final.

Power Rankings - Old Guy Surf Championship up for grabs!!!!

Power Rankings:

1) Jason Penning Boring but effective. Well at least that is the expectation. He has 2 1/2 moves and in theory they are functional. A Snap, a Floater and 1/2 of a cutback. His style differentiates him (he has a little) and expectations of consistent top 3 finishes has Yari and his smoking buddies talking. However, the biggest disappointment on tour so far this year invites more question than answers. Unless Mike can get on the podium, there'll be no challenge to that quarterfinal finish that he posted in the NSSA College Series back in '92. Yeah, he's faced the Doonan's in competition, but that was a different millennium and he gets little credit for those faded memories. He's still leading the power rankings, even if the judges fall to sleep before he finishes his ride, chances are that he'll finish it.

2) Mike Olson The anti-Jason. Consistency is his weakness, style his Achilles' heel. Yeah, he has added a weak open face frontside hack to his repertoire recently, but in clean rippable waves, he is yet to prove himself. Reports have him pulling off a big move or two during free surfs, but we are yet to see him link anything together on the contest circuit. When you see him drop into a long clean wall, do your best to not visibly wince as he dissects it with a machete. But, don't underestimate him, he may post a score or two if he manages to chew on a wallet long enough to ride one to the beach even if the epileptic seizure is most deserving of the credit.

3) Tom Lavia (No Photo Available at Time of Press) - the darkhorse, the wild card... This could all change with one heat. Tom's talent is known, but questions remain. Will his free surfing skill translate into success on the big stage? He likes to go for it, but pulling the big move and wrapping it with some functional surfing for solid points is unlikely according to "people in the know". Yeah, going into the ponto contest, he should have home court advantage, which argues for a higher ranking, but there is too much unknown. For instance, he lives 15 feet from the beach but all sightings have him hanging with the Jars of O-town. Why is this? Can he not generate speed on his own? Is the "3-to-the-beach" in is vocabulary? Can he stick the big move? More questions than answers at this point. His lame excuse for missing the deadline to sign up has him relegated to chancing a beach-entry. We'll wait to see if he shows before reassessing.


Recent News:
In a surprising move, Jason has opted to head to Mexico with his friends from his old work. He'll probably get waves, but at a high cost. This is how it breaks down... Mike Olson 833 vs. Jason Penning 1370 points. The minimum point total for showing up (assuming 18 surfers) is going to be 620. Jason's absence certainly heats up the two man race. 833 + 620 = 1453 after this event assuming Mike earns a last place finish. Reports lately are that Mike has been surfing shitty, so that might be a good assumption! This is setting up a for a classic showdown in Pismo 2 weeks from now as Mike goes head-to-head with his nemesis (they'll carpool but conversation will be kept at minimum). The wild card is Tom Lavia, who will likely make his first appearance on tour with home court advantage (ponto is his home break). He will not likely be a factor down the stretch but would certainly pounce at the opportunity to serve as a spoiler. Taking Mike or Jay out of a competition is certainly top of mind for him. At an infantile 34, he has the a lot of energy and staying fit by chasing around 2 kids all the time may prove to be a key to his prospects on tour this year even if he is unable to make all the events.

Made it to day 202!!!

Now taking some time off. Still have been getting the water though. The reality is that we have had some serious swell in the water, for a long time, so my small wave surfing is suffering!!!

Day 196 - It's on like Donkey Kong

Working on my contest form... Surfing NSSA this weekend, probably going to get destroyed. You see it turns out that I don't know how to surf contests. But, I'm going to figure it out. I want a lot of heat time. The real goal is the WSA though. Going toe-to-toe with Jay and Tom.

By-the-way, I haven't been surfing very sharp. I don't know why that is. I think because now I'm analyzing every turn, every cutback and thinking comp. It is funny. I think it'll make me better. The real reason to do it? None. Just cuz it is fun...

Jason normally surfs these things well, but he's struggling to get out of the gate this year. We are both motivated and we are going to do the whole WSA series. I'm also going to do some of the NSSA's for experience. I'm surfing in the Seniors and the Masters this weekend at Goldenwest. It should be fun! My goal is to make it through a heat. But, I'm looking to be in the top 5 in the WSA! Jay wants to be there too, so we are going to have to battle!

WSA/GATORADE CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR SERIES Masters 30 - 39* DIVISION
RATING NAME Total Points 08/08/09 San O 09/18/09 Ventura 10/24/09 Ponto 11/07/09 Pismo Pier 12/05/09 Oceanside 01/09/10 S.C. Pier 01/30/10 Southside Pier H. B. 03/06/10 Morro Bay 04/17/10 Salt Creek Dana Pt. 05/15/10 Church Total Points 1 Yari Vodraska 3000 1500 1500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3000 2 Trevor Mezak 2123 833 1290 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2123 3 Chris Munsterman 1970 1095 875 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1970 4 Eric Rendon 1965 1290 675 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1965 5 Kris Wolfe 1920 915 1005 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1920 6 Rick Hahn 1755 1005 750 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1755 7 Mark Wisdom 1565 833 732 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1565 8 Philip Salick 1550 875 675 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1550 9 Erik Furuholmen 1388 713 675 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1388 10 Jason Penning 1370 750 620 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1370 10 Roy Sassa 1370 750 620 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1370 12 Mike Burau 1095 0 1095 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1095 13 G. Ivan Connelly 915 0 915 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 915 14 Mike Olson 833 0 833 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 833 15 Tim Burrows 792 0 792 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 792 16 Kelly O'Connell 732 0 732 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 732 16 Shige Takanashi 732 0 732 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 732 18 Kevin Hamor 620 0 620 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 620

Day 191 - Surfing is fun

Machado checking my style...

Day 182 - So good out there today...

It has been big and good. My broken body is slowly recovering. I need some Yoga in a bad way. I need to get some flexibility back. In need that spring in my muscles.

Today showed head-high peaks that reminded me of a crossed up day at Huntington. Wow! It was good. The water was warm and my forehand tail slide was working. I had a couple of big slides today. I'm pulling them off with ease now. I cannot explain why. I'm stoked again. My frontside cutback is suffering, I think because I'm so stiff... We'll see if we can change that.

Tonight I'll certainly go to Yoga. I think I'm going to surf in a little contest this weekend with Jason. More motivation.

Amazing that Today is 1/2 of a year surfing every day. How is that possible? How have I been able to dodge any and all commitments that would prohibit this? Particularly work ones? I don't know. 5 more days until day 187 which I think marks the end of summer. I'll probably keep it going until day 200 and take 201 off. Why? I don't know because 200 is an easy one to remember, an easy one to explain. I'll admit, this thing is silly, but it has been one of the best experiences of my life.

I think I'm already lining up my next challenge. Not sure what it will be, but I think it will be more sessions than days... This way I have incentives to get out there multiple times when it is good. So, Triple sessions will be at a premium on the weekends! Double sessions during the week will be pushed for. I'll have a "Bank" and the goal will be to not let the count drop below the number of days. Yeah! This sounds fun... I'll have an incentive to build the bank up as much as possible in case I have to burn a week or two due to weather or a vacation (that doesn't involve surf) or whatever.

I plan on starting this one the starting October 10th (I have to go to TN on the 7th and 8th). I've never gone a full year where I didn't have at least 1 super long break from surfing. I always get out of shape and I have to fight my way back into it. This is no longer for me. I'm going to stay in shape and stay in surf shape as well...

Day 173 - My body is breaking...

I have pain in 5 places: 1) upper back - massive spasm, 2) Lower back - general tightness a bit of a spasm, 3) Both hips are very tight, 4) My left knee has been bothering me (right one is the one that I had surgery on), 5) My ankle that I rolled a couple of weeks ago.

Something has to change. I have to fit some yoga/other fitness into my routine. I think the asymmetry of surfing, has me hurting. I have to align a little better. Yoga tommorow, not because I want to, because I have to. It'll take some time before it helps...

I caught 4 waves today after surfing my brains out for the last couple of weeks. I need a break and to recover a little bit. The waves were really good however.

Day 168 - the day that hasn't happened yet...

I was going to go surf, but I'll admit it, I'm very sore from getting in the water a lot over the last week or so. My legs are sore, my arms are sore, I'm generally in need of some yoga or something. Well, instead of going to surf this morning, I instead decided to call up Jay and I started screwing with iChat. If you want to see the result, check his blog here: Jay's Blog. iChat rules!!! Anyway I did not surf.

To finish my thoughts from my previous blog, when I was out in the water last night my neighbor Chris was out there and he made a comment about how clear the water is. This is when he said, "It's just like a giant Brita filter with all the ash raining down on the water from the fires." I guess he could be right, but I just think it is funny. So as the ash sinks, does it collect all the particulate? I don't know, I just like visual of a giant brita filter. I like brita filters...

I'll go surf as soon as I get home.

Day 167 - The Brita Effect...

Ash in the water... Ambi I'm out - have to continue tomorrow. I have been surfing my brains out as of late. Tightening up my small wave style.

Smoke

It has been fun lately, I'll have to get back to updating my blog!

New license pic

Old license pic

Day 163 - Boosting

Had so much fun out there this morning! Chest-high and fast. I actually don't know where the swell is coming from, but I know it was fun - seemed west. I felt really comfortable on my board out there and I even pulled an air! With speed to burn, I hit a little ramp andpopped an ollie about 1 1/2 feet out landing like you land a floater, right in the transition. So fun, so stoked. With my ankle feeling better, I figured out that I have been leaning too much on my bottom turn, causing me to lean too much on my top turn the opposite way, resulting in not being over my board for the top turn. Translation: I was pulling everything today, stayed right over my board the whole time.

Supposedly there is going to be some mid-period NW swell this weekend. I hope so! With the sand the way it is right now, the weather, the crossed up nature of the swells and the short periods it could be super fun this weekend. It could be... Probably not though, but at least it has a chance. Before the sand moves around (from bigger winter storms), when the right swell hits, it's a fricken barrel-fest. Lots of thumpage, but every now and then, yeah, a big fat pipe that you can get out of. I hope this happens. After the surf lately, which has been fast and critical, just not large like it has been down south, I'm about as quick out of the gates as I can be. This is critical for getting some time in the green room. Stay tuned. I'm stretching tonight. Nah, I'm stretching right now - In my office!

Day 157 - Jay's 60 Seconds

Some south in the water today. Got some good ones. Racing, chasing and bouncing off the bottom at low tide.

The real one...

http://www.surfline.com/surflinetv/sixty-seconds/brian-conleys-giant-mexican-shack_29324

Day 156 - My Hard Disk Drive Broke

...I almost have the answer after a long day in the office, I'm in the middle of a Google query that I had just punched into my iPhone, "why hard disk drives fail". I'm very interested in knowing the answer to this as I had two hard drives die in the last 3 days. As I'm clicking on the search result, which I hope will put my mind at ease, I step off of the curb onto an uneven spot in the pavement. Holy shit, I just rolled my ankle! I'm not sure if I went to the ground as my memory is a bit blurry in all the pain but I know that I staggered to the find support from the nearest skyscraper. You see, I was downtown, on my way to the bus right across from the library at 6th street, it is an area busy with people in the late afternoon, but I did not try to hide the pain, I could feel people looking at me, wondering what was wrong with me. Had I been shot? Was I wasted? Is it performance art? I stumbled over to one of the marble encrusted blocks that litter the courtyard and proceeded to lie on my back staring up at a patch of blue sky enshrouded by vertical glass on all sides. The only thing that I could think of is, "My streak is over, my streak is over." Are you serious? My streak is over at the hands of my inability to focus on walking? Laying on my back in my suit and tie, my mind is racing, thinking about the last incident like this, which was at USC when I was in grad school. I rolled the same ankle in a similar manner, just walking, and it broke a bone chip off, locking up the joint and requiring surgery. These thoughts were spinning through my head at light speed, reconciling the importance of my streak and then slowly fading into the realization that it is not important at all. I made it up, nobody's life depends on it, it is just something that I created out of thin air. So if the streak is over, then it is over and it is OK. Well, the good news is that I have rolled my ankle many times over the years playing basketball and I knew that often times it is not as serious as the initial immobility and pain tells you. I hadn't surfed yet last night after a long day at the office, but I did manage to get out there. I felt the pain and my ankle certainly did pop, probably tearing some scar tissue or a ligament, but it did not stop the streak. My ankle is a bit swollen, and this morning was no easy feat to get out in the water as the joint had plenty of time over night to stiffen up, but I made it and to my surprise the waves were a lot bigger than they have been. I rode the 10 footer and struggled to make a few of the drops with the increase in size. 1 month to go to cover 2 full seasons, I think the number I'm shooting for is 187, which will be the official end of summer. Wow. So much has happened over the last 5 months. I cannot wait to get to 6 months so that I can start on my next meaningless adventure.

Comparison Shopping:

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Day 152 - Just the motions...

So small, it is hard to motivate for sure. Every time I go, I have fun however. Today, I caught a few where I generated speed and forced a turn or two. These are the days that pay dividends when it picks up. You know how to get speed from all of the groveling, but with a much bigger canvas, filling in the blanks is so much easier.

Day 145 - Wave of the day

It was pretty walled out there today, but I managed to pick off the wave of the day... Boosted, probably about 2 feet out, landed on top of the lip, fell through and blew up. Very fast, very walled, very clean, this fits my style perfectly. If I get one pump, I can make sections, which results in super fun session like this morning.

Oh yeah, I erased about 36 hours of my life this weekend. Watched UFC - Anderson Silva, are you kidding me? I have never seen anything like this guy. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it is not important. This guy is the best fighter on the planet, he destroyed a former light heavy weight champion, who can take a punch - Forrest Griffin. Anyway, in all the excitement I decided to take some shots of tequila, effectively elimininating my Sunday. I still held my streak together, but just barely. I got up at 6:00 pm and got out in the water about 6:15 for a 45 minute session.

Watching you.

Happy birthday to me.

Day 139 - Fun peaks, really fun

Late session for me, surfed for about 45 minutes. It was really fun, my body is aching a little, but I still surfed OK. I went to the DMV today, it took about 2 hours... What a mess.

Brainstorming for DMV photo