Standing Up on My Own

I recently started taking up stand-up paddling boarding over the summer. Over Labor Day weekend, a couple girlfriends and I went on our first water adventure. I'm naturally clumsy and thought I wouldn't do well at this at all. Of course, I fell a few times but the rest of the group did too. After I realized I wasn't trying to impress anybody else, I just kept getting up on that board until our two hours were up. After that day, I was completely hooked that I impulsively bought a used board and paddle.

My second time going out was a sunset yoga paddle with a large group of paddlers. This time I didn't fall once. I started to consider myself a pro now. I met a great group of people who were also new to this sport. I felt so at ease with them that I didn't feel as out of place.

After watching several Laird Hamilton videos of stand-up paddle boarding, I started to convince myself that I could really do this. I looked up local SUP groups in the area even possible races. A friend of mine posted a local race called the Sandbridge Hei Hei. I watched last year's race online and saw that it was a fundraiser for a Fallen Hero. I figured if I didn't do well at this that at least my money went to a good cause. I signed up for what I thought was a fun 2-mile race for SUPers. Well, fun was definitely the operative word for my third time out in the ocean. (photo credit: Sandbridge Life)

Once I arrived to the beach, I looked around and realized I was competing with a whole 'anubba level'. I thought, "Holy Crap! What did I sign up for?!" Well, there was no backing out of this now. If I bought this board, I'm going to go out there and give it my best. Here I went out and didn't fall out there in the ocean. Although, the wind did push me out there which probably took me much longer than I should have been. After the race was over, some of the racers came up to me and couldn't believe I signed up for this race considering it was only my third time and most of the people there train for this. In my mind, I gave a little pat on my back and I was glad I did it. Maybe next year I wouldn't feel so awkward about it and I could wishfully call myself a semi-pro. We'll see. For now, I'm going to enjoy God's nature at its finest.