As we're all finding out, it's a hell of a thing to be getting older. Like a lot of people over 50, from time to time I idly scratch my crotch and vaguely contemplate where all the piss and vinegar that I took for granted just a few years ago has gone.
As a stand up board rider, my endurance, strength and agility have been the fundamental engine that drives my ability to have an enjoyable surf. In turn having a good surf is healthy fodder for the mind, and I suspect has been responsible for my naturally sunny disposition thats been in evidence ever since I first took to the ocean.
However I now find that in order to be properly tuned up to surf decent waves, I need to spend around a solid 30 to 40 minutes each day doing yoga exercises and stretches to maintain flexibility, agility and to build and maintain core body strength, especially in the abdominal area where the spring that gets you quickly to your feet resides. I try to back up these exercises with a trip to the local gym between two or three times a week, where I do weights and aerobic exercise.
But I'm no paragon of virtue in keeping to this schedule. I have to continually remind myself that a failure to exercise will simply translate into a failure to have fun in the oceanic realm. In this regard I have to work hard to overcome the minds natural tendency to want to slack off the program. So it helps me to have an objective to work towards, such as a planned trip to more demanding waves or even the knowledge that a bigger swell is due soon.
So the equation for me is a simple one: Exercise + Yoga + Stretching (plus a few other things like a good board, ocean knowledge and good waves) = a good surf + a sunny disposition.
Now if I can just get my seriously demented mind under control I'm sure everything will be just fine!
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