To Karen Seegobin, and to many others at FAU, whether we like to admit it or not, the gym is a foreign place. A smelly room with sticky machines surrounded by sweaty people.
The beach, on the other hand, is quite a familiar spot for Karen. It is a nice open place to get some sun and a breath of fresh ocean air. Now Karen wondered how she could combine a place she likes to go to, with a good workout.
Well, just last Saturday Karen found her answer when she was introduced to the sport of surfing.
“To be quite honest, I was not ecstatic about the thought of surfing,” she recalls. “I kept envisioning myself falling off the board all the way out in the middle of the ocean and a wave washing me out into the sharks. But at the same time I was also eager to try something new.”
I tagged along with Karen on her journey.
We arrived at Island Water Sports, a surf and sport store in Deerfield Beach, at around 6:45 a.m. on Saturday morning. Why so brutally early? Well, anyone that arrives before 7 a.m. on Saturday gets to use a surfboard and have a lesson provided by the store free of cost. The catch for the word “free” of course is to arrive before 7 a.m.
So after she picked up a surfboard, the crew from the store led the pack of eager newbie surfers to the beach. On the beach they read a scripture to them. The one phrase I remember hearing was, “Always live to surf another day.” I thought that was pretty deep. They also assured all the surfers that if they felt anyone was in any danger at all they would not allow them to go in the water. The instructors then proceeded to give a lesson on how to catch a wave. They demonstrated what not to do, situations you may find yourself in and how to handle them, and then simply how to paddle out and then stand up on the board. After all this was complete, off to the water we went.
Karen was one of the first to go. “Most of the time you are just waiting for a wave to come, you’re not really surfing,” she remembers. “And as a beginner you’re hoping for a small wave, not a gigantic wave that will knock you off the surfboard. I was one of the unlucky ones that got wiped out. But it didn’t ruin my whole experience. I was hesitant at first because I never surfed before, but after the whole experience I am looking forward to doing it again. All in all, it was a lot of fun.”
When we arrived there I really was not planning on surfing. I said beforehand to Karen I would try it, but I secretly was going to try and avoid it. However, watching everyone else go made me actually want to try it myself. And so then, it was my turn.
Someone helped me push the board into the water and then I was on my own. I got on it and started to paddle out. As I waited for a wave to come I realized that I had never been that far out in the ocean before. As scary as it sounds, I thought it was really cool. And then it was time. A wave began to approach. I started paddling forward and began getting in the standing position on the board. I guess I did this too slow because the wave completely knocked me down. But I got right back on and this time was more eager to catch a wave. So again I paddled out and waited for another wave. I could see someone on the shore waving to me letting me know there was another wave approaching. I took a quick look and then started paddling, this time a little faster than before. I quickly got up in the standing position but at the last second opted to stand low rather than stand all the way up. But either way, this time I caught the wave. The feeling I had at that moment was incredible. It may seem a little silly, but I could hardly believe I was on that board riding the wave all on my own. This is defiantly an experience I will never forget.
And neither will Karen. As a matter of fact, Karen hopes to make surfing part of her weekly schedule.
“I’m excited to surf again. It is very relaxing, but don’t get the wrong idea it’s not that easy,” says Karen. “You do have to use a lot of leg muscle and arm muscle. I think I actually got a pretty good workout from it.”
So there you go. A good workout: the gym + the beach = surfing.
