"Pain is weakness leaving the body"
- Aug 8, 2015
- 3 min read
I’m just about to enter week five of windsurf bootcamp. Week three was challenging, physically. Week four was challenging, mentally.
Two weeks ago, when we still had wind, it was all go. Full on with the theory, with the new skills, with the morning fitness sessions - fantastic after a week with barely any wind. By Wednesday however (after a big night out at the sailing club to add to it all), I was a goner. Completely exhausted and at breaking point, I was advised to choose something less energy-zapping than running circuits on Thursday morning so that I could keep up with the windsurfing in the windy afternoons.
Did I listen? No. Did I convince myself I was still in my 20s and at the peak of physical fitness? Yes. Did I keep running this blog post’s title (a common quote here by many of the ultra fit, ultra ridiculous) through my head? A little bit.
I thought I could do it all. Thursday night I was out cocktailing-it up until the early hours and Friday night was no different as Holly and I (drunkenly) walked our fellow course-mates’ clothes down the beach at 3am so they could (drunkenly) swim the 1km from the windsurf club to Zeus bar (the one and only club in the village) before stepping on sea-urchins as they emerged from the sea for their grand entrance in front of the club. FUN times. Plus lots of hungover exhaustion. It felt GREAT. The following day, our day off, we spent splashing around at the 'waterpark' in the bay (a couple of inflatables that add up to a lot of fun). But then I remembered I was no longer 20.
Early morning stand-up paddle boarding on Tuesday
I have thus spent the last week having early nights, barely socialising, and trying to redeem myself by exchanging my run circuits for slightly more tranquil activities such as supping and yoga. The only problem being… there has been NO WIND. Zero. Not a breath.
Thus… progress has been slow to non-existent. Yes, we have still had lots of fun playing around in light wind… chasing huge space-hoppers round the bay in a race for each person on each team to touch it, practicing our incredible freestyle moves (!!), but still... It has been impossible to practice in higher winds and gain the vital skills needed to improve our personal windsurfing level. This, added to the intensified heat (no wind = very hot times here) and the fact that I have been doing nothing to exhaust myself exercise-wise in order to recover a bit, has led to a lot of frustration. It probably seems very silly since here I am in a little part of paradise yet, when you arrive in a place expecting to progress to a certain level in a sport and are willing to put in the time, the energy, the practice, the finances AND the drinking hours only to be let down by the natural conditions, it truly is a little frustrating. We have all - instructors included - become a little lethargic, a little tired of sitting around waiting for the wind, pretending we’re enjoying yet another discussion on types of sails or boards or fins. This week, I've spent my day off in a more calm, relaxed manner: I managed to get up for an easy yoga class at 8am, some serious lazing around, a beginners pilates class this afternoon followed by a calm, light-wind sail in a Laser.
Despite the lethargy and frustration of the week just gone, I enter the final two weeks with a smile (even though my roommate, whom I have become quite fond of, is leaving in the morning). Tomorrow, I will give my first presentation to practice for becoming an instructor. I’ve been given the topic ‘The Seven Common Senses for Windsurfing’. I can’t help but wonder if they’re trying to tell me something.
Fun at the waterpark last Saturday on our day off
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