Perhaps that is overly simplistic.  However, I’m hoping that you see even though you may have good technique, until you learn to sequence the firing of your muscles in order to execute that technique with maximum efficiency you are fighting against yourself to some degree. Of course learning a new movement requires experimentation, which means a series of trials and errors until you find the correct coordination.

When I teach people a new technique, I try to keep the tasks to a minimum so that they can attack a new movement without being overwhelmed.  The fewer movements between each part of the stroke, the more efficient. One of the most important tips that I give when teaching a new stroke is to use very little power. Before you can apply any power you need to truly learn the movement. Once you feel some mastery of the technique, then you need to work on the efficiency. In other words, start with your body and muscles completely relaxed. Move into your stroke slowly trying to call upon only those muscles that are necessary to execute that move. Any extra muscles that fire in that process can be considered counter-productive.  Once your movements become relaxed and flow from one part to the next with rhythm and coordination, then you can start to apply small increments of increased power. Keep in mind that it doesn’t necessarily have to feel like a lot of effort to be fast.

Think of it like a symphony. Every instrument by itself really only makes noise, but when all of those noises are coordinated and sequenced in order, they can create a magical experience of sound that can have a profound effect on all that hear it. I’m sure everyone has said or heard someone say ” that guy makes it look so easy”. Well that’s because he has mastered every movement to a point of making it look easy and for him it probably is. Have fun.

Aloha,

Dave

Scotty and Mandy (the managers) have done such a great job at creating a vibe that is just perfect for a little five acre island in the middle of paradise.  Namotu lefts just seem to go on forever and are perfect for stand up especially when the current starts to move in or out.  Swimming pools is probably my favorite wave in the world.  You never feel like you’re in danger.  You can long or short board it and again it’s perfect for stand up.  It’s got a barrel then a big cut back, and it’s easy to square off the bottom and hit the lip.  It’s just a really easy wave to have fun on.  Imagine Malibu on it’s best day ever then clean it up a bit, crystallize the water, put the water temp. at 76 degrees, take away the crowd, put Tavarua in the back ground and ta-daa!!!  You’ve got pools.  Now that the reef rights have opened, if you want to step your game up you can go to Cloud Break, but it can be crowded so be prepared.  I prefer the mellowness of the Namotu line ups.

The staff on the island are incredible and a lot of so called resorts could learn from them when it comes to hospitality.  They are so friendly and greet you by name in the morning, and their bulas and vinakas never feel forced or contrived.  In fact, I would say the friendliness of the people is just as big of a reason to go there as any.  The snorkeling is world class and if you bring along non-surfing friends they will take you fishing everyday if you want.  Chances are you will be eating whatever you catch by dinner.

I can’t tell you enough about how much I enjoyed myself while I was there.  The group of people I was with helped to make it such a terrific experience. Chances are if you take a trip down you just might see me there.  In fact I’m already starting to set up a Kalama Kamp on Namotu for next year.  If you do one thing for yourself this year, do Namotu!

Aloha,

Dave

Option one, approach the wave as if you were going to try and get over it, but at the last moment before impact prepare to shoot the board up and over the white water.  Just as the wave is about to hit, shoot the board over it by leaning back and jetting the board forward.  If it is a longer board you may need to take an extra step on the way out the back.  Make sure you shoot the board with an upward projection so that it doesn’t come straight back into you.  The whole purpose of this technique is to get the board over the white water so that it doesn’t pull so much with the leash and potentially take somebody out that is behind you.  Of course your sacrificing yourself a little, but at this point it’s about damage control.  Remember after shooting the board, get yourself down underwater in case the board decides to come back with the white water.

Next option, and perhaps the most challenging.  If you are from the old windsurf  days you’ll remember a move we called a “chicken jibe”.  It starts with a quick turn around so that your pointed in.  Next, you start paddling hard for the shore and finally just before the wave overtakes you, get down low into your surfing stance.  Favor your weight forward, so that as the wave hits and tries to knock you back, you’ll be better prepared for impact.  Have the paddle on your front side and stick it back into the white water, this will enable you to pry against it for leverage to help keep you up.  The goal of this technique is to catch the white water, as opposed to getting run over by it.  After some practice you’ll be surprised with how big of a white water you can catch.

The last option is perhaps the easiest to execute.  Abandon ship!  I’ll only use this when I know I’m not endangering anybody inside of me and when the wave is so large, all bets are off.

One final tip is to keep your eyes open if possible and the water is somewhat clear.  This way you may be able to swim yourself up in between the boils coming down at you.

Aloha,

Dave

Here’s a quick tip that may help you with getting over white water.

When I’m in my four man surfing canoe and we’re paddling back out through the surf, as we approach a white water, there are basically two things we try to do.  One, pick up a little extra speed on the approach, and two keep paddling right through the white water.  The same is true for stand up.  On the last five strokes prior to hitting the white water, pick it up a little to maximize your inertia that will help carry you over it.  Next, and this is where most people make their mistake, keep paddling through the white water (or at least take a stroke) as the nose of the board initially hits it, in order to pull yourself through the first part. This serves two purposes, it will help get you over the initial climb and two, your blade will be in the water already to act as a stabilizing device in case the white water is trying to knock you off.  What you don’t want to do is raise your paddle high, which I see people do all the time.

The next little key to success is to move your normal back foot back slightly just before impact, this will help create a little extra stability.  Meaning if you are regular footed in your surf stance, then move your right foot back prior to impact and vice versa if your a goofy foot.  How much you move that foot back is dependent upon how big the white water is.  Ankle to knee high white water and I will move it back maybe six inches to a foot.  Knee to waist, a foot or two, and head high and over I will move that rear foot back at least two to three feet.  One of the main reasons to move the foot back is to shift your weight back slightly so that the nose of the board will be elevated as it meets the front of the white water.  The trick becomes moving your weight back over your front foot just after impact to aid the board in climbing over it.  If you stay on your back foot to long it will usually end in popping a wheelie and then flying out the back door.  It also helps if you can have the paddle on your front side, meaning your right side for regular stance and your left for goofy.

I hope this helps and good luck.

Aloha,

Dave

Misery loves company.

Photo by Daniel Costigan

For me this race had a lot to do with redemption. I had an extremely tough racing season last year with two very big disappointments. First, at last years Naish Maliko race my rudder fell off by the time I got to Hookipa. I probably had a 100yd. lead by that point and thought it was money in the bank. The next thing I know my rudder isn’t reacting to any of my movements so I jump in the water, turn my board over and there’s nothing there. It was like a bad dream, I couldn’t believe it was happening and it took me a good couple seconds to get my mind around it. My first thought was “I’m screwed”, then I thought no, I’m gonna see how many people I can beat without a rudder. Had I actually gone across the finish line at the end I still would have gotten 9th place, but on that day I wasn’t looking for a 9th place finish, I was just trying to salvage some type of moral victory.

Next was last years Molokai to Oahu. I over trained and ended up getting sick. It really was heart breaking because I had put in an absurd amount of training to prepare for that race. I started with a one hour up wind paddle and kept building till I had gotten to the point of doing a five and a half hour up wind paddle. The downwind part only took an hour fifteen. I ended up doing the race anyway but went through a very tough mental experience that I described in detail in the “Inspiration” post.

The night before this year’s race I had the good fortune of having a meal with Jamie Mitchell. Part of the good fortune being that his fiance Joss cooked one of her fantastic pasta dinners, the rest being that we talked about strategy and line stuff. Even though I’ve been across that channel many more times than Jamie, nobody has won as many times as he has so it’s always good to get his take on the line and strategy. He had mentioned that he might go a bit north and as I saw the following day, boy did he ever. Which in the end I think was a factor in my success, because everyone decided to follow him, even the stand up guys. That left a more direct route wide open for me to exploit. Maybe only one or two guys decided to follow me on the A to B tactic, which was great because the whole race I was left alone to race my race and not be distracted by the press boats and the helicopter flying over head. It was just me and my escort boat to run our line.

At about half way my support crew, Loch, his brother Hunter and Nalu, were telling me I had maybe two miles on the rest of the pack, but because I don’t like to look back, I didn’t really believe them and just kept acting like they were right behind me. My cousin Ekolu is such a strong paddler that no lead is big enough to be safe from him, and that’s just what I was thinking almost the whole way. It wasn’t till I got maybe a couple hundred yards from the finish did I actually believe he wasn’t going to catch up. Like I told his mom earlier in the day,” I don’t care which one of us wins, as long as it’s a Kalama”, she agreed and gave me a big smile.

In most of my races that I do or even in training runs I like to create a mantra and then just keep repeating it to myself, in order to help me focus on whatever I feel is important for that day. For this day it was ” every bump matters, use every single bump no matter how small it is”, and ” do whatever it takes to keep the board moving”. Both are very obvious but when you’re fatigued and your wits aren’t as quick as normal, it’s tremendously helpful to already have those stuck in your head like a bad song you can’t stop singing. What they also do is create a point of focus so you don’t wonder off into la-la land, which is really easy to do if you’re by yourself with no competition. Another really important factor is your escort boat. They really can make it or break it for you. I had a great crew in that they were very positive, very supportive and very motivating when I had no competition around me. They kept checking if I needed liquids, which reminds you to hydrate. At one point I started thinking maybe I should back off to conserve energy and as soon as they could see me letting up Loch said ” keep pushing, go for the record!”. Just that little comment totally fired me up again and it was full steam ahead. Most people don’t put much consideration into their escort boats but I’ve learned my lesson, and I can tell you this. If you’re serious, you better start paying attention to who is on the boat because it can make a huge difference. Ali from Australia found out the hard way what a bad boat driver can do to you. The guy bailed on her just before the finish line, she cramped and there was nobody there to help her. Didn’t even get to cross the line. If it were me, in the mental state anyone would be in after that much exertion, I would have snapped. Full postal. But she handled it with tremendous grace and focused on all the positive things she did accomplish. She is much more evolved than I am.

As hard as this race is, and as much as I like to say I’ll never do it again, there is a certain feeling of accomplishment that comes with just doing this crossing. Whether you’re first or two hundred and first it really doesn’t matter–the race is against the channel. You can see the glow on every participants face that says” I did it”. So simple yet so profound. Because behind that glow of exhaustion, is all the miles of preparation, the days of work to buy the airline tickets, the phone calls to organize your escort, organizing your equipment, the anticipation, making sure you have enough to drink, the hours working on your technique, the sacrifice of being away from friends and family and all the hundreds of other details that must be tended to. You earn that glow, it can’t be fabricated. It only comes from the finishing of that monumental task, and finishing position has nothing to do with. Everyone that does it gets the glow whether they want it or not. When you look a fellow paddler in the eye, you see it, and you smile knowing words can never describe what you both share.

I hope to see you out there next year. I think.

Aloha,

Dave

Finding the fun in races is sometimes an exercise in perspective. In the Maui to Molokai I was worried that my flight from Seattle the night before was going to be a factor in my performance, but at the two hour mark I felt good. My plan was to get to the Kamalo buoy first and then surf my way home because that run can be so good, and for a few miles it was, but it did not live up to it’s reputation.

Once I got to Kamalo Conner caught up and passed me by a little bit. I knew that I couldn’t panic if I wanted to have a chance at getting back in the race. So I collected my thoughts, took a couple of sips on my drink and refocused. Within a couple of minutes I was back in the race with a few good glides and had passed Conner back. Even if you can’t win, these are the moments that make it fun. The exchange we had for the next fifteen or twenty minutes actually made the race for me. These are the times where you feel like you’re truly racing. Totally in the moment and giving each other your best, completely lost in the battle. For me that’s what racing is all about. I know we all race to win or at least do the very best we each individually can, but races within the race are the golden gems that pop up unexpectedly, and separate the most memorable moments from the general blur of delirious exhaustion.

In any case Conner dropped me eventually and did a great job of holding off a serious press by my cousin Ekolu. Later there was a moment after Conner got about a hundred yards on me that I thought I’d better make a move or it was over for good. So I really went to work and, in my opinion, really started to fly. Getting monster glide after monster glide, I started to gain some ground back, but just not enough, so that’s when I conceded and realized that this kid can really glide. I also realized that my concern about not having enough fluids at the start of the race was valid, and my early attempt to conserve fluids by not consuming all I wanted was costing me–I started to cramp. I popped electrolyte pills like they were candy but I was too far gone and they had little or no effect.

Life’s Little Lessons
As I’ve stated before, hydration is huge, and just because I know it doesn’t mean I’m immune to failing to heed my own advice. In fact many of the tips I share serve a second purpose in reminding myself of what’s important. Let’s face it, there are so many little things to remember for a long distance race like: Reach, twist, breath, use your peripheral vision, hydrate, relax, stay focused, electrolyte pills, gu, music, don’t drop the top hand, pace yourself, push yourself but not to hard, focus on the line, connect the bumps, etc., etc.. And then you start the check list over to make sure you manage them. One thing missed may or may not take you out of the race but forget two or three and you’re done.

A new little lesson is in false economies. I thought I would try to save money and not have an escort boat for this race but in the end it probably cost me more to not have one, as both of my main competitors had boats and I’m sure the support they received was very helpful. I’m not saying that I could have beaten Connor and Ekolu that day if I had had a boat, but I can’t help thinking I might have saved a hundred bucks and lost $4000.

So once Conner was clearly beyond on my reach I just kept paddling and repeating to myself “anything can happen, be prepared to pounce in case he makes a mistake”. It’s my philosophy that you always keep pressing because you never know what’s going to happen and if it doesn’t at least you gave it all you had. I don’t like to look back to see what’s going on behind me because I find that if I react to what’s behind me it breaks my rhythm. I like to just look forward and hammer, but on this occasion about a three quarters of a mile from the finish I peeked back just in case somebody was sneaking up on me. Sure enough, Livio was coming up my six o’clock and fast. I had to do something drastic or I was going to lose third. At this point in the race the wind had pretty much died but there was still small bumps running with us. It was time for a gut check. So after a few big deep breaths I put the hammer down looking for anything that would buy me a few feet that Livio might not get. Bingo! I got a small one that turned into about a twenty five yard glide. I worked so hard to get it that had I not, it could have been the end of me. Just that one little glide bought me some valuable real estate and some much needed confidence that motivated me to get another one which clinched third for me. Once we turned the channel marker buoy to head into the finish I didn’t realize how long two hundred yards could be. Nevertheless, the minute I crossed the line everything on me locked up. If I had fallen off my board I might have drowned. Lucky for me there were plenty of ice cold liquid muscle relaxants around.

Once again I’ve got to give a lot of credit to Conner for such a strong race. As I told him later, he really earned it.

Aloha,

Dave

The best part of his whole act and perhaps the part I admire most is his humility. I’m from the old school where you let your actions do your speaking and keep your mouth closed except for eating and maybe a cold one. Besides being king of his domain he’s not one dimensional, he is a waterman in the true classic sense of the word. Canoe, stand up, long board, big waves ( paddle and tow), swimming, body surf, foil board and lifeguard just to name a few of his consistent activities. He’s very much a throwback to the surfers of the fifties and sixties, where the ocean was your everything. Your gym, your playground, your church, your school and your frige. When what you rode was much less important than how you rode it. Skill and bravado trumped style and equipment every time and a brutal wipeout sometimes carried more clout amongst the tribe than a pretty make. He reads and attacks the bumps on down winders like a white shark reads and attacks a baby seal, with no mercy for anything that doesn’t keep him moving forward. His dedication to preparation is unparalleled by any in his sport and yet his appreciation for those who show up to give it a go is classic Hawaiian style, full of aloha and encouragement.

During his latest trip to Maui I had the chance to talk story with Jamie about the up coming races and shoot the breeze about a couple other things. I think you’ll find it amusing.

DK- Next years Naish, Stand up or paddle board?

JM- 95% certain it will be paddle board (Dk- I’m not buying it) .

Dk- Why?

JM- Because if I’m going to do Molokai (paddle board) next year, which I am, the Naish is a good warm up for that race.

DK- If you had to flog somebody for the BP disaster, who would it be?

JM- I don’t know to much about it, but I would have started with BP then go on to Obama for not taking more action sooner. Similar to how Bush handled the New Orleans disaster I believe that Obama could have taken more decisive and substantial action sooner.

Dk- After a perfect day on the water do you end with a) beers with your mates till you need a taxi. b) A glass of wine and watch the sunset. Or c) A couple of beers with the boys then go see the misses.

JM)-Old days it would have been a) but now times have changed, I choose d) beers with the boys and bring the little lady along with me till we both need a taxi.

Dk- You’ve been absolutely dominant in paddle boarding for so long, are you finding it harder to find the motivation to prepare for the races as time goes by?

JM- Each year is getting harder to get going but once I get past the first month of training I’m good to go. It’s hard for us downunder to just keep training month after month with only a few small races knowing that it’s all just for the races in Hawaii. Especially as the weather gets colder in our winter and there’s no where to put all the training to use.

DK- What do you have to say to all the stand up guys that bag on paddle boarding?

JM- I would say remember who the new kid on the block is and that the majority of the really good stand up guys all started on paddle boards. And that the paddle board races were the ones that included sup originally, so SUP owes a lot of it’s growth to the those first races.

DK- Surftech has a Jamie Mitchell stand up model, what percentage of your total surfing does stand up represent?

JM-80%. I just went to G-land with three short boards and a stand up and spent about 90% of the time on my stand up.

DK- You seem pretty keen to keep up on other sports. What and who is your favorite and why?

JM- Rugby league, and my team is Parramatta.

Dk- Who’s your favorite NBA team?

JM- Lakers. (DK- good answer YEAH!!!!) I also enjoy watching MMA.

DK- Congratulations on your recent engagement. How many kids?

JM- (Awful big pause then) One boy and one girl.

DK- If paddle boarding hadn’t come into your life, what would have taken it’s place?

JM- Probably rugby. When I was a kid I was doing both sports when I got an injury and my father told me if I wanted to be successful at one of them I would have to choose one or the other. I chose paddle boarding so if paddle boarding wasn’t there it would be rugby.

Dk- If you could start a business, what would it be?

JM- The Jamie Mitchell foundation to benefit abused or underprivileged  kids.

Dk- Give me a couple of bucket list items.

JM- Own my own house and go for a fighter jet ride.

Dk- Preparation is a huge part of your success. Do you have any tips your willing to share?

JM- In the last three years I’ve put a lot of focus on nutrition and recovery supplements. Do all the hard yards a month before the race so you can taper and not over train. Two weeks out you can’t get any faster but you can slow your self down by over training.

DK- Last question. Who’s helped you the most to get you where you are?

JM- My family. Because of all their support no matter what I did and encouraged me no matter what my dream was.

DK- Thanks Jamie. It’s been fun and good luck with all the races.

Aloha, Dave

Now when I say gliding I’m not referring to only doing stand up downwinders, but rather, regular surfing, all sorts of canoeing, body surfing, kayaking, prone paddle boarding, windsurfing, etc. The one common thread being sliding down a wave or wind swell. There is something so liberating and invigorating about that moment of gliding on the water. Perhaps very similar  to flying for the first time where you are generating your own propulsion by using the forces of nature and intellect to orchestrate a compiled  symphony of movements that culminates in a simple glide. A lofty description perhaps of a simple action but you have to admit there really must be more going on there than meets the eye. Why else would it make you feel so good on such a fundamental level. Why else would it be so addictive and cause that euphoric feeling every time you get a good glide.

I’ve got a few theories as to why but in the end they really are only theories. Judging by the number of people that are sharing this feeling though, I know I’m right about one thing. It’s fun.

Photo by Darrel Wong

In fact it’s so fun that people will spend thousands of dollars to get it, plane tickets to any where in the world at the drop of a hat . Sometimes millions if you consider buying a house in Maui to be closer to your glide. The equipment certainly isn’t free so it must be worth quite a lot to get that feeling. On my Hawaiian side of the family that glide has been handed down for generations. My Natural father was the 1962 U.S. amateur surfing champ, obviously addicted, his father started the first outrigger canoe club in California and was one of the best body surfers in Hawaii, obviously addicted, and I’m sure it doesn’t stop there. Most of my closest friends all model their lives so that when it’s good they can go. Laird and I have been getting paid to glide in one form or another for the last twenty five years, thereby far exceeding our predetermined shelf life, and very honestly I think the day I stop will be the day I go to that endless glide in the sky.

So what is it? Is the water shooting out from under your board. Is it the unseen force that accelerates  for no apparent  reason, is it the feeling of weightlessness that you feel for that split second. Waves are by definition energy, so is it the act of immersing yourself in that energy for a moment. Because of all the little factors you must coordinate, is it that it completely draws you to a single point of focus just for a few moments where you are totally in the moment( maybe). Is it that feeling of getting free space or distance, while your gliding. Maybe it’s the feeling of those subtle vibrations of skimming across the surface coming up through the board and into your feet that generate the sensation of speed. As mentioned earlier, maybe it’s that feeling of soaring free like a bird through the boundless waters. Or maybe it’s all of those things with a few reasons that will never be explained, but we sure sense that they exist.

Whatever that attraction is to glide, I know it’s real, and I know it makes me feel good. I know that without it I would be half the person I am today.  I know that I love it and that it’s fun to share.

As I say, I’ve got my theories, I’d like to hear yours. I wonder if people have thought this through, and if there are answers–spiritual, physical, philosophical, or just gut.
Aloha,

Dave

That’s not a small thing to me, and it’s not just a little food for my ego. I know inspiration is important, because just like everyone else, I need to find things and people that inspire me.

One such person is Emily Haager. Emily was a young lady in her twenties with cystic fibrosis. She was one of the main spokes people for “Pipeline to a cure”, a charity gala that Laird and I are involved in to raise money to find a cure for this disease. One of the reasons that Laird and I are involved is a surf and ocean connection–the most effective treatment for this disease  is to breathe salty air, which was discovered by a group of doctors who saw that groups of kids in Australia with this disease were doing better than most. They discovered those kids were surfing, and they found that it was the salty ocean air they were breathing that was giving them relief. This inspired one of the most effective treatments they have for this disease.

After having the opportunity to get know Emily and find out what a normal day consists of for a person with CF I was blown away. Most of their waking hours are spent treating themselves which only leaves a few hours to play and that’s when they don’t have a lung infection that puts them in the hospital. In any case after hearing her stories I found it absolutely amazing that this young lady could be so vibrant and full of love for life. She admitted though there were very tough times, but when she spoke about surfing her face would gleam like the sun in the morning. The one thing she told me that really stuck was ” as a CF patient you don’t get to quit. If you want to live you must go through the daily treatments no matter what.” I had no idea at the time how inspiring that would be to me later that year.

About a week before last years Molokai to Oahu stand up race I got the flu, probably from over training. I had gone so far over the top training for that race because I wanted to win so bad. I was starting at the harbor on my stand up board and paddling to just past Peahi  then back down( 5 hrs into the wind) to prepare for this race. Biking up the crater, beach workouts even hiking up in Haleakala for altitude training.  So when I got sick it crushed me, I was trying everything I knew of to combat this sickness, including IV vitamin bags, acupuncture  and even chicken soup. They all helped a little. When I woke up the morning of the race I sort of felt up for it and thought I might be alright. When the race started I was OK and started to get my hopes up, but at the half hour mark Ekolu made a move that I had to cover, which meant it was time to go to work. Immediately I could tell that I didn’t have the strength it would take. I was completely devastated but thought don’t quit yet maybe it will come. Within fifteen minutes it was completely obvious that I didn’t have what it would take, my illness had got the best of me.

I was on my way over to my escort boat with the intention of pulling the plug, I hadn’t come here to get anything but first, and it just wasn’t going to happen today, but just before I got there I remembered what Emily had told me,” CF patients don’t get to quit”. I realized at that moment I was being a pouty little bitch, who was going to go home because I couldn’t have my way. With that realization everything changed. I still wasn’t competitive but by God nothing was going to keep me from getting to that finish line. I had about five more hours to contemplate everything I stood for, even though I wasn’t going to win, what kind of heart do I really have, would the CF patients be proud of me if I dropped out, all sorts of things that make you question your worth, and in the end I came to this. It’s just a race. You’re not going to die, you’re not doing anything very noble, you’re just doing a race and you chose to be here. Cf patients don’t get to chose if they get that disease. With that thought I was a bit ashamed of myself for getting so consumed with what really is a very selfish pursuit. So I finished the race, I went home, my wife coddled my ego for me and learned a very good lesson. There are so many things out there with a gazillion times more meaning and purpose that must be done and finished, and if I can’t even finish this race, how can I ever hope to do something with real meaning and purpose.

Emily unfortunately has passed away from the disease, but her smile and inspiration will never leave me.

Another person that has recently inspired me is Jordan Romero, a thirteen year old boy that just successfully climbed Mount Everest. I went to high school with Jordan’s stepmom Karen, who is an incredible endurance athlete herself. I don’t have all the particulars on how it really went but I do know that he made it to the top and more importantly back down. Just a couple of days ago his achievement inspired me while I was on a training paddle. My goal was to do two Maliko laps ( up down up down) on my OC-1. I was fine on the first lap but as I started the second I found myself needing some inspiration. I thought about Jordan. “This thirteen year old kid climbed Mount Everest and you are starting to think you’re getting tired”. It made me laugh at myself. “You can’t begin  to compare the two, not even in your wildest dreams” I thought to myself  “if I even start to think I’m tired I’m going to hit myself over the head with my paddle”.  Problem solved, seven and a half hours later I was on my way home to eat a nice meal, not curl up on the side of the tallest mountain in the world, in below freezing temperatures, with some rock stuck in my back and the threat of a storm that could make me a permanent fixture on the side of that mountain for the rest of time.

So find your inspiration from where ever  or whomever it comes. As long as it gets you over any mental barriers that you set up for yourself, it’s worthy.

Aloha,

Dave

Aloha,

Dave