The Thursday Stoke!

Welcome to my 69th Post.... hell yeah, what's better to be stoked about than seeing 69 Posts on your dashboard! LOL....

Seriously though, I'm completely stoked about this weekend. I am calling it the Florida State Tour de Football by TallGuySurfing! Tomorrow afternoon I'm off to Gainesville to meet up with my University of Florida Pride of the Sunshine Marching Band Alumni band geek friends! Whew... yeah that's right. TallGuySurfing was a band geek once upon a time. As a matter of fact, I was a kickass trumpet player band geek! This is the annual band alumni weekend where we all get together, pretend we can still play our horns and march across the field during halftime slightly intoxicated from tailgating. While it's not the same as the old days of real marching, it's still fun and great to see a lot of old friends.

So Friday night I'll be making appearances in Gainesville. Saturday morning we'll be tailgating outside the MUB (College of Music, next to the famous bell tower) . Saturday afternoon it's Gator football time. Saturday night will likely be more Gainesville shenanigans or I'll head back to New Smyrna Beach to catch the finish of the Ragnar Race. Sunday morning I'm off to Jacksonville. A different set of friends twisted my arm and talked me into coming with them to the Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Buffalo Bills NFL football game. I haven't been to one football game this season and I'm going to knock off a college game (the number 1 team in the country I might add) and a NFL team in the same weekend. This should be ram jam fun packed craziness! So stoked!

Here's a shout out of good luck to the Redhead and also my friend Rolling Hooters (of the Daytona Beach Hash House Harriers) in the Ragnar Race. Both of them are crazy off their rockers and are going to run an all day all night relay across the entire state of Florida. Good luck gals!

The Thursday Stoke! (better late than never)

It's Friday and I'm writing the Thursday Stoke from a bakery in Rincon, Puerto Rico, about the "stoke" that happened Wednesday! So much for being prompt about things, but nothing is prompt when you're on island time!

This is the first chance I've had to get to Wi-Fi and really only because the swell died down a bit so I'm going to explore the south west coast today before returning home tomorrow just in time to catch a swell hitting the east coast of Florida!

For the Thursday Stoke on Friday that is for Wednesday I'd just like to thank all the Veterans that fight for our Freedom and allow me to enjoy epic surfing days while traveling. So at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th Month of this year I surfed this wave at "Wilderness" in honor of the Veterans! Go U.S. Military!

More photos and a full recap to follow in a few days! Everyone have a killer weekend! Peace out from Puerto Rico!

The Thursday Stoke!

It's late in the afternoon and I'll admit... this is the hardest Thursday stoke for me to write yet. Simply because I've been down all week. Down about the poor weather and poor surf, down about the economy, but mostly down about my still injured Achilles tendon. It's looking more and more like I won't be able to finish the Daytona Half Marathon if I attempt to run it and who knows, perhaps I need an MRI or something expensive for doctors to tell me not to run a marathon in January. Everywhere I look I see people, friends, bloggers running since it's race season and it sucks to be injured and remind myself I can't join them. It's almost like many of the women in my life; just around the time I really fall for her, she leaves. Is running leaving me? Ugggh... on to better things now.

The Thursday Stoke!

I'm feeling better already and I'll tell you why! It's better to laugh than be down. Sometimes it's just hard to find that laugh. For the past 20 minutes I've gone back through my email for the past few days and looked at the forwards. Those emails your friends send you that 90 percent of the time you've seen already or they're something annoying bound for the trash can. However, what I'm looking at is the other 10 percent. The few "new" ones that are funny and you know what? I'm laughing at them for all their worth so I'll share some of the funniest things (in my opinion) I've seen all week via my inbox.

Here goes:

1.) This came to me today with only the following label: "Air Traffic Control in Texas!"

2.) This was quite the stir of controversy when I forwarded it to a few friends, but only amongst the ultra (Oh my God what to we do with Obama) conservative friends that can't see the humor in a joke. I love the area that includes Iceland, Greenland and the North Pole that shall be known as Santa! From now on I won't be forwarding those conservative friends anything humorous and if they send me anymore long political email responses I shall respond by only saying "Santa!" with a retarded voice! (click to enlarge)

3.) If you're involved in any kind of real estate right now this is hilarious!

Click here to view the YouTube video.

4.) This one is "in the gutter" but I laughed the hardest when I saw it. It was labeled "My New Girlfriend."

5.) This one isn't funny, but just beautiful. I wanted to close with something that shows my true passion in life. I think this shot by Clark Little accomplishes it perfectly!

Thursday Stoke!

I'm stoked because it's time for the Thursday Stoke!

That means I've got to find a reason to be stoked not matter what the day, good or bad. At 7:50 a.m. this morning I was walking into an office building for an earlier morning meeting and I saw a bunch of guys digging a trench. They were still digging this trench 2 hours later when I left the building to drive to my office. First off, I'd like to stay how stoked I am to have my job and career and NOT be one of those guys digging the ditch. As bad as the real estate market is right now, it's still better than ditch digging.

I'm stoked for Smart Water! I drink the large 1QT size bottle just about every day. This electrolyte enhanced water kicks arse when it comes to hydration and is a must on days I do Bikram yoga.

I am not stoked about my Achilles tendon still being in the NO BUENO status. I'm used to being bulletproof and having an injury or a condition like this that could get REALLY bad if I don't take measures to prevent is new territory for me. However, I can say I'm stoked about finding some new resources because of the my Achilles tendon causing me to conduct research online. Two sites I'm stoked about today are:

Cool Running.com - It has a ton of information, services and tools for runners of all abilities. I also found some useful stretching information for when I can run again that will help me stretch my Achilles tendon better.

Active.com - In my opinion they are kind of like the Ticketmaster of Races, be it a 5k or a full marathon, by charging annoying administration fees tacked onto online race registrations. I usually avoid this fee by simply finding out how to mail in a check and registration form to the race I'm interested in entering. What I'd discovered this week is the running section really does have a lot of useful information about the sport that is available without having to become a member of the site.

I also have to throw out a Happy Birthday stoke to J-Mo at Redhead Running!

And a final stoke to my surfing friend Brian that is leaving tomorrow for a vacation in Thailand!

17 days until the Daytona Half Marathon (maybe I should start running again before then. LOL)

Mid-Stoke Update #1 - Check out the "Mandatory Sex Party" going on over at Hyperbole-And-A-Half's blog. She is crazy funny!

Thursday Stoke

Hey folks, this ain't your normal Thursday Stoke. This is going to be a:

SUPER Thursday Stoke!

There are so many things to be stoked about today that I'll probably forget to mention them all.
Here goes:

First off, I've got to recap where I left off in the last post. I did go for a run yesterday morning. The first run in 8 days. I set out to do 5 miles and only did 3 miles. I tried to go slow, but ended up running a tempo pace (I can't help myself when the distance is short). About a mile into the run Mr. Achilles started complaining so I made the "play it safe" decision to only go three. After all, as you'll read later on, I'm not young, dumb and bulletproof anymore. My Achilles tendon did not swell up to cankle status as it did before, but it is super tight and borderline painful. NO BUENO! I'm back to R.I.C.E.ing it and no more running for a few more days. I'm taking One Sassy Girl's advice and giving the tendon lots of time to heal. This I am NOT stoked about, but when I set out to train for a marathon I planned on dealing with at least one injury so in a way I'm stoked that it's happening now with 90 days left instead of 10 days left or something.

Now for more stoking matters:

• Harrison signed up for Disney... finally! He is my game day running buddy and the reason I got myself into this marathon business in the first place. We are officially both signed up and registered and in this together (he is also nursing an Achilles issue now as well).
  
• My good friends John and Julie are officially moved to Puerto Rico! I did NOT move with them as planned for financial reasons (real estate market can suck it!), but I'm super stoked for them and also eager to fly down there with some of my quiver and rip apart some winter time Rincon swell action! And, eat lots of tropical fruit of course!
  
• In two days, J-Mo (aka Caution: Redhead Running) will rip up her own swell in Chicago. A running swell, that is, of 35,000 or is it 45,000??? of marathon runners pounding pavement in the windy city. She has trained so hard, overcome adversity, harnessed her fears and taken bold risks to get there and I'm so stoked for her. Run Morgan Run!
  
• I've reached my 50th post. This is really my 51st post. I didn't even realize it until writing this one so I'm stoked about far this little blog is coming along and I'm especially stoked for my readers and also each of their entertaining blogs!
• Jojoba is having surgery tomorrow! Yes, I am stoked about this and I'll tell you why! Jojoba is one of my closest friends. We're both Gators (marched in the band several years apart), both majored in the same college within the University of Florida and both love to surf and love the ocean and some how we managed to find each other and become friends. About eight months ago we were at a rock climbing wall and she fell only about three feet right in front of me and broke her tibia and fibula in her right leg. She had immediate surgery, but the past few months have been hell for her and her recovery because her fibula (smaller non-load bearing bone) is not healing like it should, which is causing her a lot of pain. So tomorrow she is getting a second surgery done to hopefully correct it. I know she is super nervous about it, but I am super stoked because I have faith that this will all work out and she'll be back to her old self fearlessly charging hurricane swell waves very soon! Good luck my dear Jojoba!

Jojoba

And last, but not least, I'm stoked for all the birthday's this week. Most of all Jeanie Marie's birthday tomorrow. She has been a great friend to me; a best friend ever since one day (about 16 years ago) in high school where she ran into me (literally at full speed) in the hall way next to my locker. We normally celebrate "our" birthdays together (mine is today), but she now lives in California and our schedules didn't work out for a visit this October. Tonight I will call her a few minutes after midnight because it will be her birthday in my time zone and my birthday still in her time zone. Yes, I know I'm a dork, but for the first time we'll be celebrating our birthdays together (really at the same time) on the phone. It's also Rixy's birthday tomorrow. Happy Birthday to Rixy. We miss you're antic's over in NSB!

And finally (really this will be the final one, I promise) as I said earlier I'm not young, dumb and bulletproof anymore. I'm officially 32-years-old today and I'm stoked! I look around and I'm in much better shape than many people 10 years younger than I and I really do feel great! So I'm stoked to be older, wiser and only slightly bulletproof. :-) Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes! It's only 10 a.m. and I'm already overwhelmed. My email inbox this morning contained 61 email notifications from Facebook alone. I'm afraid to log onto Facebook just thinking about how I'm going to respond to all of those comments.

Tonight I'm off with some surfer friends to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal's Islands of Adventure. It was a last minute idea by my friends to drag me to this event. I'm not really into the haunted house kind of things, but there are some gnarly roller coasters, which I do like because they remind me of my aviation days back when I was flying airplanes. I tried to get a date to come with me, but being last minute it didn't work out. Hey, it's my Birthday! I'm going to have a good time and be stoked about it anyways!

Good luck to all those running marathons this weekend and may an epic swell with offshore winds grace your beach wherever you are on the rock!

Thursday Stoke!

First off let me just say how stoked I am today because this morning I closed one of my deals, which means I will get a paycheck! Working on 100 percent commission in the world of real estate is extremely tough these days. I'm super excited to be getting paid soon! Perhaps I'll buy myself some new running shoes or a new surfboard.... or maybe I'll just pay some bills!



Second off let me just say I'm sorry for being so "emo" in my last post and a BIG thanks for all the comments of support and suggestions! I'm still on the "DL," but have moved on to the acceptance stage of being injured.... hmmm maybe I should write a post on the mental stages of injuries??? Injury occurance => Denial => Frustration => Anger => Acceptance => Cope => healing???

Well, I'm over it. I've been icing, compressing, elevating my Achilles tendon religiously the past few days, it's just the "rest" part of R.I.C.E. that I find difficult. Also, I might add that researching Achilles tendon injuries online is enough to scare the living hell out of any runner! As of this morning my left ankle is feeling a lot better, but is still looking like a "cankle" of sorts.*

I've been reduced to keeping it wrapped in an ACE bandage with a neoprene brace over top. It hurts to wear shoes and my REEF flip flops are definitely a "negative Ghostrider," so I'm wearing these "Jesus" sandals (a reference made by a surfer friend of mine upon seeing me in them) everywhere! (See photo to the right)

Now on to the real reason for the Thursday Stoke!

I'm stoked for being on the DL and I'll tell you why! My inability to sit still usually keeps me occupied with work and exercise be it running, surfing or anything else active. With a cankle-clad left foot in a Jesus sandal I'm kind of stuck to limping around, but the hell if I'm going to sit on the couch and watch TV for very long. My surfer friend, Brian and I recently took notice of many pro surfers and even a few local guys riding these thin wooden boards with no rocker. It looks extremely difficult and the boards can't be but a 1/2 inch thick and have no fins. In a brilliant stroke a genius we decided that we too shall make our own plank boards. After a little online research we discovered the PC name for them is "Alaia" boards and they supposedly date back to ancient Hawaiian surfers.

Seriously, how difficult can it be to make a straight plank surfboard with no fins???

So off we went, or hobbled I went and Brian walked, to the Home Depot to buy lumber, sandpaper and waterproofing sealant. A few nights of power tools, saw dust everywhere and feeling a little high from wood stain and varnish fumes and I'm happy to report that we're just about ready to test out our very own Alaia boards. Now all we need is a swell to bring some waves powerful enough to carry our crazy @sses on these creations.

I'm predicting that one of two things or both will happen upon the first testing.
1.) The waterproofing FAILS (we should really be using resin) and the wood de-laminates. and/or
2.) The board breaks either from the waves energy or our body weight or me ripping up the wave!

Still, I'm stoked to be experimenting with an idea and building something with my own hands. I may have to take a few days off from marathon training, but it doesn't mean I have to sit on the couch! Stay tuned for an Alaia board field test blog post sometime in the near future!


*Note: top picture is NOT my legs, but my left leg looks just like this! Ouch! No more arching in the Achilles. However, the Keen "Jesus Sandal" is my foot.

The Thursday Stoke!

This week I am stoked for the beginning of the Fall season!

Autumn officially began on Tuesday. I am SO ready for all the fun things to be stoked about this Fall. Yup, that's right... in list format 10 reasons I'm stoked for Autumn!

1.) Cooler temperatures. At this point in Florida it's hard to tell it is Fall. Temperatures are still in the 90s F during the day and when wearing work attire it feels like an inferno. I can actually feel myself sweating sometimes while in the water surfing!

2.) With cooler temperatures there won't be a need for running at crazy before dawn hours like last Saturday when Redhead Running and I had a 4 a.m. start to our long run. This means NO MORE RUNNING IN THE DARK! It also means temperatures will be agreeable for evening runs at sunset. I always run better in the afternoon as I'm NOT a morning person no matter how hard I try!

3.) Earlier sunrise, which means more time to surf at dawn before work and before they open the beach to traffic. Yes, the water will be colder (I hate wetsuits), but the lineup will be less crowded with beginners, weekend warriors and out-of-towners (trying to be nice to the O-town kooks! LOL)

4.) Grass grows slower. I'll only have to mow my yard two or three times all winter instead of once a week in the summer!

5.) Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays! Within a week's period in October seven of my friends including myself celebrate birthdays! Happy Birthday to Morgan, Landy, Jeanie, Melissa, Riki, Jess and ME!

6.) Halloween! One of my favorite holidays. I've got a great group of friends and we usually dress up in some kind of theme. Last year we were hippies from the movie Easy Rider. This year I'm really excited because I'll be entering a Halloween surfing contest, but you'll just have to wait and see what I dress up and attempt to surf as....

7.) Races galore! 5Ks, 10Ks, 15Ks, 4-milers, Half Marathons and Marathons... they're everywhere! I'm already registered for the Daytona Half Marathon on Nov. 1st and the Disney Marathon on Jan. 10th. I hope to throw in a healthy mix of the others hopefully with a few running friends!

8.) Football... need I say more?

9.) Bigger waves. October always has good surf in store for east Florida!

10.) And finally I'm stoked for my dog, Tucker! While I hate cold weather (unless it involves a snowball fight, snowboarding or bonfire on the beach), my dog absolutely loves the cold. He's half lab and half poodle and he'll sit outside all day and sniff the cold wind.


Have a fun weekend everyone! 104 Days until Disney Marathon!