My Journey With Health And Fitness – Trying Something New

Yesterday marked the most walking I have ever done in a single day. I did my usual 2 sets of 2 hour walks, walked my dog, walked my senior’s dog and then when I realized where I was at for the day I took a final walk after dinner. The total was 42k steps and 28 km (17.5 miles). I only have 2 more days of walking at least 20 km per day before I scale it back a bit. The problem is I love the fact that I am walking this much so not so sure how successful I will be at scaling it back.

Today I opted not to do the bootcamp course. There were 2 reasons for this, firstly I was in a real time crunch and secondly I was pretty sure what I was about to embark on would make up for it. You see when we were in Mexico in May my husband surprised me for our anniversary by buying me an inflatable paddleboard. The problem was I had no idea how to use it and was concerned that with the bad leg and all, my balance wasn’t good enough. But, I am in the land of no excuses so I had to find a way to be able to successfully paddleboard as part of my ongoing journey.

Today was paddleboard lessons at White Rock beach. I bought the lessons for myself and my husband as he said he wouldn’t mind trying it as well. I have to admit I was nervous as I had tried standing on the paddleboard in Mexico and I wasn’t good at it. However, we are getting a second paddleboard for up at the trailer so I knew I had to master this.

The instructor was awesome. He gave us some on land instructions on what we would be doing as well as taught us how to properly set the paddle length. He was aware of my knee issues and said if I couldn’t master standing up on the board we would find a work around. Fortunately all week during classes I had been practicing how to stand up from a kneeling position which I desperately hoped would get me up on the board. He had us kneel as we paddled out to deeper waters and then it was time to prove what I had in me. Using my hands for balance I got one foot and then the other under me and stood up on the board. Ok, first step accomplished now to try and not end up in the cold ocean (this part did not go well for my husband but as I joked to him he has a very obvious different center of gravity).

I’d be lying if I said I felt comfortable at first on the board. As a matter of fact me legs were literally shaking. However, the instructor coached me through it and got me to relax. He then had me do things like squat, twist my torso, move my feet, and rock the board all to give me confidence that I could balance. Then it was off to the open water learning how to do things like paddle and turn the board. Within about 15 minutes I realized I was no longer worried about my balance and was just focusing on the correct way to paddle. Soon after that it was all about looking at the beautiful scenery all around me.

After an hour and a half the bad leg was tired (ok, not helped by the fact that by 10am I had already walked 20 km) and my balance was starting to fail. As I thought I was about to go into the freezing Pacific Ocean I remembered the instructions I had been given, if you feel like you are going to fall try to drop down flat on the board. Much to my amazement that is absolutely what I managed to do! After laying there for a few seconds I went back to a kneeling position and paddle back to shore joining my husband (who had never successfully gotten up on his board).

All in all this was a great experience for me. The board we have ordered will be here before our next trip to the trailer and I plan on getting in as much practice as possible on the lake (where I note the water is much warmer should I fall off the board). I figure by time I get to Mexico in September I will be a pro at this.

Yep, trying new things sometimes works out pretty well.