The 2019 surfski race season is fast approaching and I am excited to introduce Austin’s Blog Series where he will share his thoughts, experience and commentary centered around each event on the calendar. Our intent is to provide first hand insight and perspective as Austin trains and prepares for each event, plans his race, executes and reflects on his performance. We expect to learn what it takes (the good, bad and sometimes ugly), to compete at an elite level in the greatest races around the world. Personally, I have enormous respect for the grit and dedication that it takes to reach this level of performance, and specific respect for Austin for his leadership and dedication to growing the sport of surfski here in the US. Enjoy.
With over 250 boats registered for the 2019 Maui 2 Molokai (M2M) and incredible winds predicted for the iconic 42km island crossing, the race is shaping up to be one for the record books. I have raced the M2M twice before, in 2017 and 2018. Both years I came in thinking I could win the M2M and both times I made major mistakes that kept me from having the race I wanted. My mistakes boiled down to a lack of respect.
In the last post I wrote about the NAC Classic race in southern California and how wonderful it was to race pain free after a frustrating six weeks of shoulder rehab. This post picks up seven weeks down the road, as I mull over the last block of training and look ahead to the next race on the calendar, the April 13th Maui to Molokai (M2M) in Hawaii.
Race day came with a torrential morning downpour. Though everything cleared up well in time for the start of the long course, the race organizers decided to remove the ocean section of the course and reroute the race completely in the protected flatwater, just in case.
The NAC Classic falls almost perfectly 5 weeks after my first session of 2019. I chose to compete in this race for three reasons. First, it is a flatter race and due to the colder weather in San Fran and avoiding rougher conditions for my shoulder, I have been focusing my early season on flatwater technique, efficiency, and aerobic base.
The 2019 season has begun in earnest. This January has been one of the lightest volume training months of my surfski career, but it has also been marked by quality, sustainability and self-improvement. Coming off an injury in 2018, I spent much of December resting and rehabbing my injured shoulder.