Siesta Key Classic

Where did this month go??? Seriously, I cannot believe that it's already April and all of the sudden I'm neck deep in SUP season and, naturally, tons of homework. 

I missed the Florida State Championships this year, which was a bummer, but I had a family event that was way more important :) lucky for me there was another race on April 14, the Shark Bite Challenge. It was a super fun day, it felt really good to race again! I went pretty hard and ended up with first, so I was stoked :)

I'm going to have to be a bit more careful, though. I recently discovered that I have some tendinitis (tendon swelling) in my shoulders from paddling so much. It's not a huge deal, but I have to make sure that I take it easy and don't overdo it---and I haven't done a very good job of that so far, between the couple of epic downwinders we've had, plus races, plus SUP surfing.

It didn't help that there was a big race on April 20th, a 12 miler called the Siesta Key Classic. Normally I may or may not race the weekend before a huge national race (this weekend is Carolina Cup!), but this race was unique. The first place female 12'6" got a free round trip ticket to Hawaii!! There was no way I was passing this up. 

But I also didn't want to skip my Junior Prom! So rather than choose, I just decided to do both, and just wing it and see what happens. Prom night was really fun and I left a little bit early so that I could wake up before dawn and head down to Siesta Key. So on 4 hours of sleep I arrived with the crew from Suncoast Surf Shop in tow to an overcast day with threatening wind. I knew there wasn't going to be any big competition, so I decided to just go for it. By this time I must have been running on fumes, after writing a 4,000 word essay in the week before as well as my usual homework and responsibilities!!

It was one of the most brutal races of my life!! They tried to shorten the course to make it only 8 miles, but I had to go way far out of the way through the channel to escape the shallow breakers, and it ended up being 13 miles!! It was totally upwind the whole way there and to my dismay, the wind had died a little on the way back. I didn't really push it because I was solidly in first. I spared my shoulders, took it slow, and just had fun with it!! It was great training conditions and I feel more confident now about Carolina Cup now that I've pulled a longer paddle.

I was so exhausted after the race. My toes felt like they were going to fall off and my shoulders were super sore. But I looked over to the water about 10 minutes after the race, and the waves looked SO FUN. Within 20 minutes I was back out on the water catching the BEAUTIFUL waist high peelers in the crystal water, with stingrays swooping underneath me and a ton of friends around me. 

Unfortunately I didn't have time to stay for awards, it was my little sister's birthday so my mom and I hurried home to her. We celebrated for her at home and I promised to take her out to lunch to make up for being gone on her actual birthday. She and my brother are so understanding, they were happy for me!! 

And now I have a $1000 voucher for a round trip ticket to Hawaii!!!! I'm so excited!!!! I'll be there sometime within the year, but for now it will have to wait. This weekend is the biggest race on the East Coast, the Carolina Cup!! Next weekend I'll be heading to SoCal to tour colleges, volunteer with Stand Up for the Cure, and compete in the Performance Paddling Jr Pro!! I'll also be taking the SAT while I'm there, hahaha!! Then it will be Key West Classic, Florida Cup, Standup for Cancer, exams, the ACT, the SAT... the list goes on. But I'm excited and I feel ready for anything!!

As always huge thanks to Bark, Sweet Waterwear, Suncoast Surf Shop, Maui Jim, Surftech, Coach Mike, my family, and also to Quickblade, who sent me a new paddle to help with my tendinitis. These people are the best, wouldn't be where I am without them!! 

Until next time, wish me luck!!

xoxo bailey