This weekend, (K) and I decided to take full advantage of the nice weather now that it is coming to mid-August. It also didn't hurt to stay away from the madness along the Queen Anne waterfront due to the Annual Seattle Hempfest in full swing.
For the longest time, I had been dying to try Stand Up Paddle Boarding. It looked like good core and upper body exercise, you are out on the water just cruising around, and it's probably the closest thing I will get to surfing in the near future. If you don't know what Stand Up Paddle Boarding is, either you are from the mid-west, or living under a rock. I mean that in the nicest way. It has kind of become the new thing to do, at least around here that I am aware of. Green Lake, Lake Union, and Lake Washington are prime spots for partaking in this activity. All you really do is grab your board, hop on it (staying on your knees until you get your bearings), then slowly standing up on it while you use this gigantic single bladed paddle to give a little cruising speed.
After we managed to recover from ending up at the totally wrong beach (NWPS northwestpaddlesurfers.com/ has two locations along the Kirkland WA waterfront), we grabbed our boards and got to it. I must say, my legs certainly felt it the next day. It can be a bit wobbly, but you catch on fast. I only had one incident where I almost ended up in the drink, but dropped like a stone onto the board from my feet and managed to recover before tipping over and really loosing it.
While not like the typical sweat drenching, metal slugging gym workout I was used to in the past, I did work up a nice lather cruising around Juanita Beach Park. Of course, a workout not being my primary goal, it was just nice to get out on the water and relax. There were plenty of amateurs (look at me talking like a pro) zipping around, running into each other, and cutting awfully close to my board. I can't help but wonder: With a entire lake free to board on, why the hell are they cutting me off and getting in my way like a Las Vegas cab driver???
Needless to say, if the opportunity should present itself, go for it. It was a lot of fun and great way to spend a few hours outside. While I am no longer in a rush to go out and buy a board (I thought it was going to be my new "thing"), I would definitely do it again. Actually, I have to do it again since I bought another Groupon thinking this is what I was going to be doing all summer long.
