Whaaa'SUP

The cool people know that SUP stands for Stand-Up Paddleboarding.  And the extra cool people have either tried it or are going to try it… soon!

I have now tried SUP twice and consider myself hooked.  This is absolutely going to be an annual summer activity.

I, personally, love activities on the water that don’t involve actual swimming (Allison Schmitt I am not!).  For me, being near or on the water is both invigorating yet calming at the same time.  That’s exactly how I would describe the SUP experience:  stimulating yet soothing; energizing yet lullifying; exhilarating yet pacifying.

In a word (or four)… really, way COOL, dude.

K and I tried SUP for the first time back in May and it was nice that we were kid-less because it was new to us and we could set our own pace; do our own thang, y’know.  But, it is definitely a family-friendly activity.  We took the girls this second time and also saw several kids out on paddleboards with their parents.  The winner was the dad with 4 kids on one board!

I’m convinced my girls will love it, too, once they can get over the idea of swimming with the big carp in the lake.  R FREAKED out at the sight of them and that kinda put a damper on their SUP experience.  We forced them to paddle around for some pics but K had to appease them by renting a paddle boat, which they ended up totally loving.

I left K with the crybabies and caught up with a couple of my girlfriends that had zipped by us earlier and we spent the next hour just paddling and cruising and periodically jumping into the water to cool off.  It was just awesome. 

I found that I liked doing a combination of some standing and some kneeling and have a feeling that I’ll get a little more confident and adventurous each time I go.  I’m even planning on trying the yoga/Pilates-on-the-water class they have some day!  I didn’t have time to this outing. 

 I love how it is a sport that is accessible to pretty much everyone.  Old, young, fit, flabby.  You can dig in deep and get a great workout out of it or just piddle-paddle and cruise around.

Some suggestions I have from my perspective:  If you can avoid paying for a lesson, do so.  This was on a very calm lake and all they told us for the 30-second “lesson” is, basically, face your paddle this way, switch sides about every 3 strokes and keep your leash on at all times.  Hmmm.  All things I figured out on my own within minutes the first time we went out. 

Also, wear a hat, sunscreen and definitely take water with you.  And take a waterproof camera, too, because EVERYONE looks cool on a paddleboard!

Nobody should die without having first tried this!