~Thursday Burn
CIRCUIT TRAINING DAY
Start with stationary bicycle:
- 5 minutes warm-up
- 20 minutes (alternate bullets below)
- Maintaining consistent cadence, 20 second breath hold, 40 seconds breathing
- 20 second sprint @ 90%, 40 seconds @ 40%
- 5 minutes cool-down
Workout, water break between exercise blocks:
- 2 rounds, no rest
- 10 push-ups on bosu ball
- 7 pull-ups
- 15 cable ab twists (both sides)
- 10 pop-ups to surf stance
- 50 crunches
- 50 yards bear crawl
- 25 knee-ups
- 2 rounds, no rest
- 30 seconds ropes
- 10 box jumps
- 25 russians
- 10 single leg bosu squats
- 50 yards bear crawl
- 25 knee-ups
- 2 rounds, no rest
- 10 push-ups, feet in TRX, knees to chest
- 10 forward lunges (each leg)
- 10 pop-ups to surf stance
- 50 yards bear crawl
- 25 knee-ups
Cool down stretches and roller work.
~Power Smoothie
Here is a great recipe for a pre- as well as post-workout power smoothie that is one of my favorites.
- 3 Organic Carrots
- 1 Organic Beet
- 1/2 Organic Cucumber (peeled)
- 1 Organic Avocado (with seed)
- 1 Cup Organic Frozen Cherries
- 1 Cup Organic Frozen Blueberries
- 1 Cup Organic Frozen Blackberries
- 1 Handful Organic Kale (steamed)
- 1 Handful Organic Walnuts
- 2 Cups Unsweetened Almond Milk
- 2 Cups Orange Juice
- 1 Scoop Grass-Fed Whey Protein
*A few things to note, the often disposed of avocado seed is packed with antioxidants, and is said to make up 70% of the avocado’s nutritional benefit. Also, note the steamed kale. Kale naturally contains oxalic acid to protect it from animals, insects and fungi. Oxalic acid is a toxin that can cause problems such as gout, kidney stones and muscle pains. Lightly steaming your kale helps to solve this problem while still ensuring you’ll get all the great nutrients the plant provides.
~XXL Global Big Wave Awards “Paddle Nominee”
I am so honored to be in the running for this year’s XXL Global Big Wave Awards as a “Paddle Nominee”, one of the five largest waves paddled into globally for the 2014/2015 season.
http://www.worldsurfleague.com/posts/106854/paddle-nominee-nic-vaughan
~Mavericks December 10, 2014
The swell came with quite a bit of weather, and thus very few windows of opportunity. On this morning, I paddled out shortly after first light and could immediately feel the intense energy of the ocean, even from the safety of the bay inside the infamous Mavz rocks. On smaller, more manageable days, one would usually opt for paddling out on the north end, which brings you around the left. On this day, the chances of a successful strike via this short-cut were slim to none, leaving us to make the trek down around the right. This journey around the right is by no means a dry-hair, leisurely saunter, but rather a half-hour, shoulder-burning battle against mother nature. There’s a healthy cross current from the energy pouring through the rocks to the north that mixes with incoming energy around Mushroom Rock to the south. This cross-up creates a violent, rapid-like chop inside the bay that causes you to half-focus on just staying on top of your board. Once you’re through the rapids in the bay and rounding Mushroom Rock, you’re faced with sets that often close out completely, leaving you to either get very lucky with a quick punch through or left turtling for another twenty minutes until Poseidon decides he’s toyed with you enough. Finally into open water, you begin to see some definition of what is really going on in the line-up. On this day, I began to make out south-wind-textured, dark and ominous stacks. Great. South-wind at Mavericks is notoriously dangerous. Without you realizing, that wind direction pushes you deep and into the bowl in-between sets, and I quote from THE GUY Grant Washburn, “South winds can make Mavz untouchably treacherous. 99% chance of a class 10 pounding just for sniffing a shoulder.” Once into the line-up, I realize this easily double the next biggest day I’ve seen Mavericks. Intimidating. After “sniffing” a set and nearly getting sucked over backwards trying to escape, I realize that if I want a wave, it’s got to be now before the south wind gets any more radical. Before I know it, a bomb aims itself right to me. I put my head down and paddle with everything I’ve got, battling the south wind whipping up the face and at all costs avoiding being hung up in the lip and ejected down into the bowl. As I start to feel the glide, I pop to my feet, engage into a warrior stance for what feels like a never-ending, weightless drop, while the entire time just praying my 9’4 doesn’t turn into a kite on me. I thankfully get to the bottom of this thing and look up to see lip chasing me and the wall expanding all the way to Santa Cruz. With no chance of making it to the shoulder, I did my best to think “speed” and narrowly avoided the lip to my back. Shortly thereafter, I was re-acquainted with the raw power of the day as the whitewash mowed me over. After a good rag-dolling, I pulled my inflatable and shot right to the surface expecting to see another wall marching towards me. To my relief, there was nothing behind it and I was able to get to the channel relatively unscathed. I paddled back out, but after only a short while, the south wind kicked into overdrive making any further attempts reckless. We all decided it was done and paddled in by 8:30am.
~Mavericks Maiden Voyage
This mission was up to Mavericks. I’ve been up there a number of times and looked at it, but have never had the chance to surf it for one reason or another… too crowded, too windy, not enough swell, but last week the stars finally aligned for my opening day out there. I was fortunate enough to have been put in contact with Grant Washburn, one of THE guys, who agreed to take me under his wing and show me the ropes.
I pulled up to the lot mid-afternoon on Wednesday, as he had instructed. The forecasts were all calling for the swell to arrive that evening, peak through the night, with “the day” being Thursday morning. The lot was relatively empty, only a handful of cars which seemed to be of the non-surfer type. As I hop out of my truck, Grant, this 6’8′, 250lb beast of a man approaches with an excited demeanor but with hushed delivery tells me “I think we’re out there! Ocean beach just doubled in size, buoys are 12ft @ 16sec. The swell is here baby!” Without checking it, we quickly suit up and make the hike out to the jump-off rock. No one is around and things look relatively quiet out where I am assuming the wave is supposed to break. “O well, we’re here early. Grant can show me the lineups, there’ll be some good conversation and maybe we’ll get a wave or two just before sunset.” We make the jump, thread our way out through the rock garden and begin the long paddle out. As we’re about three quarters of the way out, all of the sudden we see corduroys stack to the horizon and right before our eyes, this four wave, 18ft, oil glass set marches through the bowl. Our cadence of paddle doubles and Grant yells “That’s real deal!” We make it out the back and within minutes another stack comes through. Grant, with zero hesitation, turns for the first and goes. (I found out later that the first ridden wave of the season is a big deal, so I am glad I didn’t disrupt.) We spent the next three hours trading all-time Mavericks with, by the end of our session, less than half a dozen guys. I could not have asked for a better intro, although this is not where the story ends…
As the session came to a close, I started to get cold and the calf cramps began setting in. No good. At this point, its time for a wave in, so I irrationally turn for the first wave of the next set, a bad move on my part. I make the drop and get to the mid section of the wave that tends to be a little bumpy and frothy. Before I know it, the whitewash mows me over and I go down. The wrists of my wetsuit get blasted up to my elbows, the ankles up to my knees, and I almost lose my left bootie. After a violent couple somersaults , I come up to see the rest of the set detonating and stacking to the horizon. Great. I took four whitewash steamrollers on the head, each one with a little more punch than the last. Finally, the set subsides, luckily with everything ending fine. Thankfully I didn’t get pushed into the rocks, but it was definitely a nice little “Don’t take me lightly” spank by miss Mavericks herself. I am hooked… what a wave.
Nic Vaughan – Mavericks 9-24-2014 Video: Dayla Soul from Nic Vaughan on Vimeo.
~July Fourth, Puerto Style
This next photo might have been the most exhilarating wave of my life, which was followed by one of the most intense beatings I have ever had to withstand. I am glad my fitness is where it is, otherwise things might have unfolded differently.
It was mid afternoon with a bit of texture on the water, low tide and scary. I hadn’t caught a wave in a few hours and finally saw this monster on the horizon. As I’m paddling down the face and go to stand up, I see the bottom drop out and I’m thinking “Oh $#!+, do I hit the eject button or try to pull the airdrop of my life on a 9’4″?” I grabbed my rail, felt myself go weightless, and before I knew it, I’m at the bottom of the wave still standing.. As I bottom turn up into the wall, the spit blasts me in the back like a firehose and I’m completely blind. I did my best to hold my line and as the spit cleared, I found myself going mach 10 towards the shoulder, only to hit a chop in the flats and sprawl out into a graceful belly flop.
Since this swell was so long period, instead of “X” number of waves per set, it was more like “X” minute long sets. With that many waves slamming into a beach break, the water needs somewhere to go and thus, creates these river-like rips that trash the face of most of the waves you might have had a chance of making. When the opportunity arose in which a wave with a shoulder focused itself within your sphere of possibility, and that had a runway unhindered by the rip, it was imperative that you went. At this point, you really aren’t considering whether or not there are waves behind it because most likely there are, and you are going to have to take them on the head if you don’t make your wave to the beach. Lastly, Puerto has a way of pushing you right back out to the impact zone, as opposed to blasting you towards the beach when you’re caught inside. This is why the flotation vests are a necessity out there on any big day. In my case, I had a flotation vest for the morning session, but after being mowed over by a right I rode (photo attached), my vest was ripped square in half down the chest and off my body. Without a backup, I foolishly paddled out for the afternoon session vestless, and found myself in the exact situation described above. So after “belly flopping” in the flats on the left, I came to the surface to find myself being sucked out and right into the impact zone. I took ten waves on the head, no exaggeration, and each time struggled to the surface only to get a mouthful of foam and a glimpse of the next one looming before being sucked back down into the soup. The soup in Puerto has about an 18 inch layer of foam that seems to pull you down like quicksand. Finally, the set let up and I barely wrestled up onto my board, and with the weakest half paddles, slapped my way out past the impact zone. I was seeing white blotches at this point, completely drained and realizing that if there had there been three or four more waves, I seriously might have drowned. As you can imagine, I was relieved but then quickly realized, “$#!+, I’m out the back again.. which means I need to paddle for another one of these?! And actually make it!!” Needless to say, I kissed the sand when I finally touched land.
Here is a fun left from the following day as the swell began to fade.
Nic Vaughan – Puerto Escondido 7-6-2014 Video: Daniel Duran from Nic Vaughan on Vimeo.
