Surfing at Ocean Beach in San Diego

I got to check off one of the things on my bucket list this week: trying surfing. I've gotta admit, I grew up relatively close to the ocean and we went to the beach all the time but I never tried surfing before.

San Diego is weird: they have three famous beaches with the most unimaginative beach names in history:

• Ocean Beach

• Pacific Beach

• Mission Beach

Sea World Protestors?

It's much, much harder than I ever expected. It's given me a whole new level of respect for "surf bums" and other guys who do it all day. I don't know how they can—I spent less than an hour giving it a try, and it took every ounce of energy I could muster.

I was constantly winded from the waves pounding against me as I tried to walk into deeper water, I got a muscle cramp in my leg, and I thought I might have broken my toe when the leash wrapped itself around my foot and I fell off the board. In all, I’m glad I got to give it a shot, and I’m still amazed at just how hard it was.

I’ll probably try it again someday, but instead of in the freezing Pacific, I might try surfing in warmer weather, like the Atlantic.