Three months now until the start of the Molokai to Oahu SUP paddle race.. I feel like i am on track and have been training hard on fitness aspects that are quite paddle specific and new to my muscles, so definitely having some days of suffering!

We recently spent 10 days with Andre and Julie  Oszmann as they stopped by during their ‘world tour’ vacation. Andre signed off my largest personal career sponsorship with Skandia back in 2003. The partnership had been unique from day one and i feel very honored to have maintained a close, personal friendship with the Oszmann family, long after the business connection has passed. I am very happy in the knowledge that all of my past sponsors are still great friends…a true measure of the personalities involved and business ethic of  ’OC Thirdpole’ who manage majority of my higher profile projects.

Life is great…i am currently feeling quite devoted to the ocean through my surfing and have some challenging goals ahead riding liquid mountains on a different craft.

In 2 weeks time i will be in Maui competing in the Hawaii ‘down wind’ SUP series as well as hosting a bunch of crazy windsurfer on our www.coreboardsports.com annual company wind-surfari…

Aloha Nick

The last few weeks have been primarily focused around SUP training, although I did manage two awesome windsurfs last week ;=). The photo accompanying this post is the start of the 20Km Marathon Race which headlined the Victorian SUP Championships which my company ‘Core Boardsports’ title sponsored in partnership with ‘Strapper Surf’. This race was daunting for me as I had trained well leading up to the event yet fell flat on the day. The conditions were fantastic although the temperature was hovering around the 35c mark with a strong Northerly wind. I really struggled through the final 6km and finished feeling like i had nothing left, which was disappointing. Two days later I was back on the program and yesterday paddled another 20Km with my training partners..this time in around 18c and drizzle rain..i ‘smashed it’, felt super strong and fast the whole way which was a great boost to my confidence. (video of the session in next post). Now loading the van and tomorrow will head North to the Australian Surf Academy in QLD for a training camp with 10 X Molokai and World Champ http://jamie-mitchell.com/ i am super excited and ‘stoked’ about this opportunity..i feel like a kid… cheers Nick

Sorry no posts for a while…no Face Book and no Twitter…not even skype.

Life is simply a dream back here in Australia. The family has settled well and Eva starts pre-school in the next few weeks. It has been amazing to see her harness English so quickly. We celebrated Rose’s first birthday in early December and cannot believe how quickly our two babies are growing up.

Core Boardsports has been a fantastic little business over the Christmas period which doesn’t really feel like work when our office is in the Ocean. I have been paddling a lot and have decided to enter the Molokai SUP race in Hawaii on July 29 www.molokai2oahu.com so a lot of training for that little project. I plan to be in Maui mid May with our Core client ‘Mecca’ experience so will have a chance to paddle against the Hawaiians and assess where I am at..if I get ‘hammered’ then I may delay the pain. Life is different on your own mission without large sponsors and the business pressure. I feel like it allows me to plan and think so much clearer, more relaxed and the purity of challenges returns.

The business of sport is exciting and rewarding, but often incredibly stressful. A part of me misses the ‘thrill of the chase’ but a larger part of me cannot believe how happy I am in life right now.

Keep true to your heart. I believe I mostly have in this life and am very grateful for whatever it is within me that allows and encourages me to walk a different path.

Aloha…Nick