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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 5:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

cgoudie1 wrote:
Sooo, you're not getting any endorphines from [nailing a chop hop or jump where there is measurable hang time, or nailing a full speed gybe while on full plane throughout, or breaking my own speed records, or smoking the competition in a race, or nailing a short board tack, or putting together a half dozen freestyle moves ].

I think you are, it's part of what makes the huge smile.

p.s. I have definitely "mellowed" as I've aged.

I've gotten a little wiser (e.g., no more winds of 40G55, 30-foot jumps), but not perceptively mellower. In fact, as my skills, boards, armor, and confidence in all of those increase, I push harder. (Thus the knee, in part; having jumped big, heavy machines much higher over land, altitude above water doesn't ... er, didn't ... worry me.)

I don't equate the satisfaction I get from that list with the adrenaline (i.e., the visceral fear) I get from pushing my control to and beyond its limits. That's a big part of why I quit bikes, snowmobiles, etc. capable of triple-digit speeds on hard, very rugged surfaces and their obvious threat to my life. If the process isn't breath-taking -- if my heart's not in my throat -- the rewards aren't nearly as great, for me.
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GURGLETROUSERS



Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Posts: 2643

PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not sure about this endorphin thing Craig, and how it applies to real danger.

In kayaking (same wil apply to windsurfing) I used a 1 to 4 grading system. ! just messing, 2 in full cdontrol but using skills, 3 pushing into harder territory and progreesing skills, 4 overstepping ability into real danger.

I agree that stages 2 and 3 will get the adrenalin flowing (or endorphins if you insist) but I feel quite the opposite applies in stage 4.

I've discussed this with others, and they agree. In my case, for example, I was caught out on a kayak journey along a 10 mile high cliff line with no possible landing place, and a steadily rising wind and sea state. Fear at the predicament set in, and it took a conscious effort to steady my trembling, and control my movements. On finally reaching the safety of a beach there was no emotion left. I just felt totally depressed. (Couldn't settle in the tent that night, and had to walk about in a deadened emotional state.)

The point was that the situation was beyond my level, and even though I'd tried, survival had been through chance and luck. There's no glory in that! I know from a psychologist that my reaction had been normal in that I'm not, by nature, a risk taker because I have (as do most ordinary folk) a well developed sense of self preservation.

I can only think that those who do extraordinary feats of daring lack this controlling feature to a large extent, so perhaps they feel those endorphins in a dangerous situation, but I do not!
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 7:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's why I draw lines. However, WSing in the Gorge isn't life-threatening. It's just scary if I'm at my limits of control. The odds of my actually getting hurt are miniscule.
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cgoudie1



Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 2597
Location: Killer Sturgeon Cove

PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 10:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Natural Morphine, some people love it and some people throw up.
Those that throw up tend to select themselves out of the gene pool, because instead of the chemical focusing them, it discombobulates them.

But I think you misjudge. I don't have to bring myself to the brink
of destruction to enjoy happy head chemistry. I am cheap. A little speed,
a little air, and some fat swell rides, and I'm high as a kite. And trust me
I know more than a little about happy head chemistry ;*)

You know what sex is like, there's no real danger there
(well not immediate danger usually), but the endorphin release is pretty
substantial for me. Same with windsurfing.

Just lucky I guess

-Craig

GURGLETROUSERS wrote:
Not sure about this endorphin thing Craig, and how it applies to real danger.

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beaglebuddy



Joined: 10 Feb 2012
Posts: 1120

PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 11:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Like a lot of people when I was younger I was quite the daredevil, much more so than most of my friends, bungee cord jumping off a bridge, scuba diving at night far out to sea, jumping off high cliffs into a lake, driving fast, motorcycles, the military, brawling etc... but now at 50 with a bad hip Confused not so much anymore.
Maybe I need to go on testosterone replacement therapy to regain the manhood of my youth? Anyone care to admit to being on that?
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 8:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

beaglebuddy wrote:
Maybe I need to go on testosterone replacement therapy to regain the manhood of my youth? Anyone care to admit to being on that?

I hope not. That stuff is pure hype, total BS, and hazardous to our health.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

cgoudie1 wrote:
Natural Morphine, some people love it and some people throw up.

But I think you misjudge. I don't have to bring myself to the brink
of destruction

Since I can relate to or express only how it works for *me*, I don't think I'm misjudging it. I well appreciate the difference between the very few days (er ... day?) I can do no wrong vs the countless days I'm a blink away from eating it -- until I DO eat it -- all day. I remember one day -- JUST one -- I planed continuously, including every jibe, for hours on automatic pilot in flawless 4.0 wind; the flow and satisfaction still stand out. But I've had countless days of very intense, totally focused, overpowered by most recreational sailors' standards, ragged-edge, hammer-down carving chopswell punctuated with occasional wipeouts in which I REALLY appreciated my head, face, torso, and arm armor. Probably my most memorable recent such day was on my 1999 Mistral/Naish squashtail wave board a year or two ago, to which I honestly refer as a scalpel. After many years of riding bikes and snowmobiles that way all over Utah, crashing on water is a pleasant change from desert and mountains.

One reason I so often talk about this kind of sailing is that it's within reach of almost anyone with terrain and wind. Rather than requiring hundreds or thousands of failed attempts like some tricks do, one just trusts his gear and DOES it. S/he'll improve with experience and confidence, but even that first day sees success.

OTOH, I know people who sail little B&J boards yet very deliberately avoid rigging big enough to plane, ever, even in excellent swell.
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