Gillian Gibree on SUP Races, Stretches, and Açai

Gillian Gibree appeared live and in HD on the Wake Up SUP Show with Candice Appleby and Andre Niemeyer

Summary

On this show, Andre Niemeyer and Candice Appleby recap some of the latest sup events in Southern California and talk to paddleboard racer extraordinaire, Gillian Gibree. Gibree, who also has a background in lifeguarding, fitness, and yoga, has a lot of tips to share on stretching workouts and diet. In fact, she highlights two excellent stretch moves from yoga while also sharing recipes on how to make an açai bowl and homepage almond milk. As one of the fastest female sup racers in the world, this episode of the Wake Up Sup Show is full of insights on fitness, racing, and paddle yoga. Below are some of the notes on her interview. (Watch episodes with other guests.)

Highlights

•    Background in swimming, softball, yoga and lifeguarding
•    One of the fastest female sup racers
•    Paddle instructor and owner of Paddle into Fitness
•    Insights for sup racers on stretch workouts and diet

Recap

In this week’s recap, Andre Niemeyer and Candice Appleby talk about the Becky Stuart Memorial, a Kona Red Christmas Party, and the South Bay Surf Series, as well as a prototype design by Joe Bark. The Becky Stuart Memorial, one of the sup race events of the Socal Ocean Racing Series, was held in Oceanside, California, starting at the mouth of the harbor, wrapping around Oceanside Pier, and finishing on completely flatwater inside of the harbor, offering perfect conditions for last minute sprints. Skies were clear, with very strong offshore winds, waist-high surf, and temperatures around 50 degrees. Over 100 paddlers participated and several of them crossed disciplines, jumping on standup paddle boards, outrigger canoes, and also kayaks. Andre raced in the 14ft class and had to battle the offshore wind to get back into the harbor. Candice, on the other hand, had a dinner Christmas party for her Kona Red team and on the next day attended a long board contest, the South Bay Surf Series in Manhattan Beach on 6th street. Also, Appleby talks about how Joe Bark has been working on a 11’ prototype, possibly to be released in 2012. (Watch episodes with other guests.)

Highlights

•    Becky Stuart SoCal Race in Oceanside had strong offshore winds
•    Kona Red team attended Christmas Party at Candice’s house
•    South Bay Surf Series in Manhattan Beach held a longboard division
•    Joe Bark is working on a 11’ prototype paddleboard possibly for

Guest Profile

Gillian Gibree, a Massachusetts native, has a background in competitive swimming and softball. In fact, she has had quite a bit of success in the latter, having gone to the Softball National and World Series. After her successful stint in softball, she began lifeguarding, which would forever change her life. Gillian dedicated five years to lifeguarding on Cape Cod, where she lived in a special housing complex for lifeguards. There, she heard several stories about lifeguarding in New Zealand, which led her to get a working visa to head down under. In the Kiwi country, Gibree learned about open ocean rescues and how to navigate safely along rugged coastlines. Once back home, she came across stand up paddle boarding through a Massachusetts local who had brought the sport from Hawaii. Shaun Deck, the pioneer of stand up paddle boarding in Cape Cod, got Gillian to take a few strokes on the East Coast. But it wasn’t until she moved to California that competitive sup racing began in her life. After sup surfing and touring a few times, Gillian had her first race in San Diego, California, the Hanohano Paddle Race, which is one of the sup races of the SoCal Ocean Racing Series. Since then, the tall blonde from the East Coast has signed several sponsorships, become one of the fastest female sup racers around, and started her own fitness program called “Paddle into Fitness.” (Watch episodes with other guests.)

Highlights

•    Gillian Gibree has a background in swimming, softball, and lifeguarding
•    She has lifeguarded in Cape Cod, Massachusetts and New Zealand
•    Stand up paddleboard racing began for her when she moved to California
•    Sponsorships followed her race performances, opening up travel opportunities
•    With a fitness and also yoga background, Paddle into Fitness is launched

Clinic

For training, Gillian Gibree sup surfs, runs, practices yoga, as well as several other lifeguard-related water sports. But particularly, she believes that sup yoga or paddleboard yoga, as some might call it, offers great benefits to stand up paddle board racers. As she keenly points out, sup racers tend to develop very “closed” shoulders due to repetitive paddle strokes. Paddle Yoga, according to her, helps to open up those shoulders, preventing injury and stretching lots of other muscle groups. Of the various yoga poses, Gibree highlights two: the camel and the needle threading pose. (Watch episodes with other guests.)

Highlights

•    Gillian Gibree stand up paddle surfs, runs regularly, and practices yoga
•    As one of the top female sup racers in the word, she sees many benefits in sup yoga
•    The camel pose helps to “open” the shoulders, which “close” up with sup racing
•    The needle threading pose is a highly efficient stretch workout for the upper back

Health Spot

An Açai Bowl, according to Gillilan Gibree, is excellent either before or after a workout. Following in line with the organic approach to health, her Açai Bowl recipe uses largely organic ingredients. She also gives some tips on how to make homemade almond milk, which can be used as part of the recipe for Açai Bowl. (Watch episodes with other guests.)

Açai Bowl

•    1 Frozen Acai Roots Frozen Pack
•    1 Frozen Banana (Tests much better frozen)
•    1 Cup of Unsweetened Almond, Hemp, or Coconut Milk
•    3 Tablespoons of Hemp Seed
•    1 Tablespoons if Coconut Oil
•    1 Tablespoon of Raw Cacao Nibs
•    Toppings - Granola, Unsweetened Coconut and Cinnamon

Homemade Almond Milk

•    A Handful of almonds fill up a blender
•    Boil almonds, which makes the skin peel right off
•    Blend almonds with a bit of water
•    And your almond milk is ready to be added to the Açai Bowl

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