Getting a parking spot on Maui is so much easier now. As I get out of my truck, with each step I feel the hot, humid air engulf me as I slowly pass the funky, colorful and brightly painted, boarded-up storefronts which - not long ago - were alive with the usual relaxed, island vibe. It’s hot. I mean really hot as the heat index keeps rising. The once consistent, blustering Easterly trades have been less present, making a food run into Mana Foods in Paia town pretty uncomfortable.

There’s a strange sort of stillness that doesn’t quite compute. I look around at a few faces I don’t recognize, including my own as I catch a glance of my reflection. I can barely breathe and I feel claustrophobic in the already tight market aisles. Voices and sounds are muffled. It’s hard to see past the rim of this mask or my true expression when I’m trying to smile with a nod to thank someone as I squeeze past.

I think to myself, “This is like being in a real-life science fiction movie where I must write myself out of this scene.” There are people out-of-sync shuffling in their slippers (island slang for flip flops), wandering around wearing latex gloves, putting a few things in their basket. Another character is sporting a weird welder-like face shield over his red bandana mask. It’s a wild “Paia” look for a guy with a ponytail-man-bun kind of thing. But, it’s actually typical around here.

I’ve got to get out of here and fast. I’d rather be on the water paddling down Maliko, catching monster glides and feeling the rush and strong push of wind at my back.

“Why am I not out there”, I ask myself. “What’s happened to you, Cooney?”

I must find my way back to the ocean.

COVID: A Battleground of Faith

This year is different. I’m different. Maui is different. LIFE is different. Even the ocean seems different. In addition to the island and the world coming to a halt this year, I was also out last season due to shoulder surgery. It was hard enough then not coaching, competing or simply being out on the water with good friends, but in addition, there were my local, mainland and global clients, always super excited to come to Maui after we had trained hard from fall through early spring on SKYPE, and they were primed and pumped, ready for their big Maliko Run moment. This too, was cancelled. Their dreams, my business, my clothing line, my goals and career, my dreams, all cancelled. Thanks COVID.

Now towards the end of summer it feels like the last six months have been either non-existent or just vanished. No one knows what day of the week it is. Can you relate? There were no live races to train for, and the wonderful times when everyone gathers for the pre and post-event parties have been a bust. Oh, how I miss those times.

At the beginning of our shelter-in-place on Maui last April, the iconic kite, windsurf, wing-foil and surf beach, Kanaha Beach Park closed. We weren’t even allowed in the park. What?! Talk about depressing on top of the island being at the forefront of the nation’s 35% unemployment rate. Now, the government took our favorite beach away?

It wasn’t until mid-June that Kanaha Beach Park reopened. The kiters, paddlers, windsurfers and wingers were stoked. Now we could paddle our traditional Maliko run to the lifeguard tower and canoe hale.

As we approached the normal racing season in the first week of July, when we were typically training hard doing double Maliko runs to prepare for the Molokai2Maui and/or Molokai2Oahu downwind runs, events were canceled. Ordinarily I’d be coaching paddlers from around the world and meeting them here to prepare for these legendary events. Instead, everything was strangely quiet in Paia Town. Even today, it still feels like a ghost town. I was so looking forward to this season, but as I said, last year I was sidelined by shoulder surgery. COVID seemed like a double whammy to my personal season and to my businesses.

Besides my training business taking a hit and the fact that I literally had to mothball my other business and passion, MalikoRun® due to systemic problems caused by the virus on the mainland, my passion for downwind paddling also reached an all-time low. Honestly, this entire coronavirus world event has taken a toll on me across the board, especially the mental part. I felt like I lost part of my identity and my bigger purpose.

I’ve been a coach and ocean trainer for over 20 years. Usually my inner drive and motivation is constant. It’s always been my job to be the motivator, the coach and role model for others. But when this COVID pandemic entered the mainstream of our lives, it felt like my inner self-navigation meter got stuck, or was just spinning out not knowing where to point.

Mental Strength: “The Mind Wins First”

It was time for me to draw on my own advice. What’s ironic is how I’ve written an entire chapter on this subject in Chapter 7 of my book, How to Increase Your Stand Up Paddling Performance, Beginner to Elite, poignantly titled, “The Mental Part.” Now I needed to discover my own new path to motivate and inspire… this time, for myself. I needed to use my own tools, often given to others, to help me rise again and follow my mantra, “The mind wins first”.

My theory in training and coaching around this concept of “the mind wins first” is that when the mind is set to achieve a particular task or desired result with a laser focus so powerful it can burn a hole in the center of the earth, the only choice for your body is to follow and deliver the desired outcome without fail. Hence the hashtag I often use, #themindwinsfirst

Practicing this level of mind training takes time. It’s a process. There is a combination of many facets working in sync together. There is the ability to understand your specific path to learning, unraveling how you think, developing your inner knowing and cultivating your mental strengths. Ultimately, it’s about discovering how your brain needs to be trained for optimum, successful performance.

As much as I live and breathe this mantra, I will admit in the first few months of this different “un-normal” time, I can say that, like so many of us, I was suffering from consistent low-level depression. I felt flat inside, not motivated. Today, on occasion, I still wax and wane with some anxiety and odd days that don’t seem to flow.

Finding One’s Way Back to the Ocean for Mental Health

It wasn’t until recently that I found my way back to the water. I had to get my body strong and more importantly, my mind. I set goals to paddle Maliko ten more times before Maui’s trade winds shut it down for the season, usually at the end of September. I knew that with each 8-10 mile paddle my brain would start to light up with endorphins and my spirit would soar again. That is exactly what happened.

Next, it was time to train a bit harder and push my cardio up. My first journey out of the gulch was not too long ago. I went with my good friend Devin Blish, one of Maui’s fastest paddlers because I felt so wobbly and weak. It was a short distance of maybe 5 miles to Sugar Cove, perfect for me to get my legs back.

While I felt a bit out of rhythm, I will tell you that this short distance lit my fire. The wind was blowing about 30-40mph from the Easterly trades which is a bit off shore, and a decent Easterly ground swell made for a nail biting good time! Suzie was starting her comeback!

Getting back to the water was what I needed. It was what my brain needed. After paddling, I felt the familiar euphoria I longed for. I was surfed out, wind whipped and happy. You know that feeling. On the next paddle, I flew solo. I mean I flew bracing all the way! That paddle was absolutely freaking off the chart with gusts to 45 trying to push me to the East of Molokai. Yes, I loved it!

Back on land and during my daily routines, I find myself smiling more. I now feel like I have a renewed purpose, and this time it's for me. The ocean feels like my closest friend again. Spin the soundtrack of the song, “Reunited and it feels so good!” I’m a cornball but I feel strong in my body once more, and most importantly my mind is sharp and my spirit is alive. What I’ve realized, besides having so much gratitude for this simple island life, is that we all can learn from this time of COVID and that we cannot give up our passion for the water.

My love for downwind paddling has returned but not without some daily reflecting and holding myself accountable for my own training routine. I’m back to that athletic feeling where I want to protect my hard work and not blow it. I’m having fun again.

Athlete - Trainer Mindset: Goal of More Fun & Time Spent on the Water

To help me stay focused on my Maliko goals, what I've been doing recently is simply changing my cardio routine and paddle surfing as much as possible. I’ve also been having so much fun sprinting up the sand dunes about 3-4 times a week for 25 minutes each time, while I listen to my favorite music. Sometimes I’ll jump up and over a log 5 times and do other leg exercises. I’m also not putting so much pressure on myself to perform on the water. I don’t care how fast I go on Maliko, I’m just happy to be out there and to have the simple freedom to be on the ocean again. Lastly, I have committed to writing more and - lo and behold, thanks to the team at Standup Journal - this opportunity to write came along at just the right moment.

The word ‘reinvent’ comes to mind as we travel forward into these strange, unknown waters during the pandemic. It is a time to start attempting to understand ourselves better and maybe it means changing careers. But perhaps we can learn to renew and grow. All of us need to keep our water passion alive. It worked for me. I am happier. I’m breathing better in my own skin knowing that while the ocean and my water sports are my passions as well as my livelihood, it doesn't make me who I am. Instead, it helps me rediscover and enjoy more who I’ve become.

So, the next time you find yourself at the water’s edge and before your board touches the water, take an extra moment to focus. Really observe yourself. Focus on your physical hand holding the board, the strength in that arm and how the water looks, and feel the wind on your face. Next, turn inward and laser focus on the power of your mind which helped you make the decision to get there. Finally, put all your mental strength to the center of your heart and listen carefully as your brain begins to crackle and light up.

Congratulations, you did it, the mind won first.