Three amazing stories from the ocean: compare and contrast...
1. Drifting fishermen survive on rain, raw fish and Bible-reading - given up for dead after a two-week fishing trip turned into nine months at sea
2. Dom Mee's kite-boat crosses the Atlantic unsupported - i.e. unsupported by any personnel on board. Little Murka washes up in Ireland 11 months after Dom was nearly lost at sea in a violent hurricane
3. OAR Northwest arrive in Cornwall, winners of the rowing race across the North Atlantic - especially good news for me, as I'll be sourcing my oars for the Pacific from the same company, Sawyers Oars and Paddles, that supplied them. After breaking all four oars on the Atlantic, I'm not taking any chances.
One boat with people but no propulsion, one boat with propulsion but no people, and one boat with a full complement of people AND propulsion. There are many different ways to cross an ocean...
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The last 3 mornings I have got up at 5.30am, blearily staggered to the Mojo-Mobile and driven to San Mateo Park to join between 5 and 20 other women to run, skip, jog, jump, lunge, crunch, squat and sweat our way to fitness. It's tough and I ache all over, but strangely, I'm enjoying it.
It seemed like I'd used up my entire allowance of willpower and determination in getting myself across the Atlantic this year. I just couldn't find the motivation to train, and the pounds were piling on. The BootCamp has been my salvation.
The exercises are varied and every day is different, so I almost forget I'm doing training. An added bonus is the drive up the I-280 just as the sun is rising and the mist is crawling across the forested mountains on either side.
It gets the day off to the right kind of start - once I've had that one-hour workout in the morning, it seems a shame to spoil it all by eating the wrong foods, so it's like a virtuous double-whammy: exercise PLUS better diet.
Best of all, it's fun to train with other women. We're a varied bunch of all shapes and sizes, but we can take it at our own pace so everybody gets a good workout. The camaraderie and mutual support are really helping this prodigal rower get back on track. It's a physical and psychological restart, a reboot.
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My Mini Cooper - on loan from a very kind friend. Who just happens to be British - not that you'd ever have guessed...
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If you're looking for inspiration, look no further. Read the incredible story of Dick and Rick Hoyt. To whet your appetite, here's the first paragraph:
'I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans*. Work nights to Pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots. But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck. Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars -- all in the same day (doing the Ironman Triathlon). Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?'
[With thanks to James at Narragansett Rowing Club for sending me this story.]
* For non-golfers, here's the definition of a Mulligan
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