After a break for the winter I am back in training in the sea kayak for the next expedition, which is only just over 3 weeks away!

Last night I had to practice the skills I hope not to have to use on the trip around Ireland.  Since I bought the boat people especially those who do a little bit of kayaking keep asking, “is it easy to roll?” my answer up until yesterday was I don’t know.  I have spent years perfecting the art of staying […]

Definition of PONDER transitive verb 1 : to weigh in the mind : appraise <pondered their chances of success> 2 : to think about : reflect on <pondered the events of the day> intransitive verb : to think or consider especially quietly, soberly, and deeply Yesterday I had my first chance to get out on the coast in my new […]

It has been a frustrating few days for the crew in Morocco, our big send off on Thursday turned out to be premature. After less than a mile it was quickly apparent that the forecast did not match up with the conditions and making noprogress we took the decision to return to the marina.

No Tom Hanks here I’m afraid just more news on the upcoming fundraising events. This coming weekend will see our local forest a wash with Lycra clad hill runners working up a sweat on the arduous 12km of mountain trails.  The race is being organised by Barbara Clancy who is a  local hill runner and adventure racer and will see […]

The normal reaction when I tell people I am planning to row across the Atlantic is , “Are you Crazy?”! This is quickly followed by questions regarding safety.  The question of, “Will there be a support boat?” regularly crops up, the answer is no, this is an unsupported expedition! This post will be the first of many which will outline […]

Yesterday I met with Aine McNamara, Sports Psychologist, to discuss some techniques to keep me sane and motivated during the row.   Pretty much all top level athletes use sports psychology these days to help them reach optimum performance levels.  During the row we will be subject to all kinds of mental and physical hardship as we row for 12 […]

Nothing special for the past few days, up early each morning to train at home then on to work for the day followed by another session in the evening.

I have been working on my technique on the rowing machine in the evenings and it seems to be coming along nicely.

I hit the gym again this morning for my 3rd outing on the rowing machine and longest stint yet, a whole 45 minutes!  The previous 2 sessions were fine but I knew I was lacking technique, this morning though I was lucky to have  real rower beside me so from the corner of my eye I was trying to compare […]

Anybody who knows me or has had the pleasure of living with me for a while knows that I am not a morning person, I usually get out of bed for about 0850 head to work and wake up around 1000.  Following my meetings with Tom and Carmell yesterday I have realised that the training required for this mammoth task […]

After a super meeting with Tom in the Arena gym this morning it was off to United Physio for another treatment on my shoulder.  Last week I had my first taste of superficial dry needling, it is a technique to promote healing in damaged tissue.  I am not a fan of needles but it wasn’t too bad, this week though […]

My training has started in ernest with phase 1,  the weight gain phase!  so far so good all I have had to do is eat, which to be honest comes pretty easy.  Muesli for breakfast, 2 jam donuts and coffee at 11 and I am looking forward to lunch.  I hope all my training is this easy!  I currently weigh […]