Totally OARdacious
More people have been to space
than have rowed an ocean solo
Prove ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE at any age
Find out where my LIMITS might be
Share Mental Fitness strategies with the world
Mental Fitness is my PASSION, and I will be sharing practical skills on this during my campaign, I will also be going in to schools and businesses too.
I want to share our 'What's GREAT about this?' talk with students and businesses around the UK, focusing on the power of adventure, MENTAL FITNESS, our planet, planning and resilience. I tailor make my talks specific to the audience and ensure it is age appropriate at all times and targeted to your specific situation.
Whilst the over-riding message is about the language we use inside our own head - when we ask better questions we get better results. I weave this in through tales of adventure, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, reframing past and present challenges and thinking differently. These strategies can be used in any aspect of life.
Please join me for a unique, inspiring and entertaining conversation which will leave you asking better questions of yourself and your own situation, every day.
But WHY else I am doing this? We'll, I'm fascinated by which is the most challenging - Rowing the Atlantic or Rowing around Great Britain?
Whether you do it solo or as part of a team both are undoubtedly challenging in their own way. Both of these routes are often talked about as being the 'toughest of rows', but in reality, which is tougher?
Well, they have different characteristics:
The Atlantic is lonely, surrounded with miles upon miles of ocean and after a few hours from the start I'm unlikely to see anyone again until I reach the other side. I will be at the mercy of the weather, my equipment, my supplies, my body and my mindset - how will I cope? Row, eat, sleep and repeat - for somewhere between 50 and 100 days.
And what if something goes wrong? I may well be days away from anyone being able to help!
The challenges are enormous, quite literally with up to 40 ft waves, gusting side on winds, rowing through storms, capsizing, equipment failure, fire on board, run over by passing container ships or even marlin strikes and my biggest fear; going overboard to clear sealife from the bottom of my boat!!!
A row around Great Britain is a whole other challenge, shorter at about 1800 nautical miles, yet constantly at the mercy of the tides, the winds and the weather, the shoreline and my mindset, can I handle being able to see land yet not touch it?
Am I strong enough to keep on rowing before the tides and the winds take against me?
Am I smart enough to know when to push on and when to hunker down and take shelter from the inevitable storms?
Can I read the weather and tides enough to navigate around safely?
Where are my LIMITS?
I am also interested to know what my limits are. Will I hit that point where I just can't go on or will I discover that our limits move and grow as we evolve?
I'm looking forward to answering ALL those questions and deciding for myself which is the TOUGHEST challenge of the two, in addition, I hope to INSPIRE others to improve their mental fitness through pushing past our comfort zone and finding a sense of adventure.
"Women, like men, should do the impossible ... " Amelia Earhart (1897 - 1937)
Why not? Might be a better question.
I remember as a child reading Swallows and Amazons and being enthralled by the adventures they all enjoyed. I reached the age of 53 and started to wonder what's next for me - do I just want to get old gracefully, do I want to 'just' compete in yet another Marathon / Triathlon / Ironman?
Do I just want to sit on the sidelines and watch others doing exciting things? Never, I want to be out there challenging the norm and setting new ideas of what is possible. Changing the perceptions of what we can do as we get older. Finding out where my limits might lay! Now, at the age of 56 and after 3 years of planning and preparation I'm going to find out what limits I may have.
Life is for living - "get busy living or get busy dying" - ok, so that's a quote from The Shawshank Redemption, one of my favourite films, but it's so true in life too.
Rowing Crew - Victoria Jeffs
I've enjoyed being active for over 25 years, first I started with a bit of running, then added in a smattering of adventures in a kayak, some exhilarating water skiing and then jumping out of an aeroplane before taming it down a little and walking up and down quite a few mountains and then some cycling before discovering Triathlon ... it was then that I knew I would need to learn to swim properly, something I'd never learnt to do properly, my little breast stroke with my head above the water wasn't quite ideal.
However, learning to swim in my late 40's is hands down one of the most challenging and yet satisfying things I have ever learnt as an adult. This from a woman who has jumped out of an aeroplane too!
Learning to have trust and faith in me and the water is very special skill to learn.
I discovered a joy of open water swimming and being rather slow at some of the above sports I ended up going longer and longer and discovered my own brand of success, 'my endurance' - I have the ability to just keep on going. I discovered Ironman racing and fell in love with challenging my body and pushing past my limits - whatever I may have thought they may be.
My endurance in life is fuelled by a love of a low carb / ketogenic lifetstyle, one that gives me an abundance of mental clarity, a fuelling system that allows me to tap into my own long lasting energy resources whilst providing my body with the fuel to ensure I can thrive in any physical situation, even something as extreme as an ocean row. Low carb / ketogenic is a lifestyle for the mind and for the body. Plus it helps me through the menopause too.
I first discovered ocean rowing in 2015 when my business sponsored a group of ladies who competed in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge in 2016 as part of a boat of 4. I have been following the race every year since. It really was only a matter of time before the stars aligned for me to get involved myself.
It was only after I'd signed up that I realised just how few solo females have actually rowed the Atlantic, just 16 have so far succeeded. In total only 25 women have SOLO rowed ANY ocean. After some rigorous checking I soon discovered that I would be the oldest - could I really be so 'OARdacious' to think that I could do it too? Of course I did.
I've been a Business Coach for over 20 years and I now teach MENTAL FITNESS strategies to individuals and businesses. Getting to the start line of any challenge like this is very much like running a business, all those skills we learn along the way set us in such good stead to achieve our goals, having the right mindset and mental fortitude is crucial. All of these will be tested to the limit on this Totally OARdacious journey.
Although I will be rowing solo, I need an amazing TEAM around me. If you are keen to get involved check out our sponsorship page and call or email me and let's talk about how we can help each other.