Physical Training is

WORDS: MARK AGNEW | IMAGE: NICK CRABB

o one was born mentally strong. Just like increasing the strength of your biceps by putting them under stress in the gym, you can strengthen your mind by putting it under stress. With this in mind, I headed out to Middle Island for a dark and lonely night in March.

A team and I are attempting to be the first people to row the Northwest Passage in a single season. We will be in the Arctic, alone and unsupported, for two months, rowing for 12 hours a day in two hour shifts – all with the aim of making it from Northeast Canada to Alaska before the sea freeze for winter. The expedition has been delayed to 2022 due to worries about bringing Covid-19 to Inuit communities, but we are still rowing up the east coast of the UK in June.

I planned to train by rowing non-stop, for 12 hours back and forth in Deep Water Bay and Repulse Bay. I allowed myself three 10 minute breaks after three, six and nine hours. To make it harder, I rowed from 8pm to 8am overnight. The physical benefits are obvious enough for someone planning on rowing hours every day for months, but I wanted it to be more than that. I wanted it to be mentally tough. I wanted to get comfortable being uncomfortable and able to pushing myself when I was bored out my mind. I got everything I desired.

The first three hours were in many ways the physically toughest. My body hurt as it was getting used to the movement – my calves and lower back were stiff and hurting. I was worried, as they were already in pain, long before they should have been. I got into a rhythm, put on a podcast for the second three hour stint and began to get into the grove.

CONTACTS

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slowed me, making rowing harder. It even affected my breaks. I was unable to quickly lift the boat out the water as the wind was so strong, funneled through the gap between Middle Island and Hong Kong. So, I beached the bow, stood over the boat, bracing it with my legs, and took a rather less leisurely break than I planned. The faff of steadying the boat meant my three 10 minute breaks were more like 15 or 20 minutes.

But the real mental battle began at 6am. I looked forward to sunrise, thinking it would give me a new lease on life. The sun and the fact other rowers were turning up, were both things I longed for. But instead, my mind went off a cliff. It thought “ah the sun is up, we are finished” and my body followed suit, expecting the end. Yet, I had another two hours to row. My sub-conscious and body now convinced we were going in for breakfast, I had to dig deep to keep paddling. I just became so so bored. I kept stopping paddling for a few seconds, and would have to heave my mental power to get moving again. But I did keep moving, and with that, I feel more mentally prepared than ever with 75km of monotonous, physical graft under my belt. Now, I need to keep training to keep my mind sharp, and apply it to the Arctic and the daily search for sponsors.