The final chapter in an epic tale and to reflect the journey as a whole, it doesn’t end without a challenge; How 2 fried satellite phones and a misplaced finishing procedure hand out nearly meant I ‘missed’ the island of Antigua Day 63 : 50 miles from Antigua; No personal diary made in 48 hours; Risking losing all my video
In the last listener’s questions episode, Damian answers questions on readjusting to life off the ocean and how quickly he put on weight again, when reality kicked in that he wasn’t going to win and the importance of having a better understanding of the challenge before setting such goals versus having big aspirational goals; did he ever just shit himself
A toilet analogy to explain the subconscious signalling of why everything starts to hurt at the end of a challenge/expedition Day 59: Arse sores back with vengeance due to wet days; Rowing without a perch for a bit; Everything starting to hurt; Signalling to “give up”; A wild night – Squalls and bombs hitting the cabin; Crazy painkiller induced dreams?
It’s a long one! In this opening Damian explains why he finishes his episodes with the sentence, “Keep striving for more from yourself” and why he holds a philosophy/belief that “Life is a fight”. Day 58 ‘Fight’ : An attempt to describe the journey; The monster that is the Atlantic; Howling, bubbling and grumbling away; An incredible challenge, the one
A synopsis of days 54 to 57, including a strange psychological phenomenon of having no pressure after the sleep of 53; conditions becoming “pretty crazy”; Perching falling, sores and fingers; letting a wave penetrate the beautiful dry cabin at 4am; The Compass versus the GPS; Deepening one’s character through suffering and space; screening sat. phone calls; Worsening conditions; A crazy
Values & voids; A desire to be always better; Being an inconsistent rugby player due to lack of mental control; A huge output of energy over the last 5 years to fill in my void; A “body first” method of mental prep; Between stimulus & response you have the freedom to choose; ‘Everybody has a plan until you’re punched in
A panel in NUIG and a TedX Talk in Switzerland; An important practice in my life; Self-imposed barriers & untruthful perceptions; Discovering “false walls” on the Atlantic; Disturbing one’s conditioning; A healthy, educational practice that does my head in at times; Why? Why? Why? Day 51: A good day, 45NM; Rowing 12hrs a day now seems easy; My daily rowing,
In this episode Damian answer’s listeners questions. Here’s a favour of what you asked: Why was it not acceptable, even necessary to ‘horse’ 3 Mars Bars into yourself considering the energy demands of what you were doing every day? Would love to hear more about your exact diet on the ocean? How did you prepare for the loneliness of it
‘Welcome to the real world’; Living in an avenue of life with, purpose, discomfort and lack of choice; Seeing the world differently because of the reality of a rugby life; Broadening my map of how I see the world; Grateful having walked in the gate of Galwegians RFC; Nervous system feedback at 11; Breaking conditioning & perceptions through the demands
Let’s visualise! Me vs. me and no getting away from that battle. Stumbling on an unseen solution to the constant battle. Day 46: 40 miles; Tough finish to the morning working against Northerly winds; Doubling up on breakfast & lunch; No salt, pepper or hot sauce; Singing songs about grinding; The holes are growing wider on the perch. Intra
