He added: "I’m not frightened of the challenge ahead, but I am frightened of Alzheimer’s. I’ve seen the heartbreak that it causes. Sadly, I’ve lost two people that I love to dementia, my brother-in-law, Roger, during my 2020 race, and my best friend only a couple of months ago. It’s devastating. So since then I have adopted a much more relaxed attitude to training - doing what ocean rowers call "wait training" - you wait until you get in the boat, and then start training. (Definitely works better when said out loud - "weight training" - geddit?!) This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. ( August 2014) Was it a successful strategy? Yes – in that it got me to the start line believing that I had the physical stamina to cope with this challenge. No – in that within the first week I had developed tendinitis in my shoulders, and spent most of the crossing relying on painkillers.

Since Frank’s last row, there has been incredible progress in dementia research, with two new drugs for Alzheimer’s disease proving successful. But this is only just the beginning. At Alzheimer’s Research UK, we exist for a cure, so we can save everyone from the heartbreak of dementia. Frank and Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation’s continued support will help us to get there. Atlantic Campaigns | Atlantic Rowing | Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge | Atlantic Rowing Race". atlanticcampaigns.com . Retrieved 20 February 2017. For the Atlantic I trained really hard. I was determined that there would be no surprises for my body when I arrived at the start line. So I trained for up to 30 hours a week, in a combination of running, cross-training machines, weight training, and many, many hours on my WaterRower.

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The whole expedition is approximately 3000 miles/5000km. And it can take up to 2 months. As I said, the first month was undoubtedly the worst month of my life, I had never felt so down. Regret for signing up and being away from my loved ones, angry at myself for the money I had spent on this experience, and frustrated at the boat builders and organisers that caused the chaos to delay us further still. I also felt that this negativity would never let up. But it did. I guess it always does? Matthew Pritchard: Brits may remember him as one of the crew from Dirty Sanchez, or on BBC as ‘The Dirty Vegan’. He’s a fitness beast, and he’s no doubt going to be our engine. After the first 2 hour shift, Martin and I hopped into the rowing positions. And we began our first shift. It was probably the last shift that I could honestly say I enjoyed. It was exciting. I had invested so much into this expedition. Time, money, relationships. And the thing had seemed doomed to fail. It felt like it would never get off the ground. But nope, we did it. Resilience, stubbornness, stupidity. Whatever it was, we were actually rowing. The Atlantic was in front of us. And Antigua would be the next time I would stand on dry land. Or maybe not. I mean, I can swim from a side of a pool to a swim-up bar. Can I swim 10 lengths? No Probably not. I’ll work on that during the next few weeks though. I promise. I did tell the team that swimming isn’t my strong point, to be fair. They said “Don’t worry Johnny, we plan to be spending most of our time IN the boat”. That’s that sorted then. And What About the Boat?

The Atlantic Rowing Race is an ocean rowing race from the Canary Islands to the West Indies, a distance of approximately 2,550 nm (2,930 statute miles or 4,700km). The race was founded in 1997 by Sir Chay Blyth with subsequent races roughly every two years since. [1] The early races were run by Challenge Business Ltd. until the race was bought by Woodvale Events Ltd., managed by Simon Chalk, in October 2003. [2] In May 2012, Atlantic Campaigns SL, managed by Carsten Heron Olsen bought the rights to the Atlantic Rowing Race, now called The " Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge" – The World's Toughest Row. [3] [4] Since 2015, the race has been held annually starting each December. having strong motivation – understanding exactly why I am undertaking this challenge, and what rewards it will bring me when I succeed There's no denying it will be tough both physically and mentally, however, if every stroke of the oars brings better research or aide to anyone living with Alzheimer's the pain will be worth it. He added: "It took six long weeks to row the Atlantic, but the challenge itself has taken over 18 months of training and preparation, so I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved and the unbelievable journey I’ve been on." I believe that I have been successful in incorporating the best of the new Roz with the best of the old. I now get a marvelous feeling of integrity in myself, whereby I see that everything that has happened in my life – all the skills and experiences, even the ones that seemed bad at the time – have helped to form this person that I am now. It is as if everything was leading up to this point, equipping me with exactly what I needed to do what I now do.

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You skillfully chronicle the blood, sweat and tears it took to get you on the Atlantic and then get you off it. What advice would you have for someone who is thinking about taking on a similar venture?

I know that rowing an ocean sounds epic, the kind of thing only legends can dream of. You think of titans rowing hard, breathing deep, pushing with every sinew. You marvel at old guys doing it at 75, or young girls solo at 21. How is it possible you wonder? But it’s just not true. Anyone with more money than sense can do it. Nature does most of the work, so I have been left thinking what are people giving me the adulation for? Why are they revering my ‘achievement’? Because I suffered on a small boat for 2 months? What choice did I have? I couldn’t get off. And I promised myself, in those dark days on the boat, that I’d write an honest blog post about it all so other people can be more informed about the experience that I was. So not only was the experience far more difficult to deal with emotionally than I ever could have imagined, but it also took much longer than we all had planned and hoped. I find it quite hard even to write this blog post in all honesty, which is why it’s so late after finishing before it’s published.Our week in Fuerteventure brought the team closer together, and gave us a better idea on the workings of our boat My food will be rehydrated with boiling water (a bit like a pot noodle). Its high energy food with an intake of around 6,000 calories a day, but I'm still likely to lose 12kg of weight by the time I reach Antigua. Race Entrants | Atlantic Campaigns". atlanticcampaigns.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2017 . Retrieved 20 February 2017. Frank wants to stop dementia from robbing us of everything that matters. Our memories. Our connections. Our story. The secret truth about ocean rowing, which ocean rowers don’t like to broadcast, is that if you row the Atlantic in the peak season, leaving in December, even if you don’t row, or barely row, you’ll get across the Atlantic in about 60 days or so with little to know effort.