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Speaker 1: It's Eightril four, twenty twenty three. Solo rower Michelle Lee

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Speaker 1: and her watercraft, the Australian Maid, arrive at Port Douglas

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Speaker 1: after an epic two hundred and forty day voyage. The

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Speaker 1: massage therapist and amateur adventurer has just completed the twelve

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Speaker 1: thousand kilometers from Ensenada, Mexico to Port Douglas, Australia. She

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Speaker 1: also earned herself a Guinness World Record, becoming the first

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Speaker 1: woman to row solo, unassisted and with no stops across

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Speaker 1: the Pacific Ocean. I'm at Middleton and this is headgame today.

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Speaker 1: Michelle Lee on what led to a dramatic change in

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Speaker 1: her life, finding a passion for adventure and hitting the

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Speaker 1: open water having never even rowed before. Now, Michelle, you've

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Speaker 1: had quite the career, but it didn't start off as

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Speaker 1: its venturous as it was. Growing up taught me through

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Speaker 1: your upbringing, in your childhood and how you sort of

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Speaker 1: merged into the corporate world and decided to make this

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Speaker 1: drastic change into the explorations ro good venture world.

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Speaker 2: So growing up, I lived at Leppington, we lived on

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Speaker 2: five acres. I've got an older brother and a sister

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Speaker 2: and we grew up with horses, BMX bikes, motorbikes. My

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Speaker 2: dad was an earth mover, so there was always attractor

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Speaker 2: to jump on and off. My brother used to make

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Speaker 2: amazing BMX tracks. And back in the day when basically

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Speaker 2: your parents just said be home before the street lights

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Speaker 2: come on, you know, and what we did and where

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Speaker 2: we went, they had very little clue from you know,

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Speaker 2: jumping in the water course and swimming for kilometers or

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Speaker 2: just getting you know, taken by the current of the

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Speaker 2: water course and your brother jumping out just before you

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Speaker 2: said that you could reach down and grab you and

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Speaker 2: pull you out. You go home, and you know, Mum

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Speaker 2: and dad are like, oh, so what do you get

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Speaker 2: up to today? Kids?

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Speaker 1: Oh, not that much, you know. I love that, Michelle,

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Speaker 1: I love that. And I suppose you know, back in

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Speaker 1: I say back in area, because mine was the same.

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Speaker 1: My parents were like, you know, when the street lights

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Speaker 1: come on, make sure you're in, and not a moment,

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Speaker 1: you know, not a moment after, and not a moment

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Speaker 1: before as well. You know, they wanted us to stay out,

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Speaker 1: didn't they. I gave a big family as well, so

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Speaker 1: I can appreciate and understand, you know, getting up to

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Speaker 1: mischief and you come back and you're checking each other over,

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Speaker 1: you know, the old buddy buddy system. How do I

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Speaker 1: you know, have I got any sand everywhere? And no, no,

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Speaker 1: you're good to just go in and nothing's happened. But

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Speaker 1: we lived quite an adventurous life, you know, off the radar. Really,

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Speaker 1: you know, it felt like it was off the radar

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Speaker 1: when we were younger. Did it very much feel like

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Speaker 1: that for you? You know, you had an outside world

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Speaker 1: and then you had the inside life when the doors

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Speaker 1: shut and the parents were there.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, totally. And you know you look back at

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Speaker 2: it now and compare to you know, even how my

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Speaker 2: friends parenting their children. So we're talking one generation and

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Speaker 2: just how much it has changed, and how you know,

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Speaker 2: kids are so overprotected now and you know there's faces

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Speaker 2: are planted in screens and our parents didn't have that challenge.

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Speaker 2: So I sort of look at it now and think

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Speaker 2: I wouldn't even want to be a parent today. How

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Speaker 2: do you deal with all this?

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Speaker 1: And were you mischievous at school? And did you know

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Speaker 1: that you were you had this adventure sort of spark

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Speaker 1: in you or were you just quite academic? You were good?

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Speaker 1: You had good grades. How did that look when you

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Speaker 1: were at school compared to getting up to mischief outside

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Speaker 1: of the house and obviously you know, being polite and

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Speaker 1: respectful inside of the house. How did that translate into

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Speaker 1: your school life?

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Speaker 2: Definitely not academic. I was always middle of the range.

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Speaker 2: You know, I never came last, but I certainly was

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Speaker 2: never coming first in the top ten percent. And you know,

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Speaker 2: as far as sports goes, I was into everything and

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Speaker 2: would get but my one hundred percent, my best red

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Speaker 2: hot shot. Always did well in school, but then when

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Speaker 2: it went to that next stage, you know, state level,

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Speaker 2: that's where I would sort of drop right out. So

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Speaker 2: you know, growing up, yes, I loved cross countries. I

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Speaker 2: played netball for stupid amount of years. Did dancing, you know, jazz, tap, ballet,

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Speaker 2: all that sort of stuff as well, so anything physical.

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Speaker 2: I loved. Sitting in the classroom not so much. And

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Speaker 2: that pretty much followed right through to year ten to

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Speaker 2: the point where you know, when it comes to the

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Speaker 2: deciding you're going on to year twelve, I was just like,

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Speaker 2: I'm out, Mum and Dad, I am not doing year twelve.

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Speaker 2: Cause a massive fight in the household. They expected that

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Speaker 2: you go on, you finish your HSC. I'm like, no,

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Speaker 2: it's a waste of money, man, I'm just gonna stuff

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Speaker 2: around like I ain't gonna apply myself. Because So I

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Speaker 2: was up front and I said to them and so

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Speaker 2: and I wanted to join the navy. I was a

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Speaker 2: little bit too young to join the navy, So my

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Speaker 2: mum said, go and get a job. You're not sitting

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Speaker 2: around here for three months until you, you know, are

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Speaker 2: of age. So I ended up in the bloody State

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Speaker 2: Bank and I stayed there for about I don't know,

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Speaker 2: eight years.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it taught me through that transition. How did that happen?

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Speaker 1: So you were like, nah, I'm not going to school,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to finish early, well not early, but finish,

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Speaker 1: you know at the age that we finished out of

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Speaker 1: what was it sixteen seventeen I suppose. And then you

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Speaker 1: went and worked in the State Bank. How did that happen?

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Speaker 1: Did you have the qualifications for it? And was it

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Speaker 1: just a stop gap or would you just think, right,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to show them and I'm going to go

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Speaker 1: and get a job in the bank.

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Speaker 2: No, it was supposed to be just you know, buying time.

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Speaker 2: I was just supposed to it was supposed to be

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Speaker 2: a filler and then unfortunately, my biggest regret ever is

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Speaker 2: that I did not pursue joining the Navy back then,

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Speaker 2: you know, in my teens, and ended up just staying

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Speaker 2: there for you know, six years at all, I guess

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Speaker 2: became one of those things just easy and known and

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Speaker 2: until I turned twenty, and that's when my then boyfriend

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Speaker 2: and I decided that we'd go overseas. We left Australia

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Speaker 2: with a one way ticket and said goodbye to our

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Speaker 2: parents at the airport. Didn't know if we're going for

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Speaker 2: six weeks, six months, or six years, and we ended

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Speaker 2: up being gone for four four years.

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Speaker 1: Oh wow, So you were ultimately living this city life,

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Speaker 1: let's yeah, into the bank every day. To go from that,

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Speaker 1: there must have been not a breaking point, but a

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Speaker 1: point where what made you go, right, I'm going to

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Speaker 1: leave this city life. Quite a comfortable job to actually

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Speaker 1: just going off grid. Let's call let's call it what

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Speaker 1: it is. You know, you go for a couple of

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Speaker 1: months and then you end up, you know, a couple

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Speaker 1: of years. How did that transition happen? And again, what

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Speaker 1: did your parents think about that? At first you said

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Speaker 1: about the school, you know, them going arguing that they

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Speaker 1: want you to stay in school. Then when did you

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Speaker 1: break the news you were going off the radar?

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Speaker 2: Well, I actually thank and blamed Carl Bailey. So someone

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Speaker 2: I used to work with at paramer League have always

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Speaker 2: had two jobs. So I used to work State Bank

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Speaker 2: Monday to Friday, nine to five, and then I worked

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Speaker 2: at Paramant League's club on a Friday Saturday Sunday, which

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Speaker 2: is where I met Jane. And so I was working

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Speaker 2: there Friday Saturday Sundays and one of the guys that

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Speaker 2: I worked with was going away. He said, I'm going

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Speaker 2: to Europe. So we had a big farewell for him

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Speaker 2: and I stood there saying, oh my god, you're so lucky,

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Speaker 2: and he goes, why you can do it? You could

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Speaker 2: do it too, So that really inspired me. I thought,

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Speaker 2: oh my god, I could too. So Shane and I

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Speaker 2: saved our arses off and then we left about eighteen

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Speaker 2: months later, which was basically, we'll see you when we

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Speaker 2: see you. You know, we've got a one way ticket

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Speaker 2: out of here. So yeah, Mum and Dad they were like,

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Speaker 2: I don't think they expected us to be gone that long.

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Speaker 2: I didn't think. I don't think they thought we would

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Speaker 2: last that long, Ah, one.

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Speaker 1: Of those, was it? And what was your mindset like?

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Speaker 1: Was it a mindset shift that happened?

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Speaker 2: Do you do you remember.

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Speaker 1: That shift happening or was it just a case of right,

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Speaker 1: you know, i've got a buddy here now to go

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Speaker 1: traveling with someone? Spot that interest, let's go.

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Speaker 2: Pretty much, it was that simple and back that was

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Speaker 2: back when the days were really simple. So you know,

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Speaker 2: this was when you had to actually sign seven thousand

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Speaker 2: dollars worth of travelers checks, you know amex chevelis checks, remember, yes,

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Speaker 2: and then you go and cash them in and then

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Speaker 2: you do a reverse call charge back to your parents,

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Speaker 2: that kind of thing. You know what.

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Speaker 1: It's so compident when you think about it now, staying

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Speaker 1: in touch. I suppose that was the draw to it, though,

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Speaker 1: wasn't it, because it really did back in the day, well,

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Speaker 1: it really was going out into the big wide world,

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Speaker 1: wasn't it. You know, you had limited communications, you had

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Speaker 1: a limited way of getting hold of each other. You

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Speaker 1: wrote letters, you wrote postcards. Reverse calls there were more

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Speaker 1: of a pain in the ass than anything else, and

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Speaker 1: they took up most of your funds. So you would

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Speaker 1: just you know, write a postcard and you enjoy that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the Lonely Planet. You had a copy of The

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Speaker 2: Lonely Planet and that was your bible. That's how you

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Speaker 2: got around. You know. It was no Google Maps. It

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Speaker 2: was get to the city and get your latest copy

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Speaker 2: of the paper map. Then go find the camping ground,

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Speaker 2: pitch your tent. Now you've got your base. Now go

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Speaker 2: and do your touring. Then pack up your tent like

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Speaker 2: it was, you know, nine months of just go, go go.

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Speaker 2: It was nine months of going from Thailand, Nepal, India,

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Speaker 2: work out way across Europe, hit the UK. We both

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Speaker 2: got decent jobs, so I got a banking job as

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Speaker 2: soon as they hit the UK. Shane got a job

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Speaker 2: with a solicitous So.

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Speaker 1: You went back to banking.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so I spent four years in UK doing banking.

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Speaker 2: And I think that's why we lasted so long in

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Speaker 2: the UK's because we're both earning decent money. It was

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Speaker 2: more than your two pound twenty six if you were

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Speaker 2: pulling beers in the pub at Bloody Hemmersmith Hotel, you

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Speaker 2: know what I mean.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely so, Michelle. How long were you away for

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Speaker 1: before you landed in the UK.

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Speaker 2: Nine months? So we backpacked for nine months and then

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Speaker 2: we landed in the UK and we made a contact

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Speaker 2: way back in Nepal from this solicitor from the UK.

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Speaker 2: He said, here's Menuamba, call me when you get there.

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Speaker 2: If you if I can give one of you a job,

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Speaker 2: I will. So we ring him and he said, meet

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Speaker 2: me at the White Swan at five o'clock and then

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Speaker 2: we turn up. You know, we did the old Hay truth.

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Speaker 2: Do you remember us We met you on some Nepal

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Speaker 2: rafting trip and you said you'd like hook us up

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Speaker 2: with a job. So yeah, he did. He gave Shane

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Speaker 2: a job and he stayed there for the full, full time,

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Speaker 2: the full you know, three and three and a bit years.

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Speaker 1: So he stayed true to his word. This there totally,

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Speaker 1: And this is why this is what I always say.

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Speaker 1: You know, traveling. You know, the four corners of a

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Speaker 1: school is great education, but the four corners of the globe,

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Speaker 1: you know, talk about an open, varied education. When it

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Speaker 1: comes to travel, when it comes to culture, when it

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Speaker 1: comes to connects, human connection, you can't really beat it,

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Speaker 1: can you. And from you going for something so corporate,

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Speaker 1: from an office to to like I said, the four

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Speaker 1: corners of the globe, how much did you learn during

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Speaker 1: that those nine months compared to what you learnt when

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Speaker 1: you were sat behind an office at the bank.

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Speaker 2: Oh, you can't compare it. And I almost used to say, man,

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Speaker 2: this is what every eighteen year old should get. They

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Speaker 2: should get two options when you turn eighteen. You get

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Speaker 2: a one way ticket out of the country with limited funds.

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Speaker 2: Go see the world, Go see how the other side live,

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Speaker 2: Go and make it, you know, and you've got to

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Speaker 2: be gone for two years, or you can go and

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Speaker 2: do service for two years in one of our forces.

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Speaker 2: And I always just say, that's what we should be

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Speaker 2: doing to our people's but you know, yeah, no, absolutely

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Speaker 2: I agree with it, but you get out of it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And that's why I asked the question. And you know,

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Speaker 1: it's important that the listeners here that because you know,

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Speaker 1: being sort of self sufficient and independent and just the

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Speaker 1: small things that you mentioned there, Michelle, you know, waking

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Speaker 1: up in the morning, packing up your tent, moving to

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Speaker 1: a different location, you know, map reading, finding it, you know,

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Speaker 1: finding your way find it, you know, wayfinding if you wish,

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Speaker 1: you know, having a partner there to bounce off off

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Speaker 1: to to really get that conversation flowing and those ideas

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Speaker 1: flowing is super important, and it just sets you up

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Speaker 1: for the world, doesn't it.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely? And you know half the time you really are

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Speaker 2: just flying by the seat of your pants, you know.

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Speaker 2: And you learn that, you know, to be flexible with

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Speaker 2: your plans that don't always go to plans. So it

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Speaker 2: taught us a lot just with gone with the flow,

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Speaker 2: you know, chilling out. Sometimes you miss the train.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and how is it, Michelle jumping from Because it

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Speaker 1: is a mindset shift, jumping from that corporate world to

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Speaker 1: a traveling world where you're completely you know, you're using

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Speaker 1: the bear essentials, you're being resourceful where you've got everything

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Speaker 1: at your disposal in the corporate world. So bouncing from

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Speaker 1: that world to the traveling world again to the to

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Speaker 1: the corporate world. How did you manage that mindset shift?

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Speaker 2: Oh, you know what it was. It came at I say,

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Speaker 2: perfect timing each time. So by the time you got

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Speaker 2: sick of traveling, living out of your backpack, dragging this

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Speaker 2: thing around with everything you have that your own is

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Speaker 2: on your back and you know, being on semi alert,

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Speaker 2: you know, you've got to be have your wits to

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Speaker 2: about you then to actually go get the job and

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Speaker 2: to be able to blow dry your hair and start

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Speaker 2: looking nice, smelling nice, have clean clothes on you haven't

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Speaker 2: worn them inside out. You know, a couple of times

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Speaker 2: it was always just in perfect timing. I found that,

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Speaker 2: you know, we sort of in and out of the world.

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Speaker 2: And I love how the two worlds can collide, you

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Speaker 2: know what I mean, you can transition in and out

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Speaker 2: of them.

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Speaker 1: I just love it.

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Speaker 2: I love knowing that everything changes. I love that, you know,

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Speaker 2: nothing is permanent.

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Speaker 1: During this job in London, how long until you get

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Speaker 1: itchy feet again? And what does the next adventure look

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Speaker 1: like for you fought the corporate well bouncing back into

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Speaker 1: the sailing world.

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Speaker 2: Right, well, uh yeah, we came home quite by default.

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Speaker 2: Chain's mum died very suddenly, so that brought an end

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Speaker 2: to living in the UK. So we made the decision

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Speaker 2: to come home. And that's when we came home, brought

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Speaker 2: a house, got married and life was just very cruisy,

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Speaker 2: very comfortable. I switched careers in that time. I decided that,

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Speaker 2: you know, I was done with banking, so I pursued

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Speaker 2: a career in remedial massage, personal training, and you know,

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Speaker 2: the whole banking world it changed by the time I

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Speaker 2: came home back to Australia. Everything was about KPIs and

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Speaker 2: you know, meeting targets and selling product and all this

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Speaker 2: sort of stuff. So I only lasted an extra two

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Speaker 2: years in the banking world when we finally came home

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Speaker 2: and it, you know, it was pretty much over a

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Speaker 2: set of mortgage documents when I looked at a young

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Speaker 2: couple that I'm you know, settling a deal and sort

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Speaker 2: of saying to them, what's wrong with you? Of your

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Speaker 2: ship for brains? And then I just carried on and

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Speaker 2: they looked at each other to say, did you just

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Speaker 2: say that? And I thought, it's really time to go.

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Speaker 2: I've really got to get the hell out of here.

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Speaker 2: So I took a voluntary redundancy and that's when I

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Speaker 2: went into I thought, what do I really want to do?

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Speaker 2: I thought, hm, maybe massage. I always seem to massage

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Speaker 2: everybody at work. They always ring me on the fire

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Speaker 2: and Michelle come to my desk. I've got a headache.

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Speaker 2: So I found myself doing this corporate.

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Speaker 1: Massage gig, you know, we get paid for it.

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Speaker 2: And then a car went past me one day with

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Speaker 2: and was all sign righted with corporate massage, and I'm like,

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Speaker 2: oh my god, that's what I do at work. So

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Speaker 2: I then pursued that, which was a beautiful career, you know,

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Speaker 2: pretty much from two thousand and seven right through to

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Speaker 2: I mean I've really only just recently sort of quit

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Speaker 2: the gig, you know what I mean, in the last

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Speaker 2: couple of years, so it served me well. But in

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Speaker 2: between all of that, you know, just before I turned forty,

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Speaker 2: we go separate way, Shane and I go separate ways.

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Speaker 2: We divorce.

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Speaker 1: Ah man, what was it the Was it the corporate

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Speaker 1: life that done it? Was it the normal life that

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Speaker 1: done it? There was no excitement anymore what happened there?

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Speaker 2: No, you know, to me, it just opened my eyes

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Speaker 2: that everything has an expiry date, everything has an end

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Speaker 2: of an inning's end of an era. And you know,

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Speaker 2: we separated so amicably and so beautifully. We fought over

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Speaker 2: things like you have the TV, no, you take it, No,

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Speaker 2: you have the free to know you have it? You know,

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Speaker 2: so everything was split to the dollar down the line.

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Speaker 2: We didn't have kids. It was very clean, very easy,

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Speaker 2: very amicable, friendly, and very respectful. And it was then

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Speaker 2: when I just sort of said to myself, Okay, this

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Speaker 2: is almost like just green light. This is permission to

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Speaker 2: just go and do whatever the hell you want to

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Speaker 2: do without consideration of anybody. You know, I'd considered or

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Speaker 2: been in that relationship since age eighteen to you know,

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Speaker 2: now I'm thirty eight years old turning thirty nine. And yeah,

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Speaker 2: I just thought, well, what do you really want to do?

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Speaker 2: And I thought, I started looking at my life and

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Speaker 2: analyzing it, and I thought, it's so predictable, it's so comfortable,

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Speaker 2: it's so easy. I know how much money I'm going

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Speaker 2: to make each week, I know what conversations with the

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Speaker 2: people I'm going to have every week when I open

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Speaker 2: the door to them. And I thought, man, if this

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Speaker 2: is as good as it gets, I am done. So

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Speaker 2: it kind of made me just go, well, what are

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Speaker 2: you going to do about that? You got two options.

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Speaker 2: You either check the hell out or you start shaking

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Speaker 2: shit up. So that's what I did. I basically said,

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Speaker 2: just start saying yes to opportunity, start taking your blinkers

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Speaker 2: off and start looking. Let your radar be open to

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Speaker 2: you know, different things, different experiences. I had to literally

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Speaker 2: create a new me, so I took myself from my

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Speaker 2: think it starts with you though, right, Well it does. Yes,

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Speaker 2: absolutely yeah, And you know, you just got to hold

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Speaker 2: yourself accountable and responsible for the good and the bad.

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Speaker 2: You know, the things that you wish were better. Well,

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Speaker 2: it's always down to you. But saying yes to an

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Speaker 2: opportunity led me to go and live on a yacht

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Speaker 2: for two seasons in the Bahamas, lived in Thailand for

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Speaker 2: a year. And that's all because I thought, okay, what

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Speaker 2: would you do differently take yourself on your first solo holiday.

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Speaker 2: So I took myself to Thailand. There I met Tony

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Speaker 2: and Ozzie, who lived in Thailand came back and forth

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Speaker 2: to Australia to visit his kids. Next minute, he says,

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Speaker 2: why don't you come on my boat with me? So

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Speaker 2: you know that was meant to be a six week journey.

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Speaker 2: I was going to go and stay on board for

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Speaker 2: six weeks. And at the end of four weeks, I

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Speaker 2: rang my buddy and I said hey, and he goes,

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Speaker 2: you're not coming home. I said, no, I'm not, I'm

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Speaker 2: not coming back.

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Speaker 1: So in the Bahamas, yes, yes, sorry, not sorry.

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Speaker 2: So six weeks became two years where I wound this

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Speaker 2: whole new world that you know, people do live on boats,

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Speaker 2: They walk out of their whole life. They sell everything

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Speaker 2: and then they just go and sail the world. So

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Speaker 2: it was during that period where I know, I just

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Speaker 2: kept walking like, oh my god, this is just a

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Speaker 2: different world. You know, took up you know, I was not.

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Speaker 2: I was encouraged to take up diving because Tony had

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Speaker 2: dive compressors on board. He had you know, tanks. So

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Speaker 2: basically the weekend before I flew out of Australia to

383
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Speaker 2: go and get on the boat, which was West Coast

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Speaker 2: USA sitting on the hard stand, so it had been

385
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Speaker 2: stripped bare. Basically all the sails, everything's you know, stripped

386
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Speaker 2: and winter rised. So basically you rock up. Then you've

387
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Speaker 2: got to provision the boat. You've got to you know,

388
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Speaker 2: get all the sails out, make it salable, launch it.

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Speaker 2: And then I remember the day or the late in

390
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Speaker 2: the afternoon when we're sailing out of the West Coast

391
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Speaker 2: of America. He says, well, I'm just going to go

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Speaker 2: down below and have a n app. You're on watch

393
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Speaker 2: and I'm like watching, watching for what I'm looking for?

394
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Speaker 2: He said, Oh, you're going to be looking for lights.

395
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Speaker 2: There could be fishing boats, there could be cruise ships,

396
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Speaker 2: you know, just anything that's unusual. And he's on a

397
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Speaker 2: catamarant So I'm running from one side to the other side, going,

398
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Speaker 2: oh my god, And you can't actually tell like lights.

399
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Speaker 1: Learn and and I don't even know if I get seasick.

400
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Speaker 2: Like as we sail out, the question sort of popped

401
00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:25,600
Speaker 2: in my head. I'm like, shit, I don't even know

402
00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:28,160
Speaker 2: if I get seasick. You know what. The biggest boat

403
00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:32,000
Speaker 2: I've been on his Manly Fairies, you know. So that

404
00:20:32,119 --> 00:20:34,960
Speaker 2: was a steep learning curve and it ended up just

405
00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:37,920
Speaker 2: being something that and an environment that I thrived in

406
00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:42,000
Speaker 2: and thanked Tony to this day for, you know, sharing

407
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Speaker 2: that with me and showing me that there is a

408
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Speaker 2: new way. And it was during that period someone handed

409
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Speaker 2: me a book called Rowing the Atlantic, So you know,

410
00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:53,960
Speaker 2: up till then, I had no idea people row oceans

411
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Speaker 2: that season. I read the book a couple of times,

412
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Speaker 2: fingered through it, looked at the pictures, kept putting it on.

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Speaker 1: I'm going to stop you there, Sory Michelle. I want

414
00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:07,160
Speaker 1: to stop you there quickly. You had no idea that

415
00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:10,960
Speaker 1: people vote oceans. That you're in this life, on this yacht,

416
00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:15,000
Speaker 1: in this boat, and you had no idea that people

417
00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:18,360
Speaker 1: rote oceans, so you just thought I'm going to ride one.

418
00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:22,840
Speaker 2: Well, I asked a lot of people in the season,

419
00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:25,399
Speaker 2: what do you think about rowing and ocean. They're like,

420
00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:28,640
Speaker 2: you would be absolutely mad, you'd be crazy, like as

421
00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:31,080
Speaker 2: if you'd get on anything that doesn't have a motor

422
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:34,320
Speaker 2: or sales you know, blah blah blah. And they were

423
00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:36,679
Speaker 2: all quite negative about the whole idea. But you know,

424
00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:41,400
Speaker 2: we packed the boat up for the season and when

425
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,359
Speaker 2: it ended, and then I went back the following season

426
00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:47,320
Speaker 2: and there's that freaking book sitting on my bunk and

427
00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:50,439
Speaker 2: I was like, hmm again, I finger through all the

428
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,879
Speaker 2: pictures and I'm an ah about it. And it just

429
00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:58,240
Speaker 2: plagued me so persistently and so consistently that I thought,

430
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Speaker 2: if I don't do this, I'm going to die one. So,

431
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:04,159
Speaker 2: you know, try to return home back to normal world

432
00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:06,359
Speaker 2: after you know, I've been living this life for two years.

433
00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:10,280
Speaker 2: Then Tony and I we were an item. Then when

434
00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:14,199
Speaker 2: that ended and I come home and he's saying to me,

435
00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:16,920
Speaker 2: I cannot play a part in what you're doing, Michelle.

436
00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:18,920
Speaker 2: You have a death wish if you go out there

437
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:21,680
Speaker 2: on one of those boats. So we parted with and

438
00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:23,280
Speaker 2: I said, well, I don't need to hear your negativity

439
00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:27,639
Speaker 2: because I'm doing it anyway. Blah blah blah. Well, so

440
00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:30,719
Speaker 2: I remember the day twenty sixteen May twenty six Now

441
00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:32,040
Speaker 2: I rang my best you and I said, guess what

442
00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:33,679
Speaker 2: I'm going to do. She said what I said, I'm

443
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:35,119
Speaker 2: going to roll across the Atlantic Ocean.

444
00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:36,320
Speaker 1: She said, no, are you honey?

445
00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:37,600
Speaker 2: How a you can it do that? I said, I

446
00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:39,840
Speaker 2: don't know. I just got to get a boat. So

447
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:43,200
Speaker 2: that then leads to, you know, there are no boats

448
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,680
Speaker 2: for sale in Australia, so you're either up for three

449
00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:47,919
Speaker 2: way shipping forty five thousand dollars worth of shipping to

450
00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,520
Speaker 2: you know, buy one that's tried and tested. I like

451
00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:53,800
Speaker 2: the idea of a tried, tested road vessel and just

452
00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:55,719
Speaker 2: ship it to Australia. Then I would, you know. I

453
00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:57,720
Speaker 2: thought I'd go and play with it in Sydney Harbor

454
00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,080
Speaker 2: and make it mine, you know, get to know it,

455
00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:02,439
Speaker 2: and then I'd ship it to the start line. But

456
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,640
Speaker 2: of course it was never that easy. It meant building

457
00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:09,679
Speaker 2: the boat. So you know, I bought the plans, We

458
00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:13,080
Speaker 2: appointed a builder. I turned up every weekend with overalls,

459
00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:15,040
Speaker 2: and I was probably a thorn in their side, to

460
00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:18,480
Speaker 2: be honest, but getting involved in that boat build was

461
00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:21,639
Speaker 2: essential for me in terms of, you know, just my

462
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:24,760
Speaker 2: confidence in that vessel. Plus I'm a massage therapist. I

463
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,239
Speaker 2: don't deal with tools. I don't know how to you know,

464
00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:31,399
Speaker 2: sand feather, fair, grind. I don't know how to do

465
00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:33,200
Speaker 2: any electrics.

466
00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:35,720
Speaker 1: Nothing, Michelle. And what I've noticed here and what I love,

467
00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,959
Speaker 1: is that you jump into everything with you know, almost

468
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:43,080
Speaker 1: into the deep end, with dive boots on, and you

469
00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:45,320
Speaker 1: figure it out. You're very much like myself. I do

470
00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:47,879
Speaker 1: that as well. If something sparks in interest and I

471
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:50,560
Speaker 1: really want to do something and I feel passionate about it,

472
00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:53,239
Speaker 1: I don't care if I've never done it before. I

473
00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:57,280
Speaker 1: will jump in with a full heart, fully committed, good

474
00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:01,359
Speaker 1: to go. And you learn really really quick, don't you when.

475
00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:04,679
Speaker 2: You do that? Absolutely? And I've learned now over time

476
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:08,080
Speaker 2: through you know, doing all of these little things. You know,

477
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:11,240
Speaker 2: starts with little things like a little mini triathlon. Shit,

478
00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:13,520
Speaker 2: I've never done a triathlon before, but fuck it, I'll

479
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:17,320
Speaker 2: give it a go. And you know everything is in

480
00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:20,720
Speaker 2: stages and phases and that that's life at stepping stones.

481
00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:25,080
Speaker 2: So what I now know as truth is that when

482
00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:28,159
Speaker 2: you commit one hundred percent fully, don't have you know,

483
00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:29,840
Speaker 2: one foot in and one foot out. No, you've got

484
00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:32,800
Speaker 2: to throw yourself in, be all in, be fully committed.

485
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,120
Speaker 2: The doors and the people and the things, the tools,

486
00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:38,119
Speaker 2: everything you need, they just come to you. It is

487
00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:42,679
Speaker 2: honestly like divine intervention every time. So I do it

488
00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:45,920
Speaker 2: now with a knowing that whatever I need will come

489
00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:50,320
Speaker 2: to me as long as I am true to the mission.

490
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:53,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, and at this stage, you're by yourself, Michelle, You're

491
00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:58,000
Speaker 1: still by yourself. You're want a solo mission to row solo,

492
00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:02,720
Speaker 1: and there's no else at your side. You're just by yourself.

493
00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,439
Speaker 2: Yep, totally. Yeah. I was hoping to do it with

494
00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,639
Speaker 2: a friend actually, and then when I asked everybody and

495
00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:12,080
Speaker 2: they looked at me like I had two heads, That's

496
00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:15,119
Speaker 2: when I realized, Oh, I might as well just go

497
00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:17,280
Speaker 2: on my own. Otherwise I'm going to miss out on this.

498
00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:19,280
Speaker 2: I'm going to die wondering, you know. And this was

499
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:21,760
Speaker 2: my big thing. I didn't want to die wondering. So

500
00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:24,720
Speaker 2: it came down with those three words, don't die wondering,

501
00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:26,600
Speaker 2: and other.

502
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:31,040
Speaker 1: People die wondering. I love that. And also you know,

503
00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:34,800
Speaker 1: you're looking for funds, you're looking for resources, you're looking

504
00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:37,919
Speaker 1: Are you doing all of this behind the scenes or

505
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,080
Speaker 1: have you got someone that's actually coming in and helping

506
00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:43,160
Speaker 1: you out? How's that working? Because it's not just straightforward

507
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:46,399
Speaker 1: as you know. Oh, I've got a boat away we go.

508
00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,520
Speaker 1: You've got to maintain that boat. You've got to you know,

509
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:50,760
Speaker 1: get it going. You've got to look after yourself. You've

510
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:54,160
Speaker 1: got to start planning. There's so much that goes into

511
00:25:54,760 --> 00:26:01,120
Speaker 1: especially solo rowing. How is that? How are you getting stressed?

512
00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:05,359
Speaker 1: Are you getting frustrated? Or does everything seem to be

513
00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:07,399
Speaker 1: fitting into place? As to speak?

514
00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:12,760
Speaker 2: So I went straight to the top and I sent

515
00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:15,280
Speaker 2: a text message out, I just need to speak to

516
00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:18,200
Speaker 2: someone who's been there and done it. So I googled

517
00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:20,960
Speaker 2: Australian's Atlantic Ocean row and there was only one person

518
00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:24,240
Speaker 2: in Australia that's ever wrote an ocean So I found

519
00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:27,040
Speaker 2: him thanks to Facebook, and I sent a message saying,

520
00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:29,919
Speaker 2: how do I become part of this phenomenon? And he

521
00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:31,600
Speaker 2: gets in touch with me. He says, look, I'm happy

522
00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:33,919
Speaker 2: to help you know. Are you a rower? I said no,

523
00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:37,160
Speaker 2: He said, can you row on an indoor rowing machine.

524
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:38,520
Speaker 2: I said, oh, yeah, yeah, we use them all the

525
00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:40,280
Speaker 2: time at the gym. Yeah, they put it in the

526
00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:43,200
Speaker 2: world man. And you know, he's like, how much do

527
00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:44,440
Speaker 2: you think this is going to cost you? I said

528
00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:47,440
Speaker 2: about one hundred thousand, and he said try to it's

529
00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:49,080
Speaker 2: going to cost you two hundred thousand. You won't get

530
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:51,120
Speaker 2: much change out of that. And you know, he told

531
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:53,320
Speaker 2: me about all the hardships. He told me that people

532
00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:55,000
Speaker 2: are going to let you down. He told me how

533
00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:57,399
Speaker 2: difficult it's going to be. And I literally hung up

534
00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:01,040
Speaker 2: that day and I felt completely deflated. Thought, who the

535
00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:04,240
Speaker 2: hell do I think I am? Like, seriously, what was

536
00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:06,960
Speaker 2: I even fucking thinking? Is what I thought. So I

537
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:08,800
Speaker 2: walked around with my head in my hands for a

538
00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:11,560
Speaker 2: couple of days, you know, and then I thought, hang

539
00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:14,760
Speaker 2: on a minute. He did it like he's no one special,

540
00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:18,040
Speaker 2: and I started thinking, if he can, why can't I?

541
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:21,240
Speaker 2: So and I thought other people can, why can't I?

542
00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:23,960
Speaker 2: So I rang him back and I said, listen here,

543
00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:28,399
Speaker 2: you've done it, so it's not impossible. So you can

544
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:30,000
Speaker 2: either throw me a line and help me out a

545
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,800
Speaker 2: little bit. And in the end he ended up becoming

546
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:40,040
Speaker 2: my mentor. He became my coach, my rowing coach. He

547
00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:43,359
Speaker 2: became my boat builder. Because we had to sack the

548
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:46,359
Speaker 2: boat builder. He ended up becoming my boyfriend.

549
00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:52,320
Speaker 1: Oh wow, why not listen, You might as well pick

550
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:53,760
Speaker 1: up a boyfriend on the way. Eh.

551
00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:56,360
Speaker 2: And now I always say to girls, just don't put

552
00:27:56,359 --> 00:27:58,320
Speaker 2: all your eggs in one basket, darling, because when it

553
00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:04,080
Speaker 2: comes to an end, you fall hard. So that finished

554
00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:06,880
Speaker 2: that before I even made it to the start line.

555
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:11,119
Speaker 2: So I had a half finished boat and he said

556
00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:15,359
Speaker 2: I'm done. See your later, alligator, which then meant, you know,

557
00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,479
Speaker 2: now I've got this half finished project. I put one

558
00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:20,560
Speaker 2: hundred and forty thousand cash of my own money and

559
00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:23,680
Speaker 2: my divorce money, my settlement money, which I've been sitting

560
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:26,600
Speaker 2: on for years and not touched, not even being tempted

561
00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:28,520
Speaker 2: to touch it. I knew I didn't want to buy

562
00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:30,760
Speaker 2: a property and be into debt up to my eyeballs.

563
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,359
Speaker 2: That was unappealing. So the money just sat there and

564
00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:35,000
Speaker 2: I thought, fuck it, I just put my money into that.

565
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:38,200
Speaker 2: I'll buy myself a boat. So yeah, I put one

566
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,400
Speaker 2: hundred and forty in. So again I talk about commitment.

567
00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:42,720
Speaker 2: You've got to commit fully and you've got to be

568
00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:47,160
Speaker 2: completely invested correct and you know the fact that I

569
00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,000
Speaker 2: didn't even know how to really row. I didn't know

570
00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:53,560
Speaker 2: if I like rowing, it was irrelevant. I just wanted

571
00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 2: the fact and the adventure. I wanted to achieve what

572
00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:01,280
Speaker 2: this chick Roz Savage book I read Rowing It Lanny.

573
00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:03,320
Speaker 2: I just wanted to achieve that. I wanted to get

574
00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:05,440
Speaker 2: to a point in my life and go, okay, if

575
00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:07,400
Speaker 2: I've done nothing else, at least I really you know,

576
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:09,200
Speaker 2: went for gold and you know, gave them the best

577
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:14,080
Speaker 2: red hot shot. So along the way to learn how

578
00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:18,120
Speaker 2: to row, Andrew he suggested I should do the million

579
00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:21,320
Speaker 2: meter world record, so to become the fastest woman in

580
00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:23,520
Speaker 2: the world to row one million meters on a concept too,

581
00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:26,280
Speaker 2: So why we were building the boat. I was also

582
00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,280
Speaker 2: doing my training on an indoor rowing machine.

583
00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:31,080
Speaker 1: Yeah I've got a concept too.

584
00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:32,720
Speaker 2: Your love or you hate them?

585
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:35,600
Speaker 1: Right, yeah, yeah, that's real height. But you hate them

586
00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:37,360
Speaker 1: and you hate them, but you know you need to

587
00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:37,640
Speaker 1: do it.

588
00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:41,440
Speaker 2: So Andrew coached me through that. So that was a

589
00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:44,760
Speaker 2: six month program and then six months later I sat

590
00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:48,800
Speaker 2: for the world record at the International Rowing Regard right

591
00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:53,600
Speaker 2: in Penrith in Sydney, and we took almost eleven hours

592
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:54,600
Speaker 2: off the world record.

593
00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,000
Speaker 1: Wow, what was the what was the world record? And

594
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:01,120
Speaker 1: what were you a for that? Because there must have

595
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:03,600
Speaker 1: been an aim. Obviously you smashed it, you obliterated it,

596
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:06,040
Speaker 1: But what was the record and what were you what

597
00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:08,520
Speaker 1: were you thinking of achieving or trying to achieve?

598
00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it was the record was six days. I

599
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:14,920
Speaker 2: did it in five and a half so and that

600
00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:18,840
Speaker 2: was rowing at a pace of two thirty per five

601
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,800
Speaker 2: hundred eighteen to twenty strokes per minute, and it was

602
00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:26,360
Speaker 2: fourteen hours a day. So I rode for fourteen hours

603
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,400
Speaker 2: per day for five and a half days, one hundred

604
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,920
Speaker 2: and sixty eight kilometers per day at that rate to

605
00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:36,920
Speaker 2: thirty per five hundred eighteen just and I was you know,

606
00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:43,640
Speaker 2: during my training, we did two twenty four hour practice rows.

607
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:45,480
Speaker 2: You know, see what I could pull in twenty four

608
00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:47,400
Speaker 2: hours and you know, go to bed, get up and

609
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:50,160
Speaker 2: get back on the machine. That was the big thing, like, Okay,

610
00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:51,520
Speaker 2: you can do it today, but can you do it

611
00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:54,520
Speaker 2: again tomorrow? So we did two of those twenty four

612
00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:59,200
Speaker 2: hour rows prior in the six month block. And the

613
00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:02,760
Speaker 2: program was actually based on a two K time trial,

614
00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:05,520
Speaker 2: so every six weeks I would retest my two K,

615
00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:08,320
Speaker 2: which was getting better and better of course it should,

616
00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:12,600
Speaker 2: and then my program, my numbers would change. So it

617
00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:16,440
Speaker 2: was a seven day per week program, two sessions per day,

618
00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:20,480
Speaker 2: and I rode for eight hours every single Sunday and

619
00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:23,280
Speaker 2: six hours every single Monday. So they were my long rows.

620
00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:27,360
Speaker 2: And I was also building a boat and also working

621
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:29,920
Speaker 2: full time. So you know, these are the things that

622
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:31,720
Speaker 2: you just you look back and you think, how the

623
00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:32,600
Speaker 2: hell did I do all that?

624
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,600
Speaker 1: How do you keep the demons at bay in your head?

625
00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:41,760
Speaker 1: Because I was I got into my rowing on a

626
00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:46,080
Speaker 1: concept to during the pandemic, during the lockdowns when I

627
00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:47,920
Speaker 1: was in Australia. I was in the hotel for two

628
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:50,280
Speaker 1: weeks and I had a concept to another couple of weights,

629
00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:52,560
Speaker 1: and I used to stay on the contrast, you rode

630
00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:56,120
Speaker 1: for two hours every morning, and even two hours I

631
00:31:56,160 --> 00:32:00,160
Speaker 1: was battling the demons in my head, you know, just thinking, ah,

632
00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:02,920
Speaker 1: you know, I could start bucking, you know, as you do,

633
00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:06,600
Speaker 1: how do you continue knowing that you've got five days this,

634
00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:11,040
Speaker 1: you've got to do a million meters and especially on

635
00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:15,600
Speaker 1: that last day, what techniques did you use and how

636
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:17,800
Speaker 1: did you manage to sort of blank your mind or

637
00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:20,640
Speaker 1: did you not blank it? Were you thinking about things

638
00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:24,480
Speaker 1: bigger and better goals? Or what were you thinking about?

639
00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:25,920
Speaker 1: How did you keep those demons at bay?

640
00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:29,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, always keeping my eye on the prize, which was

641
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:32,840
Speaker 2: getting to the start line. So remember this was all

642
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:36,360
Speaker 2: in aid of just reading to the start line, because

643
00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:39,360
Speaker 2: I was also using it to try to attract sponsors.

644
00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:41,920
Speaker 2: I thought, if I get the world record, maybe then

645
00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:44,240
Speaker 2: you know, that will give me some validation, some credibility,

646
00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:47,240
Speaker 2: and then I will perhaps attract some sponsors when they

647
00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:48,640
Speaker 2: say well who are you, I can say, well, I'm

648
00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:50,200
Speaker 2: Michelle Lee, the fastest woman in the world to round

649
00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:54,720
Speaker 2: million meters. It actually made no difference, by the way. However,

650
00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:58,000
Speaker 2: the lessons that I was getting out of it, I

651
00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:02,040
Speaker 2: was seeing it first and experiencing and going, holy shit,

652
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:04,880
Speaker 2: this is so freaking valuable. You know. I was learning

653
00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:11,120
Speaker 2: the value of nutrition and not allowing my calories to

654
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:13,640
Speaker 2: go into any deficit. So I was learning that I

655
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:18,560
Speaker 2: still have to maintain this you know, caloric value and

656
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:21,000
Speaker 2: learn to eat and row on the go. So my

657
00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:24,840
Speaker 2: body had to go into this whole shunting where when

658
00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:28,280
Speaker 2: you eat, the stomach wants all the blood for digestion. However,

659
00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,360
Speaker 2: I'm rowing my legs, my glutes. They all want the

660
00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:34,400
Speaker 2: blood for me, you know, carry the oxygen for the

661
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:37,120
Speaker 2: working muscles. So I was just looking at it, and

662
00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:39,600
Speaker 2: because I'm a massage therapist and I sort of love that,

663
00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:41,280
Speaker 2: you know, the way the body works, I was like,

664
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:44,680
Speaker 2: oh man, this is so freaking cool. I'm experiencing this,

665
00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:48,160
Speaker 2: you know this, and just knowing that it's going to

666
00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:50,760
Speaker 2: hold me in great stead when I get to the

667
00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:53,760
Speaker 2: start light. And then I put one very big caveat

668
00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:55,720
Speaker 2: on what I was doing, and that is, if I

669
00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:58,800
Speaker 2: do not achieve this world record on this first go,

670
00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:01,040
Speaker 2: because I ain't coming back to do this is I

671
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:02,960
Speaker 2: said to myself, you are not allowed to even go

672
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:06,080
Speaker 2: to the start line. So I put that extra little

673
00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:07,760
Speaker 2: bit of pressure on myself. No one knew about that,

674
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:09,799
Speaker 2: but that was the deal that I made with me,

675
00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:13,279
Speaker 2: and that meant that I had to say, yeah, I

676
00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:15,480
Speaker 2: had to say one hundred percent true to the program

677
00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:19,799
Speaker 2: because I said to myself, if I fail, then it's

678
00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:22,560
Speaker 2: because I didn't stick to the program. So it's proven

679
00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:24,640
Speaker 2: to me now that you can do anything.

680
00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:27,480
Speaker 1: If you fail to prepare, then prepare to fail.

681
00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:28,840
Speaker 2: That's that's simple.

682
00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:37,560
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, there you go to seven piece. Yeah, prior

683
00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:51,200
Speaker 1: preparation and planning prevents piss poor performance. So Michelle, you

684
00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:53,879
Speaker 1: you get this record, you're still graft in a way.

685
00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:57,480
Speaker 1: You know, you're trying to entice sponsors. I know that

686
00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:02,320
Speaker 1: all too well. On the Are you ready?

687
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:10,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm ready physically. Apart from that, mentally, no, because

688
00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:14,719
Speaker 2: you know what, every single day out there, and that

689
00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:17,719
Speaker 2: was sixty eight days Atlantic was sixty eight days. Every

690
00:35:17,719 --> 00:35:21,520
Speaker 2: single day out there, I realized how freaking green Eye was,

691
00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,719
Speaker 2: how naive I was, And I thought to myself, I

692
00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:28,359
Speaker 2: was so prepared, you know, but you know, there were

693
00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:32,680
Speaker 2: so many scenarios and so many conditions that you can't

694
00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:36,440
Speaker 2: mimic and mock in training throwing around Sydney Harbor.

695
00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:39,560
Speaker 1: Absolutely, yeah, you can only prepare to a certain extent,

696
00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:40,280
Speaker 1: can't you.

697
00:35:40,239 --> 00:35:42,920
Speaker 2: Correct, And then the rest is holy shit. I didn't

698
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:45,160
Speaker 2: know the scenes were going to get this big.

699
00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:45,080
Speaker 1: You know.

700
00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:48,759
Speaker 2: Yeah, and yeah, so the whole and mental prep. I

701
00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:51,680
Speaker 2: did no mental prep apart from my rowing on that

702
00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:54,680
Speaker 2: rowing machine for the extended periods that I did for

703
00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:57,640
Speaker 2: you know, that full six months. Yes, that hurt. Yes,

704
00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:00,320
Speaker 2: that taught me a lot about my own mental strength,

705
00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:02,799
Speaker 2: my own mental resilience, and my own stubbornness to just

706
00:36:02,840 --> 00:36:05,600
Speaker 2: get the job done and to you know, understand that

707
00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:07,840
Speaker 2: yes it hurts, but it will go. It won't last forever,

708
00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:11,439
Speaker 2: you know. These were the barriers capacity, except just push through.

709
00:36:11,520 --> 00:36:13,600
Speaker 2: You know that it'll disappear and something else will hurt,

710
00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:18,120
Speaker 2: So just wait for it, you know. And so yeah,

711
00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:20,799
Speaker 2: the million meter held me in very good stead in

712
00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:24,440
Speaker 2: that aspect. But as far as mental I did no

713
00:36:24,719 --> 00:36:28,480
Speaker 2: mental planning. I did no mental training because I thought, oh,

714
00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:31,800
Speaker 2: this will be my heaven out there. Imagine a life

715
00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:35,880
Speaker 2: with no email, Imagine with no first world demands. Imagine.

716
00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:37,600
Speaker 2: I thought this is going to be great. But the

717
00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:41,160
Speaker 2: isolation factor ended up being one of my biggest challenges

718
00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:41,960
Speaker 2: when I was out there.

719
00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:44,279
Speaker 1: Take me back to that the very first day, and

720
00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:48,640
Speaker 1: that's why I asked, were you ready on that day?

721
00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:53,080
Speaker 1: What was your mindset? Talk to me about that very

722
00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:56,520
Speaker 1: first morning or day that you you you set sail.

723
00:36:56,920 --> 00:36:59,960
Speaker 2: Well, actually the first two weeks at the start line,

724
00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:02,759
Speaker 2: which you had to be there two weeks before you

725
00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:07,600
Speaker 2: took off, and it was all a blur. My dad

726
00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:10,799
Speaker 2: died the day I flew out, so on the day

727
00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:13,400
Speaker 2: I had to get on the plane to fly to

728
00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:15,759
Speaker 2: the start line. My brother rang me early in the

729
00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:18,080
Speaker 2: morning and he said Dad's going in for emergency surgery.

730
00:37:18,719 --> 00:37:22,560
Speaker 2: They aren't holding out too many promises. I'll bring you back.

731
00:37:22,680 --> 00:37:24,160
Speaker 2: And then we rang me back a couple of hours

732
00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:28,040
Speaker 2: later and said he's gone. So in that moment, you know,

733
00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:31,440
Speaker 2: I'm like, do I go? Do I stay? You know

734
00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:33,399
Speaker 2: there's going to be a funeral, do I And then

735
00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:36,440
Speaker 2: I just heard my dad's voice say, don't you dare

736
00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:42,240
Speaker 2: cry over me in the ground, Go and row that ocean.

737
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:47,319
Speaker 1: It gave you another excuse to get this done right.

738
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:50,080
Speaker 1: And I can use this hopefully when it starts to

739
00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:52,560
Speaker 1: get painful, when it starts to get dark, when it

740
00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:55,680
Speaker 1: starts to you know, you start to become it, get

741
00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:59,279
Speaker 1: into it into a bad place. I'm glad that you

742
00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:00,360
Speaker 1: gave me that answer.

743
00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:03,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you know, I you know, I apologized for

744
00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:05,799
Speaker 2: my brother and sister that I wouldn't be there to

745
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:08,640
Speaker 2: bear the burden and share the burden of you know,

746
00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:12,759
Speaker 2: what was to come for them. I take off, Like

747
00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:15,839
Speaker 2: I said, the first two weeks were just a blur.

748
00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:17,839
Speaker 2: I missed a couple of the meetings that you were

749
00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:21,000
Speaker 2: supposed to go to, and you know, I really wasn't

750
00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:24,840
Speaker 2: there basically, and funnily enough, I sat on the plane

751
00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:27,520
Speaker 2: and the guy sitting next to me there was a window.

752
00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:29,520
Speaker 2: He was sitting on the window. A seat was empty

753
00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:32,400
Speaker 2: next to us, and I was on the aisle. Halfway

754
00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:34,279
Speaker 2: through the fly, I hadn't said a word to this man.

755
00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:36,759
Speaker 2: Halfway through the flight, he put his hand on my

756
00:38:37,239 --> 00:38:41,320
Speaker 2: forearm and he said, if you need to talk, I'm here,

757
00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:44,359
Speaker 2: and I just said, my dad died this morning. And

758
00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:47,879
Speaker 2: then he gave me the six processes of the grieving processes,

759
00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:49,879
Speaker 2: and he said, if you need to talk, I'm here.

760
00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:53,120
Speaker 2: And I was like, see, this is divine intervention. Man.

761
00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:56,400
Speaker 2: What are the chances of this man sitting next to

762
00:38:56,480 --> 00:39:00,959
Speaker 2: me in this moment of need? You know? So yeah,

763
00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:03,160
Speaker 2: all these little things and these little things that happen

764
00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:05,160
Speaker 2: along the way, I'm like, I'm where I need to be.

765
00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:07,360
Speaker 2: I am right where. It was like a little confirmation

766
00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:08,759
Speaker 2: you are right where you need to be.

767
00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:11,319
Speaker 1: Michelle. I love that you've said that because I say

768
00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:16,640
Speaker 1: exactly the same. You know, people don't acknowledge these moments.

769
00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:19,040
Speaker 1: They just let them go over their heads. And there's

770
00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:22,880
Speaker 1: such powerful moments because ultimately they're milestones. I use them

771
00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:25,520
Speaker 1: as milestones and exactly what you said, and it's freaked

772
00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:27,200
Speaker 1: me out a little bit that you've said it. I

773
00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:30,080
Speaker 1: look at myself and I go, no matter what I've

774
00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:33,239
Speaker 1: been through or what I've just come, I'm exactly where

775
00:39:33,239 --> 00:39:35,680
Speaker 1: I'm supposed to be. And that for me is a

776
00:39:35,719 --> 00:39:38,160
Speaker 1: milestone in the ground that if I go for I

777
00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:41,719
Speaker 1: can always revisit that milestone rather than going back and

778
00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:45,320
Speaker 1: getting completely lost in you, in the chaos, in in

779
00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:49,040
Speaker 1: the hurt, in the trauma, whatever it may be. Those

780
00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:54,120
Speaker 1: milestones are hugely important. I'm really glad that you've said

781
00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:57,000
Speaker 1: this because the listeners will get a lot out of this.

782
00:39:57,560 --> 00:40:01,600
Speaker 1: Exactly where I'm supposed to be. Acknowledge those moments, and

783
00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:02,200
Speaker 1: you know, there.

784
00:40:02,120 --> 00:40:04,960
Speaker 2: Are moments that usually will give you goose bumps, which

785
00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:08,600
Speaker 2: are called truth bumps. So I lock them in, bumped.

786
00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:12,360
Speaker 2: I lock them in as a positive point of reference

787
00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:15,000
Speaker 2: so that next time you know, when you get it,

788
00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:17,799
Speaker 2: it's just like yeah, it's now, like like I say, now,

789
00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:19,640
Speaker 2: for me, it is just such a knowing because it's

790
00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:22,759
Speaker 2: happened so many times. I trust it so much that

791
00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:26,440
Speaker 2: I just go, I lock it in with this little technique,

792
00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:28,680
Speaker 2: and I just say, whenever I have, whenever I have

793
00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:30,400
Speaker 2: to think, feel believable, behave this way. All I do

794
00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:31,680
Speaker 2: is lock it in with my three fingers and know

795
00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:34,680
Speaker 2: that it is so. And you know, this is a

796
00:40:34,719 --> 00:40:38,240
Speaker 2: technique that I've learned through the Silver Ultra mind control.

797
00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:42,759
Speaker 2: But it's it works, and it's all about going back

798
00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:45,040
Speaker 2: to your intuition, going back to your gut, going back

799
00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:46,920
Speaker 2: to those feels.

800
00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:51,720
Speaker 1: So are you believed when you sort of you're let loose,

801
00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:54,719
Speaker 1: they they sort of like you know, away you go,

802
00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:58,680
Speaker 1: you buy yourself. You know you wanted this moment for ages.

803
00:40:58,719 --> 00:40:59,840
Speaker 1: You're like, I would just want to be by my

804
00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:03,360
Speaker 1: I want to be out there with the ocean with

805
00:41:03,520 --> 00:41:06,680
Speaker 1: mother nature as fine as you know, just looking at

806
00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:10,640
Speaker 1: the waves roll over. When did it become a reality

807
00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:13,879
Speaker 1: that this wasn't you weren't on a concept to.

808
00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:21,480
Speaker 2: Immediately because I was the second last person to be

809
00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:24,560
Speaker 2: set off and you went in five minute increments. So

810
00:41:24,719 --> 00:41:26,279
Speaker 2: you know, my first one, the Atlantic Road was in

811
00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:28,880
Speaker 2: fact a race. So there was a whole bunch of five.

812
00:41:29,080 --> 00:41:31,160
Speaker 2: You know, there was a team of five, couple of

813
00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:34,040
Speaker 2: teams of four, couple of trios, couple of pairs, then

814
00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:36,399
Speaker 2: there were the five solos. So I was the second

815
00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:39,640
Speaker 2: last person to go. So I've watched everyone go wave goodbye.

816
00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:42,479
Speaker 2: Then it's my turn. And then I get out there

817
00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:44,880
Speaker 2: and I realized for the first time, shit, we're not

818
00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:47,080
Speaker 2: rolling back, We're not going back into the harbor. We

819
00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:49,480
Speaker 2: just keep going. And then I turn around, I look

820
00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:51,720
Speaker 2: at all everybody else and They're going in a completely

821
00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:55,520
Speaker 2: different direction to me, and I'm like, hello, calling to

822
00:41:55,560 --> 00:41:59,439
Speaker 2: one of the girls, where are you going? I'm think

823
00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:02,120
Speaker 2: you Then I remembered, holy shit, you got to run

824
00:42:02,160 --> 00:42:04,239
Speaker 2: your own race, you know, I'm thinking, do they know

825
00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:05,120
Speaker 2: something I don't know?

826
00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:07,919
Speaker 1: Like, yeah, yeah, your mind starts to play trix.

827
00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:11,520
Speaker 2: Absolutely, you start to self doubt, and then you've got

828
00:42:11,560 --> 00:42:13,960
Speaker 2: to go back to the game plan. Man, I got

829
00:42:13,960 --> 00:42:15,360
Speaker 2: to stick to the game plan.

830
00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:18,120
Speaker 1: How hard is it to stick to the game plan?

831
00:42:18,160 --> 00:42:20,919
Speaker 1: Because I've been there before as well. You know, when

832
00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:24,520
Speaker 1: I'm on the hill phase of selection and you see,

833
00:42:24,800 --> 00:42:27,960
Speaker 1: you know, everyone bursting off into a different direction, and

834
00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:31,200
Speaker 1: you're just like, all right, and I'm contouring round, you know,

835
00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:33,480
Speaker 1: trying to hopefully pick up a goat's path or something.

836
00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:35,560
Speaker 1: Rather than go up and over, you know, and I'm

837
00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:38,680
Speaker 1: thinking to myself and the self doubt kicks in.

838
00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:42,280
Speaker 2: Right. Oh, it's very tempting to follow. It's very tempting

839
00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:42,920
Speaker 2: in that moment.

840
00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:44,479
Speaker 1: Did it serve you well?

841
00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:47,600
Speaker 2: Oh? Very well. It was the perfect plan. And yeah,

842
00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:50,040
Speaker 2: so you know, let's come back to Tony talk about

843
00:42:50,080 --> 00:42:52,480
Speaker 2: my life doing three sixties. So Tony's the guy I

844
00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:56,120
Speaker 2: remember on the yacht two years and he said, I

845
00:42:56,160 --> 00:42:58,360
Speaker 2: can't play a part in this, Michelle, I'm not playing

846
00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:00,239
Speaker 2: a part in you going out on a death which

847
00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:03,120
Speaker 2: he ended up being my weather router. He ended up

848
00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:07,080
Speaker 2: routing for me, and at the end he gave me

849
00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:10,839
Speaker 2: this beautiful little memento of a diary on my log

850
00:43:10,880 --> 00:43:15,480
Speaker 2: book where he updated it every single four hours for

851
00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:18,560
Speaker 2: sixty eight days. He never missed a day. He never

852
00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:21,719
Speaker 2: missed one four hourly, so he was setting alarm every

853
00:43:21,719 --> 00:43:24,799
Speaker 2: four hours. He's logging and plotting me manually on a

854
00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:27,839
Speaker 2: chart to see where I am and to see how

855
00:43:27,840 --> 00:43:31,960
Speaker 2: my boat's behaving in these conditions. So yeah, he ended

856
00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:34,120
Speaker 2: up staying with me right to the very end.

857
00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:38,520
Speaker 1: Wow, So just do you meet up with him after?

858
00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:39,520
Speaker 1: Is it? It?

859
00:43:39,719 --> 00:43:46,000
Speaker 2: Hellah? Yeah, yeah, he flew, he flew to Sydney to

860
00:43:46,040 --> 00:43:49,719
Speaker 2: see me when I came home, but he didn't. He

861
00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:52,239
Speaker 2: wasn't in Antigua when I rowed in, but I did

862
00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:53,680
Speaker 2: catch up with in Sydney.

863
00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:55,920
Speaker 1: And what did it feel like rowing in? And what

864
00:43:56,040 --> 00:43:58,200
Speaker 1: did you learn from that row? And you know, again

865
00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:02,000
Speaker 1: we're talking about you know, always learning. I always say

866
00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:05,920
Speaker 1: there's no growth in comfort. How much should you personally grow?

867
00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:10,040
Speaker 1: How much did you learn? How resilient was your mindset?

868
00:44:10,719 --> 00:44:13,120
Speaker 1: What was it like finishing that race?

869
00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:17,680
Speaker 2: You just have a greater appreciation for all of things

870
00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:20,879
Speaker 2: that our first world, so you know, constant running water,

871
00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:24,440
Speaker 2: fresh towels, nice fresh sheets and all of that sort

872
00:44:24,440 --> 00:44:28,520
Speaker 2: of stuff. So you certainly have a greater appreciation for

873
00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:32,400
Speaker 2: all of that, but also gratitude, immense gratitude for the

874
00:44:32,440 --> 00:44:35,279
Speaker 2: people who came on board and helped out, whether it

875
00:44:35,320 --> 00:44:38,680
Speaker 2: was financially or the expertise, or you know, the people

876
00:44:38,719 --> 00:44:40,480
Speaker 2: that came and sat by my side while I rode

877
00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:42,800
Speaker 2: the million meters or even in my training. My friends,

878
00:44:42,840 --> 00:44:44,400
Speaker 2: would you know, rock in on a Sunday and just

879
00:44:44,440 --> 00:44:47,279
Speaker 2: help me kill the eight hours? You know, I live

880
00:44:47,400 --> 00:44:49,880
Speaker 2: with no TV, I don't haven't owned a TV since

881
00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:57,040
Speaker 2: twenty eleven, and so yeah, they'd come and entertain me,

882
00:44:57,239 --> 00:44:59,360
Speaker 2: you know, bring me snacks, all that sort of stuff.

883
00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:02,600
Speaker 2: So yeah, go into a massive state of gratitude. And

884
00:45:02,640 --> 00:45:05,000
Speaker 2: also it just taught me that there's we got so

885
00:45:05,120 --> 00:45:06,520
Speaker 2: much more in the tank, you know, when you think

886
00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:09,920
Speaker 2: you got nothing left. On day forty six, I noted

887
00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:13,040
Speaker 2: my worst date ever. It was a drama queen moment. However,

888
00:45:13,960 --> 00:45:16,520
Speaker 2: you know, two days later, when the weather turns around

889
00:45:16,600 --> 00:45:18,560
Speaker 2: and the sun comes out to shine and you're feeling

890
00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:21,480
Speaker 2: a lot better, you look at the diary and I'm like, Jesus,

891
00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:22,600
Speaker 2: I was a drama queen.

892
00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:25,320
Speaker 1: You know, tell me about that day forty six gone?

893
00:45:25,360 --> 00:45:25,960
Speaker 1: What happened?

894
00:45:26,440 --> 00:45:29,480
Speaker 2: Everything was going wrong. The wind wasn't doing what you know.

895
00:45:29,480 --> 00:45:33,880
Speaker 2: I had wind against wave I had, I was getting

896
00:45:33,920 --> 00:45:39,400
Speaker 2: hit beam on. I had water threatening to flood my autopilot.

897
00:45:39,520 --> 00:45:42,560
Speaker 2: So I was trying to make some little scupper covers

898
00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:46,160
Speaker 2: out of my lunch box lids and freaking gaffer tape

899
00:45:47,520 --> 00:45:52,640
Speaker 2: sticking stuff together. I had an earache, I had a toothache,

900
00:45:53,000 --> 00:45:54,880
Speaker 2: you know, and I was feeling a bit frazzled and

901
00:45:54,920 --> 00:45:57,960
Speaker 2: fried mentally. By this stage, I was feeling very vulnerable.

902
00:45:58,360 --> 00:46:00,040
Speaker 2: I realized that this is a little bit bigger and

903
00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:02,440
Speaker 2: running around my neighborhood naked, and I'm like, you know,

904
00:46:03,239 --> 00:46:05,560
Speaker 2: and then, you know, every single day you're out there,

905
00:46:05,560 --> 00:46:09,080
Speaker 2: you start to actually realize how vulnerable you actually are.

906
00:46:09,200 --> 00:46:10,920
Speaker 2: You know, it hits home a little bit more. And

907
00:46:11,719 --> 00:46:14,200
Speaker 2: every day that I didn't capsize, I was like, oh

908
00:46:14,239 --> 00:46:17,080
Speaker 2: my god, yes, another day goes where I'm up the

909
00:46:17,120 --> 00:46:22,680
Speaker 2: right way. So rolling in for me, I just remember

910
00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:27,480
Speaker 2: it being with mixed emotions of relief. Definitely relief and

911
00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:29,320
Speaker 2: not to have to worry about the weather, you know,

912
00:46:29,360 --> 00:46:34,440
Speaker 2: you obsess over the goddamn weather. But also there was

913
00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:38,920
Speaker 2: a little bit of mixed emotions in coming back into

914
00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:41,840
Speaker 2: first world the demands of first world, you know, the

915
00:46:42,360 --> 00:46:44,920
Speaker 2: having the phone, having an inbox, all that sort of stuff.

916
00:46:44,920 --> 00:46:47,240
Speaker 2: I met that with a lot of resistance. I really

917
00:46:47,280 --> 00:46:48,120
Speaker 2: struggled with that.

918
00:46:48,560 --> 00:46:50,799
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was going to be my next question. How

919
00:46:50,840 --> 00:46:55,160
Speaker 1: do you go from you know, being so self sufficient,

920
00:46:56,280 --> 00:47:00,560
Speaker 1: isolated alone and of course you know the days where

921
00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:03,360
Speaker 1: you crave attention, you probably craved to you know, be

922
00:47:03,480 --> 00:47:07,440
Speaker 1: on land and to you know, to be walking and firm,

923
00:47:07,840 --> 00:47:13,920
Speaker 1: firm footed. How was it? How easy was it or

924
00:47:13,960 --> 00:47:17,400
Speaker 1: how not easy was it to transition back into normal

925
00:47:17,480 --> 00:47:19,759
Speaker 1: everyday life and how long did it last before you

926
00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:20,840
Speaker 1: went right up off again?

927
00:47:21,840 --> 00:47:28,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, the the Atlantic Row probably only took me probably

928
00:47:29,080 --> 00:47:32,200
Speaker 2: a month, but then it was a good three months

929
00:47:32,200 --> 00:47:34,960
Speaker 2: of rehab, you know, getting your body back in order.

930
00:47:35,000 --> 00:47:36,960
Speaker 2: You know, like you lose strength, you know, I lost

931
00:47:38,040 --> 00:47:42,880
Speaker 2: fifteen kilos, you lose muscle mass, you lose mobility because

932
00:47:42,880 --> 00:47:45,440
Speaker 2: your ankles are planted at you know, forty two degrees

933
00:47:45,520 --> 00:47:48,439
Speaker 2: for twelve hours a day. So for me coming back

934
00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:53,239
Speaker 2: and getting my teeth sunk into a rehab program that

935
00:47:53,440 --> 00:47:55,680
Speaker 2: helped a lot, not just knowing that I really had

936
00:47:55,719 --> 00:48:00,760
Speaker 2: to get that discipline back again to get my mobility

937
00:48:00,800 --> 00:48:06,920
Speaker 2: and strength factor. And I think really though the Pacific Row,

938
00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:10,280
Speaker 2: you know that was two hundred and forty days at sea.

939
00:48:10,560 --> 00:48:13,520
Speaker 2: That's that took me about I reckon four months to

940
00:48:13,560 --> 00:48:19,520
Speaker 2: get with the program with my resistance into first world.

941
00:48:19,680 --> 00:48:21,320
Speaker 1: And it was was it just a bug? So you

942
00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:24,799
Speaker 1: do this row and then it was the Pacific Road.

943
00:48:24,920 --> 00:48:27,920
Speaker 1: Was it always a goal? Was it always there? Or

944
00:48:28,000 --> 00:48:30,839
Speaker 1: did did that just come along as an idea as

945
00:48:30,880 --> 00:48:33,239
Speaker 1: an epiphany in your mind? Michelle? Because it seemed like

946
00:48:33,280 --> 00:48:35,719
Speaker 1: that you you get back into a little roucine and

947
00:48:35,760 --> 00:48:38,919
Speaker 1: then you're like, right, I'm off to do something else.

948
00:48:39,200 --> 00:48:41,359
Speaker 1: When when did that or was it just a knock

949
00:48:41,400 --> 00:48:45,799
Speaker 1: on of your let's call it your hobby or your

950
00:48:45,880 --> 00:48:47,879
Speaker 1: your your passion of rowing.

951
00:48:48,280 --> 00:48:51,600
Speaker 2: Day thirty four of sixty eight on the Atlantic, I

952
00:48:51,640 --> 00:48:54,960
Speaker 2: actually caught myself with the go pro saying, imagine if

953
00:48:54,960 --> 00:48:58,120
Speaker 2: you were to row another ocean, and I say the

954
00:48:58,160 --> 00:49:02,600
Speaker 2: Pacific Ocean. That's a big one. So really, you gotta

955
00:49:02,640 --> 00:49:05,360
Speaker 2: be careful what you say, right, because everything's a vibration

956
00:49:05,480 --> 00:49:07,960
Speaker 2: and a frequency. And I planted the seed. That's what

957
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:13,280
Speaker 2: I actually did. I planted the seed and then come COVID,

958
00:49:13,360 --> 00:49:16,640
Speaker 2: come lock down. I went into meltdown, you know about

959
00:49:17,680 --> 00:49:20,400
Speaker 2: they're taking away my freedom and all this sort of stuff.

960
00:49:20,400 --> 00:49:24,960
Speaker 2: So I used that all that anger. I funneled it

961
00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:29,000
Speaker 2: into fuck it, I'm just gonna row the Pacific, and

962
00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:32,800
Speaker 2: I'm going to use this time to build my campaign,

963
00:49:32,920 --> 00:49:35,520
Speaker 2: to rebuild my boat, you know, get my boat ready.

964
00:49:36,520 --> 00:49:39,640
Speaker 2: And then it ended up being a road for freedom.

965
00:49:39,719 --> 00:49:44,480
Speaker 2: So you know, the whole getting immersed, immerse yourself in

966
00:49:44,480 --> 00:49:48,400
Speaker 2: the progress in the project, and to be emotionally connected

967
00:49:48,440 --> 00:49:51,360
Speaker 2: to it. This is what gives you that mongrel on

968
00:49:51,480 --> 00:49:54,040
Speaker 2: those tough days when you're struggling, when you think you know,

969
00:49:54,040 --> 00:49:57,840
Speaker 2: I've got nothing left in the tank. It's that emotional

970
00:49:57,840 --> 00:50:01,719
Speaker 2: connection to your why. So I was very motivated. I was,

971
00:50:02,200 --> 00:50:06,560
Speaker 2: you know, by them taken away my freedom. So the

972
00:50:06,600 --> 00:50:08,279
Speaker 2: Pacific was driven by that.

973
00:50:09,000 --> 00:50:13,000
Speaker 1: Any regrets during during the row, when you're just like,

974
00:50:13,360 --> 00:50:15,359
Speaker 1: why am I doing this?

975
00:50:16,719 --> 00:50:20,520
Speaker 2: Never did I ever ask that, Never, not once, absolutely

976
00:50:20,960 --> 00:50:23,840
Speaker 2: not once. So I never asked, oh my god, what

977
00:50:23,880 --> 00:50:26,360
Speaker 2: am I doing here? And I never ever felt alone

978
00:50:26,400 --> 00:50:28,600
Speaker 2: and I never felt lonely. So they are not words

979
00:50:28,600 --> 00:50:32,040
Speaker 2: that were ever in my vocab. Amazing, And I bring

980
00:50:32,120 --> 00:50:36,279
Speaker 2: that back to I always say, it's the law of entanglement. Man.

981
00:50:36,480 --> 00:50:39,520
Speaker 2: We are all entangled. We are all connected, and you know,

982
00:50:39,680 --> 00:50:42,919
Speaker 2: energy and frequency and people's good wishes, their vibes, they're

983
00:50:43,600 --> 00:50:47,600
Speaker 2: sending me, you know, good intention prayers and they're like

984
00:50:47,760 --> 00:50:51,920
Speaker 2: willing me on, I reckon. I was just feeling that

985
00:50:52,040 --> 00:50:56,000
Speaker 2: it was being magnified and amplified across the ocean, across

986
00:50:56,040 --> 00:50:58,640
Speaker 2: the water, and whether it was in a bird that

987
00:50:58,800 --> 00:51:02,279
Speaker 2: was hovering at eye level, like full on eyeballing me,

988
00:51:02,520 --> 00:51:05,640
Speaker 2: hollering me, or a turtle that would just show up

989
00:51:05,680 --> 00:51:09,480
Speaker 2: out of nowhere and be tapping on my hull or

990
00:51:09,840 --> 00:51:12,440
Speaker 2: all this fish life, the sea life under the boat.

991
00:51:12,760 --> 00:51:14,960
Speaker 2: All of them were someone to me. Do you know

992
00:51:15,000 --> 00:51:17,080
Speaker 2: what I mean? And when you're out there and you've

993
00:51:17,080 --> 00:51:19,279
Speaker 2: got nothing else, you've got no distractions, and you've got

994
00:51:20,040 --> 00:51:23,240
Speaker 2: no Wi Fi, You've got no just nothing.

995
00:51:23,520 --> 00:51:26,280
Speaker 1: So you've do you take two hundred and forty days

996
00:51:26,320 --> 00:51:29,440
Speaker 1: to finish what you're looking like? How much weight have

997
00:51:29,480 --> 00:51:34,439
Speaker 1: you lost? What are you saying? Who meets you? And

998
00:51:35,040 --> 00:51:36,440
Speaker 1: are you satisfied?

999
00:51:37,719 --> 00:51:39,920
Speaker 2: Yeah? So two hundred and forty days later, you know,

1000
00:51:39,960 --> 00:51:45,040
Speaker 2: I left Mexico in August twenty twenty two, arrived in

1001
00:51:45,080 --> 00:51:48,719
Speaker 2: Port Douglas in April twenty twenty three, two forty days later,

1002
00:51:50,160 --> 00:51:54,799
Speaker 2: to family, My mom, my brother, you know, my best is.

1003
00:51:54,920 --> 00:51:58,480
Speaker 2: They were all there at the finish line. And you know,

1004
00:51:58,600 --> 00:52:04,080
Speaker 2: that whole rowing ear was just full of mixed emotions

1005
00:52:04,200 --> 00:52:07,880
Speaker 2: knowing that, Oh the last I think forty eight hours

1006
00:52:07,880 --> 00:52:11,160
Speaker 2: on board, I was really fighting with the whole getting

1007
00:52:11,239 --> 00:52:13,920
Speaker 2: back to being in Wi Fi again. You know, I've

1008
00:52:13,960 --> 00:52:16,719
Speaker 2: just had a complete Wi Fi detox, I've had a

1009
00:52:16,760 --> 00:52:21,400
Speaker 2: people deep toks, I've been at one with mother nature.

1010
00:52:21,480 --> 00:52:23,440
Speaker 2: I've go to bed with the sun. I get up

1011
00:52:23,480 --> 00:52:27,040
Speaker 2: with the sun. I'm in perfect harmony and now I'm

1012
00:52:27,080 --> 00:52:30,000
Speaker 2: giving all that up to you know. So that's a

1013
00:52:30,040 --> 00:52:35,040
Speaker 2: real struggle. It's true. So it really didn't feel real

1014
00:52:35,239 --> 00:52:37,000
Speaker 2: and it was very, very uncomfortable.

1015
00:52:37,880 --> 00:52:41,680
Speaker 1: Is there still a calling for you? Was Michelle Lee

1016
00:52:42,280 --> 00:52:44,880
Speaker 1: doing now? And what is next for you?

1017
00:52:44,960 --> 00:52:48,240
Speaker 2: Michelle? Oh? Yeah, Look the ocean. I love the ocean.

1018
00:52:48,239 --> 00:52:50,799
Speaker 2: I really do respect and love it so much. It's

1019
00:52:50,880 --> 00:52:53,920
Speaker 2: got a magnetic pull for me. And I will do

1020
00:52:54,000 --> 00:52:57,880
Speaker 2: the Indian so that's from Perth to South Africa. I

1021
00:52:57,920 --> 00:52:59,840
Speaker 2: will do it in my same boat because I know

1022
00:53:00,040 --> 00:53:03,719
Speaker 2: and love her so well. And that would probably be

1023
00:53:03,760 --> 00:53:05,919
Speaker 2: between one twenty and one sixty days. And the most

1024
00:53:05,920 --> 00:53:09,360
Speaker 2: important man, the most important puzzle of my team is

1025
00:53:09,360 --> 00:53:11,680
Speaker 2: my weather man, and he has said yes, I will

1026
00:53:11,719 --> 00:53:15,200
Speaker 2: come again with you. And then you know, there's a

1027
00:53:15,200 --> 00:53:17,000
Speaker 2: couple of sailing events. I want to do a little

1028
00:53:17,000 --> 00:53:19,440
Speaker 2: solo you build your own boat, same thing. I love

1029
00:53:19,520 --> 00:53:22,520
Speaker 2: this whole getting immersed in the project. You know, the

1030
00:53:22,680 --> 00:53:26,120
Speaker 2: five point eight to zero Mini Globe Race that's a

1031
00:53:26,200 --> 00:53:29,520
Speaker 2: lap around the world in a five point eight meters

1032
00:53:29,560 --> 00:53:33,080
Speaker 2: sailing boat that you build yourself. And so yeah, I'm

1033
00:53:33,200 --> 00:53:34,600
Speaker 2: very keen to do that. I think that would be

1034
00:53:34,880 --> 00:53:38,759
Speaker 2: just amazing. And yeah, just anything that gets me off

1035
00:53:38,800 --> 00:53:40,520
Speaker 2: the beaten track gets me out of the mat Trix

1036
00:53:40,600 --> 00:53:43,239
Speaker 2: gets me where there's no Wi Fi signal. I love that,

1037
00:53:43,440 --> 00:53:45,279
Speaker 2: you know. I live in a world I choose and

1038
00:53:45,360 --> 00:53:47,960
Speaker 2: consciously live in a world without a TV. I don't

1039
00:53:47,960 --> 00:53:50,040
Speaker 2: listen to the radio, I do not read a newspaper,

1040
00:53:50,080 --> 00:53:52,960
Speaker 2: and I cannot converse with you about any news of

1041
00:53:53,000 --> 00:53:55,160
Speaker 2: the world because I honestly do not know. And that's

1042
00:53:55,680 --> 00:53:59,120
Speaker 2: very conscious chosen way to live.

1043
00:54:00,160 --> 00:54:02,840
Speaker 1: Michelle has been an absolute pleasure to have you on.

1044
00:54:02,920 --> 00:54:06,200
Speaker 1: My podcast could go on for another hour with you. Absolutely,

1045
00:54:06,640 --> 00:54:09,680
Speaker 1: best of luck, stay safe, and I know a lot

1046
00:54:09,719 --> 00:54:11,839
Speaker 1: of people will get a lot out of this podcast.

1047
00:54:12,360 --> 00:54:15,840
Speaker 2: Absolutely, there's been an absolute pleasure and a treat and

1048
00:54:16,080 --> 00:54:17,000
Speaker 2: thanks for having me on.

1049
00:54:18,600 --> 00:54:22,200
Speaker 1: You can follow Michelle's adventures on her Instagram page. I'll

1050
00:54:22,239 --> 00:54:25,120
Speaker 1: put the details in the show notes. Thanks for joining

1051
00:54:25,200 --> 00:54:28,279
Speaker 1: me on this episode of head Game. If you enjoyed it,

1052
00:54:28,560 --> 00:54:32,040
Speaker 1: please share it with a friend. I'm Att Middleton. See

1053
00:54:32,040 --> 00:54:33,560
Speaker 1: you again next time.