Discovery Episode 3 - Training for the Drake | The Impossible Row • @ColinOBrady

In 2018, Colin O'Brady became the first person ever to cross the Antarctic continent, alone, unsupported, and completely human-powered. Now, he's trading his skis for oars. As part of an elite team attempting to become the first people in history to row from South America to Antarctica through 600 miles of the most treacherous and unpredictable waters on the planet, the Drake Passage. How's it going, brother? Well, it's the middle of the night. Mike just always has these crazy workouts for me to kind of simulate what I'm going to have happen during the row. I find myself diving into one of the most challenging and epic stretches of ocean with the Drake Passage and seeing if my mind, body, and spirit are capable of doing this. So all of these training sessions are super crucial to get me ready for I need to beat a cross Drake Passage. So today's going to be a good day, man. I got a test for you. We're going to take all the training that we've been doing over the last several weeks and we're going to translate it, man, to fully immerse himself in the task at hand. We've set up a fun little test for Colin. We're going to simulate a bad day on the water, a bad day on the ocean, make him as uncomfortable as I can, hit the basics, the strength, the power, the endurance. Doing it in the middle of the night because Colin is going to be called to use these exact same skills at any hour of the day. So we're going to get you cold, get you a little wet, and we're going to have you do what you do best. Mike's really just such a dynamic coach. He's able to kind of do things with me that I've never seen anybody do in a gym. One of the keys to my success in Antarctica was working with Mike because the things I'm doing, no one in the world has ever done. And so it takes a creative mind to sort of simulate these extreme environments. When I met Colin, he said, I want to do something that no one's ever done before. I want to step out of my comfort zone. I want to inspire a lot of people. And I said, this guy's a kindred spirit, like we're cut from the same cloth. In 2014, I started an initiative called 12 Labors Project, where I set out to do 12 increasingly difficult challenges. 2015, I broke the world record for most pull-ups in 24 hours. 2016, I pulled a Ford F-150 for 22 miles across Death Valley in the summer. I flipped a 250-pound truck tire for 13 miles straight. I do these different challenges to inspire people to kind of step out of their comfort zone and kind of pursue that greatness that's in them. All right, so here's a game plan. Number one, we're going to get you in that pool of ice-cold water. Sit in there for four minutes. After that, you're going to do 10 squats, all right? You're going to navigate through this stability course I got set up for you, and then you're going to have to row 1,200 meters. Upon completion of this, you're going to ring that bell, and you're going to do it all over again. We're going to do this four times a day. All right. OK? Let's go. Good. All right. Hands in. There you go. Focus on your breathing. Deep breaths. Keep your arms close to your body. Key is really being all mentally prepared for anything that comes my way. And Mike has his diabolical ways, but there's a message to the madness. Control your breath. You control the pain. Remember that. There you go. Five, four, three, two, one. Time's ticking. Colin, he likes to do things that take him away from his comfort zone. Stable. So I cultivate an environment that allows Colin to kind of drop into that deep flow state. Utilize his amazing skills of just dialing it in, getting focused, and getting the job done. Keep the pace up. One of the things we've realized about the rowboat is constantly rocking. What happens when you're going over huge waves? Well, your body is crashing around and moving around. And so he's simulating a lot of those motions. So he's working on all this side-to-side mobility, you know? Three times three. Eight times nine. At the end of the day, I got to make sure that the training from the mental aspect and the physical aspect are in line with each other. So I want to get him used to just getting it dialed in quick and performing at a high level. Let's go. Let's get it back now. Just another day, man. Good job, man. The final filter between Colin and the Drake are his thoughts. I wanted to see how solid his mindset was going into this project. Colin has the commitment. He has the courage. He has a clarity of vision. He's ready. No doubt. I love you, brother. I have, you know, swimmer my entire life. You know, spent time, you know, swimming in the ocean and surfing. I haven't rowed a boat. So I found a row specialist in Chris who's been out there on the water, you know, really teaching me how to row. Make sure you're sitting up tall. Keep that posture. I'm training Colin to get his form right, to create the muscle memory that he's going to need to accomplish three weeks of rowing every 90 minutes straight. All right. Slow down that slide a little bit. Nice and relaxed. And then build it up at the catch. Making sure he's sitting up straight, making sure the timing's coming together, making sure that he's really learning to use his frame as much as possible. All right. Keep going. It might sound like little things, but, you know, when you're rowing 12 hours a day for, you know, multiple weeks at a time, those little things can become big things. All right. Pull through with the elbows. Keep going. The interesting thing about Colin is, obviously, he's an elite athlete, and so he's picked it up quickly. But at the end of the day, it's pretty nuts for anybody to go from complete novice to rowing the Drake Passage as quickly as he's doing. All right. Make these the best strokes of the day. On the Drake, I'm going to be sleep deprived. I'm going to be exhausted. Muscles are going to be sore from so many consecutive days, and the stakes are so high in the Drake. I need to have that muscle memory completely dialed so my body is ready and prepared. So when the harshest conditions hit, I still have that great form built in. How excited is everyone? Yeah! You know, we have an amazing team on this project. All of us bring these different sort of levels of experience in terms of how we've pushed our body, our life experiences. And that's what I love about it. We all have these different skill sets that I think ultimately will make us even stronger. The hardest part about the row is going to be the kind of crazy conditions you're going to see out there. Because you can't really train for that. So there's not much preparation I can do on that side. But obviously, I can just be as fit as possible. And as strong as possible. A few nights of just waking up scared. Thinking about being out in the water. Just going to tackle it one day at a time. One stroke at a time. Training to do the Drake Passage. The biggest thing is stay positive and work hard. Building up the fitness, building up the calluses. Nothing like the Drake will be, but we'll take all the training we can get. I think there is not much that you can kind of do to prepare yourself. I think it's something you are born with or you are not. You just do it. This expedition has been a long time in the planning. A lot of hard training, ups and downs. We did persevere and ultimately got more prepared to row a boat across Drake Passage. Follow the expedition in real time on Discovery.