The Physical and Psychological Experience of Rowing the North Atlantic Solo and Unassisted
Introduction The present study followed an individual’s successful, record-setting, solo, unsupported row across the North Atlantic Ocean to gain an understanding of the physical and psychological experience of this extreme endurance feat. Methods The participant was a 37-y-old male endurance athlet...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wem.2019.12.008 https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S1080603220300077?httpAccept=text/xml https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S1080603220300077?httpAccept=text/plain http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1016/j.wem.2019.12.008 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1016/j.wem.2019.12.008 |
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crsagepubl:10.1016/j.wem.2019.12.008 2024-06-16T07:41:46+00:00 The Physical and Psychological Experience of Rowing the North Atlantic Solo and Unassisted Alschuler, Kevin N. Whibley, Daniel Alberts, Nicole M. Kaylor, Makena Kratz, Anna L. 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wem.2019.12.008 https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S1080603220300077?httpAccept=text/xml https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S1080603220300077?httpAccept=text/plain http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1016/j.wem.2019.12.008 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1016/j.wem.2019.12.008 en eng SAGE Publications https://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license Wilderness & Environmental Medicine volume 31, issue 2, page 144-150 ISSN 1080-6032 1545-1534 journal-article 2020 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wem.2019.12.008 2024-05-19T13:12:45Z Introduction The present study followed an individual’s successful, record-setting, solo, unsupported row across the North Atlantic Ocean to gain an understanding of the physical and psychological experience of this extreme endurance feat. Methods The participant was a 37-y-old male endurance athlete. Over the course of his nearly 39-d row, he provided daily ratings of effort, physical symptoms, and psychological experiences via a self-report questionnaire. Quantitative data were analyzed using simulation modelling analysis to examine within-day and cross-lagged correlations between perceived exertion and all other variables. Qualitative data were examined via thematic content analysis. Results Results showed that, on average, the participant experienced low levels of pain intensity, pain interference, fatigue interference, sleepiness, loneliness, boredom, anxiety, and frustration, in contrast to moderate scores for fatigue, restfulness, positive emotions, calmness, and confidence. There were statistically significant correlations between higher levels of perceived exertion and higher same-day levels of pain interference, fatigue, and fatigue interference, as well as lower same-day levels of calmness, loneliness, and boredom. Qualitative responses revealed 3 primary stressor types (internal physical, internal psychological, and external stressors) and 5 coping responses (acceptance/mindfulness, active response/problem solving, adjusting expectations/goal setting, distraction, and resignation). Conclusions Study findings indicate that the extreme athlete experienced physical and emotional challenges, but he demonstrated positive adjustment via the frequent experience of positive emotions and proficient use of a broad set of coping strategies matched to the daily stressor being addressed. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic SAGE Publications Wilderness & Environmental Medicine 31 2 144 150 |
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description |
Introduction The present study followed an individual’s successful, record-setting, solo, unsupported row across the North Atlantic Ocean to gain an understanding of the physical and psychological experience of this extreme endurance feat. Methods The participant was a 37-y-old male endurance athlete. Over the course of his nearly 39-d row, he provided daily ratings of effort, physical symptoms, and psychological experiences via a self-report questionnaire. Quantitative data were analyzed using simulation modelling analysis to examine within-day and cross-lagged correlations between perceived exertion and all other variables. Qualitative data were examined via thematic content analysis. Results Results showed that, on average, the participant experienced low levels of pain intensity, pain interference, fatigue interference, sleepiness, loneliness, boredom, anxiety, and frustration, in contrast to moderate scores for fatigue, restfulness, positive emotions, calmness, and confidence. There were statistically significant correlations between higher levels of perceived exertion and higher same-day levels of pain interference, fatigue, and fatigue interference, as well as lower same-day levels of calmness, loneliness, and boredom. Qualitative responses revealed 3 primary stressor types (internal physical, internal psychological, and external stressors) and 5 coping responses (acceptance/mindfulness, active response/problem solving, adjusting expectations/goal setting, distraction, and resignation). Conclusions Study findings indicate that the extreme athlete experienced physical and emotional challenges, but he demonstrated positive adjustment via the frequent experience of positive emotions and proficient use of a broad set of coping strategies matched to the daily stressor being addressed. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Alschuler, Kevin N. Whibley, Daniel Alberts, Nicole M. Kaylor, Makena Kratz, Anna L. |
spellingShingle |
Alschuler, Kevin N. Whibley, Daniel Alberts, Nicole M. Kaylor, Makena Kratz, Anna L. The Physical and Psychological Experience of Rowing the North Atlantic Solo and Unassisted |
author_facet |
Alschuler, Kevin N. Whibley, Daniel Alberts, Nicole M. Kaylor, Makena Kratz, Anna L. |
author_sort |
Alschuler, Kevin N. |
title |
The Physical and Psychological Experience of Rowing the North Atlantic Solo and Unassisted |
title_short |
The Physical and Psychological Experience of Rowing the North Atlantic Solo and Unassisted |
title_full |
The Physical and Psychological Experience of Rowing the North Atlantic Solo and Unassisted |
title_fullStr |
The Physical and Psychological Experience of Rowing the North Atlantic Solo and Unassisted |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Physical and Psychological Experience of Rowing the North Atlantic Solo and Unassisted |
title_sort |
physical and psychological experience of rowing the north atlantic solo and unassisted |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wem.2019.12.008 https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S1080603220300077?httpAccept=text/xml https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S1080603220300077?httpAccept=text/plain http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1016/j.wem.2019.12.008 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1016/j.wem.2019.12.008 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Wilderness & Environmental Medicine volume 31, issue 2, page 144-150 ISSN 1080-6032 1545-1534 |
op_rights |
https://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wem.2019.12.008 |
container_title |
Wilderness & Environmental Medicine |
container_volume |
31 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
144 |
op_container_end_page |
150 |
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1802009052041969664 |