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28th May 2017
Posted by BBC Essex News
The former homeless woman poised to row around UK
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Laura Try
A woman who has tackled homelessness and mental health issues is now poised to row for 60 days straight around the British Isles.
Laura Try plans to set off from Burnham on Crouch on 3 June on her 1,800 mile (2,900 km) voyage.
The events manager will be part of a five-strong crew who will be taking it in turns to sleep or row.
Speaking ahead of the trip, Ms Try, from Brentwood, said: "I will take it one day at a time."
Ms Try, who runs event for an obstacle course company, has had three bouts of serious depression and spent three months homeless last year amid financial problems.
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Laura Try
Laura Try's rowing training regimen has mainly been carried out in her shed
As a result, Ms Try, who is a keen runner and endurance athlete, will be rowing to raise money for the homeless charity Centrepoint.
Her rowing training has been carried out entirely on a rowing machine in her 3m (15ft) by 4m (18ft) shed in order to get her used to some of the tedium of rowing up to 10miles (16km) from land.
"I could have gone to the gym," she said. "But my shed is boring and its cold. I have been training twice a day with rowing and weightlifting (in a gym) but in the past two or three months I have tapered down the training to focus on fundraising.
"With just a few days to go I am now primarily exercising for my mental health."
Asked why she took on the challenge in the first place, Ms Try, who will eat her way through 224 packets of dry food during the tour, said: "I just felt I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and I thought the time was right to try something I had not done before."
During the sea voyage, Ms Try will be keeping a video diary to document her experiences living aboard a rowing boat.