Hey, I’m Laura Try, or LT as most call me. I’m 34 and live in Kelvedon Hatch near Brentwood. I moved here from Stamford, Lincolnshire in September 2016 after a change of career and a relationship break up and also to be near my training ground in Burnham On Crouch.
In June 2017, I will row 1,800 miles around the coast of Great Britain and will then train to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in December 2018. I am not a rower but a complete sucker for anything that pushes my physical and mental capabilities.
My passion for the outdoors and endurance sports started in 2012 when I hit thirty. I was fairly fit having been a gym bunny most of my adult life but I wasn’t particularly strong and was a terrible runner. I wanted to run in the countryside and up mountains so made it my mission to become a runner. My first attempt was a 1.4 mile walk/jog to the bridge at the bottom of my road and back and I’m sure I cried when arriving home because of the frustration of how hard it was combined with the pain in my knees.
After a few months of building the distance up slowly, I began running obstacle course events which is where it all began. 5km lead to 10km. 10km lead to half marathon distances and suddenly I was getting involved in marathons and endurance adventure racing. My longest event to date was a 48 hour adventure race in the Peak District that claimed to break it’s participants. I was determined to finish and I did. The only trouble then was that it opened up a desire to do more and find my absolute limit. That’s when I was asked if I wanted to row across the Atlantic.
The journey to fund my challenges and get the start line has been a very rocky road but I see it as all part of the adventure. A combination of events such as my Atlantic rowing team falling apart, a relationship break up, becoming homeless and sleeping in my van, difficulty gaining sponsorship (due to being female) and doing it alone has been enough of a challenge but I am absolutely determined to show that #thisgirlcan!
Seeing all the magnificent stories about women trying new sports and getting out and getting fit is enough for me to continue in my quest to go for my dreams. I hope I can provide the #thisgirlcan community with inspiration, humour and entertainment.. Most of the time I have no idea what I am doing and just go with the flow, learning along the way. It’s all scary stuff but also so exhilarating.
Here is a link to Laura’s Youtube Channel.
