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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/11584
INTERVIEW IPOD SUPPORTS WORLD RECORD-BREAKING JOURNEY > ADVENTURER KATIE SPOTZ ARTICLE BY ALISON FRIEDOW • INTERVIEW BY MARKIN ABRAS How important is your iPod to you? Many of us are quite attached to our iPods; we carry them with us wherever we go, using them for entertainment on commutes to work or school, or to help us gain momentum when working out, or perhaps even for relaxation when we get home from a long day. For Katie Spotz, a record-breaking American adventurer, her iPods have a greater significance. In fact, according to Spotz, iPods helped preserve her sanity, supporting her in becoming the youngest person ever—and only the second woman—to row solo on the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to South America. Spotz began the 3,000-mile journey on January 3, 2010, departing from Senegal, and landed safely in Georgetown, Guyana on March 14. Throughout these months, Spotz’s Apple products, including multiple iPods and an iTouch, were her only companions. According to Spotz, audiobooks, music, movies, and lectures played on her Apple products served as motivation on her long, solo journey and helped her maintain the mental stamina required for such a challenge. The Apple products were charged by solar power throughout the two and a half months at sea, and all made the journey intact. Spotz is no stranger to daring feats such as this. In 2008 she became the first person ever to swim 325 miles of the Allegheny River between New York state and Pennsylvania. She’s also completed numerous cycling, marathon, and triathlon challenges. Why does she do it? Spotz’s appetite for athletic adventures comes from her desire to do good in the world. She has raised money for numerous causes and organizations throughout the years, including the American Lung Association, Oxfam, and her charity, the Blue Planet Run Foundation. The Blue Planet Run Foundation is dedicated to increasing access to safe drinking water for people throughout the world. By 2027, the foundation aims to provide safe drinking water to 200 million people. In an interview with Markin Abras, founder and publisher of MacDirectory, Spotz discusses her process of training for the Atlantic journey, and the crucial role Apple products played in helping her complete her extraordinary trek. Markin Abras >What type of training and planning did you execute in order to row an entire ocean? Katie Spotz > Before setting off on the 3,000-mile row, I trained about an hour a day, working to increase endurance with a mixture of high-intensity cardio workouts, weightlifting focused on strengthening the core and back and weekly-long rows on the erg machine. An essential part of training included trial rows on Lake Erie. For ocean training, I completed a weeklong training row on the Pacific Ocean and took several courses including VHF radio, Sea Survival, First Aid at Sea and Celestial Navigation. MA > What were the challenges of “night rowing” in a vast ocean? And how about sleeping in a small boat for 70 days? KS > At times, night rowing felt like I was rowing into a black hole without being able to see where the water ended and sky began. These nights it was difficult to predict the behavior of the waves, often leaving me to jab myself with the oars. Other nights, it was as if I had a spotlight shining down on me with the bright moonlight. Most nights I would see glowing plankton stirring with each oar stroke and if I was really lucky, shooting stars. A 19-foot specialized ocean rowing boat was my home for the duration of the trip. My boat is self-righting and can brave 30- foot waves and hurricanes. A sealed cabin provided enough space to sleep (about seven feet long and three feet wide) and to take cover during storms. 128 MacDirectory