Savage Inspiration

Last Thursday Roz Savage, a British rower, completed her solo row across the Pacific from San Francisco to Papua New Guinea (spending the winters of 2008-09 and 2009-10 in Hawaii and Kiribati). She's the first woman to accomplish this feat; her mission is to raise environmental awareness.

She spent about 250 days alone at sea, rowing more than 8,000 miles and pulling the oars an estimated 2.5 million times, sustained by a diet of dried fruit, nuts, Larabars, a few freeze-dried meals, and sprouts she grew in an Easy-Sprout pot on board her boat.

I've printed out her picture and her description of her oceangoing diet to keep at work as inspiration. I'm trying to eat better during the workday and reduce my dependence on purchased lunches from the restaurants around the office (and, incidentally, reduce the environmental impact of how those lunches are packaged). If she can cross the Pacific on nuts, fruit, and sprouts, I certainly ought to be able to make it from breakfast to dinner at my desk on trail mix and a nice salad brought from home. (Although the very thought of it gives me the urge to run out for a slice of pizza....)