#StayAtHome With Ashish Raorane

The Mariner, as Ashish Rorane calls himself thanks to his career as a marine engineer, is all at sea these days, and not just metaphorically. 

India’s first competitor at the Africa Eco Race and the country’s top non-factory rally rider was on board a cargo ship, doing the job that pays the bills for rallying, when the coronavirus pandemic triggered a global lockdown. 

He hasn’t completely given up on his rallying plans for 2020 and 2021, but like everyone else, is at the mercy of the authorities. 

The Lockdown Life:

I left for the high seas just five days after returning from the Africa Eco Race. At that time, coronavirus wasn’t widespread, but that changed quickly in the next few weeks as we watched the entire world go into a lockdown. For most landlubbers, being locked in is something new, for mariners, this is life at sea.

Things onboard haven’t changed much. Sure, we’ve to follow extra safety protocols at ports, but life at sea, by and large, has remained the same.

My typical day begins at 5.30 am with a strong cup of black coffee, music and about an hour of exercise. The morning session starts with mobility and activation exercises, followed by high-intensity intervals on the rowing machine. Post that, I do some core exercises and VOR drills to improve stability and balance. I love working high-intensity intervals in the morning when the body is low on energy sources (dinner is served at 5 pm so it’s almost 13 hours of fasting by morning). Without a lot of energy in the morning, rowing at a fast pace requires you to dig deep mentally -- that’s good training for mind over matter.

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Breakfast follows and then work, lunch at noon, some more work, and back to the gym at 2 pm. Afternoons, I work with weights to improve strength except on Saturdays which are dedicated to endurance training -- typically cycling 80-100 kms on a spin cycle. I can adhere to this routine almost 80 per cent of the time that we spend on deep ocean voyages. The rest 20 per cent when the ship is at a port or navigating constrained waters, the working hours are long and varied. During such times, I fall back on high-intensity intervals as you can train hard in a short time.

After the afternoon gym session, it’s back to work for a couple of hours, followed by dinner at 5 pm. Evenings are generally spent reading or planning the next race.

With no travel options at the moment, I have no idea when I’ll be able to get back home. I’m hoping things get back to some semblance of normal soon. I can’t wait to compete in the Rally Du Maroc.