Jill Homer - Ultra Endurance Cyclist & Runner - Talking about the Iditarod Trail & the Tour Divide!

Jill changed the direction of her life when she decided to move to Alaska to follow her heart. After have her heart broken she recovered while riding in the 2009 Tour Divide — a 2,745-mile mountain bike race along the Continental Divide from Banff, Alberta, to Antelope Wells, New Mexico.

In 2014 Jill completed in the Freedom Challenge, a 1,400-mile mountain bike race across South Africa. Following on from that race, Jill went on to set a new women's fastest human-powered time while riding her bike across Alaska in the 2016 Iditarod Trail Invitational. 

During the podcast we discuss the why, we discuss the motivation and we discuss her fears and how she still battles them everyday.

Show notes

• Getting to know Jill
• Why she moved to Alaska
• Finding out about the Iditarod trail - 350-mile winter bike race from Knik, Alaska
• 100-mile winter bike race
• What she learned while racing and how she found it empowering
• Growing up timid, being cautious and not wanting to take risk
• How she changed the direction of her life after her race
• Being more confident and more being more willing to take on bigger challenges
• The next big challenge!
• Learning how to be self reliant
• Being constantly scared and having to talk herself down and how she uses the power of mantra! 

“Be Brave - Be Strong”

• The 2009 Tour Divide — a 2,745-mile mountain bike race along the Continental Divide from Banff, Alberta, to Antelope Wells, New Mexico
• Dealing with a break-up, being demotivated before the start
• Dealing with bad weather, mud and facing near death experiences
• What drove her and why she had to keep on going
• Getting herself physically ready and why she took leave from her job to prepare
• Day to day life on the trail from cycling for 14 to 18 hr days, and camping at night
• Having doubts she would finish the race
• Her top tips for recovery
• Rediscovering who she was and what she was capable of
• Racing the Freedom Trail and how it came about
• Seeing what this whole running thing was about!
• Meeting a new man and the special races they’ve done together
• Why really successful people are drawn to endurance sports
• Goals for the future and taking on a 1000 mile race!
• Starting weight lifting and how its helps her in training and in the race
• Struggling with confidence and self belief and trying to understand where that comes from
• Why its ok to have fear
• Her goals and plans for the future

Learn more about Jill be visiting her blog or follow her on twitter @AlaskaJill