Tough Girl Podcast Anna-Marie Watson - Ultra endurance athlete & performance coach, training for the UTMB in September!
Over the last twenty years Anna-Marie’s journey has taken her from icy snow holes in Norway, to the desolate plains of Afghanistan and Iraq while working for the British Army. Most recently she’s been pushing her endurance boundaries running various ultra races & competing in long distance triathlons.
Her diet, lifestyle and work has turned a full 180 degrees from being totally over weight and unhealthy to being tucked up in bed by ten with a diet based on real food and competing at a high level in endurance sports. Her passion has focused in on the mindset aspect of endurance/adventure/challenges and what you can learn from them to apply to your every day life
Endurance Portfolio
•Marathon des Sables - finished 2nd lady & top 50 overall (2015)
•Ultra-Trail World Tour Future Series Cappadocia 110km – finished 1st lady & 5th overall (2016)
•Course records in The ONER (2016), XNRG Cotswolds Way (2015) & XNRG Round the Island (2016)
•Qualified IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships 2013 & 2014
•IRONMAN 70.3 Aix en Provence (2014) & Weymouth (2016) placed 3rd in age group
•Ultra-Trail World Tour sponsored athlete
•Supported by French endurance company W A A
•Other races include: St. Oswald’s Way 100 mile, North Face 100, Everest Marathon, UTMB CCC, Challenge Roth, GeoQuest 48 hour adventure race.
Show notes
- Connecting at the WAEXPO event in January
- Getting AnneMarie to introduce herself
- Hating PE when she was a child, but loving the outdoors
- Being involved in Cadets and Duke of Edinburgh
- Being sponsored by the Army & going to university, before heading off to Sandhurst
- Being in the military for 9 years and going on operational tours in Afghanistan
- Running her first marathon, but never really enjoying running on the road
- Meeting her husband while in the Army
- Deciding she wanting to do an ultra in 2007
- Deciding on the Everest Marathon!
- Getting perspective on the world & finishing the race!
- The race which has really challenged her mental limits
- What goes through her mind before she races - the planning, the preparation, the route, visualisation and her internal chat and why she checks in with herself a lot during the race
- Why she has a strategy to be positive during the race
- Deciding to commit to your goals
- Advice and tips to help you take your first steps and why you should always ASK people for HELP
- Being scared of even going into a bike shop
- Training for the Marathon des Sables and getting the balance right
- Her concerns before the race
- Her race and the point which really challenged her!
- Being one of the top 5 females on the long day
- “Just do your best”
- Trigging my memories of Marathon des Sables
- The race to the finish and coming in 2nd women!
- Would she do the race again?
- Trying to pick races which have a special meaning
- Advice and tips for when you’re going after your first ultra, why you should build up to it and be kind to yourself.
- Getting into Ironman & training in Dubai
- Being horrific at swimming and wanting to sort it out
- What a typical training week look likes and why it does vary
- Getting her genes tested - DNA FIT to understand more about what she should be eating and how she should be training
- Avoiding junk miles and why you should either be doing, long slow runs or speed work.
- Why it’s about the quality of your training and not the quantity
- How she recovers and why it’s all about sleep!
- RFM Coaching - how the company started and has evolved
- Why performance is so important in all areas of your life
- Loving her life!
- NLP
- Quick fire questions from the tribe:- kit, mantras, books, food & theme songs!
- Future plans for 2017 - learning how to swim properly & taking on the UTMB!
Contact Anne-Marie
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