Tough Girl Podcast

During this podcast we also discuss how she was the first person to bum board from over 8,000 metres, a title she gained on Cho Oyu, the 6th highest mountain in the world. Squash has also summited Aconcagua, Mustagata and Mount Everest. Squash is a fantastic speaker and very passionate about sharing her stories and adventures. One of the many things you’ll learn on this podcast is how by having the right attitude every one of us can achieve incredible things. We also discuss: How it all started for Squash, and making the decision when she was younger to try as many life experiences as possible. Her first big mountain attempt in South America - Aconcagua. Learning as she climbed and how she started to challenge herself both physically and mentally “Whats to lose? What's the worst that can happen? Am I prepared to live the rest of my life this way?” Being open to opportunities and being ready to take advantage of them The challenges she faced while climbing Mustagata, from dealing with death on the mountain, to horrendous weather conditions and deciding when to turn back Advice for dealing with emotionally challenging situations and how deciding to go after your dreams can be hard How she deals with failure and why she says it’s not important and why its, your decision on how to look at failure Her adventure on Cho Oyu - the 6th highest mountain in the world Learning how to paraglide How by sheer determination she rode a motorbike from the UK to the foot of Mount Blanc, before summiting  and then flying from the top! “Fear can focus you” Remaining calm while falling off the mountain and what she learnt from that experience How the challenge of climbing Mount Everest came about, and how she dealt with the negativity from friends when she told them about it Finding her own pace on the mountain and how she used her time alone to think about the challenge ahead and to prepare herself. How she found a deeper level of mental and emotional strength, when she had nothing left to give which helped to get her off the mountain safe Tips & advice to help you achieve your goals - “If your knickers are right, your day goes right!”   Learn more about Squash by visiting her website  - Come and say hello to Squash on twitter @SquashFalconer . I’m also on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL If you’ve enjoyed this episode please share with a friend! Help to spread the word about the Tough Girl Podcast! The Tough Girl Blog has reached the finals of the UK Blog Awards 2016! Check out the blog to learn more about the inspirational women on the Tough Girl Podcast and be kept unto date with my training for the toughest footrace on earth - The Marathon des Sables, which I’ll be running in April 2016! To be kept unto date on Tough Girl Challenges - Come and follow the Facebook page. Click HERE! 

Helene is based in Las Vegas, Nevada and she has an incredible story to share.  She’s always asking herself what more can she do, to inspire and motivate nurses to become better ambassadors for health and fitness. During this podcast we discuss: After surviving cancer, numerous brain surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation, at age 50 she wrote her first book - Nurses In Shape. To promote the book, she decided to take it on the road. In 2010 - She become a transcontinental runner and decided to run across the southern states of America. It took her just 93 days to cover the 2,520 miles from Ocean Beach, California to Atlantic Beach, Florida. She was the first person to run this route during the summer. Averaging about 25 to 30 miles each and every day.  Helene provides advice about how she got through the tough days when she was out running on the highways alone and why it was important for her to get into the zone. Her inspiration to keep on going and to keep others going. How she coped with the heat, tips for running in extreme weather and what a typical day was like for her. Continuing her journey around the continental United States and dealing with her own personal challenge from the loss of her bother, to being diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoma. Why she has to just, “keep on going” and why you can always be an example to someone else. What she learned from body building about nutrition and how its helped her to become a better runner.  Her top 3 health tips!  Helene is out there on the forefront of promoting health and is inspiring others to make a change to their lives. One mile, one state and one person at a time. Her motto is to INSPIRE, MOTIVATE & CHALLENGE. Visit www.toughgirlchallenges.com for more information! Enjoy xx

Arita is an explorer of the physical and mental world; she’s spent decades following her passion for the desert, as well as visiting the remotest and most inhospitable places on the planet. She’s ventured into the unknown not knowing how things will turn out.  This episode will get you to think more deeply about who are you and what you want to achieve in life. Arita will explain, why it’s so important for you to take the time to think about it. We also cover off the following: Her passion for the desert and how she made it a reality after her studies  Heading over to Egypt to explore deserts with only her camel, a compass and a simple old map The challenges she faces; and how she survived being alone  We discuss identity and the importance of knowing who you are - and how the desert taught her, about herself. Overcoming fear and heightened emotions. With tips for you to overcome your own personal fears and how you too can find your own inner strength What she learnt about herself while travelling in the desert, and how she dealt with her own internal demons Why she fell out of love with the desert and needed a new challenge, a new obsession Heading to Siberia and looking for the legend of “Shambhala" - Paradise in the Altai mountains After seven years of searching Arita found her answer, she also explains how she had to leave her rational mind behind to do it. A truly unique women, who’s prepared to push herself to the absolute limits, to be judgement free and open to the journey, that is life. Arita is also the author of numerous books which you can buy on amazon or through her website, where she also shares more about her life and experiences. Say hi on twitter @aritabaaijens Come and say hello to me on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL  If you’ve enjoyed this episode please share with a friend! Help to spread the word about the Tough Girl Podcast!

Learn more about Jo and how she changed her life to became a mountaineer and expedition leader.  During this podcast we get to experience Jo’s adventures around the world. From cycling in Peru, to climbing Kilimanjaro, Manaslu & Everest.  Jo shares with us, how one challenge eleven years ago changed her life, she also shares how she overcame her fear of heights and switching her thinking, from negative to positive thoughts. Jo provides advice and tips to help you overcome your own personal fears.  We also discuss; What it’s like being at altitude and what altitude sickness is and how it impacts the body Explaining more about Kilimanjaro and what makes it’s such a challenge, and why its so phenomenal. We discuss the routes, and why you can never tell who'll make it and who won’t Why having the right attitude is so important for everything you do Top tips for climbing Kilimanjaro and why fitness is so important! What it’s like walking to Everest Base Camp and the atmosphere when you get there The dangers of Everest and why it’s a scary challenge. What it was like being on Everest while the earthquake struck in 2015, dealing with the destruction, death and how she thought it was all over. How’s she training for Everest this year and why she’s more relaxed about it  Sharing her experience of being one the few British Women to reach the true summit of Manaslu - the worlds 8th highest mountain. Learning about ice fields and why it’s one of the most dangerous part of climbing Everest. Tips you can use and take away to help you face your fears, and how you can approach and overcome problems. If you want to support Jo and her charity work - Check out - Place2Be  & Support4Sherpas Learn more about Jo and the different challenges she’s done via her website. You can follow Jo on twitter @29029feet I'm also on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL. If you’ve enjoyed this episode then please tell a friend and share on your social media. Help to spread the word about the Tough Girl Podcast!

In today’s podcast we catch up with Susie Cheetham who’s a professional triathlete and came 6th at the Iron Man World Championships in 2015.  Susie provides advice, top tips and tactics for all aspects of the race from the the swim, cycle, run and how to make the transitions work best for you.  Susie shares her first experience of fitness  at a young age and how by deciding to join a running club, it's changed the whole direction of her life. We also discuss the following:- The importance of trying new sports and seeing what works for you.  Getting back to basics - what’s involved in a Half Ironman and how her first experience went.  Discussing some of the myths that surround an Ironman - from drinking coke on the run to it being boring!  How to choose what advice to listen to and what advice to ignore. Learning to take confidence in the decisions you make - for triathlons and for life. The high points for Susie during an Ironman, as well as the low points and how she deals with them. From punctures on the side of the road to receiving a time penalty for dangerous riding. How your mental attitude can change throughout the course and how having the right attitude can impact on your race. Susie shares her tips on mental toughness preparation especially in the toughest races like Kona.   How to cope when your mind takes you to dark place during the race.  Advice, tactics and top tips for the open water swim for both experienced swimmers and novice swimmers.  Pacing lines, overtaking and tactics for the cycle part of the race How you can have the best transition for you! Advice and tips for the run section and why being comfortable is so important for having your best race. Learn more about the Iron Nun and why age is just a number!  You can learn more about Susie by visiting her website, and she's also on Twitter @SusieCheetham  Are you training for a triathlon? Want to learn more? Then listen to Helen Russell (World Champion Duathlete & Triathlete) and Gale Bernhardt (USA Olympic Triathlon Team & Olympic Cycling Coach) on the Tough Girl Podcast! Come and say hello to me on twitter! @_TOUGH_GIRL If you’ve enjoyed this episode then please tell a friend and share on your social media. Help to spread the word about the Tough Girl Podcast! To keep unto date on how my training for the Marathon des Sables is going visit www.toughgirlchallenges.com 

Arry hated sports, hating being active and was completely turned off exercise from a young age. At school she came up with every excuse under the sun not to get active!  But what changed?  What led her to take up running and to eventually taking on the challenge of being the first person to run around the perimeter of Wales via the newly opened Coastal Path and Offas Dyke.  What were her motivations and the reasons behind the challenge?  During this podcast we learn more about Arry and how she's inspired others to get into sports and fitness. How’s she's battled grief, anxiety, depression and haters - people who still say she ‘doesn’t look like a runner’.  Arry’s a remarkable women, who has a fantastic story to share. During this podcast you’ll be inspired and motivated as well as picking up loads of top tips and advice about undertaking a challenge and getting outside of your comfort zone.  What are you waiting for! It’s time to listen to Arry’s story.  We also talk about the following: What The Dragon Run 1027 is and how it came about Why she was able to set up the challenge and able to do it even with the odds stacked against her. e.g. never having run more than 13 miles before and never running off road before! Getting help and support from Elite Ultra Runners - Matt Calaghan, Phil Rosenstein, Dean Karnzes (Ultra Marathon Man) The preparation and planning that went into the event and why she focused more on the mental side. She provides top tips for running as well as how to make the change from road running to trail running.  How she approached the training and why getting up at 3 am to train became the norm.  Getting to the start line and her feelings on that day, followed by her first psychological battle which happened on day 2 and how she handled it. How she coped with injury on the way and why she wasn’t going to let it stop her. Dealing with grief, and why she couldn’t put it off anymore and why day 15 still haunts her and how she learned to process her emotions in a different way or else she wasn’t going to be able to carry on. This is one inspiring story and to learn more about the Dragon Run and to be kept unto date with Arry’s next challenge - Check out her blog! You can say hi to Arry on twitter @dragonrun1027  and say hi to me @_TOUGH_GIRL. We're both on Facebook as well! Click the Dragon Run 1027 &  Tough Girl Challenges - to follow & support! Arry's goal was to raise £25K for Velindre Cancer Centre and Gozo CCU Foundation. The fundraising continues! You can support by clicking HERE!   

Kathryn is an author of three books as well as producing and directing her debut documentary film: HALF THE ROAD: The passion, pitfalls & power of women’s professional cycling. During this podcast we discuss a variety of different topics from the books she's written, why she’s so passionate about road cycling, as well as women’s equality in sports and her plans for the future.  We also discuss the following: Why she decided to take up the sport of triathlon before moving over into road cycling at the age of 31. Landing her first professional contract for cycling at age 36. How one assignment from ESPN changed the direction of her life forever.  Attempting a variety of different Olympic Sports from modern pentathlon, open water swimming, to team handball. We talk about racing on the road and the different tactics involved from the peloton - to what it is, how it works as well as tactics for mountain climbs Her career highlight bringing parity to women’s professional road cycling, starting with getting women racing Le Tour Entier during the Tour de France. Explaining why women are still not allowed to race in the Tour de France. We discuss her powerful documentary film - Half the Road - Which is not just about cycling but also equality. “Why we are all capable of change” and why we need to be the ones asking for and making that change. The three books she’s written and how they represent her collective journey she's taken over the years. What life is like as a pro racer and her plans for her 5th and final year. She gives an insight into her training and how she tailors it specifically to suit her and her age. We discuss why rest and recovery are so important and why you're only as good as your rest.  Why women continue to get better and better with age, especially for endurance events- and why age is just a number! She shares with us her future goals and challenges for 2016 and why giving yourself permission to be happy and living in the moment is so important. Books As Good As Gold:1 Woman, 9 Sports, 10 Countries, and a 2-Year Quest to Make the Summer Olympics The Road Less Taken  All the Sundays Yet to Come: A Skater's Journey    Learn more about  - Half the Road by visiting the website www.halftheroad.com Learn more about Kathryn - http://www.kathrynbertine.com Come and say hi on twitter!!   @KathrynBertine @halftheroad @_TOUGH_GIRL You can listen to the Tough Girl Podcast via iTunes, Soundcloud or Stitcher.  Please take a minute to subscribe and to leave a review in iTunes! New Episodes every Tuesday at 7 am. #ToughGirlTuesday Have a fantastic week! Sarah x

Happy New Year and Welcome to 2016! I’m so excited to kick off the New Year with this awesome podcast episode which is bound to inspire and motivate you.  Today we’ll be talking to Annie Ross from eXerK. She set out in 2015 to complete 52 challenges in 52 weeks in an attempt to encourage busy people in and around London (maybe even the world) to make time for the things they care about – whatever it may be. Annie has a full time job working in banking, but she was sick and tired of the lack of exercise in her life. In December 2014 she decided to make a change and she started the eXerK project on the 1st January 2015.  During this podcast we discuss: What the eXerK project is and how it came about Why she kept her plans flexible and wasn’t rigid in her planning Why she felt empowered by this idea and her first challenge to kick of 2015! The types of challenges she decided to do from physical challenges to exploring more of London Why having balance in your life is so important and just being busy is not a sign of productivity How she maintained her motivation during the year The challenges that pushed her, physically, mentally and the one that got away Her advice about staring off with challenges and why you should start small Her “walk and talk” and why she loves getting outside  Taking eXerK over to Europe and how she fitted challenges and adventure into long weekends Her two final challenges and how she ended the year with a dance! Her plans for 2016 and a few final words of wisdom that she shares about what she’s learned over the past 52 weeks “Go on – set your goals, carve out time, be determined and just get on with it” Other Links Project Awesome -  is a FREE fitness movement in London that gets you out of bed and into shape. Social Media You can check out all of the challenges that Annie has completed in 2015 on her website  - you can also follow her on Twitter @exerkyourself  I’m also on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL come and say hi! If you’ve enjoyed please take 2 mins to write a review on iTunes and share with your friends! I’ll be back next Tuesday for another awesome - Tough Girl Podcast episode at 7 am UK Time! You can listen on iTunes, Soundcloud or Stitcher! Enjoy!!!

Milly started running purely for fitness and health, it was a means to an end and she’d go out, pounding the road and the pavement but never enjoying it. But that all changed when she went off road running.  Running no longer felt like a chore or just a means to keep fit. She found a real passion and love for it.  Milly shares her story and talks about making the change to off road running and how she went from running a 10 mile fell race to a 53 km ultra race in the Alps.  During this podcast Milly also talks about: What fell racing is, the different types of races and how to classify them Navigating with a compass, following other runners and planning your own route Why fell running is more of a thinking race Why she decided to go down the ultra running route and the most impulsive thing she's ever done! The challenges she faced during training, from over training, to injury and training for the mountains while living in the city The mental preparation and strategies she used to prepare for her race  How she coped with self doubt especially during the training period Dealing with the concerns of other people Why “time on your feet” is so important What she was feeling while stood on the start line and what happened during the race including her first mental battle at 15 miles Thinking more strategically during the race and what drove her on How doing her pre-race preparation of the race route helped her to finish strong Why she started writing a blog about running and how she wants other women to be inspired Future challenges for 2016  Her ultimate running race and top tips for running off the road Thank you so much for listening to the 30th Episode of the Tough Girl Podcast! I can’t believe how far the Tough Girl Podcast has come since I started on Tuesday 4th August (Tough Girl Tuesday!) If you haven’t already please do go back and check out the earlier episodes, you’ll be inspired by polar explorers, swimmers, mountain climbers and ocean rowers! Which will give you the inspiration you need to set your 2016 goals!  I’ll be sharing mine on the Tough Girl Blog! I’d love to hear what goals you’ve set for yourself?  Links The Fell Runners Association - FRA  The OCC Race - Orsiere, Champex and Chamonix  The UTMB - Ultra Trail Mount Blanc   Milly’s Blog & Milly’s Vlog   A short reading from Jeff Spiers - How to Succeed in Life & Happiness   Social Media Links Twitter - @_TOUGH_GIRL  @MillyVoiceRuns Instagram - @toughgirlchallenges  @MillyVoiceRuns  

“The MDS is a magical race and I can honestly say that the two times I have run it (2012 + 2015), it has been a life changing experience in different respects. Whether you look at it as a fun holiday, a race, a trek or an adventure that has been on your bucket list for 20+ years you probably won't be disappointed. It can be as hard as you want it to be (or harder!) and it will likely test your physical and mental strength to the limits. The sun is ruthless, the terrain is brutal, the scenery is quite something and you will make friends for life.” During this podcast we discuss a variety of topics, from how she got into ultra running, how the focus of her life changed, and how she trained for an event like the MDS. Elisabet, has a great story and shares some of the challenges she’s faced and overcome. Providing top tips and advice which will motivate and inspire you!  Discussion points: After you’ve run a marathon - what’s next? How personal events impacted on her and made her really reflect on what she wanted to do with her life  The reason behind signing up for the Marathon des Sables Going through tough times with her husband and why having the MDS as a goal helped them to move forward and to look to the future Explaining what the MDS is, what’s involved; from the distance, to the type of race, and how it works with regards to kit, preparation and daily routines Her goal for the 2012 race along with training tips  The myths of MDS and setting them straight Why walking the race can be harder than running, and why you need to adapt your pace to the race you're doing Highlights from the race, and what it was like doing the race with her husband How the MDS consumed her mind and why she had go back in 2015 The differences between the 2012 and 2015 race Building ultra endurance and how it can take time to develop Why planning is so important! Tips for adapting to the heat of the desert and coping with the mental and physical pains How she keeps her mind occupied while running How it works with navigation and map reading during the race and her 3 Top Tips for race goers Why having a coach is so important to helping you progress in running   Links Tempted to enter the Marathon des Sables? - Click Here  Check out - My Race Kit  Website. Jack Clover can be reached via JC Performance    Social Media Links Twitter - ME!  @_TOUGH_GIRL  Elizabet - @UltraRunEli   Instagram - @toughgirlchallenges