Let me introduce you to Nikki Kimball!!

Nikki has had a phenomenal running career and she is a living legend in the world of Ultra running. She has been a member of the US 100K Team from 2001 to 2006, she has won the Western States 100 in 2004, 2006 and 2007. She has also won the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc in 2007 and the Marathon de Sables in 2014! 

During this podcast we discuss; how she got into running, ultra running, dealing with pain and depression. Nikki also provides advice and tips to help you with your own personal challenges, whether that’s running or dealing with depression.

Show notes

• Nikki shares about her childhood and how she was a skier first, before transitioning into running
• Not feeling like a runner because of body image issues
• Accidentally running her first ultra!
• The race that scared her the most - Running the Long Trail in Vermont - A very technical, challenging 272 miles! 
• Learning more about the off shoot of ultra running - Fastest Known Time running and the 3 ways you can do it. 
• The physical training she does for ultra & the logic behind it
• Dealing with the pain, and her top tips for embracing the pain and using it to your advantage
• How to get the balance right between doing enough training without getting over trained. 
• Tips for recovery after a hard training session or a 100 mile race. Why she’s advocating for recovery lounges.
• What she eats while training, and racing and why she made the transition from vegetarian to a meat eater! 
• Why she changed  from High Carb:Low Fat to Low Carb:High Fat
• Her Marathon des Sables experience in 2014 and why she wasn’t in the right frame of mind before the race
• Why she won’t race where the prize money isn’t equal for men and women
• Living with depression from a young age and how it’s impacted on her life.
• Trying to come off medication and not being able to succeed and how’s she combined exercise with medication to help her.
• Talking about depression and the steps she took to get help and why she’s talking about her own experiences.
• Being part of the documentary “Finding Traction” that followed her journey running the fastest known time on Vermont’s Long Trail (272 miles) – 5 days, 7 hrs, 42min
• Advice and tips for women who want to take up running.
• Discussing her favourite race and the reasons why!
• Talking about her race strategies,which involve having fun and being relaxed!
• Trainers - being sponsored and the number of trainers she goes through!!!
• The ultimate race & challenge she would like to do!

Connect with Nikki on Facebook you can also like - Tough Girl Challenges on Facebook !

Listen to this episodes on iTunes, Soundcloud or Stitcher! Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Show notes

• Sally shares how she first got into sailing and the pathway shetook to get to the Olympics in Beijing
• Sailing at university and how she moved from being a new memberof the crew to leading the team
• Deciding to become a professional sailor and how she followedher passion
• What was involved in the 6 year campaign of getting to theOlympics. How she kept motivated over the years  
• The type of sailing she was doing and how it works in scoringfor the Olympics
• What she’s learnt about teamwork from sailing as part ofcrews
• Heading over to China, and dealing with the differentchallenges before the games even started.
• What happened in the the final medal race
• The learning Sally took away from that experience
• Taking a break from sailing and getting over the sense offailure and loss
• “The hardest sailing you will ever do” being a member of thefirst all female team for SCA in the Volvo OceanRace 
• What it was like being out on the boat; the day to day routine,working for 4 hrs on, 4 hrs off, dealing with the pressure ofracing while out at sea and keeping the focus on driving the boatforward
• Learning as much as they could while sailing, and dealing withthe highs and lows while out at sea
• Dealing with set backs, never giving up and fighting all theway to the finish line
• The training they needed to do, to get as fit and strong aspossible before the race starts.
• Getting respect from the guys for the job they were doing
• The reasons behind the MagentaProject and what their aims are
• The challenges going forward especially around gainingsponsorship 
• Why you should give sailing a go!

“Thank you for showing girls and women around the worldthat we can accomplish anything and to dream big. Your perservence,drive and commitment to this gruelling competition is inspiring.” Billie Jean King 

The MagentaProject - aims to increase the participation of women atthe highest level of sailing and promote inclusion, diversity andpositive female role models in society at large.

The Tough Girl Blog was highly commended at the UK Blog Awards2016! 

Check out the Tough Girl blog to learn more about theinspirational women on the Tough Girl Podcast

In 2003 Lois decided she’d had enough of working at the BBC and decided to leave it all behind to take a trip on her motorcycle. She headed to Alaska and started the twenty-thousand miles journey  down to the southern most tip of South America. This was the start of many epic adventures. 

During this podcast Lois shares the reasons behind the decisions she’s made, the highs, the lows, what she’s learnt on the way and why everyone should take a trip and go travelling.

Show notes

-Lois introduces herself and shares more of her story; how being a bored 29 year old, passing her motorcycle test and having itchy feed led to the adventure of a lifetime

-Deciding to make a big change in her life and how you can make that change

-Deciding to get her motorcycle licence and why she decided this was the way to see the world

-Planning and preparing for the 20,000 mile ride

-Dealing with FEAR - your own and others

-Why you do need to modify your behaviour and apply common sense to situations

-Crossing the border from California into Mexico

-Having a goal to keep you focused and something to aim for

-The challenges she faced while out on the road; crashes, breaking down, getting lost!

-What she learnt about herself while travelling

-Her feelings on getting to the end of the trip 

-Taking on Africa - “The greatest motorcycle challenge in the world!”

-Why it’s always about the people the meet

-The logistic of travelling - Map reading, GPS systems, getting lost in big cities!

-Why she decided to go to Iran

-Her top tips for women who want to go travelling or go on an adventure!

Say hi to Lois on twitter @LoisPryce - I’m also on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL

Lois co-founded The Adventure Travel Film Festival with her husband. This will be happening in the UK on the 12-14th August - You can get your tickets HERE!

Julie Creffield is a women on a mission. She wants to get One Million women in the UK active and running. She’s focused on the women who don’t get any support, the women who may feel they’re too fat, too overweight, and too curvy to do exercise. 

Julie has been providing people wrong over the years, she was told by a doctor she was “too fat to run” she wasn’t -  she went on to run a marathon. 

People have been telling her all her life she’s too fat to do things, she decided enough was enough. Just because you weren’t slim or you don’t fit the stereotypical image of what a women should look like doesn’t mean you can’t do exercise and Julie’s proof of this.

No matter your size, you’ll be able to relate to Julie and the message she’s spreading.

Show notes

• How the blog idea came about, and how its developed as Julie has grown more comfortable in her own skin
• Going back to start and finding out more about Julie and what drives and motivates her
• Getting the wake up call, when a child shouted “Run Fatty Run”
• Not having the confidence to join a running club, and being embarrassed about running outside.
• The far off dream of running a marathon…
• The discrimination of women based on their size. The judgement women are constantly under and why it can be easier to not run
• Why larger women need to be more visible. Why women of all sizes can get outside and run
• Her take on running clubs, but why they don’t necessarily work for working mothers with children.
• How being a part of a running club can help you become part of a community and can help with accountability.
• One Big Fat Run - A virtual 5K that takes place on the last Sunday of every month
• Why it’s about the participation at the end of the day!
• Her experience of running the London Marathon and what she learnt most about herself 
• Top tips for women who want to get out there and start running. 
• Her program; from couch to 5K and why its not just about the distance, but also about facing fears, creating new habits and becoming a runner.
• Facing individuals personal fears; from being seen in public, telling your partner you want to run, wearing lycra, to getting fitted for trainers for the first time.
• How running has changed her habits for the better
• The Brighton Marathon & why the race stands out for her
• Dealing with race pressure and how she learnt to cope with it
• Why she’s not concerned about loosing weight anymore - and why for her its about living a healthy and happy life at any size.
• Why its about living in the NOW!
• Confidence and why you need to understand your WHY!
• Richard Branson’s Virgin Business Competition - VOOM!
• Her mission - to get 1 Million overweight women in the UK running! 
• Final words of advice and why you need to learn to trust yourself and make your own decisions - Put Health & Happiness at the forefront of your life.

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Tanith is your normal everyday women, she has her own business on the Wirral, she is a mother and at 44 had never been a runner. 

That all changed on May 9th….. 

Learn more about Tanith’s story and be inspired to take on your own personal challenge.

Show Notes

• Tanith introduces herself and shares why she wanted to do the ultimate running challenge - The London Marathon
• The importance of having a bucket list, the power of visualisation and how you can make any idea happen.
• Her first running experience, running her first mile and how she had no idea what she was doing!
• How she broke it down and started to take small steps in order to accomplish this massive goal she’d set herself
• Telling the world she was running the London Marathon when she didn’t even have a place!
• Doing it on her own and what she learnt on the way, taking advice from running forums, an app and why she decided to keep it really simple

“If you want to get good at something you have to keep doing it”

• Being a fitness instructor, but not really being fit. Drinking, smoking and how she’d never really embracing the fitness way of life
• How running started to help change her social patterns, and how running changed her habits for the better
• Completing her first half marathon and celebrating with a beer and a fag and thinking she was now an athlete!
• Why park runs are fantastic, whether your running at the front or the back!
• Why it’s not about the time - A mile is still a mile no matter how long it takes you!
• The mental battle of getting through her first half marathon and how this helped her to plan for the London Marathon
• Starting to get serious in January 2016 and the barriers she had to overcome; chronic fatigue, having an underachieve thyroid, bad knees, posture problems, a tilted pelvis, and her glutes not working!
• The thoughts running through her head before the marathon and the pressure she was putting on herself
• Marathon day and what she learned! The wall, lead legs, counting back from 300, why she didn’t care about the time, crossing the line, getting her medal & loving protein shakes!
• Her top tips to take you from the couch to running a marathon!

If you want to run the London Marathon in 2017 you can apply through the ballot between the 2nd - 6th May - CLICK HERE!

Sponsor Tanith - CLICK HERE! Tanith is raising money for Claire House Children's Hospital which offers respite and care to children and young people with life limiting medical conditions, as well as support for the entire family.

You can accomplish any challenge you set your mind to. What challenge are you going to accomplish this month?! Let me know - send me a tweet @_TOUGH_GIRL

Become a Patron! Support the Tough Girl Podcast - CLICK HERE!

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