Jen is a 41 year old Running and Triathlon Coach based in Australia who loves trail running and being outdoors. About 12 years ago, she was an over-stressed, over-weight and over-worked Lawyer and then she went for a run - and life hasn’t been the same since!
Since then she’s done 2 x 50km races and a 100km team event. She hiked and climbed mountains on 4 continents (including mountaineering in Nepal, Argentina, climbing Kilimanjaro & Meru in Tanzania, as well as completing the Everest Base Camp trek, and the Inca Trail in Peru!).
Since Jen found her new passion, she left her old job of being a lawyer and set up her own business called Sparta Chicks for women who enjoy triathlons, trail running and outdoor adventures. As well as this she has recently written a book called, "She Believed She Could So She Did: How to Train, Race and Live with Confidence" (which went to #1 in 3 categories in Amazon Australia).
For Jen the focus of her work these days is on mindset; overcoming the fears, self-doubt and the stories we tell ourselves about what we can and can’t do. Jen is a passionate supporter of women and loves watching women thrive when they discover endurance sports and outdoor adventures.
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Show notes
- The joy of not setting my alarm any more!
- Packing in her corporate job and having a total career change in her early thirties and becoming a triathlon and running coach
- Not being the sporty kid at school and preferring books over sports
- Why trail running changed everything about running for Jen and how trail running gave her the headspace she needed, where she didn’t have to think about any think else
- Why it took a long time for her to leave her job and make the change
- Going to Everest Base Camp and coming back and knowing that things had to change
- Saving up, resigning and going travelling
- Taking over two years to get her plan B in place - Working full time while also training as a Personal Trainer
- It can take time to make a big change - and that’s ok!
- Making a decision over what she wanted to do!
- Finding her passion and what interested her and why not all passions should be turned into a business
- Think about your passion - but also take a step back and think if this is something you could do 24/7 and if you did would it lose its gloss?
- Deciding what to do with her time off!
- 6 months of climbing and eating her way around the world!
- Not summiting Aconcagua and how it feels like unfinished business
- Mindset and why it’s so important - dealing with questions such as; What if I fail? What will people think?
- The Six Foot Track - 45K Trail Race
- Learning more about Sparta Chicks & its Mission - Ten Thousand Strong Women!
- Fears and how they can show up differently for different women
- Her first Triathlon in 2007 and having a panic attack during the swim
- 3 top tips for triathlon
- The power of the word “yet”
- Picturing your perfect race
- Writing - She Believed She Could - How to Train and Race with confidence
- Why you don’t need more confidence, courage or more bravery
- Plans for the future
- One thing for you to think about going forward
The Sparta Chicks Podcast will be launching on Thursday 2nd February!
Social Media Links
Visit the Sparta Chicks Website
Say hi to Jen on Twitter @SpartaJen say hi to me!! @_TOUGH_GIRL
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Audrey is a freelance Business Consultant and Project Manager specialising in IT delivery and business change, an ultra-marathon runner and extreme adventure racer, motivational speaker, mother and wife.
Having done all that she could to avoid participating in sport at school she came to running late at the age of 34 when she ran her first 10k race to raise funds for her local hospital. She then moved up to half-marathon and marathon at the age of 40 and first ultra-marathon at the age of 47.
In 2013 as she turned 50 and took on the Antarctic Ice Marathon and Antarctic 100k and was the first Scot to complete both races together finishing first woman in the 100k. Since then she has run the North Pole Marathon, The Volcano Marathon finishing 3rd woman, and numerous ultra-marathons including the West Highland Way race.
Her next BIG challenge, is the Global Odyssey, which comes later in 2017 when she hopes, at the age of 54, to become the first woman to run 7 x 50k ultra-marathons on 7 continents in 7 days. She is using a crowd-funding campaign to raise the funds required to undertake this challenge.
Show notes
- Being totally disinterested in sports at school and why she enjoyed the ‘punishment’ exercises such as the long runs on the beach
- Getting into fitness and how after her first 10K she was still saying she wasn’t going to run any further!
- Choosing to run the Loch Ness Marathon in the Highlands of Scotland!
- Working full time while training, and why being a project manager helps her to fit in her training while balancing family life.
- Being relaxed about her training and why she decided to run her first ultra marathon at 47
- How her mental and physical preparation changed when she moved from a marathon distance to an ultra marathon distance
- Being stubborn and pig headed and why she doesn’t like to fail!
- Coming from a background of strong women and how it has made her more determined.
- What she thinks about while she runs
- Getting into flow while running!
- Deciding to take on a big challenge to help celebrate her 50th Birthday
- Being rejected from the West Highland Way race and how it inspired her to not give up
- The fears she had to deal with before the race and why she knows she will always have a wobble before the race.
- Tips for other women who are feeling a little bit of fear about a new challenge
- Why fear is a good thing
- Standing on the start line of the Antarctic Ice Marathon
- Why she enjoyed being in the vast wildness and holding her own and how it helped with her confidence
- Why food and fluids were so important for her recovery
- Having low points during the 100K on the 4th and 7th lap
- Why it’s so important to have a dream and a goal, which isn’t related to your work.
- Going back to run the West Highland Way race in 2015 - taking 29hrs to completed the 95 miles!
- Finding out about her 2017 challenges!
Social Media & Links!
Learn more about Audrey by visiting her Website you can read more on her blog here
Support Audrey with her next challenge - Global Odyssey!
Audrey’s crowdfunding page is here
Twitter @audreymcintosh Instagram @aa_mcintosh
Feeling inspired week after week?
You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!
- Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
- If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
- Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love.
Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3? You’re a rockstar! Thank you!
Want to do more?
Please become a Patron and donate a small fixed amount every month to help fund the runnings costs.
Thank you to all the Patrons who support the Tough Girl Podcast each month!
Become a Patron - click here!
Philippa never thought that at the age of 44 she would be cycling 5,000 miles from the top of Norway to the south of Spain. Let alone on her own. She wasn’t an endurance cyclist and had never wild camped on her own.
Yet in June 2016 she found herself at Nordkapp, the most Northern point in Europe with a tent and two wheels. After a small freak out and a lot of questions to herself she pointed her bicycle South and started cycling. Three and a half months and a lot of ice cream later she reached Tarifa in Spain, the Southernmost point in Europe, a lot fitter and with the knowledge that she had been able to overcome those fears, rise to the challenge and complete her dream. She raised money for 2 charities – Re-cycle (who send bicycles to Africa) and the Youth Adventure Trust who support vulnerable children to build self esteem, gain confidence and learn important life skills through a programme of adventure.
Since her return she has combined her professional background in events and fundraising with her personal love of adventure and just started working for the Youth Adventure Trust as their Corporate Partnership Manager. She is also training to be a Pilates teacher
Show notes
- Why Philippa decided to do this journey & how having a mentor helped
- Why the journey was named the “Cycle Odyssey”
- Why you don’t need to be a super athlete to do challenges
- Growing up and how she ended up going on her first cycle adventure
- Cycling from London to Lands End on a second hand bicycle in 1999
- How she decided to take control of her commute in London and become a cyclist
- Deciding to cycle from London to Paris and she ended up meeting more people who loved to cycle
- How her cycle adventure progressed from organised tours to wild camping and solo trips
- Looking back at the start of her cycling journey and talking about the progression that has been made, and why you discover more about yourself as you continue to push yourself
- Being inspired by Emily Chappell - (You can listen to Emily on the tough girl podcast - here)
- Why eating food is always the right thing to do!
- Cycling in London and why she loved the freedom!
- Hills….
- Deciding on what challenge to do next and how she made the decision
- Taking it day by day and changing her mind about her route on day 3!
- Talking about money and how she afforded to pay for her trip
- Remembering her dad
- The fears that were going through her head before the start of the trip and tips for how she handled those fears.
- Why you have a choice about your attitude and why you should be positive
- Her physical preparation for the trip and why testing her equipment was more important
- Balance!!
- The highlights from her trip and why the challenges stood out for her as well as the people
- Getting to the end… and not comprehending she’d completed the journey - 101 days, 5,000 miles rode!
- Why you can do it!!!!
- What she’s learnt most from the adventure and her final words of advice for you and why you won’t regret it!
Read more about Philippa and her journey on her blog! Philippa is on twitter @cycleodyssey16
Charities
RE-CYCLE take donated bikes and reduce landfill and by refurbishing them and sending them to Africa they can change lives by helping children get to school, reduce travel time to work, carry heavy loads of water and food and give families extra time to earn, learn and enjoy life.
The Youth Adventure Trust is a registered youth development charity working with vulnerable young people aged 11 to 14 years old from across Wiltshire and Swindon. Many young people, for a variety of reasons, often do not have the opportunity to start the ‘believe – achieve’ process and make the most of their lives.
Feeling inspired week after week?
You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!
- Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
- If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
- Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love.
Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3?
You’re a rockstar! Thank you!
Want to do more?
Please become a Patron and donate a small fixed amount every month to help fund the runnings costs.
AnnMaria began practicing judo at the age 12 and it changed the direction of her life. She found her passion and her calling, and by age 19 she was winning National Competitions. Not only was she training and competing in Judo, at the highest level, she also raised four daughters and managed to achieve her Bachelors, her Master, her PHD, and an MBA!
During this podcast, we learn more about AnnMaria, her drive, her ambition, and why she continues to push the boundaries, and to go after what she wants. AnnMaria talks about what it takes to be a champion and why not everyone will have that drive and determination. She shares more of her life growing up, spending time in Japan, and her passion behind education and why she wants to encourage more children to reach higher.
Show notes
- About AnnMaria; BA, MA, PHD, MBA, mother of 4 and founder of numerous tech companies!
- Growing up and how judo and maths have made a huge difference in her life
- Being dropped off at the YMCA and told to join something!
- How Judo was the only choice for her and what it was like being a female doing judo
- How she learned to ignore the haters and the negative comments
- Spending time over in Japan whilst being a poor college student
- Her first big tournament, and going on to win National Championships, US Nationals, and why she had to fight close to home
- Entering her early twenties and being able to afford to travel and fight internationally
- Having a baby instead of going to the World Championships
- The thoughts that go through her head before stepping onto the mat to fight
- Mental strategies she would use before fights and why she would visualise winning
- Why you have to combine visualisation with training!
- The final of the World Championships and why it was the toughest fight of her career
- Dealing with knee issues throughout her whole career
- Her philosophy for Judo
- Her mumisms - “No one has the right to beat you”
- There’s a difference between, being tough and being a bitch.
- Why champions always do more
- “You have to be good enough to win the World Championships on your worst day”
- Getting over the death of her husband, while having 3 young children
- How she balanced; children, education, sports and a job and why it does come down to setting your own priorities
- Advice and tips for young people who want to get to the top of their game and why its ok to not want to go to the top
- Why she tries to talk children out of Judo and why she wants them to focus on education
- Having 4 daughters and why they had to play a sport and get good grades at school
- How she’s seen sexism change over the years and why she thinks the bar is still set high for women
- Her plans for the future and some final words of advice!
Blog
Feeling inspired week after week?
You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!
- Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
- If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
- Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love.
Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3? You’re a rockstar!
Thank you!
Want to do more?
Please become a Patron and donate a small fixed amount every month to help fund the runnings costs.
Stephanie is a 34 year old Canadian human rights lawyer who discovered ultra running eight years ago.
After completing a year in Afghanistan with the UN in 2013, she took a job in South Sudan in 2014 assisting people who were displaced by violence, which required her to live in a tent in very basic conditions. That same year, she started a charity called Free to Run, which provides opportunities for women and girls to get involved in sports in conflict-affected communities. They have now been operating for two years in Afghanistan across three different provinces and have a refugee program in Hong Kong. Recently, she finished two years in Gaza working for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and is now based in Geneva, where she’s enjoying being able to access the mountains again.
Over the last eight years, she’s competed in eight 250 km self-supported footraces. The Tor des Geants, a 338km mountain race in Italy, remains her passion. In 2015 she completed the shorted course and went back in 2016 to finish what she started!
During this podcast we learn more about Stephanie, her journey into fitness and how she came to love running ultra’s.
Show notes
- About Stephanie
- Growing up in Canada and not being sporty at all!
- Going to university and trying out for the rowing team
- Being let down by her first marathon and not having that life changing experience
- Getting the confidence to try a new sport
- Her first Marathon in Alaska!
- Climbing Kilimanjaro and loving the feeling of being outside
- Her first ultra race in Vietnam and coming 2nd!
- Dealing with the challenges which come up during an ultra race and why she goes for the unstructured approach to training.
- The Tor des Geants, a 338km mountain race in Italy - the race that really pushed her to her limits
- 150 hr to finish the race - deciding to forgo sleep and only sleeping for 2.5hrs throughout the 4 days
- Drinking straight olive oil in order to keep the body going
- The terrible, soul crushing low points she had to deal with during the race
- Training for the Tor des Geants while living in Palestine
- Free to Run - What it is and how it came about
- Developing mix gender sports in Afghanistan
- The power of the ripple effect and why you can make a difference
- Plans for the future both for, Free to Run and her own personal challenges
Website
Blog - https://ultrarunnergirl.com/about/
twitter - @runningcase
free to run - http://www.freetorun.org
twitter - @FreeToRunNGO
Feeling inspired week after week?
You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!
- Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
- If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
- Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love.
Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3? You’re a rockstar! Thank you!
Want to do more?
Please become a Patron and donate a small fixed amount every month to help fund the runnings costs.
You can listen to the Tough Girl Podcast on the go via iTunes, Soundcloud & Stitcher!
Ali went along to the Women’s Adventure Expo in October 2015 where she picked up a leaflet about the Tough Girl Podcast, and by May 2016, she was pedaling her old Alpinestars mountain bike on a 767-mile, 13-day adventure from South Wales to Chamonix. At the age of 41 she had found something exciting to give her a new focus, after forcibly retiring from sport due to old knee injuries. The ride to Chamonix took Ali to mental and physical places that she had never been before, and she climbed almost the height of Everest on her way. This journey was significantly longer than her first bike packing adventure, which took her on the Whitehaven to Sunderland Coast2Coast route back in 1995 on the same bike.
Ali is a Sport Psychology Coach and works with individuals and groups to teach them how to implement sport psychology strategies into their training, event and competition programmes. Since her bike ride to Chamonix, she has itchy feet and is making plans for a new bike packing adventure.
Show notes
- When Ali & I first connected at the Women In Adventure Sports EXPO in Bristol
- Finding out more about Ali and how she came to become a sports psychologist coach
- Growing up sports and wanting to try anything and everything
- Getting into hockey and starting to break into the National League squad
- Trying to prove it to her body that she could do things, even after two knee injuries and who she tried overcoming the mental barriers she’d created
- Dealing with further set backs & losing her identity as a sports woman and as an athlete
- Deciding to get a bike and do the coast to coast challenge
- Going from being part of a team to being an individual doing a challenge
- How life can get in the way!
- Taking part in the game show - ‘Total Wipeout’ in Argentina - Google Season 1 - Episode 2 to see Ali wipeout!!!
- Rebellion and why its played apart of her life
- How she made the decision to cycle from South Wales to Chamonix
- Starting to secretly plan and having to tell her partner what she wanted to do
- When the challenge all started to become real!
- Training for the challenge at age 41 and starting from a low fitness level and doing what she could when she could
- Getting to the start line and what normally stops people from getting to this point
- Tips to help you to overcome your own negative thoughts and why you can find your own evidence of what you’ve done before
- Break your challenge down into smaller and more manageable chunks
- Day 1 of the adventure!
- Dealing with the challenges along the way and being outside her comfort zone
- When Ali started to think she wasn’t able to finish the challenge - what kept her going and why pausing helped her
- The good moments - the unexpected times
- Advice and top tips for you to go after your own personal challenge
Learn more about Ali - by visiting her blog and her website
Ali is on twitter @alimahoney74 @ithinksport
Support the tough girl podcast and become a Patron!!! More information about the other tough girls I have interviewed is available on www.toughgirlchallenges.com
7 Women - 7 Challenges came about back in October 2016 after discussions and feedback from the Tough Girl Tribe. It was decided as well as having inspirational interviews with the women who were the elite and the best of the best. I also wanted to connect and share the stores of; everyday women, real women, ordinary women, who are out their living full lives and saying yes to challenges and adventures. This would be a way to learn more about members of the Tribe and how they go about achieving their goals.
I asked the tribe to put themselves forward with their challenges and goals for 2017 and we then took a public vote to shortlist potential women who we would be interviewing for the podcast.
There were so many amazing entires it was a really difficult process to narrow it down and only select only 7! I’ve tried to be as fair as possible and have gone for a mixture of challenges and ages.
On a side note, expect more interviews with member of the tribe on the Tough Girl Podcast EXTRA which comes out on an adhoc basis every Thursday at 7am UK time.
Lets meet the 7 women!
Georgie Akin Smith is doing 12 CHALLENGES IN 12 MONTHS!
Georgie is 26 years old, living and working as a marketing manager in London. She loves being fit, active and getting outside as much as she can. Georgie has set herself 12 challenges which scare and excite her in equal measure and are all new things she hasn't tried before. She is booked in to to the Windsor Duathlon, the Engadin Cross Country Ski Marathon in Switzerland, as well as the London Marathon and the Mallorca 312! This is just an example of some of the challenges she will be completing in 2017!
Rae Red is a new runner going after her first Ultra!
In the late summer of 2016 after a fairly sustained period of life being crappy Rae was looking for something to help her with her own mental health. She started to consider running, but there were a whole host of reason to not start; she lives in a bad area, it’s not safe, she commutes for 4 hours a day so doesn't have time, she's not a runner, she has tight leg muscles, it’s too cold, it’s raining, it’s too hot....
Rae saw an article on ultra running and that was it, she signed up for the Dig Deep Ultra (30 miles). We will be following Rae on this journey to complete her first ultra!
Gemma Smith is off to climb Kilimanjaro and also plans to climb both the Matterhorn and the Eiger!
Almost two years ago she had a moment where she decided it's not worth being that person that says, 'that sounds fun but I could never do that'. Because of this change in attitude she started to believe she could do it.
This resulted in a life changing trip to Everest Base Camp in 2015 which was booked on a complete whim! Even since then, subsequent trips have been booked which have included summiting Mont Blanc in June 2016 and Mt Toukbal in the High Atlas Mountains in late 2016.
Rachel Wise is taking a gap year with her husband and 3 daughters and heading off to travel the world!
The plan is to leave in August 2017 flying from Geneva to LA. Where they will do a road trip across the States from the West coast to the East coast. From there they will head down to the Caribbean and be based in St Lucia. In November they will fly to Sri Lanka for a couple of months. Then it's onto South East Asia where they plan to spend a chunk of time in Indonesia. They are also planning to head to New Zealand for a few weeks to see the family before going onto Fiji for two months. After that its time to head back to Switzerland via LA in the Summer of 2018.
Laura Try - Rowing 1,800 miles around the coast of Great Britain, followed by rowing crossing the Atlantic in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge!
Laura is 34 years old and lives in Brentwood, Essex. She works as a Personal Trainer and Event Organiser. In June and July 2017 Laura will taking part in the Rannoch GB Challenge, which invovles rowing 1,800 miles around the coast of Great Britain with a team of 5. The challenge will take place over 8 weeks and they will be raising money for the RNLI. On competing that, she plans to take part in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge in December. She will be raising money for Centrepoint, the UK's largest charity for homeless 16-25 year olds.
Jen Dykxhorn will be biking the iconic LEJOG - Lands End to John O'Groats, across the UK!
Jen is a coffee-drinking, bicycle-loving, nature-loving, ukulele playing, adventure-seeking wanderer! She is a 30-year-old Canadian living (mostly) in London, UK while working on her PhD in psychiatric epidemiology.
In the summer of 2017, Jen will be biking the iconic LEJOG - with her sister. They will be leaving (approx) August 21st and be arriving in the north of Scotland around the 5th of September. Along the way, they will be wild camping (in home-sewn bivy sacks!). To finish off the adventure, they will be completing the Coast to Coast adventure race, and have signed up to do the "expert" course (all 105 miles of biking, trail running, and kayaking in one day).
Jo Jo Rogers at 52 will be training and racing in an effort to be selected for the US 50km National Team!
Jo Jo is a passionate runner and she loves to train. She is out running every day, sometimes twice a day! For Jo Jo this is an opportunity to share her story but more so to encourage other women to get out there and go after their dreams, no matter their age.
Feeling inspired week after week?
You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!
- Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
- If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
- Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love.
Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3? You’re a rockstar! Thank you!
Want to do more?
Please become a Patron and donate a small fixed amount every month to help fund the runnings costs.