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!!!