Emily shares more of her remarkable story of how she first entered the world of cycling and how it changed her, how she grew to love it and how it took her on adventures all over the world.

Emily is a master story teller, and during this podcast we get to go with her, to experience the highlights and learn from her mistakes along the way. This is a very open and revealing interview, Emily talks about depression, dealing with failure and why she’s so passionate about encouraging more women to enter the world of cycling. 

Shownotes

• Emily introduces herself and shares a little more about who she is
• Why she ends up talking about danger a lot!
• Why she found cycling in London empowering
• Becoming a cycle courier and what it was like
• Learning on the job and why she wanted to do a winter on the bike so she could call herself a proper ‘cycle courier’
• Deciding she wanted to do a bigger cycling challenge & being inspired by Alastair Humphreys 
• Realising she could take on a bigger trip and having the courage to do so 
• What she learnt most while planning her round the world trip and why next time she wouldn’t plan as much
• Remembering the day she set off and what she was feeling
• The highlights!
• Surviving the Turkish winter and why she remembers it as one of the best times of her life!
• Why she’s still trying to work out what drives her and motivates her
• How she knew it was right to finish the cycle and head home at the end of Asia and not continue
• Dealing with the adventure blues and being clinically depressed for a year
• Postponing the rest of her cycle until 2015 and why it was hard to give up on the dream but why she knows it was the best thing for her
• Going back to being a cycle courier and why it helped her recovery
• In 2014 - Turning her blog into a book! 
• Setting off from Anchorage on the 2nd January 2015
• Dealing with fear while heading off into the great unknown
• The magical encounters that happened on the way
• Camping at -40!
• Dealing with the loneliness & isolation
• What she’s learnt about herself while on these trips
• What the Transcontinental Race across Europe is and why she wanted to cycle it
• Becoming obsessed with sleep - but not allowing herself to sleep…dealing with chest pains and ending up in hospital
• Winning the women category in the Transcontinental Race 2016!!
• What can we do to encourage more women to enter long distance cycling races?
• The Adventure Syndicate - What its aims our and why it was started
• Emily’s next challenge!

Visit Emily’s website!

Say hi to Emily on twitter! @emilychappell 

Some of the amazing challenges Juliana has done…

World Cycle 2012

On July 23 2012, Juliana Buhring set out from Naples, Italy to make the first women’s world record for fastest circumnavigation by bicycle. On December 22, 2012, she re-entered Naples with a total time of 152 days including flight transfers and 144 actual days peddled.

Transcontinental Race 2013 

In 2013, Juliana participated in the inaugural Transcontinental Race, the toughest unsupported race across Europe starting in London and ending in Istanbul, crossing the high cols of the Alps. Juliana was the only woman in the race, finishing in 12 days and placing 9th overall.

Trans AM Race 2014

In June 2014, Juliana raced the inaugural Trans Am Bike Race. Starting in Astoria, Oregon, and finishing in Yorktown, Virginia, the race is 4,322 miles long, with 67,000 metres of total altitude. Buhring finished the race in 20 days and 23 hours, winning first place in the women’s category & 4th place overall.

The Race Across America 2016

The Race Across America (RAAM) is one the most respected and longest running endurance sports events in the world. Racers must traverse 3000 miles across 12 states and climb over 170,000 vertical feet. This will be Juliana’s first supported ultra-cycling race and she is keen to discover how much further she can push herself within this category.

Shownotes

-Where Juliana is living at the moment and why she love Naples

-Going back to when Juliana was growing up and what life was like for her growing up in a cult

-Learning how to ride a bike at 30 and making the decision to cycle around the world

-Dealing with tragedy and the death of her soulmate and how she struggled to bounce back

-Deciding on the ultimate adventure of cycling around the world and finding out that no women had done this challenge before

-Starting to train for the challenge and deciding on which bike to use & what route to take

-Advice for listeners on how to get through the darkness and into the light

-What Juliana’s learnt about inner strength and how you can get stronger - “if you’re going through hell keep on going”

-Why you need to have a purpose and a reason to wake up in the morning. 

-Her world cycle trip & what she experienced along the way and why she changed on the journey

-Running out of money, almost having to give up and what kept her on the road

-Human kindness while on the road and how the most incredible moments came after the hardest points on the way

-How cycling changed her life and why she didn't want to go back to teaching

-Being invited on the transcontinental race across Europe in 2013 and being the only women in the race!

-What’s she learnt about the “mind body connection" and how she’s applied it to endurance sports and also to her life

-Trying to find the balance in her life

-Following a ketogenic diet to reduce inflammation

-Being the only female in a very male dominated world and how she’s started to see this change

-Dealing with accusations of cheating and how she responded to it

-Advice for women who are competing with the men at all levels and why she just focuses on herself and why knowing your why is so important

-The Race Across America (RAAM) - everything you need to know and why Juliana decided to do this race

-Her next challenge - heading off to Australia to race!

-Changing her diet to fat burning and the benefits she’s had from that

-Her advice for women who may be scared or afraid of travelling alone

You can learn more about Juliana by visiting her website 

Support her on Facebook 

Say hi to Juliana on twitter @JulianaBuhring  

Shownotes

-Where Jo is at the moment

-Getting back out to Everest in March 

-Why she didn’t want what happened last year to stop her from living her life

-Reflecting back on what happened and why she found it cathartic 

-Climbing two, 6,000 metre peaks before Everest

-Getting back on the mountain and feeling right at home in her tent

-Getting blessed before the climb and why its important to follow this tradition

-Learning more about the atmosphere on the mountain after the earthquake the previous year

-Why you shouldn’t be 100% reliant on your climbing sherpa the whole way

-Why you need to have experience when climbing Everest and the ability to get yourself out of problems that can happen on the mountain 

-Jo summit attempt 

-Dealing with feelings of frustration while on the mountain

“Choose your mood!”

 “Its about attitude not altitude!”

-why you need to conserve your energy on the down days

-How Jo kept herself entertained while having to wait at camps

-Dealing with low points & wanting to walk off the mountain

-Feeling calm on the final push

-Having to deal with slower climbers in front and how she handled it 

-Trying to keep awake and warm on the mountain

-Coping with her fear of heights and having to keep it together on a windy high ridge

-Why reaching the summit was a massive anti-climax 

-Learning to appreciate what she’s achieved and dealing with the post trip blues

-Having more self belief in herself and what she’s learnt most about herself from climbing Everest

-Why she wants to climb more 8,000 metre peaks

-Questions from the tribe!

-Find out what’s next for Jo!

Links!

Take a listen to the first Tough Girl Podcast episode with Jo! Click here!

Check out Jo’s Blog - http://www.29029feet.co.uk 

Follow Jo on twitter @29029feet  & on Facebook!

Charities

Check out - Place2Be & Support4Sherpas

Events!

Come & join us at the Women In Adventure Expo in Bristol 8th October! Get your ticket before the 30th September!

In Summer 2015 Jessica did a thru-hike and hiked the full length of the Appalachian Trail all 2189.2 miles! 

During this podcast Jessica shares with us, more about her journey, the highs, the low points, what she learned on the way and why she loves being outdoors!

If you’ve ever wanted to go on a long distance hike - take a listen to this episode to learn more!

Shownotes

• The Appalachian Trail
• Where the idea came from
• The steps she took to get to the start of the trail
• Telling her friends and family about her dream to hike the Appalachian Trail
• Dealing with fears
• Why you sometimes have to do things on your own
• Why she set her start date for March 29th
• Research & planning - especially around what gear to take!
• Where you can save some money on gear
• What’s it like being on the start line!
• Trying to figure out things as she went
• Getting her trail name!
• Being challenged on the trail and the hardest things she faced
• Being alone on the trail and taking the time to figure things out
• Money and the costs involved
• Having run in’s with wildlife & dealing with bears!
• Why you shouldn’t really plan your hike!
• Vlogging & blogging while on the trail
• What to do about water while walking
• What she learnt most while on the trail
• Getting to the end of the hike 
• Finishing the hike, dealing with the aftermath and what her next steps were
• Going for the Triple Crown in hiking!
• More details about her book - Take A Thru-Hike: Dixie's How-To-Guide for Hiking the Appalachian Trail!

Read Jessica’s book!

Check out her blog 

Follow her on twitter @HomemadeWL

Watch her videos & subscribe to her Youtube channel here!

A massive thank you to everyone who has become a patron! You too can support the Tough Girl Podcast from $2 to $5 per month!  CLICK HERE!

Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Myself and Emma Timmis headed off to run Hadrian’s Wall at the end of August and I wanted to share more of the story with you. So whilst I was away I thought about what the best way to do this was. 

Although my interviews are very informal and relaxed they do take me a long time to edit. At the moment I don’t have the capacity to edit two full podcast episodes a week. So instead, as a compromise I thought I’d upload a raw, unedited conversation of what my previous guests have been up to since we last spoke. 

So in essence…..Tough Girl Extra is an extra podcast episode that will be happening on an adhoc basic, it’s going to be released on a Thursday #ToughGirlThursday at 7am UK time.

This is a new style for me and I would love to get your feedback. Please do let me know what you think. You can either comment below, send me an e-mail (sarah@toughgirlchallenges.com) or send me a DM on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL. 

I hope you enjoy!

Shownotes

• What Tough Girl Extra is!
• Catching up with Emma Timmis & what’s she's been up to since we last spoke in August 2015
• The costs of her three months Dolomites trip
• What the Australian Alpine Walking Track is and why she decided to do it
• Loneliness, hallucinating, and getting lost and seeing a side of Australia that she didn’t know existed
• Carrying half her body weight in her pack!
• Her 2 month adventure in Malawi
• Planning our Hadrian’s Wall trip & how it all came about
• Our training or lack of training for the challenge!
• Why you don’t necessarily need to do a huge amount of planning for challenges
• Having support verses doing independent challenges
• What we took! (You can also watch my packing video on Youtube)
• Deciding which way to run - East to West or West to East
• Starting at Wallsend on the west coast and why it was the best decision
• Day 1 memories!
• Camping at Robin Hood Inn for 2 nights for £5 per night!
• The tent getting flooded!!
• Day 2 challenges 
• Navigation on Hadrian’s Wall Path
• Toilet talk!!
• What we forgot to take with us!
• Camping along the route or not?
• Day packs and what we carried while we ran including the spot tracker
• Answering questions from the Tribe
• Poles or no poles - that's the question!
• Emma’s next challenge!

Watch our daily vlogs from our Hadrian’s Wall adventure on youtube 

Check out Emma’s Website Here 

To listen to the previous episode with Emma Timmis - CLICK HERE

A massive thank you to everyone who has become a patron! You too can support the Tough Girl Podcast from $2 to $5 per month!  CLICK HERE!

Future Events!

7th October - Tough Girl Tribe Social, Bristol

8th October - Women in Adventure Expo, Bristol

22nd - 23rd October - Yestival (I'm going to be speaking!!! Come along and say hi!)

Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Jenna has competed in rollerblading events since she was 8 years old. During that time she has amassed a lifetime of awards while competing across the globe in televised and major international events.  Jenna turned professional at age 12 which made her the youngest female skater in the world to ever turn pro! 

Shownotes

• Growing up in a single parent family
• Getting her first pair of skates and falling in love
• Being told that skating wasn’t for girls and not being allowed in the skate park
• When her competitive career really started
• Her first competition being the only girl and getting last place
• Having the judges ignore her while she skated, all because she was a girl
• What motived her to get better and what motivated her to become a world champion skater
• Where her determination comes from and who’s inspired her on the way
• Starting to compete internationally at 11 years old and competing at the European Championships
• Bouncing back from setbacks and going back to her 2nd European Championships and winning Gold!
• Becoming a professional skater at 12 years old and breaking a world record by becoming the youngest professional skater ever!
• Why she likes proving people wrong 
• Why hard work does pay off!
• Creating bigger and bigger goals and going for gold at the world championships
• The challenges she faces while being a professional, trying to study while being a professional. Dealing with setbacks as a result of injury
• Going backwards in the world ranking every year for 6 years and how the gold medal was slipping further and further away
• Losing the feeling in her arm, and then losing the feeling in her feet and face
• Being diagnosed with MS a disease of the central nervous system right before the world championships and why she almost gave up
• Standing on the podium as world champion and why it was a dream come true
• Why visualisation has played a huge role in her life as well as focusing on her mindset and being able to block out the negativity
• Why you need to just focus on what you can control -

“control the controllable"

• Dealing with fear and why you have to have believe in yourself - there is no room for any doubt
• Making the decision to retire and deciding on a new path working with young people 
• What she’s learnt from her professional skating career that you’ll be able to apply to your life
• Her next big goal - Wheels Extreme - which aims to improve the lives of young people
• Why you should stick to what you are passionate about 

Visit Jenna's Website!

On twitter? Come say hi to Jenna @Jenna_Downing I’m also on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL

A massive thank you to everyone who has become a patron! You too can support the Tough Girl Podcast from $2 to $5 per month!  CLICK HERE!

Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Thank you for listening!! 

Sarah xx