I try not to look back, I want to live in the present. I don’t want my past to dictate my future and I don’t want to have regrets. However, every once in a while it’s important to look back, if only to see how far we’ve come and to appreciate the journey we’ve been on. This year has been a journey, a massive learning curve. I’ve made mistakes, failed and also faced & overcome challenges.
During this podcast I'll share more of my thoughts and answer a few questions about 2016 as well as sharing more of my plans for 2017!
I talked about Blinkist - Blinkist is a way to consume good quality information fast.
Blinkist has done all the hard work for you. They’ve read the books and have made a summary for you with the key pieces of information. There's so much content out there. How can you read it all? You can’t!! But with Blinkist you'll be making the best use of your time.
Books I'd recommend to read on Blinkist
- The Slight Edge - Jeff Olson
- Awaken the Giant Within – Tony Robbins
- The 4 Hour Work Week – Tim Ferris
- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey
- Girlboss – Sophia Amoruso
- Lean In – Sheryl Sandberg
- Year of Yes – Shonda Rhimes
You can listen to the Tough Girl Podcast on the go via iTunes, Soundcloud & Stitcher!
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.
Elise started running in January 2013, on the back of a New Year’s resolution to run a half marathon, but she soon started to wonder how far she could run! On November 1st 2015 she set off to run around the British coast. In August 2016, after 301 days, Elise returned to Greenwich having ran 5000 miles.
She ran self-supported, carrying all of her kit on her back, including camping equipment, and is the youngest person and only female to have completed this challenge.
This adventure wasn’t about mile splits or Garmin stats. It wasn’t about being the fastest or the most athletic. It was about using running as a mode of transport by which to really explore both Elise’s home country and her own capabilities. The end result was a a great big British adventure, featuring a lot of cake and a terrible fear of cows.
Show notes
- Getting to know Elise - what it was like growing up, not being sporty and being known as the girl who would always skip PE lessons.
- Starting running in January 2013 on the back of a New Years resolution!
- Her running journey from her first half marathon to running the coast of Britain and how she found her love for running, eventually!
- Trekking to Everest Base Camp and realising how much she enjoyed spending time outside
- How the challenge of running around the coast came about and how it suddenly became very real!
- Planning or not planning…
- What her parents thought when she told them her plans!
- November 1st - the start day!!
- The challenges she faced on the way including her fear of animals and how it got worse and worse as her challenge went on
- The people she met along the way and why they helped to made the trip
- Her favourite part of the coast line, when she wanted to quit and why she didn’t
- The two week rule!
- Getting to the finish line!
- Top tips and advice for you to go on your own adventure
Social Media Links
Visit her website here! Like her Facebook page & say hi to Elise on twitter @elisecdowning
Elise was raising money for Young Minds and Beyond Food to donate to these charities click here: - www.virginmoneygiving.com/runthecoast
Learn more about the Tough Girl Podcast by visiting www.toughgirlchallenges.com
You can become a personal patron of the Tough Girl Podcast by clicking here!
Polly learned to fly when she was 50 years old and after qualifying, she went on to complete numerous flying challenges in order to raise funds for the charity - Flying Scholarships for the Disabled.
In 2001 Polly completed a lateral solo circumnavigation of the world. At 59 years old on May 6, 2003, Polly took off from Birmingham airport seeking to become the first pilot to complete a solo flight around the world via both Poles in a single-engine aircraft!
During this podcast we learn more about Polly, where her love of flying came from and why she doesn’t let fear stop her from going after her dreams. She shares personal stories and how she trained for over two years to prepare for this incredible journey. Now aged 72, Polly is still challenging herself and wants to encourage you to challenge yourself and to go after those dreams. It’s time to stop with the excuses and start believing in yourself.
Thank you to the Patrons and Supporters of the Tough Girl Podcast who have allowed me to produce this content. Your continued support is much appreciated.
To become a sponsor - Learn more here
Show notes
- Being brought up in Devonshire and spending time on the beach and in the hills
- Her adventures started when she was 45 years old and did a sponsored sky dive for charity!
- Heading off to Australia and having her first flying lesson aged 50
- Remembering her first gliding experience and why it always stayed with her
- Doing 240 sky dives and why she loves a challenge
- Her faith and how it helps her
- Why you have to make the effort and not sit back and wait for things to happen
- Her progression into flying
- Her first flying lesson and her first solo flight!
- Her newest challenge - Donkey training!
- Keeping calm and why it saved her life
- How one comment changed her life!
- Deciding to fly over the North Atlantic to America!
- Flying Scholarships for Disabled People
- Her first around the world challenge
- When she learned from her first trip and why preparation was so important
- Survival training!
- Her engine stopping…..while flying over the poles
- Why fear is an important part of life
- Dealing with an intruder
- Finishing her challenges and feeling let down at the end
- Why you have to keep looking forward and not looking back
- Her proudest moment
- Why you shouldn’t give up on your dreams!
Book - Wings Around The World: The Exhilarating Story of One Woman's Epic Flight from the North Pole to Antarctica
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.
Next week we have Elise Downing coming on the Tough Girl Podcast to share her story of running 5,000 miles around the coast of Britain!
Amelia Boone is 33 years old, working as an attorney in California while also competing as pretty much a full time OCR athlete (Obstacle Course Racer). Since the sport's inception, she’s arguably the world's most decorated obstacle racer amassing more than 30 victories and 50 podiums!
Career highlights include:
- 3x winner of the World's Toughest Mudder (2012, 2014, 2015)
- Spartan Race World Champion 2013
- Spartan Race Points Series Champion (2013 & 2015)
- 3x Death Race Finisher (Winter 2012, Summer 2012, Summer 2013)
“I’m not the strongest. I’m not the fastest. But I’m really good at suffering.” – Amelia Boone
Show notes
- Moving from Chicago to California and the benefits which came from it
- Getting Amelia to introduce herself
- Being a full time attorney and also a full time obstacle course racer
- Being sporty at school, but not being a typical runner
- Getting to spend time outside, playing team sports such as softball, and soccer
- Being good at everything but not the best at anything
- Why she thinks she's successful at endurance events
- Using the gym while at college and at law school to help deal with stress
- Learning about Tough Mudder and deciding to give it a go
- Her first Tough Mudder - going back and reliving the memories!
- Why she loved it and why she decided to do another one
- Trying to do her pull up and why the “funky money obstacle” was her big challenge
- Why you have to go after your first pull up!!
- Her most impulsive decision in her life and why she signing up for a 24hr Tough Mudder - The Worlds First!
- Looking for meaning and try to find a new challenge
- Using cross fit to develop strength
- Being one of the 13th finishers to finish the race out of 900 people
- Having to break through the ice & being the coldest she’d ever been and why this low point was also a high point and life changing for her!
- Why it’s a race but it’s still about the community
- Learning mental resilience and why it can be easy to get over whelmed by the size and length of the race
- Mental tips and tricks to get through the tough times
- Her favourite song which got her around the 2012 Tough Mudder Race!
- How the number of women entering races has changed over the years and why women should enter the longer races
- What’s she learned from running races and how she’s been able to apply it to her life
- Trying to get balance in her life!
- Waking up at 4 - 4.30 am!!!
- Coping with injury over the past year
- Why you have to find a new normal
- Losing her identity and going through a period of trying to work out who she was
- What she would like to see happen in 2017
- Dealing with the pressure she places on herself
- Words of advice & top tips
Learn more about Amelia by visiting her website!
Say hi to Amelia once you've listened to this episode on twitter! @ameliaboone I'm @_TOUGH_GIRL
Support the Tough Girl Podcast and become a PATRON!!! Your financial support makes a big contribution to the running costs of the podcast - Please check out Patreon to see what goals I'm working towards and what rewards you can get for being a Patron!
I was looking for a new challenge and boxing was one of those challenges, I’d wanted to do for ages, but I’d never got around to it!
After the Olympics in 2012 there’s been a huge surge in women taking up boxing for fitness. I’d done boxing before but I’d never stepping into the ring!
After 8 weeks of training I got my opportunity and in front of 600 people at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool I had my first fight!!
During this podcast I share more about me, my story and how I got to where I am now. I also answer all of your questions about boxing; from training, to mental strategies, what it was like punching someone and getting punched and what music I choose to enter the ring to!
I hope you enjoy this episode and the different format!
Sarah
xx
I was raising money for Cancer Research to donate - CLICK HERE!
To watch a small clip of the flight - CLICK HERE!
Links
Ultra White Collar Boxing (UWCB)
Social Media!
Follow me on Twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL & Instagram @toughgirlchallenges
Sponsor the Tough Girl Podcast! CLICK HERE!!
Alison North is a married mother to two girls, (We interviewed her older daughter Lorna from “Queen of the Mile” last week on the podcast!), she’s also a business women, and can now call herself an ultra runner!
During this episode we learn more about Alison, what drives her and why she decided to put her trainers on at 64 and start running.
We learn more about her mental resilience and why she wants to encourage more women and men to take up fitness when they hit their sixties.
Its never to late to start but its always too late to wait! #66notout
Show notes
- Growing up in Aberdeen
- Having children late for her generation
- Being an older mother and how it kept her fit
- Having the support of her husband and how it helped her work life balance
- Growing up as a healthy family
- Getting the mothers perspective on daughters going off on adventures
- Why she decided to take up running again at 64
- Deciding to do the a 100K Race - The Race to the Stones!
- How her walking progressed to running and how she amazed herself!
- Dealing with the negative comments about her age when she decided to do this challenge
- Being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998
- What drives her to want to prove people wrong
- Why you need to “pull yourself into yourself”
- The two types of women in their sixties who run
- Why you need to squat and why you need to have strong legs
- What the race to the stones is - and why its a good starter race
- What cut off times are
- Race tactics and her strategy
- The importance of good socks and shoes
- Feeling stronger and better at 80km than she did at 50km
- What she’s learned while ultra running and why its the distance for her
- Starting to plateau and why she needed to change her training
- How running has impacted on her life - for positive and negative reasons
- Learning to burn fat more efficiently, but still having carbs
- On line communities
- Advice for women who do want to take up running!
- Raising money for Charing Cross Hospital and why its so important
Say hi to Alison on Twitter @alison8north
Charity - Friends of Charing Cross Hospital
To become a Patron on the Tough Girl Podcast - CLICK HERE!!
Whether it is working out to lose weight, training towards a marathon or playing team sport, keeping your body fuelled is a vital part of producing the best results.
And when it comes to understanding the science behind eating healthily and nutritionally to support an active lifestyle, not many people have more expertise than University of Bath-based sports nutritionist Renee McGregor.
Renee is a qualified Dietitian and she says, "I'm passionate about nutrition and enjoy making the science simple and practical to follow; no fads, no feelings of deprivation, just sensible dietary solutions.”
Show notes
- Renee introduces herself and shares more about her experiences
- Woking with the women & mens fencing & basketball wheelchair teams
- Heading over to Rio to support the teams. What’s its like over there and dealing with the difficult conditions such as the heat and lack of good quality food
- Getting balance with the athletes and how to help them with distractions
- Why its not about #cleanfood and why its more important to use food as fuel
- Stress, food and the importance of building mental resilience from a young age
- Rituals with food and how it can lead to extreme behaviour
- Eating disorders with a focus on athletes
- Periods and how missing more than three periods in a row can impact on bone health
- Why women should talk about periods more and why its important from a health point of view
- How to get the balance between periods, health, and performance
- Positively Primal: Finding Health and Happiness in a Hectic World By Emma Woolf
- Why its important to listen to your body!
- Should you be on the pill? Should you merge your pill?
- Why common sense is still so important
- Why balance and moderation is important and why it can be difficult to do
- Getting comfortable with the uncomfortable
- How you can lose the ability to moderate consumption and what to do about it
- Advice for women who think things have gone too far and why they may need to dial it back
- Why you should seek help
- Final worlds of advice and why you need to be kind to yourself!
Learn more about Renee by visiting her website and following her on twitter @mcgregor_renee
Listen to Renee when she first came on the Tough Girl Podcast - HERE!
COMPETITION!
If you want to win a copy of Renee book - then please like The Tough Girl Challenges Facebook Page and comment on why you should win the book! (I have 6 books to give away!) Deadline 4th December! Winners will be announced on Monday 5th December - through the FB page.
SOCIAL MEDIA!
Follow me on Instagram @toughgirlchallenges
To be kept unto date on Tough Girl Challenges - Come and follow the Facebook page. Click here
Join the Tough Girl Tribe - A closed Face Book group specifically for you to connect with the other listeners of the Tough Girl Podcast!!
SUPPORT!
Become a patron of the Tough Girl Podcast and donate through Patreon! From $2 to $5 per month!!