Mara had a massive year of big challenges in 2018, from training for her first triathlon and Ironman UK. She then ticked off completing a multi-stage ultra marathon off her bucket list by taking part in the Wadi Rum Ultra marathon in 2018. The race was held in the desert in Jordan, and involved running just over 250km in five days!
During the podcast Mara shares more about her triathlon training, how she bought all the gear she needed with a budget of £1000! Mara then goes into more detail about her biggest challenge to date - The Speed Project which she did in March 2019, involving a 340 mile (550K) relay race from the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles all the way out to Las Vegas. There are no rules and the only aim is to run from LA to Vegas as fast as possible! This is a jam packed episode filled with motivation and top tips!
Show notes
- Her aim is to encourage women and women of colour to step outside their comfort zone
- The speed project
- What life was like growing up
- Being sporty and giving everything ago from Irish Dancing to horse riding
- Playing netball for her school team
- Hating PE lessons
- Having a phobia of deep water and doing everything she could to avoid the water
- Dealing with bullying
- Being more academic
- Starting to get balance between sport and being academic
- Getting into running and doing 4 Marathons
- Wanting to do something exciting but not sure what she wanted to do
- Doing an Ironman? Did she want to do this?
- Deciding to do a marathon and experience a new city at the same time
- Wanting to encourage more women to do marathons
- Having a supportive family
- The barriers to doing an Ironman (no bike, limited money)
- Why the distances inspired her
- Wanting to conquer her water phobia
- Her first step after signing up
- Buying her first bike for triathlon
- Doing all of her research before hand
- Getting a triathlon coach
- Building confidence in the water and how she got passed her phobia
- Having a budget of £1,000 for her triathlon
- How the event went and why is was tough going
- Starting to think about the next challenge!!
- Not wanting to get the post ironman blues
- The London Duathlon
- The mental side of challenges
- Wadi Run Adventure with Team Like a Girl
- #DefyExpectationsTogether
- Dealing with the heat
- How she helped to prevent injury
- How the team worked together
- The Speed Project - the race, the challenge and dealing with the lack of sleep
- Training for a middle distance triathlon and thinking big for 2020!
- Advice and tips for other women to step outside their comfort zone
- Who inspired Mara
- Quick Fire Questions
Social Media
Website - www.thefitlondoner.com
Instagram - @mara.thefitlondoner
Twitter - @thefitlondoner
Facebook - @thefitlondoner