Tough Girl Podcast

Elin Haf Davies got into sports later on in life. When she moved to London, she started with rugby, and for 9 years her life was all work and rugby, until she got dropped by the rugby team and divorced. All of this happened at the same time and massively impacted on her confidence and took her to a dark place. 

She decided she had to move on and change her life and this is when her love of challenges and adventures started.

During this podcast we discuss:

• Her Inspiration - “Rowing it Alone” by Deborah Veal
• Rowing across the Atlantic in a pair
• Raising funds for Metabolic Research
• How she approached the preparation for the Atlantic row
• Not getting on at school but going back to academia to get her degree, masters and PHD. 
• Learnings from the Marathon Des Sables where she failed to finish
• Rowing across the Indian Ocean in the first female crew
• What life was like rowing every day - sleep deprivation, rowing in shifts, the drive and motivation
• Why you row naked!
• Mental preparation before and during the race. - “Were the mind goes, the body follows”
• How to deal with negative thoughts and turn them to your advantage - “Don’t let other people kill your dreams.”
• The challenges she faced rowing the Indian Ocean 
• Why she decided to sail the Pacific instead of rowing across
• How she first started in sailing at 32
• Tips for working in a male dominated environment
• Advice for getting into sailing 
• Becoming a 2 handed sailor
• Women and getting sponsorship 
• Role models for women

If you’ve enjoyed this episode then please send Elin a tweet @ElinHafDavies. I’m also on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL. 

Thanks so much for listening! New episodes are coming out every Tuesday at 7 am - #ToughGirlTuesday. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review!

During this podcast Amy talks all about her love of fitness and how she came to take up the sport of powerlifting. To put this in context, Amy had never done any weight training before and had never even picked up a dumbbell! Five months later she had entered her first powerlifting competition. 

Amy shares her journey from entering local competitions and progressing to the British Championships before taking on the European Championships where she gained the European Junior Bronze Medal.  

Amy talks about the following:

• What powerlifting is
• What happens in a competition
• How to overcome nerves and focus on what you're doing
• Why having goals are important to helping you achieve
• The difference between weightlifting and powerlifting
• Why powerlifting isn’t recognised as a sport
• Competing in the European Championships
• How she overcame her nerves
• What goes through her head when she lifts
• How “mind over matter” works in powerlifting
• Breaking the British Junior Record Squat
• Training cycles
• Rest & recovery
• Nutrition- chicken & broccoli?! 
• Coping with training and university life
• Why women should lift weights
• Raising money to go to international competitions - Bake sales & selling t-shirts
• Joining the Amy Army!

“Don’t be scared of lifting weights!”

If you’ve enjoyed this episode then please send Amy a tweet @AmySpencerr. I’m also on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL. 

Sarah x

I first noticed Ali on twitter, as she’d just completed a 24 hr endurance running race!  I was really interested in the whole event and wanted to understand more about it. Plus I thought it would make an awesome episode for the tough girl podcast!

In this episode we talk all about running, whether it’s 800 m sprints, 5K park runs, trying to break the 3 hr barrier for the marathon as well as ultra running races, such as the Marathon Des Sables and Endure 24. 

Ali is a personal trainer and certified running coach and has loads of top tips. 

She discusses: -

• Goal setting
• Training
• How to run faster
• Different runs you can do
• Ultra running

This episode will make you want to go for a run! 

So put your trainers on, download this episode and go for it!

New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast are out every Tuesday at 7 am. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss out!!

If you’ve enjoyed this episode then please send Ali at tweet @AliJYoung. I’m also on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL. 

Boxing has always been a part of the Copeland Family. Stacey’s father was a professional boxer and her granddad has been involved in the family gym, which has been teaching boxing for over 40 years. 

Stacey was brought up at gym and spend many happy hours down there from a young age learning how to box, and she would happily spar with the boys not knowing any different. It was only as she got older, she was made aware how unusual her passion for boxing was. She’d wanted to take boxing to the next level, but because boxing was illegal for women, she had to put her dream on hold and instead decided to follow her other passion, football, and after playing for her country at under eighteen, she then became a professional and headed off to play football for clubs around the world. 

After twelve broken bones, it was time for Stacey to retire from football and at 29 she decided she was going to follow her dreams and see if she could make it at boxing! 

Although many people said at 29 Stacey was too old to take up a new sport - especially boxing. Stacey knew, she would not be stopped, she was going to at least try.

During this podcast, Stacey shares with us the hardships and challenges she faced and how she persevered and was able to prove all her doubters wrong and went on to win two ABA national titles, as well as four Boxcup tournaments in Europe. 

I loved recorded this episode, there are so many learning points, and for me, it really does show no matter what happens, its never to late to go after your dreams and with hard work, commitment and focus you can make it happen and you can achieve amazing things. You just need to go for it.

If you’ve enjoyed this episode send Stacey a tweet she’s @Staceyspongebob I’m also on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL as always it would be great to hear from you. 

Don’t forget to subscribe and to tell your friends about the Tough Girl Podcast. New Episodes every Tuesday morning at 7 am!

See you next Tuesday for another awesome episode when we speak with Ali Young a “non runner”, who’s just completed a 24 hr endurance race!

Helen is a Triathlete and Duathlete who is enjoying success as an age group athlete representing Great Britain. Since competing in her first triathlon in 2006 Helen has been very successful in multi-sport competitions, securing a number of victories and podium places in both, local, national and international Triathlons and  Duathlons.

Helen takes us back to how she first got into running and cycling and why she decided to take it up again, later on in life. She explains how she became a World Champion in both the Duathlon and Triathlon for her age category.  We discuss a wide variety of topics from coping with self doubt and how to break down large challenges into smaller more manageable chunks.

In the Tough Girl Podcast, we discuss the following:

• What a duathlon is
• Which is harder - duathlons or triathlons
• Why coaching helped to propel her forward 
• Tips for balancing fitness & training with a full time job
• The benefit of having a to do list
• Coping with self doubt & coping with the pressure of having to deliver in a race situation. 
• Mental strength training - positive visualisation, positive words, recognising negative thoughts and how to deal with them, positive self affirmation, and self affirming statements
• The use of music in warm ups & visualisation sessions 
• Tips for the start of an open water swim in a triathlon 
• One day Ahead Challenge - Cycling 2000 miles over 21 days, one day ahead of the professionals during the Tour de France
• Dealing with injury 
• Breaking challenges down into smaller parts
• How to choose the right saddle for you and reduce saddle soreness!
• Why change is good for you!
• Tips for cycling up those massive mountains

As always if you’ve enjoyed this episode please send a tweet to Helen @HelenGoth, I’m also on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL! Helen also has her own website which you can check out at www.hrussell.co.uk . For the One Day Ahead Challenge, Helen was raising money for Cure Leukaemia. If you want to sponsor Helen for doing this fantastic challenge, you can find her just giving page here.

To celebrate the Tough Girl Podcast exceeding 5,000 downloads, there’s also a competition running until the end of the month to win a Tough Girl Training T-shirt. All you need to do is write a review in iTunes and let me know, either via twitter or email you've done it.

New Tough Girl episodes are published every Tuesday morning at 7am. Next month we have another four amazing women sharing their stories. 

Have a fantastic week, thanks for listening!

Sarah 

We recorded this episode while Natalie was sat outside a cafe on the streets of New York & I was at sat at home in England!

It was great to talk to Natalie about how she first got into fencing and how she progressed in just seven months to competing at the Junior Olympics! 

She has a really insightful view point on training and what the different aspects are. It was really interesting talking about the mental side and how meditation was so important in her sport and being present, being aware and being in the moment. Lots of advice and tips that you can apply to your life, even if you don’t fence. 

Natalie explains about the different types of fencing and how the scoring and competitions work. I didn’t know anything about fencing before this interview and feel as though I’ve a better understand of what’s involved. I now want to give it a go and see what it would be like to hold an epee! 

Natalie is super down to earth, very friendly and loves her sport. She’s just about to start competing to secure her individual place for the Olympics in Rio. 

Natalie loves Instagram and this is how I first heard of her, check out her pictures and be inspired! She writes a regular blog where she discusses her training, yoga, meditation and her life, well worth a read. 

As always once you've had a chance to listen please send a tweet to Natalie @NatalieVie, I’m also on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL letting us know what you think!

To celebrate the Tough Girl Podcast exceeding 5,000 downloads, there’s also a competition running until the end of the month to win a Tough Girl Training T-shirt! All you need to do is write a review in iTunes and let me know, either via twitter or email you've done it.

New Tough Girl episodes are published every Tuesday morning at 7am. Next week we have Helen Russell who’ll be talking about duathlons and triathlons. Have a fantastic week, thanks for listening!

Sarah 

Robyn Baldwin is not your typical women, she’s a hard one to define. 

She’s a girly girl, who in her own words is a little vain and does fitness and exercise as she wants to look good naked!

But there’s the other side; the career women, the women who’s driven to achieve not only in her career but in anything she sets her mind to; whether that’s being a bikini competitor or competing at an elite level in obstacle course races.

She’s ambitious, driven and has a strong personality and I like her. I want to be around her, she inspires me and after talking to her, she’s made me feel, its ok to be an Alpha Female and its ok to be driven and its ok to go after what you want. She doesn’t hold herself back for anyone, therefore I’m not going to hold myself back and after listing to this podcast you won’t be holding yourself back anymore. 

Robyn, may seem like the perfect poster child of a woman who has it all going for her; pretty, smart and outgoing, but behind that image she’s been through and handled a lot.  We only talk briefly about the toxic relationship she was in a few years ago, but this has obviously had a profound effect on her life and the direction her life has taken her. The difficulties she endured has made her a stronger person and she’s learn’t from that and put what she learned into practice. 

In December 2014 she was diagnosed with MS and she shares very honestly what this impact has had on her life and how she’s approaching and handling the diagnosis.

As well as holding down a full time job, dealing with an incurable disease, Robyn, is living life to the full, she’s setting herself challenges and goals, she’s keeping fit and doing what she loves. You can’t fail to be motivated by her outlook on life and how she approaches every challenge that comes her way. 

Robyn is a Tough Girl and she’s a role for other MS suffered out there and an inspiration for other women who’ve been in a toxic relationship or are still in a toxic relationship and need to get out. 

Robyn is on twitter @RobynBaldwin, I’m also on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL please do send us a tweet once you’ve listened to this podcast episode. Don’t forget to subscribe and I would love for you to leave a review and share the podcast with your friends and family. 

Let’s spread the motivation and inspiration!  New Tough Girl episodes are published every Tuesday morning at 7am. Have a fantastic week and I’ll be with you all next Tuesday for another awesome episode of the Tough Girl Podcast.  Thanks for listening!

Sarah x

It’s October and the Rugby World Cup has kicked off in the UK and I thought this would be a fantastic opportunity to talk all about rugby, with a former England player and Captain.

Catherine Spencer loves rugby, and always has, she was born into a rugby playing family and she started playing with her twin brother when she was just eight years old. She was one of the only girls playing on the team, but that did not stop her, she loved the game and she found out she was pretty good at it! 

One of the great things about podcasts is you can hear the passion in peoples voices when they talk about something they love. In her own words, “Rugby is the best game in the world”. I was so inspired listening to Catherine, it’s made me want to go and give it a go and see what it’s all about!

Rugby is a physical full on contact sport which generally women haven’t been involved in. It was not offered when I was at school and it was something that girls just didn’t do. But this attitude has been shifting especially over the past five, to ten years. More and more women are coming to love rugby and I wanted to understand how and why this change came about.

In this podcast we get to hear one women rugby journey from playing mixed rugby with the boys to leading the England Team out on the field at Twickenham.  We discuss teamwork, leadership, going after what you want, dealing with failure, and how you can come back from utter defeat and be stronger than before.

After retiring from rugby, Catherine started her own business which is about inspiring women! She has also partnered up with Endure to lead a team on a 150km unsupported trek across the Namib desert to the Skeleton Coast. The aim of this expedition is to raise awareness and help stop the illegal trade of wild animals in partnership with the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation.

Catherine is on twitter @CathSpence8 I’m also on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL please do send us a tweet once you’ve listened to this podcast episode. Don’t forget to subscribe and I would love for you to leave a review and share the podcast with your friends and family. 

Let’s spread the motivation and inspiration! 

New Tough Girl episodes are published every Tuesday morning at 7am.

Have a fantastic week and I’ll be with you all next Tuesday with Robyn Baldwin an Alpha Female, MS Warrior & OCR lover!

Sarah

Tori James is most well known for being the first Welsh woman to conquer Mount Everest in 2007. However, she has also raced to the magnetic North Pole in an all female team, cycled the full length of New Zealand and completed the first Beeline Challenge in Britain.

Tori loves a challenge and an adventure, when she sets her mind to a goal, nothing or no one will stop her; not sea sickness, not injury, not the cold, and certainly not people telling her she can’t do it because she’s too small! Tori at 5’1 is not afraid of pushing herself to her limits and finding out what she’s capable of doing. (Which is a lot!) 

If you want to be inspired and learn more about one women's journey from being in the Girl Guides to scaling Everest, then this is the podcast for you. Hear about her journey, what drove her and understand the steps she took to achieve her goals. Learn how you to can break down your next challenge and make it happen. 

During this podcast, Tori takes us right back to where her love of adventure really started and we get to go with her as she re-lives her challenges in detail. We get to hear about her first big adventure with British Exploring, where she spent four weeks on a glacier in Iceland when she was just a teenager. This cemented her love of geography and the cold!

Tori continued to take advantage of the different opportunities that came her way, this was why she and two others decided to compete as the first all female team to be involved in a polar race to reach the magnetic North Pole.

These challenges helped to prepare her and teach her valuable skills which paved the way for taking on the highest mountain in the world - Mount Everest. Tori talks through her mental and physical preparation, how she dealt with the risks; the ones she could control and the ones she couldn’t and how she handled the negative comments that were directed to her when she shared her dream.

Tori discusses team work, how to keep going when you really want to stop and how to build confidence and belief in what you're doing. This is not an episode to be missed! 

We also have an exclusive announcement about the Duke of Edinburgh Diamond Challenge to celebrate 60 years of the award. Listen here as Tori explains it all! 

Tori is on twitter @torijtweets, I’m also on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL please do send us a tweet once you’ve listened to this podcast episode. Don’t forget to subscribe and I would love for you to leave a review and share the podcast with your friends and family.

Let's spread the motivation and inspiration!

New Tough Girl episodes are published every Tuesday morning at 7am.

Have a fantastic week and I’ll be with you all next Tuesday for another awesome episode of the Tough Girl Podcast. 

Thanks for listening!

Your Tough Girl Host - Sarah xx

In this episode we get to hear from Great British high jumper, Isobel Pooley who is a remarkable young women, she’s passionate, driven and loves what she does. Isobel has had a stunning start to her career, winning a medal at the Commonwealth games in 2014 and then going on to smash the British high jump record which had stood for over 32 years. 

It hasn’t alway been easy for Isobel, she has faced challenges from a young age, being over six foot tall in her teens, and having to deal with random strangers coming up to her and commenting on her hight. She has dealt with loneliness, being unhappy and not fitting in. During this podcast, she talks openly on how she coped and handled these situations. 

Isobel shows a real love for her sport and she has shown commitment and maturity in her approach to how she trains and how she gets the best out of her body. She talks about physical and mental preparation for competitions as well as what it feels like being in the big sporting arenas. While she talks, I could picture myself in the stadium, seeing what’s going on in her head as she prepares to jump. You too will be able to learn from Isobel, she is positive, optimistic, and isn’t afraid to be tough as she speaks her mind about topics she feels strongly about. 

Isobel has been on a journey of discovery, building her confidence and belief in what she can accomplish in the high jump. She now knows who she is, what drives her and she has finally accepted herself and her height and sees it for what it really is, a unique and special gift. She is one of Britain's great hopes for Rio in 2016 and I know after listing to this you will understand why she’s so good at what she does. 

Isobel is on twitter @IsobelPooley do give her a follow and check out her website and blog to be kept unto date of whats she’s been up to. I’m also on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL please do tweet us a shout out once you’ve listened to this podcast episode.

Don’t forget to subscribe and I would love for you to leave a review and share the podcast with your friends and family. Let spread the motivation and inspiration! New Tough Girl episodes are published every Tuesday morning at 7am.

Have a fantastic week and I’ll be with you all next Tuesday for another fantastic episode of the Tough Girl Podcast.  Thanks for listening!

Sarah 

www.toughgirlchallenges.com