Imagine hiking up a mountain under a full moon with fresh snow under your feet, breaking through the tree line and feeling that warm glow of sunrise hitting your face. Riding a sleigh pulled by huskies in a winter wonderland, cross- country skiing through villages nestled in the Austrian Alps, tobogganing down a mountain at sunset, swimming in a frozen lake or ski-touring up a mountain and descending through the trees. Imagine ending your day in a rejuvenating thermal spa before dinner and a well-earned sleep, to wake up and do it all over again. Welcome to winter holidays in Austria!
Not many thoughts enter my mind apart from what I am doing. I wish everyone could do something like this once a year, or even once in your lifetime. We need it! I switch off from everything. A challenge like this is so all encompassing that I don’t have space for much else. All my energy goes into the challenge, and the micro world I create with the adventure I am on, the world directly around me and the people I am with. My world becomes small but this gives me freedom to become bigger than I’ve ever felt. My mind is not filled with events going on all over the world, with emails, news, social media, and the need to reply to messages, my mind is filled with fresh air and miles, hills, sweat, tears and food stops. My mind is filled with views so dramatic and mind-blowing, I am speechless. My heart flips a bit with each corner I turn and the awe that the NC500 route delivers again and again.
It’s been a year since I started the project of creating my dream van ↠ @theonelifevan ↞ and as I get a lot of questions about it, I wanted to share the process and some resources with you! If you are thinking of building or buying a van i can say it’s ONE HUNDRED PERCENT as awesome as you might think it is! And my journey with van life is only just beginning... However, it can be a bit of a minefield and hard to know where to start. I hope this helps :)
There are preciously rare occasions in life when you are handed an opportunity to go somewhere or meet someone that truly inspires you. Somewhere that shifts your centre of gravity, allowing you to refresh, refocus and restart. Or someone that has the capacity to capture your imagination and transport it to places you aspire to go but don’t quite know how to access. When your mind has gone there, the chances are your body will follow…
In October 2019, I took 10 girls sailing for five days on a Tall Ships Youth Trust sailing adventure proudly sponsored by KEEN footwear. It was magical and lives were changed!
We stepped off the boat with a different perspective. With love in our hearts, faith in ourselves and confidence to go forth and grow into the women we know we can be. I asked the girls to capture their experiences and what it meant to them…
“No-one actually likes the taste of green tea” my brother said after I’d placed my order in a local cafe. “Umm… yes they do, I do!” Until three years ago, I felt the same way as him. The only hot drink I ever drank was hot chocolate. I have never drunk tea or coffee and hated the taste of both, along with green tea.
With a week until the London marathon, there’s no more training to be done. It’s taper time. Whilst the body rests, now is the time to get your mind into gear and prepare for the challenge ahead.
If you are starting to worry, feel fear or contemplate doubts, that is totally normal, you are not alone. I am doing the same. If it was easy everyone would be doing it! If you knew you could do it, it wouldn’t be a challenge. What happens in the mind during those 26.2 miles cannot be predicted or controlled, but it can be managed and we can prepare for it.
This year I will be joining 36,000 people running the London Marathon on April 24th as part of the Lucozade team. Not only is it my first time running it, but also my first marathon. Having completed ultra marathons and Ironman triathlons, the challenge for me is not going the distance but upping the pace.
“Get the girls some tea” the mountain rescue team stammer, as we walk into the CIC hut half way up Ben Nevis. After a week in Scotland on my own, Lorna North, Founder and writer at Queen of the Mile, boarded the Caledonian Sleeper Train from Euston to Fort William to join me for three days of unadulterated adventure in Scotland.
This was day two and we’d decided to go for a run up Ben Nevis. At 1344m The Ben, as it’s known by locals and climbers, is the highest mountain in the UK. In March, much of it is still covered in snow, beckoning climbers and skiers to adventure in it’s shadows and and dance in it’s light. We were here to run and feel the freedom of nature all around us.
Recently asked by Sport Stylist to name my top items of kit. I made a list of the items I love and wouldn't want to be without - my MUST-HAVES - it was so fun compiling it that I thought I'd share it with you.
