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…
A few months ago when I became an Ambassador for Pukka, we put our heads together to think about what our partnership meant and how we could create something that we hope could power and inspire you to live your best, most inspired and fulfilled life. Today I am excited to launch our #BrewYourPower campaign!
On Sunday 24th April I ran the Virgin London Marathon dressed head-to-toe in body paint displaying inspirational messaging and patterns. Starting at 4am, the talented Jules from Bentley Body Art started first with the paint, then with the messages, patterns and finally, glitter and a few gems. As the paint went on, I grabbed my phone and wrote the words which flowed from me.
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.
The day after Tough Mudder I woke up feeling battered and bruised all over. Not only had Andy and I run 13 miles, we’d also fought our way over, through, under and into 20 crazy obstacles which hurt a lot!
On Thursday 9th of July I decided to enter Race to The Stones, a 100km ultramarathon along The Ridgeway from Oxford to Avebury. On Saturday 11th July I ran 100kms in 13 hours 19 seconds. My first ultramarathon.
It's 5:38pm on the evening of Friday 26th June. Calves screaming, sweat dripping, lungs pumping and my pain face well and truly locked in, I've just passed the 400m mark on Chamonix's Vertical KM race and it's hurting like hell. I'm seriously starting to question my sanity.
When I think about how I mentally prepare for my next challenge, I always think of my experiences with Ironman.
On Thursday evening I wrote a blog about being rejected from a BBC TV show, 'World's Toughest Army', for being a woman.
