About Me

Hello,

I’m Katie, and Lessons in Badassery is my blog; a personal project that combines my love of sport and adventure with my love of reading about amazing, inspirational women. It will be my own source of inspiration (I won’t lie, there will be a lot of hero-worshipping!) – I mean, who doesn’t enjoy hearing about strong, kickass ladies?

Facts about me:

I live in Sheffield, on the edge of the Peak District. It’s an amazing place for fell running, cycling, rock scrambling and generally getting outside all year round. Especially with two energetic young boys.

I’m a journalist and copywriter by day. I write regularly for Women’s Running magazine, Red Bull and The Red Bulletin. I also create content and write words for amazing brands – from sports brands such as Speedo and Wattbike to beauty brands such as L’Oreal. See www.katiespyrka.com if this is your thing.

I used to dabble in obstacle course racing and competed at the OCR European Championship 2016. I only competed in four races before I was injured and ‘off’ for nearly nine months. Gah!

I once spent 24 hours in Milan interviewing Giorgio Armani backstage at his menswear show*.
Before I wrote about sport and adventure, I was a beauty journalist and part of the launch team at Grazia. Over the last 21 years I have written for everyone from Elle to GQ.

*24-hour interviewing is totally the next big thing in endurance events.