Photo: INOV-8.COM/LEE PROCTER

Last Friday I went to a talk by fell running legend Nicky Spinks (read my interview with Nicky from earlier this month here) at Katie Bell Physio in Sheffield. Having completed a raft of staggeringly difficult races and events (including, famously, the Double Bob Graham round) Nicky is a wealth of ultra-running insights.

Here are some of the nuggets of information she shared with us.

Dutch trail runner Ragna Debats was on flying form in 2017, taking podium spots on vertical running events and scooping the title of 2017 Skyrace Extreme Series Champion. This year looks to be similarly successful, with Ragna winning the 236km multi-day The Coastal Challenge in Costa Rica (setting a new course record in the process). Thankfully the race season isn’t in full swing yet and she’s managed to squeeze some time in this month to answer my questions!

Ahead of the Trail World Championship in May, I quizzed the Merrell ambassador (and mum to 3-year-old daughter, Ona) on how she prepares for ultra distance trail events. Spoiler: it’s not the long runs you might imagine.

Photo: Eric Coleman

As a multiple world title-winning MMA, kickboxing and Muay Thai fighter, Tiffany Van Soest is fearless in the ring. But when it comes to confidence outside of it, the five-time Muay Thai World Champion battles the same insecurities as the rest of us.

Here, the 29-year-old Californian and two-time GLORY bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion chats training drills, confidence in the ring, and overcoming social anxiety outside of it.

Photo: Sophie Nina Mortimore | Jess (right) with teammate Vicky

What’s life like as an athlete gearing up for the Commonwealth Games? Medal hopeful and one half of England’s #1 ranked women’s beach volleyball team, Jessica Grimson, knows all about late-night training sessions and early mornings, which up until recently she’s had to squeeze in alongside her fulltime job as a sports therapist.

With the Commonwealth Games just weeks away, 27-year-old Jess and teammate Vicky Palmer are preparing to fly out to a Team England holding camp in Australia. Here, she shares some insights into what goes on behind the scenes.

Photo: Damiano Levati/Red Bull

Come rain or shine, skimo athlete and vertical runner Victoria Kreuzer is almost a permanent fixture on the mountains. An uphill ski-mountaineering champion during winter and a Vertical Kilometer™ runner come spring, Victoria has numerous podiums to her name (including a recent win at the Epic Ski Tour) and has completed some of Europe’s toughest uphill events.

Here, the multi-talented Swiss athlete answers my questions about skimo and vertical running, and reveals how it’s taken ten years to master juggling an all-year-round racing calendar.

Photo: Action Photography | Quest Glendalough 2016 Adventure Race podium with sleeping 9 month old Cahal

Fitting training around busy family life can be challenging at the best of times, but when you’ve got a national title in your sights it’s another ballgame entirely. Prior to having children, adventure racer and mountain runner, Moire O’Sullivan, was the first person ever to complete the Wicklow Round, a 100km circuit of Ireland’s Wicklow Mountains, within 24-hours. Moire’s adventurer racing game was strong. But would having a baby change that?

To coincide with the launch of her new book, Bump, Bike & Baby, which chronicles her journey from happy, carefree mountain runner to reluctant, stay-at-home mother of two, Moire shares with me an insight into how she made it work.

Fancy dipping your toe into the virtual cycling world of Zwift, but not sure where to start? British pro triathlete and Ironman 70.3 World Champion 2016, Holly Lawrence, shares her top tips for getting started.

Photo: Graeme Murray/Red Bull

Last year, former swimmer-turned-Ironman triathlete Lucy Charles made an incredible pro racing debut at the Kona Ironman World Championship, scooping a second place podium after dominating much of the bike leg. Not bad for someone who’d never even sat on a road bike before signing up for her first Ironman just over three years ago.

Here, the Red Bull athlete and former professional swimmer chats about bike falls, her love of Zwift, and how there’s more in her swim-bike-run tank for 2018.

When she isn’t working on shoots and liaising with brands for her role as art director on Health & Fitness magazine, adventure-loving Lucy Pinto runs a successful personal training business and is co-founder of soon-to-launch boxing-inspired studio, TheBox.

Here, the super-fit 36-year-old runs through her typical day (a casual 200 pull-ups included).

Photo: INOV-8.COM/Lee Procter

Ultra runner Nicky Spinks is a legend in fell running. Well known for setting records on some the most challenging running routes in both the UK and Europe, she famously became the fastest person to complete the Double Bob Graham round of 132 miles and 54,000ft of ascent, aged 49, in 2016, in celebration of her 10-year cancer survival.

Nicky, who is an ambassador for inov-8, has completed numerous 100-mile races, including running the UTMB twice and finishing second lady in the L’Echappee Belledonne (144km and 10,900m of climbing!) Yet, despite her successes, Nicky is renowned for being humble and as down to earth as they come. I’m thrilled to have her on the blog and hope you enjoy the interview.