British-born Sarah Davis moved to Australia in 2003, found surf sports (and the podium!) and never looked back. With a successful racing CV, including coming third at the notoriously tough Molokai Challenge 2017 and taking age group gold at the 2017 Ocean Racing World Championships, the 44-year old is now gearing up for a world-first to kayak the length of the River Nile.

In this interview Sarah chats about her plans to paddle the 6583km distance, kayaking in shark-infested waters and being on expedition for up to 8 months.

American climber and The North Face athlete, Ashima Shiraishi. Image courtesy of The North Face

If you’ve been on social media or inhabit the outdoor community you’ll probably have heard about the new female-centred Move Mountains campaign from The North Face – a ‘global movement to change the face of exploration by celebrating and sharing the stories of adventurous and courageous female explorers’. It’s something that really resonates with me because it’s what Lessons in Badassery is all about – sharing the stories of women in sport and adventure to inspire others and raise the visibility of all the kickass women out there doing their thing.

Inspired by her search for a caffeine hit without the crash during her Ironman training, entrepreneur Helena Hills and husband Simon hit on the idea to build a coffee brand formulated with precise caffeine measurements for improved sport performance. The result was TRUESTART.

Here, the 30-year-old co-founder and mum-to-be shares with me what goes on behind the scenes during an average day.

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.

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: Tracy L Chandler

Retired pro cyclist, activist, author and documentary-maker, Kathryn Bertine, is on a mission to combat inequality in women’s cycling. A driving force behind the launch of La Course, the women’s race from Le Tour de France, and the brains behind the Homestretch Foundation, a non-profit where pro female cyclists can stay and train rent-free, she’s already changing the game. But there’s more work to be done.

Here, Kathryn chats with me about juggling jobs as a pro rider, supporting women at Homestretch, and how she believes a two-tier system with base salary is the game changer women’s cycling needs.

During the week cyclocross convert Charlotte Sampson is a cycling PR at Shift Active Media, but come the weekend she’s a mud-loving cyclocross racer. Here, she shares her top cyclocross tips for beginners – from kit and training to how to get started.

Eight years ago, at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, British skeleton athlete Amy Williams MBE broke two course records and scooped Britain’s first individual gold medal for 30 years. Fast-forward to today and the retired athlete and mum-of-one (Amy has an 11-month-old son, Oscar) is about to head to PyeongChang to commentate at this year’s Winter Olympics.

Here, Amy chats about GB medal hopes, motherhood and how she’s back on the bike training for the 100km Dream Challenges Ride the Night event.

Hey guys, just a heads-up that I’m going to be changing my posting schedule in the run-up to Christmas and January. I’m hoping to develop even more exciting content and interviews for you, so from next week you might notice I switch to posting twice a week for a bit.

I’ve got some really incredible women coming on the site soon, including adventurers, endurance athletes, downhill mountain bikers and stunt women, so keep checking back. I’ll be also be sharing updates over Christmas on my Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter accounts, so if in doubt look them up.

In the meantime, head back here next Tuesday for my interview with ski-cross athlete and Winter Olympics 2018 hopeful, Pam Thorburn!

Katie x

Photo Credit: Stephen Baccon/Red Bull Content Pool

Hailing from a family of iconic ocean athletes, 24-year-old Jordan Mercer has blazed a trail in surf sports since the age of 16, running, paddling and swimming her way to Surf Ironwoman victory. A Surf Ironwoman Series Champion and ten-time World Champion, the talented Aussie has also won the gruelling 52km paddleboard crossing from Molokai to Oahu an incredible six successive times.

Here, Jordan talks surf sports, fuelling long-distance events, and how she balances a jam-packed training schedule.