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Lessons In Badassery - Badass women in sport, fitness and adventure
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    Interview with the Queen of Pain
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    I like hard sections. I thrive off difficulty
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    Skimo Athlete + Vertical Runner
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    Fell Running Legend
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    Cycling 100,000 miles in 423 days
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    Downhill Mountain Bike Badass
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    Open water swimming, Training and Triscape
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    EMMA PALLANT
    Track to triathlon podium
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    KIMBERLEY MURRAY
    GB Skeleton Athlete
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    NESS KNIGHT
    Extreme adventurer
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    ROCHELLE GILMORE
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    FLORA DUFFY
    Triple Triathlon World Champion
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    CHRISSIE WELLINGTON
    Triathlon LEGEND
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  • Lessons in badassery - 20 QUESTIONS FOR… Ayesha McGowan: Bike badass and diversity advocate INTERVIEW
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    Ayesha McGowan: Bike Badass
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    JANE HANSOM
    Journey to Ironman Champion
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    What It Feels Like To
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    SARAH RIXHAM
    Highlining in the Clouds
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    GEORGIE TIMSON
    Surfing The Waves
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    JODIE STIMPSON
    Chasing Triathlon Gold
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    EXERCISE ICE MAIDEN
    Skiing Antarctica Coast-to-Coast
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    TIA-CLAIR TOOMEY
    CrossFit and the Olympics
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    ERIN BASTIAN
    Kayaking Patagonia
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    Jolian D'hoore
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    LAURA JONES
    Marathon Challenge
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    RHIANNAN IFFLAND
    Cliff Diving Champion
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    TRACY MOSELEY
    Mountain bike legend
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    KELLY HALPIN
    Endurance Athlete
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    ALEX DANSON
    Olympic Gold
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fitness

Ultrarunner Sarah Sawyer: ‘When this is over running and racing will still be there’

April 15, 2020 by badassery No Comments

© James Goldsmith

She only started running at the age of 33, but Sarah Sawyer’s journey from novice to race-winning ultrarunner has followed an impressive upwards trajectory and has featured everything from 24-hour track races to multi-stage events and 100-milers. In 2019, Sarah took on Greece’s infamous 153-mile Spartathlon race and ran her way to a brilliant fourth woman finish.

In this Q&A Sarah reveals her how her running journey began, her typical training schedule (when the world isn’t experiencing a pandemic), how her race calendar has changed due to coronavirus, and lots more.

Thanks, Sarah!

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Interview

Sunny Stroeer: Meet the Aconcagua FKT record holder

April 8, 2020 by badassery No Comments

© Sunny Stroeer

Unless you’re embedded in the world of high altitude running, climbing and mountaineering, Sunny Stroeer might not be a name you recognise. The German-born endurance athlete and adventurer has somehow flown under the radar despite setting some incredible endurance records. Although she’s previously raced (and won) 100km and 100-mile events, Sunny’s speciality is solo and unsupported high altitude FKTs – fastest known time records.

Sunny’s speed records include two separate ascents of Aconcagua – the second highest of the seven summits – one via the ‘normal’ route and the other via the 360 route, a 64-mile journey with 17,000ft of elevation gain which takes trekkers 15-18 days. Sunny completed it in under 48 hours.

She also holds records for Nepal’s 136-mile Annapurna Circuit and China’s 100km+ high altitude TransQilian route, which takes place at an altitude of 10,500ft and includes around 50,000ft of elevation change. Sunny ran it in 20 hours 59 minutes, beating the men’s record by four hours.

A Harvard Business School graduate, Sunny previously worked 80-hour weeks in a high-flying corporate career before quitting in 2015 to follow her passion for climbing and adventure. She now lives out of a converted van with her husband in the US and also runs a mountaineering guiding and high altitude adventure company for women, AWExpeditions. Have a read of our email Q&A to find out more about her backstory and incredible achievements.

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fitness, Interview

Ella Harris Q&A Part Two: Life as a Pro Cyclist

April 1, 2020 by badassery No Comments

© Sean Robinson/Velofocus.com

Last week, 2018 Zwift Academy winner Ella Harris chatted about her pro training schedule and the highs and lows of her transition to life as a pro rider within leading women’s pro cycling team, CANYON//SRAM. This week, we’re back to chat about Ella’s racing experience with the team, a typical day in her life, and the races she’s looking forward to this year.

N.B Ella answered my questions in early February before much of the world went into lockdown.

*You can read part one of Ella’s interview here*

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Ella Harris: From Zwift Academy Winner to CANYON//SRAM Rider

March 25, 2020 by badassery No Comments

© Sean Robinson/Velofocus.com

When Kiwi cyclist Ella Harris won the 2018 Zwift Academy as a 21-year-old, she also earned something most riders can only dream of: a professional cycling contract at leading women’s pro cycling team CANYON//SRAM.

The move to pro cycling saw Ella up-sticks and relocate thousands of miles away from her home in New Zealand to live in Girona, Spain with her new teammates as CANYON//SRAM’s newest rider. So what’s it like being flung into the world of pro cycling? In this two-part interview, Ella talks about the challenges of the transition, the changes in her training and how she’s adapted to life in Girona.

*Check back next Wednesday for the second part of our interview!*

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fitness

Ruth Croft: The trail superstar on training, racing and avoiding burnout

March 18, 2020 by badassery No Comments

© David Gonthier

Kiwi trail runner Ruth Croft has won some of the most prestigious and well-known races on the trail running circuit, from the 55km OCC by UTMB, which she’s won for the last two years, to the 42km Mont Blanc Marathon (ditto consecutive years). But she’s also got road speed too, as she proved last year when she swapped her SCOTT trail shoes for road runners and completed a brilliant 2:34:16 time at the Seoul Marathon, earning herself a Marathon World Championships qualification.

If that wasn’t impressive enough, she quickly switched back to the trail in time to take silver at the 2019 Trail World Championship just three months later. Phew! Luckily for me, I caught Ruth ahead of the race season so she had a bit of time to squeeze in answering my questions about her racing, training volume and plans for 2020.

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Interview

Markella Mildenberger: “I had to push to see how far I could go”

March 11, 2020 by badassery No Comments

Markella Mildenberger was fit and active before a routine surgery went wrong in 2011, affecting her ability to walk and leaving her with chronic pain. Life, as she knew it, changed forever and for the next five years, she watched her world unravel. The turning point came in 2016 when Markella learned that her pain was permanent, and she made the decision to start ‘living life again’.

Three years later, whilst looking for a new challenge, and with no mountain bike experience (but a huge amount of pain just sitting on the saddle), Markella, a mountain bike newbie, signed up for one of the world’s most gruelling multi-day MTB events, the BC Bike Race in British Columbia – 7 days, 300km and 10,000m of elevation along some of the sport’s most technical trails – and made a film of her experience: “It’s Just Like Riding A Bike”.

Ahead of the UK premiere on Monday 16 March, which kicks off a week of adventure, wildlife and environmental films at the annual Four Seasons Film Festival, I caught up Markella via email to hear more about her experience.

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Mel Nicholls: Meet the LEJOG Handcycle World Record Holder

March 4, 2020 by badassery No Comments

© Friction Collective

When Mel Nicholls suffered a series of strokes in her twenties, she ended up losing full use of her left side and her ability to walk. She didn’t lose her thirst for adventure or endurance sport, however, and followed her passion for both, becoming a two-time Paralympian and world record holder in track wheelchair racing before moving into marathon racing and handcycling for Great Britain.

Last June, Mel set off on her biggest challenge yet: Handcycle Britain, a world record attempt to break the 10-day female handcycle record for riding 874 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats. She smashed it in an incredible 6 days, 22 hours and 18 minutes, riding a monumental last day of more than 300km!

Mel’s LEJOG achievement is documented in the film “Dream Big” which follows her handcycle record attempt last year. I spoke with Mel ahead of the London Premiere of her film, taking place on Monday 16th March at The Charlotte Street Hotel as part of Four Seasons Film Festival– a boutique festival celebrating storytelling inspired by adventure.

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Kristina Madsen: Meet the Mount Kilimanjaro FKT record holder

February 26, 2020 by badassery No Comments

Marathons, ultras, multi-stage races, FKTs – ultrarunner Kristina Madsen has a diverse race CV and the records to prove it. In 2018, the Danish runner set a fastest known time record (FKT) for her ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro, completing it in 6 hours 52 minutes despite living in the relative flatlands of Denmark. And despite being a trail runner first and foremost, a few weeks ago she won the World Marathon Challenge outright, setting a new world record for running 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days.

How does she do it? From training for her Kilimanjaro FKT and last year’s 66-mile Bob Graham Round to her meticulous approach to race prep, we cover it all below.

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Paula Reid: “I force myself to step outside my comfort zone a lot”

February 19, 2020 by badassery No Comments

Adventurer Paula Reid has made it her mission to live life to the full. Since her teens, she’s been working through what she calls her ‘Living Life To the Full’ list; challenges and experiences she wants to complete before she dies. So far, she’s completed 118 of them, including mammoth challenges such as skiing 1000km from Messner to the South Pole and sailing 35,000 miles around the world.

Paula is part-way into her latest challenge, ‘50 Good Turns’, which includes cycling across 50 countries and doing a good deed in each. With a Masters in positive psychology, she’s also recently launched a new genre of psychology, adventure psychology, which we cover below.

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fitness

Julia Andersen: ‘Some couples go out for romantic meals. We choose to swimrun’

February 12, 2020 by badassery No Comments

Meet Julia Andersen, endurance sports nut and mum to a 5-year-old daughter. A former GB Masters swimming record-holder, Julia discovered swimrun after her daughter was born and competes as a mixed pair with her husband, Martin. Together they’ve been crowned Breca Swimrun Sprint champions and last year finished the notoriously tough Ötillö World Championship – a mad combination of 6 miles of swimming and 40 miles of technical trail running.

With an impressive talent for endurance, Julia has enjoyed wins in triathlon, aquathlon, open water swimming and swimrun. Below, the 36-year-old tells me where it all started.

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About My Blog

Mountain View

I'm a sports/adventure journalist and copywriter, and I LOVE reading about badass women in sport, fitness and adventure. So I’m on a mission to find them, share their stories, and quiz them about their training, their motivation, and insider tips (totally hoping some badass magic will rub off on me along the way!). Plus I’ll bring you how-tos, must-have kit and tales of epic from some of the coolest and toughest events on the planet.

Email Me: katie@lessonsinbadassery.com

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Recent Posts

Ida Mathilde Steensgaard: Meet the Short-Course OCR World Champion

Ida Mathilde Steensgaard: Meet the Short-Course OCR World Champion

May 10, 2023
Mandy Williams: Neurodiverse runner and Hyrox Worlds qualifier

Mandy Williams: Neurodiverse runner and Hyrox Worlds qualifier

April 19, 2023
Junko Kazukawa: Twenty-one 100-mile ultramarathons and counting

Junko Kazukawa: Twenty-one 100-mile ultramarathons and counting

March 29, 2023
The Unstoppable Dede Griesbauer: Ultraman World Champion

The Unstoppable Dede Griesbauer: Ultraman World Champion

March 1, 2023
Leila Dachraoui: Meet the 50-year-old swimmer still winning medals

Leila Dachraoui: Meet the 50-year-old swimmer still winning medals

February 15, 2023

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  • Ida Mathilde Steensgaard: Meet the Short-Course OCR World Champion
  • Mandy Williams: Neurodiverse runner and Hyrox Worlds qualifier
  • Junko Kazukawa: Twenty-one 100-mile ultramarathons and counting
  • The Unstoppable Dede Griesbauer: Ultraman World Champion
  • Leila Dachraoui: Meet the 50-year-old swimmer still winning medals

lessonsinbadassery

I’m thrilled to quiz OCR World Champ (3K) and do I’m thrilled to quiz OCR World Champ (3K) and double European champion @idamathildee about all things training and racing on Lessons in Badassery today 💥 
In addition to having more than 100 race podiums to her name, Ida also holds the world record for the longest rope climb by a female and the longest rope climb from water 💪

⚡️Pop to the link in my bio to read the interview or visit Lessonsinbadassery.com ⚡️

📸 © Jesper Gronnemark/Red Bull Content Pool

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#ocr #ocrtraining #spartanrace #ocrwc #ocrec #hyrox #ropeclimb #obstaclerace #obstacleracer #parkour #ninjawarrior #gripstrength #gripstrengthtraining#endurancesport #obstacleracing #strongwomen #strengthtraining #lessonsinbadassery #womenwholift #spartanrace #spartanraceeurope #spartanracetraining
Today’s interview is with avid runner and Hyrox Today’s interview is with avid runner and Hyrox World champs qualifier, Mandy Williams (@n_d_athlete). Mandy, who was part of last year’s Masters team at the Mountain Running World Championships, was diagnosed with autism at the age of 45, and suddenly a lifetime of symptoms made sense.
In this interview Mandy shares how her diagnosis changed her life immeasurably, how she’s training for the upcoming Hyrox World Championship, and the challenges her autism presents when competing in races and events.

Read via the link in my bio or visit Lessonsinbadassery.com 💥

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#ultrarunning #mountainrunning #mountainrunner #neurodiversity #runningwithautism #mastersrunner #hyroxdaily #hyroxtraining #hyroxcommunity #hyroxuk #ultras #hybridtraining #hybridathlete #autismawareness
The incredible @runjunkorun has such a long list o The incredible @runjunkorun has such a long list of ultrarunning accolades, it’s difficult to know where to start! The two-time breast cancer survivor has finished more than *21* 100-mile races, and at the age of 52 was the first person to complete the Ultrarunning Grand Slam AND the full Leadville races series in one season. 🤩💥 

I’m thrilled to have Junko answer my questions on all of the above and more, over on Lessons in Badassery today. Thank you for the inspiration, Junko! 

💥Read via the link in my bio or visit Lessonsinbadassery.com 

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#ultrarunning #ultralife #ultramarathon #ultratraining #leadville100 #westernstates #ultrarunningcommunity #ultrarunningtraining #ultraraces #ultrarunner #endurancetraining #strongwomen #lessonsinbadassery #womenwhorun #marathontraining #mentalstrength #mentalstrengthtraining #ultracoach
Forever grateful to the mould-breaking, trailblazi Forever grateful to the mould-breaking, trailblazing, disruptive women doing the hard graft to change the world for the rest of us 👊🔥

T H A N K  Y O U 

#IWD #IWD2023 #strongwomen #lessonsinbadassery
Major fan-girling today over the incredible @dedeg Major fan-girling today over the incredible @dedegriesbauer, Ultraman World Champion, multi-time Ironman champ and all-round endurance sport legend. In her 50s, she’s proving unstoppable with new course records and world records galore.
Today on Lessons in Badassery, Dede shares what went into last year’s Ultraman World Championship win, her training, mental strategies, and how her approach to racing has changed compared to her time as a younger athlete.

Read via the link in my bio or visit Lessonsinbadassery.com 💥

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#ultramanworldchampionship #ultraman #ultratraining #ultrarunning #ultracycling #ultraswim #ironmanathlete #ironmatraining #ironmantri #ironmaninspo #womeninsport #womenssport #womenscycling #marathontips #endurancewomen #endurancesport #mentalstrength #mentalstrengthtraining #lessonsinbadassery #trilife
When Tunisian swimmer @leila_dachraoui was just 1 When Tunisian swimmer @leila_dachraoui was just 15 years old, she became the youngest gold medallist at the 1987 African Games. She had a promising career as a professional swimmer ahead of her, until circumstances forced her to her to quit. 
Proving it’s never too late to follow your dreams, nearly 30 years later, Leila returned to the pool and has since won countless medals as a Masters athlete. You can read more about her inspirational swimming journey via our Q&A 🤩

💥Link in bio or visit lessonsinbadassery.com 💥 

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#mastersswimming #lessonsinbadassery #womenssport #swimtraining #mastersathlete #fitat50 #mentalstrength #womeninsport
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