© Trek Bikes

This year’s Kendal Mountain Festival is packed with inspiring talks and speaker sessions, but which are the ones most likely to fire up your inspiration levels? I’ve been trying to plan my schedule, which is tough because the line-up of speakers this year is incredible – and also because some of them run concurrently.

I’ve whittled it down to the speakers I’m personally getting excited about hearing from, but there are loads of others who are leading talks during the weekend, so check out the event programme here. The weekend itself takes place from 15 – 18 November. If you’re going, see you there!

© Saucony UK

Training at the top echelons of sport is demanding at the best of times, but what happens when you throw a baby and toddler into the mix? For five-time Olympian Jo Pavey, it meant breastfeeding trackside, squeezing training into buggy walks, and a new-found happiness – all of which led to her incredible gold medal win in the 10,000m at the 2014 European Championship, aged 40 and just 10 months after having her second child!

Now 45, Jo’s children are five and nine. I chatted to the Saucony ambassador about how she makes life as an elite athlete work alongside school runs, clubs and family life.

British pro surfer Lucy Campbell fell in love with surfing at the age of ten when she hit the waves under tuition from her dad and brothers. Fast-forward 13 years and the 23-year-old Devon native is a now a three-time British Champion competing on surfing’s World Qualifying Series circuit.

Here, the Dryrobe ambassador chats about her running background, training week and Olympic hopes.

© Christian Jung

Annabel Anderson is one of those athletes whose career highlights are too numerous to squeeze into a couple of paragraphs. An icon in the world of paddleboarding, the 37-year-old has won multiple SUP world championships and has been the world #1 for for six years straight, winning – outright – some of the sport’s most notorious races. And that’s just the world of stand-up paddleboarding, never mind the elite mountain biking, cycling, triathlon and skiing accolades she has accumulated over the years.

The New Zealand-born athlete is currently recuperating after suffering her second serious concussion of the year, along with some pretty horrific injuries following a ski accident, but very kindly answered my questions in her down time. Thank you, Annabel. It’s a pleasure to have you on Lessons in Badassery!

After discovering her husband had incurable stage four cancer, amateur age group triathlete Natarsha Tremayne (AKA IronTarsh) made it her mission to complete 12 Ironman branded events and gain a Legacy entry to Kona. Now, with nine Ironman finishes to her name, she’s well on her way to achieving her Kona Legacy goal.

When she’s not training or racing, Tarsh is busy designing stand-out cycling apparel via her brand Stomp The Pedal (her stylish, colourful designs have been spotted on numerous triathlon pros). Here, I quiz Tarsh about her Ironman beginnings, training and motivation.

©swissultra

Claire Smith likes to test her limits. Her interest in pushing the boundaries of Iron distance triathlon started a decade ago and has led the Brutal Events founder to take on the kind of next-level challenge which finishes with a 262-mile run. Yep, last year Claire completed the ultimate endurance test: the swissultra Deca triathlon. That’s ten times the full ironman triathlon distance: swimming 24 miles, then cycling 1120 miles, and finally (how?) running 262 miles. Continuously.

The Deca triathlon is a sanity-questioning distance. So why did she do it? How did she do it? And why is she planning to be the first British woman to complete what she considers to be the toughest of the Deca challenges, the one-day Deca (more below), in November? I quiz the 43-year-old self-titled ‘back of the pack plodder’ to find out.

©Red Bull/Climbing Hangar

Two-time bouldering world champ Shauna Coxsey is on the blog! In addition to being the country’s most successful competitive climber, the Sheffield-based athlete is also founder of the successful Women’s Climbing Symposium event. Ahead of this year’s WCS on Saturday, Shauna shares her six favourite training exercises for better grip strength with me.

The 8th annual Women’s Climbing Symposium will take place in London this Saturday 6th October 2018. There are still a few remaining tickets – to book visit: www.womensclimbingsymposium.com.

She’s a surfing sensation who, despite being just 15-years-old, is a force to be reckoned with on the surf scene. Meet Juliette Lacome, Roxy pro surfer, French national champion, and winner of this year’s 2018 Roxy Open at Boardmasters.

Ahead of travelling to the ISA World Champs in California, Juliette joins me on the blog to chat about her career in surfing, how she juggles it with her studies, and her future hopes of Olympic selection.

Fresh from competing in the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship earlier this month, swimrun athlete Rhian Martin joins me on the blog. A former GB triathlete, Rhian also represented Wales in duathlon and swimming before work in investment banking led her to leave competitive sport. Fast-forward to today and Rhian and her husband, Ben, are a force to be reckoned with on the swimrun scene, ranking third overall in the mixed category world rankings.

Rhian, who now runs her own personal training business, chats to me about her love of swimrun, how she and her husband juggle training with the school run, and the crazy swimrun conditions she competes in.

British kitesurfing champion, Sukie Robertson, fell in love with kitesurfing at the age of ten and has spent the last 15 years competing in the freestyle and wave riding disciplines. In 2014, Sukie opened her own kite school, 514Elemental, with boyfriend Robin, where she coaches up-and-coming talent.

Here, the 30-year-old Dryrobe ambassador, who was crowned 2018 British Wave Champion at the British championship last weekend, fields my questions about everything kitesurfing.