Despite working a jam-packed 80-hour week, ultra-runner Jen Scotney managed to squeeze in enough training to comfortably scoop 3^rd lady at the 108-mile Spine Challenger race earlier this year. Now, the 36-year-old Peak District resident and Montane athlete is gearing up for an even bigger ultra-running challenge: to complete the Northern Traverse, a 190 mile coast-to-coast race from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay, next month.

Ahead of her race, Jen chats about how she’s training and preparing for this epic challenge, and reveals how double-run days are the secret to fitting in ultra-running training with the demands of a full-on job.

Three years ago, Alex Paske launched Mintridge Events with the aim to increase sports participation in school age children, support young athletes and use sport as a tool to inspire and empower. Fast-forward to today and Alex has a team of talented athlete ambassadors on board (including Commonwealth Games netball gold medallist, Ebony Beckford-Chambers), is an Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society, and has won the Women of the Future Award in the sports category. Phew!

Here, the sport-loving 27-year-old shares a little insight into her working day.

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.

When it comes to physical and mental limits, endurance adventurer Jenny Tough is pretty familiar with pushing beyond hers. Known for her challenging solo expeditions, the 29-year-old Canadian has covered thousands of miles under her own steam, both on foot and by bike, including running 861km across the Atlas Mountains unsupported in just 22 days.

Here, Jenny shares some of her endurance insights, her experience as a woman running alone in the Atlas Mountains, and how it feels to reach the very limits of your physical capabilities.

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.

In a few weeks, 24-year-old adventurer Anna Blackwell will be packing up her kayak to attempt a world-first expedition with teammate, Kate Culverwell, as they Kayak from England to the Black Sea. No stranger to expeditions, in the last few years Anna has completed a solo 5-week trek of the Arctic wilderness with only reindeers for company; walked 1000 miles solo from France to Spain, and trekked Spain’s 500-mile Camino de Santiago solo.

I chatted with Anna ahead of her Kayaking the Continent expedition to see how she was planning and preparing, and found out about the highs and lows of her solo expeditions so far.

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.