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Lessons In Badassery - Badass women in sport, fitness and adventure
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Mimmi Kotka: Meet the mountain and ultra-trail athlete

April 28, 2021 by badassery No Comments
© Toni Spasenoski

Swedish ultra-trail athlete, Mimmi Kotka, quickly made a name for herself on the trail running circuit in 2016 when she won the CCC by UTMB (101K, 6100M elevation) by almost half an hour – only a year after entering her first ultra-trail race. Since then, Mimmi has won many of Europe’s most gruelling races, including the TDS by UTMB (121K, 7250M elevation) where she smashed the course record by 46 minutes.

A self-described ‘wild outdoor kid’, Mimmi developed a deep love of the outdoors and wilderness from a young age and hails from a family of foodies and foragers. A qualified nutritionist, she’s also a co-founder of Moonvalley, an organic sports nutrition brand which she founded with fellow trail running legends, Emilie Forsberg and Ida Nilsson.

In this Q&A, Mimmi, who is a Polar ambassador, chats about Moonvalley, ultra-trail nutrition, and her diagnosis of RED-s (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport) last year.

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Interview

Jacqui Bell: From rock bottom to record-breaking ultrarunner

July 15, 2020 by badassery No Comments

© Colin Clarke

In 2017, Jacqui Bell hit rock bottom after enduring a downward spiral that included breaking multiple bones and becoming addicted to prescription pain killers. Struggling to find a reason to get out of bed, she signed up for a crazy challenge that would change the direction of her life – to complete four multi-day ultramarathons across the world’s most inhospitable deserts, from the Namibian Desert to Antarctica, the Atacama Desert and the Gobi Desert.

With just eight months to train, Jacqui threw herself into the world of ultrarunning and at the age of 23, became the youngest woman to finish Racing the Planet’s Four Deserts Grand Slam. Since then, Jacqui, who is an Ultra X pro athlete, has become the youngest person in the world to run an ultramarathon on all seven continents. I caught up with her via email to find out more about how it all came about.

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Interview

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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Interview

Caroline McKay: The Ultra-running Podcaster

April 19, 2019 by badassery No Comments

From the Western States 100 to the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), Caroline McKay has finished some of the world’s most revered ultras. She’s also the brains and voice behind Of Mountains and Minds, the podcast she launched in 2018, which sees her interview members of the endurance sports community about life-changing challenges such as grief, mental illness, exercise addiction and eating disorders.

Here, Caroline shares some of her own ultrarunning experiences, along with the motivations behind her podcast and the lessons she’s learned from guests such as The Spine Race winner, Jasmin Paris, and ultrarunner Gayle Tait.

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Interview

Alyssa Godesky: Meet the Long Trail FKT Record Holder

March 5, 2019 by badassery No Comments

© Hillary Biscay

She’s an American pro triathlete and ultra-runner – and as of July last year, the FKT record holder for the Vermont Long Trail – yes, Alyssa Godesky is in the house! Last year, Alyssa successfully completed her fastest known time (FKT) attempt, negotiating the gnarly 273-mile stretch and 67,500ft of elevation in a record-breaking 5 days, 2 hours and 37 minutes, only sleeping 17-18 hours in the process.

During her career, Alyssa has chalked up an incredible 45+ ultra-marathon finishes and more than 30 iron-distance triathlons. When she’s not competing, Alyssa is a triathlon coach and also co-hosts the super-cool IronWomen podcast, which is dedicated to female triathletes, so I’m thrilled to have her on the blog.

N.B I recently interviewed Alyssa solely about her FKT attempt for Red Bull. The feature includes lots of juicy details which we don’t cover here – head to the link at the end of this interview to have a read.

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fitness

Nicky Spinks: 7 Ultra-running Insights

March 29, 2018 by badassery No Comments

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.

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Interview

Carolin Botterill: Accidental Ultra Runner

July 10, 2017 by badassery 1 Comment

51-year-old ultra-runner and multi-day stage race specialist, Carolin Botterill, wasn’t always into running. It wasn’t until she was 36, and a mum of three, that she began the journey which would ultimately lead to her becoming an ultra-runner – accidentally – via a bid to get fit and lose weight. At first she walked, then she ran, and just kept running. Now, 17 years later, Carolin has completed some of the toughest multi-day ultras on the planet, taking her from the Arctic Circle to the Peruvian jungle.

In one of the most insightful interviews I’ve posted, Carolin shares her experiences with me, including the lengths she goes to in order to acclimatise to extreme heat and cold ahead of her ultra-events.

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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

Posting update and festive wishes

Posting update and festive wishes

December 14, 2022
‘Riding to prove that we can’ – meet the mountain bikers challenging MS stereotypes

‘Riding to prove that we can’ – meet the mountain bikers challenging MS stereotypes

November 16, 2022
Adelaide Goodeve: Performance psychologist and Ironman athlete

Adelaide Goodeve: Performance psychologist and Ironman athlete

November 2, 2022
Amy Robitaille: Outright winner of Ultraman Canada

Amy Robitaille: Outright winner of Ultraman Canada

October 19, 2022
Dr Dina Altayeb: Trailblazing Ironman triathlete

Dr Dina Altayeb: Trailblazing Ironman triathlete

October 5, 2022

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Recent Posts

  • Posting update and festive wishes
  • ‘Riding to prove that we can’ – meet the mountain bikers challenging MS stereotypes
  • Adelaide Goodeve: Performance psychologist and Ironman athlete
  • Amy Robitaille: Outright winner of Ultraman Canada
  • Dr Dina Altayeb: Trailblazing Ironman triathlete

lessonsinbadassery

Hello! Christmas is almost upon us, so I thought I Hello! Christmas is almost upon us, so I thought I’d combine my usual Crimbo message with a posting update. Regular readers might have spotted that a new interview is overdue (sorry, peeps!). Unfortunately, five of my athlete interviews agreed before summer haven’t materialised, so I’ve been left with a gap in posting.

I usually like to work around 6 weeks in advance, so I know I’m nice and organised with my interviews (as they often involve going back and forth for weeks and require images etc.), which I do around my day job and family. However, the reality of running a non-monetised blog is that sometimes interviews are agreed upon and questions sent, only to fall through up to a year later.

Thankfully, I have two new athlete interviews in the pipeline now with two incredible women, so I hope to be back up and running in February if you can bear with me that long 😉.

In the meantime, a big thank you for your support in 2022 and a huge thanks to the brilliant athletes who have taken time out of their busy schedules to let me pester them with questions this year. You rock!

Muchos love and festive happiness to you ❤️

Katiex

#lessonsinbadassery #womeninsport #womeninadventure #endurancetraining
Can you ride an epic MTB race after a multiple scl Can you ride an epic MTB race after a multiple sclerosis diagnosis? @paddle_kat and @sargar83 (who both have MS) teamed up to ride the 4-day Cape to Cape race in a bid to raise money for MS charity and create a positive narrative around racing in multi-sports after a multiple sclerosis diagnosis💥 They both tell me all about it on Lessons in Badassery today.

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

📸 @capetocapemtb
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#msdiagnosis #multiplesclerosis #MSathlete #mssociety #livingwithms #cape2cape #mtbracing #womenscycling #multisportracing #womenssport #mtblife #singletrack #multistagerace #endurancewomen #endurancetraining #lessonsinbadassery #msinspiration
We deep dive into the mental side of training and We deep dive into the mental side of training and racing in today’s interview with performance psychologist and Ironman athlete @adelaidegoodeve 💥 

Get the lowdown on how your language affects your performance (and how to use it as a performance enhancer), what NOT to say in your self-talk, why time-based race race goals can derail your performance, and why running on a treadmill opposite a wall isn’t a smart way to build mental resilience. 🤩 Thanks, Adelaide!

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

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#ironman #ironmanathlete #ironmatraining #triathlontraining #swimbikerun #braintraining #mentalstrength #positivemindset #sportspsychology #athlete #adventure #womenscycling #womensrunning #mentalstrengthtraining #goalsetting #trainsmart #womenssport #lessonsinbadassery #endurancetraining #brainendurancetraining #resilience
Instagram didn’t save the web link to my intervi Instagram didn’t save the web link to my interview with the brilliant @honesttriathlete (overall winner of Ultraman Canada this year), but it’s up now! If you haven’t read Amy’s Q&A, head over to it now (link finally in my bio 🙄) or visit Lessonsinbadassery.com 💥 

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#ultraman #ultraathlete #ultrarunner #ultratriathlon #ironman #ironathlete #ultracycling #womenscycling #triathlontraining #swimbikerun #womensrunning #womenstriathlon #ironmantraining #lessonsinbadassery #bricksession #intervals #endurancetraining #endurancesport #endurancewomen #ultramancanada #ultramanworldchampionship
I’m thrilled to have outright winner of Ultraman I’m thrilled to have outright winner of Ultraman Canada, Amy Robitaille (@honesttriathlete), answer my questions on Lessons in Badassery today. We cover Amy’s training, and how it all went down during the three-day event, which included a 10K swim and 145K bike on day one, a further 275K bike on day two, and an 84.4K run on the final day. 😳
Amy is also an Ironman finisher, holds an FKT (fastest known time) and has completed a virtual Everest on Alpe du Zwift. 🙌🙌🙌

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

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#ultraman #ultraathlete #ultrarunner #ultratriathlon #ironman #ironathlete #ultracycling #womenscycling #triathlontraining #swimbikerun #womensrunning #womenstriathlon #ironmantraining #lessonsinbadassery #bricksession #intervals #endurancetraining #endurancesport #endurancewomen #ultramancanada #ultramanworldchampionship
*New Q&A!* Dr @dina.altayeb was the first Saudi to *New Q&A!* Dr @dina.altayeb was the first Saudi to complete a full Ironman triathlon and the first Arab woman to compete at the Ironman World Championships in Kona - where she is right now, about to race for the third time 🎉👊

Read Dina’s Q&A via the link in my bio or visit Lessonsinbadassery.com 🔥

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#ironmanworldchamps #trilife #ironman #ironman2022 #ironathlete #ironmantri #triathletelife #triathlontraining #swimbikerun #roadtokona #womensrunning #womenscycling #womenstriathlon #ironmantraining #lessonsinbadassery #bricksession #intervals #ironmanworldchamps22 #ironmankona22 #kona2022
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