Inspiring women to have a mindset for adventure and challenge.
Sarah Williams became a runner in order to save money on her commute to work. She had followed the typical path of getting an education and finding a career. She found herself short of money for the month and decided to run to work rather than take public transportation. She soon found that she enjoyed running.
Some of her friends had signed up for the London Marathon, so she decided to join them. She wasn’t satisfied with completing just one marathon and decided to run a marathon every year until she turned 30.
Sarah had a corporate job but always felt that something was missing in her life and felt that she could never figure out why she wasn’t happy like the people around her in the company. She realized that her happiness wasn’t going to change on its own, if she didn’t change her environment. She was in a fortunate position because she had savings and just thought ”I can’t go on living my life like this” and made the decision to quit her job.
She asked herself the questions ”what do I like, what don’t I like, what would I like for my life” and that’s when she started blogging which was a combination of her passions and when social media started to move forward she thought she could start a podcast and that’s when a friend of hers told her “why not talk about amazing women and that changed her life. She began to focus on motivating girls and women. She started the Tough Girl Podcast.
She told herself that she couldn’t “talk the talk” if she didn’t “walk the walk” so she signed up for the Marathon des Salbes, a 251km (156 mi) 7-day race through the Sahara Dessert. She pumped up her training so much that she damaged her health and had to postpone her start for a year. She recovered and started training again at a more moderate pace. She completed the challenge and wrote about it in her blog and then in a book Tough Girl Sahara Challenge , that is both a memoir and a handbook for how to prepare for the Marathon des Salbes.
She loved the challenge, but felt that the adventure was over too quickly. So she decided to take on the Appalachian in 2017. She figured if she did the 2,000 miles in 100 days, averaging 22 miles per day, it would sound pretty enduring and challenging.
She That was her big Appalachian Trail hiking challenge but she ended up injuring her left knee. So her next challenge was cycling down the west coast of North America. She continued her adventures in hiking and is still pushing herself to keep going and find new adventures.
She has always worked a lot on the mental side of things, on the power of visualization, imagining herself crossing the finish line, physically having that medal around her neck and always focusing on that being a choice, being there is a choice for her. She often checks in with herself to see how her body is feeling. She asks herself questions like: how do my feet feel, when was the last time I ate, do I need a sip of water, do I need electrolytes, and she goes through the things her body is asking her to do. She also has a spreadsheet where she can see how many miles she’s done, how many strength and conditioning sessions she has done and so she knows she’s ready. She reassures herself that she is strong and it’s just a case of getting out there and doing it.
Another thing Sarah does is write down on a piece of paper, on the left side all the bad situations that could happen in a race and on the right side the things she can do if those things do happen. This helps her be prepared, and if it does happen she’s already worked all those things out in her head.
Sarah wants to inspire girls believe in themselves. She believes it’s necessary to let young girls see women accomplishing big challenges like being in the Olympics. Too often women in sports get little media attention. Her podcast is a way to give positive role models for young women to see that they can go after big goals and a life of adventure.
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