What is resilience and why bother to build it?
Resilience is the ability to bounce back from challenges. And since challenges, in some shape or form, are things we all face every day, being able to recover quickly from them can have a hugely positive impact on our quality of life.
Read MoreInside the tent was darker than usual. Tapping my fingers lightly on the red nylon, I watched as dark shapes slid down the outside, hitting the ground with a hiss. Last night’s snowfall. A few more taps and light flooded in as if opening curtains. Peering outside, my stomach knotted as I realised…
Read MoreIt’s a few years since I was dropped off on the ice of Antarctica.
Hypnotised for a few brief moments, I stood in silence, at the very edge of this seemingly endless frozen land, watching as the plane that had taken me to my starting point - disappeared into the clouds. There was no going back. But that was ok.
I didn’t want to go back anyway.
Read MoreI’m not an ‘elite’ runner.
And so I don’t run for placings or positions.
I can’t commit the time to train enough - and I’m not fast enough.
I also enjoy doing lots of different activities and sports that aren’t very conducive to being a top-slight, lean running machine…
Read MoreThe North Slope of Arctic Alaska is both a beautiful and unforgiving place. For Teena and Jim Helmericks, this remote part of the world has always been home.
Where the Colville River meets the Arctic Ocean lies…
Read MoreWhether it’s a walk in the woods, a run along a mountain ridge, or a climb to a beautiful view - as humans we are wired to spend time outside.
Read MoreWhy do some of us find ourselves most at ease in the middle of the quiet, wild places?
Why am I my most relaxed when running up and then down mountain trails as fast as I can, on the very edge of my capabilities?
Read More‘What was the hardest part?’ - is a question I’m sometimes asked.
Read MoreWhy do we like being up high?
I like to think it's at least a little about perspective.
Feeling small and insignificant, yet realising our enormous individual ability to influence and impact each other - and the world - in a positive way…
Read MoreSimplicity unlocks clarity.One of the things I love most about being on expedition is the simplicity of day to day life.Life gets stripped back to the basic human needs: food, water, shelter.
Read MoreThis blog is a reminder to myself. A pep talk in an attempt to reduce the thousands of excuses that fly through my head when the alarm goes off on a dark cold winter morning and I struggle to make the transition from cosy warm bed to running in the dark.
But I know that the battle is purely in my mind – a mental tug of war I play every morning
Read MoreI run with a pacemaker.
In fact, since my early twenties, I’ve done everything with a pacemaker.
But not the type of pacemaker who leads top-class athletes to prevent tactical racing or who helps you reach your target marathon time.
Instead, the metal type that’s buried into my upper-left chest and generates electrical impulses through wires attached to my heart.
Just a little different then…
Read MoreIt’s May 2017 and I’m staring at a line of drying seaweed washed up on the shingle beach of a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean. A group of spruce trees huddle together in the centre of the island, only a few metres away, surrounded by a mishmash of driftwood and branches. My brain is whirring as I run through the calculations, tired from a long day of kayaking. I can’t afford to get it wrong.
Read MoreWe sat down with Gregor Matheson, host of the Method in the Madness podcast, to chat about how the outdoors shaped us, helping others realise their potential, making the most of this one life and...endurance hallucinations!
Read MoreA journey millennia old - deeply rooted in nature and connected with the natural cycles of the seasons. Far above the Arctic Circle, anticipation is building. Struggling to be heard above the sound of rumbling snowmobiles and clanging bells, human voices deliver sharp instructions to one another. During a lunch break, where the animals rest, tactics for the long days ahead are discussed over a crackling fire…
Read MoreSo, the route is planned, excitement levels are high, the weather is well…the weather and you’re all packed and ready to go!
But…wait a minute…are you really?
Read MoreLong gone are the days when expeditions - at least those to colder climates - meant rations of pemmican (ground, dried meat mixed with fat) and hoosh broth (a mixture of pemmican, biscuits, melted ice and plain butter). Thank goodness.
Nowadays, there are all sorts of weird and wonderful expedition-type food out there, ranging from the ‘damn tasty’ to the ‘damn, I wish I’d packed the pemmican instead...’
Read MoreThe Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, (UTMB for short) is one of the pinnacle events of the ultra trail running circuit and the showcase event of the year for the French mountain town of Chamonix. Giving spring’s often long-lingering snow time to disappear, it’s held in late August and draws in thousands of people from across the world, many just to watch those dedicated enough to get to the start line…
Read MoreSkis balanced delicately over one shoulder, we climbed higher. The weight of each laboured step in heavy boots caused the metal frame of steps to shudder, and a clanging noise to reverberate around the valley. This was no mountaineering ascent. Instead, we were traveling back in time…
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