Sparta Chicks Radio: Mindset | Confidence | Sport | Women

If you're struggling with motivation, your mojo is MIA or you feel like you've lost your spark, this is for you! You can find all the details here.

Josie is a New Zealand based runner and Holistic Wellness Coach who grew up watching her Dad compete in running events. As she tells the story in this conversation, she was a chubby kid who was teased about her weight so she started running during her teenage years to lose weight. Unfortunately, she soon found herself in a cycle of overtraining, under-recovery & under-eating for about 9 years. Ultimately it culminated in her experiencing the female athlete triad (as it was referred to then, which is a combination of disordered eating, amenorrhea and osteoporosis or low bone density) and ultimately a stress fracture in her hip. Get the full show notes for the episode here. — Visit the Sparta Chicks Radio website here  Follow Sparta Chicks Radio on Facebook: facebook.com/SpartaChicks Follow Josie on Instagram: @springcoachingwellness

Neanne Alnafta doesn’t like labels. But it is hard to introduce someone without them.  So for this moment, I will share that she is a proud Muslim woman, a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, an ocean swimmer and a volunteer surf lifesaver. She is also someone who is (and I quote) “freakishly scared” of the ocean. I came across Neanne’s story after reading an article about an organisation called ‘Swim Sisters’, an all-female swimming squad that empowers women, especially those from Islamic backgrounds, to feel more confident and comfortable in the ocean. You may know Swim Sisters by its former name - Burkini Babes, a group launched in France in 2016 by a group of women who were banned from wearing burkinis on the beach. In this conversation, Neanne and I discuss: - her love of soccer growing up, - why she felt like swimming and beach life weren’t for her after she started wearing the hijab,  - the power and importance of representation, - what prompted her to become involved in ocean swimming and then

Growing up exercise was a source of shame and embarrassment for Brooke Nolan.  It was only in her late 20s that she discovered a love of outdoor adventure. Fast forward a few years and in March 2020, Brooke found herself on the first all-female team to cross the Finnmark Plateau, which is an ice plateau in Arctic Norway. The crossing was a journey of 250km 14 days that required the team to drag sleds weighing up to 50kgs up to 20km each day in temperatures as cold as -30. Oh, did I mention? Before committing to this expedition, Brooke had never seen snow before, and certainly didn’t know how to ski! Now we could have spent the entire episode talking about the expedition, but as I said, this was March 2020 and Brooke and her team were off the grid for 14 days. When they left, Covid-19 was a blip on the radar. By the time they returned, it had become a pandemic, borders were closing and it was a race to the airport to try and get a flight home, which ultimately took her over 4 months.  Get the full show notes f

Jamie Mittelman is the host of my new favourite podcast - Flame Bearers: The Women Athletes Carrying Tokyo's Torch.  The podcast celebrates the journeys of unsung women Olympians & Paralympians. And she joins me on Sparta Chicks Radio this week! We discuss:  - the role sport and outdoor activities played in her family growing up, - sport as a mental health tool,  - her struggle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) particularly during College and how it affected her love of soccer,  - where the idea for the podcast came from and why it’s so important, - the episodes that have left a lasting impression on her, - some of the common lessons or themes her guests have shared, and - why she feels “athletically unqualified” to host the podcast and her experience with the Imposter Complex. Get the full show notes for the episode here. — Visit the Sparta Chicks Radio website here  Follow Sparta Chicks Radio on Facebook: facebook.com/SpartaChicks  Follow Jamie (and Flame Bearers) on Instagram: @flamebearers

Based in Boulder, Erin Carson is the co-owner & operator of Rally Sports and is the head coach for EC Fit. Her clients include the dynamic duo of Mirinda Carfrae (3 x Ironman World Champion) and  Tim O’Donnell (fastest American ever at Kona). Aside from the World Champions she coaches, Erin also coaches everyday people - like me!  I use Erin’s ECFit on Demand app for my strength and conditioning program.  She’s a visionary who is changing what it means to be a strong athlete and the best strength training for endurance athletes.  Get the full show notes for the episode here. — Visit the Sparta Chicks Radio website here  Follow Sparta Chicks Radio on Facebook: facebook.com/SpartaChicks  Follow Erin on Instagram: @ecfit_strength

Selene is also an extraordinary athlete in her own right. She’s been a semi-professional athlete since her late 30s and has competed in everything from Hawaii Ironman to 7-day mountain bike stage races and 200 mile (that’s 320km) gravel classics. And she hosts the popular podcast ‘Hit Play Not Pause” for active performance-minded women in their 40s and beyond. Get the full show notes for the episode here. — Visit the Sparta Chicks Radio website here  Follow Sparta Chicks Radio on Facebook: facebook.com/SpartaChicks  Follow Selene on Instagram: @fitchick3

An avid hiker, Ingrid Messner has travelled to over 50 countries and most recently hiked Australia’s 10 highest peaks, carrying about 18kg of gear and equipment, over the space of a week. She’s come along way from the experience she shares in this episode: of having to learn to walk again - twice! The first time after a hiking accident in 2017 (which took 11 months of recovery) and the second after contracting a viral infection in 2019. Get the full show notes for the episode here. — Visit the Sparta Chicks Radio website here  Follow Sparta Chicks Radio on Facebook: facebook.com/SpartaChicks 

A few weeks ago, Sparta Chicks Radio celebrated its 4th birthday.  And there is no-one I’d rather share that celebration with than Lucy Barnard!  Lucy is attempting to become the 1st woman to walk the length of the world. She set off in February 2017 from Tierra Del Fuego in Argentina to walk to Barrow, Alaska; a journey of 30,000km /20,000mi across 15 countries she anticipated would take her 5 years.  Yes, years. Lucy was first on the podcast in March 2018. When I was preparing to speak to Lucy for that episode, I realised we share a unique connection; we both started our respective journeys - Lucy started walking and I published the first podcast - on the very same day in 2017. That conversation turned into our first anniversary / birthday celebration and we agreed to catch up each year for an update on her progress!  This is our 4th annual episode and Lucy joins me to share how 2020 unfolded for her. Get the full show notes for the episode here. — Visit the Sparta Chicks Radio website here  Follow Sparta C

In 2019, Sarah Davis became the first woman to lead an expedition along the length of the Nile and joined me on the show in episodes 34 and 134 to discuss it. This time she returns to share her next epic adventure, in which she’s swapping her paddles for pedals and will ride 5,000 unsupported across Australia! In this conversation, we discuss: * why, just 8 months after finishing her Nile expedition, she decided to paddle the length of Australia’s longest river, the Murray - a journey of 2,500km * where (and when) the idea to ride across Australia came from, * the logistics involved and how she’s preparing her body - and butt! - for the ride, * what she the Nile expedition taught her about risk management and how you can manage the risks associated with your adventures,  * mental health challenges, eating disorders and developing a deeper appreciation for what your body can do, as opposed to what it looks like. Get the full show notes for the episode here. — Visit the Sparta Chicks Radio website here  Follow

Dr Stacy Sims is an environmental exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist at the University of Waikato in NZ.  She’s an incredible athlete in her own right too, having competed at the Hawaii Ironman in Kona as well as the Xterra World Championships in Maui.  And she’s the author of an important book called Roar. It is a profound book that will challenge everything you thought you knew about training, nutrition, racing and recovery. At the core of Stacy’s work is the concept that women are not small men.  It seems obvious, I know!  However the majority of sports science research - and a result, the majority of what we understand about the best way to train, eat, drink, race and recover - has been done on men.  Even the common training program structure of 3 weeks of training followed by 1 week of recovery is - you guessed it! - based on research done on men, without any regard for the hormonal changes experienced by women each month.  Yet given that every system in our body changes across the month (not

Tara Diversi is a woman of many talents. A Sports Dietitian and an Accredited Practising Dietitian, Tara is also an accomplished athlete and marathon swimmer, having completed the English Channel, the Gibraltar Straight, the Rottnest Island swim and the Palm Beach to Manly swim here in Sydney (amongst many others). But the focus of today’s conversation is on her most recent, and coldest, challenge - becoming the first Australian woman to complete an Ice Mile.  That is swimming one mile (1.6km) in water that is 5 degrees or less.  To put that into perspective, ice baths used by athletes to help with recovery generally sit around 14 degrees. So why does a woman who lives in tropical Far North Queensland set a goal to swim a mile in ice water? Let's find out! Get the full show notes for the episode here. — Visit the Sparta Chicks Radio website here  Follow Sparta Chicks Radio on Facebook: facebook.com/SpartaChicks  Follow Tara on Instagram: @taradiversi

[CN/TW: Suicide, suicidal ideation] Katee Pedicini has become a regular on Sparta Chicks Radio over the years.  Yet this is a very different conversation from our previous episodes. This time, Katee shared her story.  It’s the story of her mental health journey over the last 20 years. In her 20s, Katee was (finally) diagnosed with a condition called Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder (or PMDD) which affects between 3-8% of menstruating woman. To describe it as, or compare it to, PMS doesn’t do it justice. And in fact, it would do a disservice to those who suffer from it. Katee describes it in this conversation as extreme PMS “wrapped up with anxiety, depression, sometimes psychosis and suicidality or suicidal tendencies” We begin this conversation with Katee’s story. Her experience of the symptoms of PMDD, including suicidal ideation. Then we transition into a broader conversation about suicide and mental health.  Finally, we step back and discuss the intersection between mental health and endurance sports. Thi

Tiffany Winchester is an ultra-endurance cyclist.  She rides the kind of distances most of us hate driving! She was first on the podcast June, 2019 (which was also the 5th most popular episode last year). At the time we recorded that conversation, Tiff was 3 months out from competing in the iconic Paris-Brest-Paris race, a 1,200km cycling event that’s only held every 4 years and is effectively the Olympics of the ultra-endurance cycling world. And so she returned in 2020 to share how it unfolded.  In this conversation, Tiff begins by sharing her training and the lead-up to the event, the race itself (including why she had to apply white wine vinegar to her “lady parts”). And then we talk about the aftermath - the trauma the race inflicted on her (and/or she inflicted on herself), the physical, mental and emotional toll it took on her, the depression that followed and how she was able to recover from it and get back on her bike. Get the full show notes for the episode here. — Visit the Sparta Chicks Radio webs

[CN/TW: anorexia and suicide] Hanny Allston is no stranger to the trail running and outdoor adventure communities in Australia. In 2006, Hanny won the Junior and Senior World Orienteering titles. In doing so, she became the first non-European to win an Orienteering World Championship and the first person, male or female, to hold both the Senior and Junior title in the same year. In the years since, she’s achieved a long list of victories and records in the worlds of mountain and trail running, ultramarathons and sky running. She’s also the co-founder of my favourite retail and online store - Find Your Feet - based in Tasmania with her husband Graham.  We covered all of that, and more, in our first conversation in 2017. This episode is very different. This is a conversation about Hanny finding her feet. She has just released her first memoir called ‘Finding My Feet’. And the best way to describe it as soul-full. It's Hanny's incredible story (so far) that is brave and vulnerable and heartbreaking and awe-inspi

Lisa Blair is an adventurer, sailor, climate change activist and World Record holder who discovered a passion for sailing at the age of 22. Just 6 years later, she completed her first circumnavigation of the world as part of the Clipper Round the World Yacht race.  Since then she’s gone onto sail solo to New Zealand twice, to skipper the first all-female team in 16 years to race the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht race and set two World Records in the process of becoming the first woman to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around Australia. In the midst of that, in 2017 Lisa set out on her most ambitious project to date; to become the first woman to sail solo unassisted and non-stop around Antarctica. And to break the men’s World Record in the process! As you’ll hear in this conversation, that expedition did not go to plan. And on a stormy night 72 days into her trip and 1,000 nautical miles from shore, her boat lost its mast and Lisa had to fight for 4 hours to save her boat -- and her life. Not only did she s

[CN/TW: sexual assault and rape] Melissa Browne is an author, financial advisor, speaker and financial wellness advocate who first joined me on the podcast way back in episode 18 in early 2017. And now she’s back with a vulnerable new book and for a very personal and brave conversation. Mel has just published a new book - her fourth book - called “Budgets Don’t Work (But This Does)”. It’s the culmination of her career first as an accountant and now a financial advisor.  Her philosophy; just like diets and one-size-fits-all eating plans or training programs don’t work, budgets don’t work either. So Mel has developed a process that helps you custom design a financial plan, habits and tactics that draw on your natural strengths (while minimising the impact of your weakness). Simply genius! What makes this book so powerful is Mel’s vulnerability around her history, her story and how it has shaped her financial decision making over the years. From the outside looking in, Mel appeared to have it all. Yet as she rev

Mimi Anderson started running at the age of 36 (after a long battle with anorexia). Over the next 20 years, she went onto set multiple Guinness World Records. Her achievements include:  - completing the Badwater Double; the return trip from Death Valley where the race starts to Mt Whitney, and back - a journey of 469km, - winning outright the 6633 Extreme Ultramarathon, a self-supported non-stop race over 560km in the Arctic Circle in which you drag on a sled everything you need to survive that took her almost 6 days to finish, and - setting Guinness World Record for the fastest time by a female running the length of England and the record for a woman running across Ireland. Now it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. In 2017, she attempted to set the record for running across America - that’s over 5000km. Sadly, that attempt ended due to injury and it also brought to an end to her ultrarunning career. But you can’t keep a woman like Mimi down for very long! So in her late 50s, she learnt to ride a bike, overcame

Rebecca Stone is a busy woman. She’s a midwife, a mum, and someone who loves racing her mountain bike for 24 hours - all while living with fibromyalgia. In 2010, after 9 months of severe pain which ultimately left her unable to work, drive or walk for more than 5m, Rebecca was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. A chronic condition, fibromyalgia causes widespread pain and sensitivity throughout the body. There’s no cure and it is difficult to treat. Getting back on her beloved mountain bike plan was part of Rebecca’s initial treatment plan primarily for the mental health benefits.  We recorded this conversation in May 2018. Later that year, as the mother of a 2-year-old toddler, Rebecca finished 2nd at the Australian 24 Hour Solo Championships in 2017 and 2018, and then finished 6th at the World Championships in Scotland in 2018. In this conversation, we discuss motherhood as well as living, training and racing with chronic pain. Plus she shares why she thinks she’s a better athlete because of it. Get the full show

Alexx Stuart is on a mission to help people want to (not *have* to) make changes for the better in their lives. She launched 'Low Tox Life' back in 2010 a few years after discovering she had a gluten allergy and going on a personal mission to find out what she was putting in, on and around her body. Since then, Low Tox Life has become a thriving online education hub and Alexx has become a 4x best-selling author and podcast host (with over a million downloads), by the same name. This is a conversation about conscious choice, hormones & why you should change your pillow :) Get the full show notes for the episode here. — Visit the Sparta Chicks Radio website here https://www.spartachicks.com/radio/ Follow Sparta Chicks Radio on Facebook: facebook.com/SpartaChicks  Follow 'Low Tox Life' on Instagram: @lowtoxlife