Erica Terblanche is an accomplished endurance runner and adventure racer and has won numerous iconic long-distance races all over the world, including the gruelling Racing the Planet 7-day Sahara Desert Ultra Marathon among many others.   Erica is a Life Coach and psychologist with a master’s degree in Positive Psychology. She is also the founder of Teach a Girl to Fish, Thrive Guru & Thrive Run Club. Her lifelong quest is to determine how we can over time shape and mould ourselves to become ‘the best we can possibly be’.   At heart Erica is an outdoor enthusiast with over 20 years of adventure experiences.   Erica in her own words on Adventure Racing:   “Adventure Racing was a wonderful vehicle for access to extreme adventures - and over a period of five years I experienced the most extraordinary adventures while running, cycling, canyoneering, river rafting, sea kayaking, and rappelling in some of the most wild landscapes in the world and often with less than an hour of sleep a day for races that spanned five days.    This sport helped push my boundaries and has helped me to become an accomplished ultra distance trail runner, winning a number of the big 7-day stage races.    I now live in Cape Town where I run Thrive Guru and Thrive Run Club. My intention with both is to get people moving and to help people build and live their best, most vital, most fulfilling and happiest lives.”   Erica is the Author of “Run for the Love of Life” which was published on the 4th of November 2021.    Erica wrote the book to share her adventures, to motivate people to get up, get going and get out into nature. Erica wants people to know that they can do far more than they imagine they can.    Erica wants the book to inspire people to take that very first step and to find their tribe - a community of people that will support them on the journey.   New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday at 7am UK time - Hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss out.    The Tough Girl Podcast is sponsorship and ad free thanks to the monthly financial support of patrons.    Support the mission to increase the amount of female role models in the media. Visit www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast and sign up - super quick and easy to do and it makes a massive difference. Thank you.   Show notes Who is Erica and what she does Being a keen advocate to encourage people to get into the outdoors Living in Cape Town now Starting an adventure company - Teach a girl to Fish Studying positive psychology  Being interesting in how we can come the very best of ourselves Focusing on the outdoors Finding out about her childhood, growing up on a farm and spending time outside Catching her first fish at 6 years old Learning not to be scared of the outdoors  Having a lot of freedom from a young age Bravery? Being inspired by her fearless mum Raising girl children differently from boy children Knowing in your body that you are strong Her passion for running and where it came from Getting into running in her early 30s Falling in love with Adventure Racing Not being an athlete and going to the World Championships in Adventure Racing! How women improve as races go on, especially coming into their own by day 3 Pushing her body to the limits and the lessons from the edge of the experience  The races which really challenge her Racing the Grand to Grand Ultra, USA. 275 km in 6 stages, over 7 days.  Being unwilling to give up and being able to grit it out. Racing as hard as she could and sticking to her own game plan Women who run with wolves Practical tips and tricks to help you keep going Start slowly and finish strong Tips for running in the heat Why Erica loves the deserts and spending time in that space Feeling empowered by the sunshine The importance of Vitamin D (especially in the UK) Dealing with Raynaud’s  Menopause and how its impacted on running and adventure racing The impact on Vo2 max Being more deliberate about the supplements she takes Being excited about