Ruth shares her passion for the mountains, becoming an international fell running champion, fast marathons and how mountain bike orienteering has captured her interest aged 60. She is the founder of Element, offering active courses for women in Wales. In 2012, Ruth Pickvance, an adventurous, retired international fell running champion and super-fast marathon runner, left her well-paid head of faculty role at a Sixth Form College, to set up Element. The business offers women the opportunity to find confidence in outdoor pursuits such as Yoga for Runners, Beginning Fell Running and Mountain Biking for Beginners. At sixty years old, Ruth herself has discovered that she enjoys mountain bike orienteering, which marries her love of the outdoors with the joy of moving her body with less impact on her joints than perhaps those marathons of her forties had created. Living in the beautiful Brecon Beacons, Ruth shares more about her involvement in local environmental projects and conservation, as well as offering some first-hand wisdom regarding facing our fears and stretching those comfort zones. SHOW LINKS for RUTH PICKVANCE: Website: https://element-active.co.uk/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elementactive/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/RuthPickvance Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elementactiveuk ***PLEASE VOTE FOR HEADRIGHTOUT IN THE SPORTS PODCAST AWARDS:*** In the Best Urban and Adventure Category https://www.sportspodcastawards.com/categories/18 Where to find HeadRightOut and Zoe on social media: https://www.facebook.com/HeadRightOut/ https://www.instagram.com/headrightout/ https://twitter.com/HeadRightOut https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoe-langley-wathen/ zoe@headrightout.com Music used in this episode: This Minimal Technology by Coma-Media from Pixabay Morning Garden - Acoustic Chill by Olexy from Pixabay The Cradle of Your Soul by lemonmusicstudio from Pixabay - Simple Piano Melody by ZakharValaha from Pixabay Intro, outro and transitions - ‘Stay Strong’ by Caffeine Creek Band SHOW NOTES: Welcome to the episode 00:51Request for votes in the Sports Podcast Awards - Best Urban and Adventure Category - currently ranked in third place - this is likely to change 01:17Different format for episode due to mic problems when recording. Please let me know if you like the format or preferred HeadRightOut’s original style 02:27What to expect in our conversation. 03:23Where Zoe and Ruth first met and Ruth’s bio: International Mountain Runner, Former British Fell Champion, fast marathon runner, exploring nature and founder of Element 04:06How Ruth came into racing, visiting the Lake District one Christmas around 1985 and making a spontaneous decision 06:20How quickly Ruth became good at the sport and why it touched a chord with her 08:42How old Ruth was when she started racing and where her deep-rooted love of the mountains stemmed from 09:33Zoe talks about the Gold Hill 10 race in Shaftesbury, Dorset - the strength needed running uphill vs the fear of running downhill 10:41Where the fear comes from and how it affects us when running downhill 11:42How to let go and deal with the fear head on 13:10Understanding resilience both personally for Ruth and in general 15:13What is fear, to Ruth? Recognising negative cycles and what we need 18:36About perimenopause symptoms for Zoe 21:19When menopause kicked in for Ruth and how she handled it 22:44Ruth’s love for swimming and other activities - cycling, running, strength work, land management, walking 24:35Zoe hearing about positive impact of exercise from other women in perimenopause including Jo Moseley 26:05Ruth’s recommendations to see a GP or specialist doctor in menopause and HRT if symptoms are debilitating 26:42Zoe’s experience with some of the perimenopause symptoms 27:27Ruth talks about bringing curiosity to fear in order to see fear differently 29:09Digging deep when the doubts and thoughts of being hopeless creep in 31:32Mountain biking for beginners with Element - Ruth shares what some of the participants have said about the two-day course 35:28What Element offers to women coming on the workshops and courses 38:14Ruth’s volunteer work with Stump Up for Trees, planting a million trees 42:50Guardian articles and reviews, Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent and Kate Rawles 44:42Talking about Ruth’s days racing and fell running in the UK and Europe 46:08Types of sponsorship available and the preference to not be fully professional as an athlete 48:32Ruth’s HeadRightOut Moment 50:40Running marathons and choosing fell running over the Olympics 51:57Where to find Ruth on her website and on social media 53:50Laughing about talking for fifty minutes. Thanks from Zoe to Ruth 54:40Zoe shares Ruth’s PB for her fast marathon. Subscribe to Ruth’s newsletter for Element 55:08Lou Lloyd’s HeadRightOut Moment - wild camping solo in the Brecon Beacons and WWOOFING on a smallholding 57:00Zoe taking a short break to deal with family things ...
