Lucy Gossage has been around on the long distance triathlon scene for a long time, and she's instantly recognisable with her blue Erdinger kit and infectious smile. If you don’t know Lucy, she has 14 Ironman victories to her name including IMUK, IM Wales, IM Lanzarote and Patagonman (basically all the toughest ones). In 2019 she stepped back from IM racing to focus more on her work as an Oncologist in Nottingham. You’ll get a sense of how Lucy likes to challenge herself with that race resume, and today's conversation is all about another of those challenges. And they don’t really come much bigger than The Winter Spine Challenge - 268 miles on the Pennine Way in the depths of winter.   It’s a non-stop event requiring participants to be self sufficient. The temperature barely gets above 0ºC, with knee deep snow and blizzards at times, and as if that's not enough the sleep deprivation can literally be a nightmare. We chat about:   Weekly power strength yoga - "I just knew that I had to get as strong as I could"   The benefits of commuting to work and keeping it fun Walking poles in ultra racing - "As soon as I got them, I was like, oh my god, these are a game changer." Sleep walking - "The most terrifying discombobulating experience I've ever had." Shoe selection - "I went with Hoka Speedgoats, which many say is crazy for that terrain. But they were so comfortable." Sleep deprivation and cognitive function - "I could see the red lines on my Garmin where I'd gone off the course and I was like bloody hell I am actually sleepwalking."   To find out more about Lucy please use these channels: Twitter @lucygoss Insta @lucygossage     Link to topics we covered in the show NHS Blog posts Lucy and I talked for quite a bit at the start about the NHS and she mentioned some blog posts she had written. You can find those HERE. Lucy’s favourite book Shantaram:A Novel - by Gregory Roberts “It’s a long book but an incredible read." Developing an Iron Mind This is the podcast I recorded with Lucy, Helen Davis and Helen Gorman Developing an Iron Mind - How to access the Iron Mind course - https://www.thinkbelieveperform.co.uk/iron-mind/   Green Runners Lucy talked about the The Green Runners  eco running group formed by Jasmine Harris and Damian Hall   To contact Beth regarding Life Coaching, please visit her website at BethanyWardLifeCoaching.uk.   Sports Nutrition questions - if you have a sports nutrition question that you would like answered on the podcast, please email it to me via [email protected]. Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe using this link, with a happiness guarantee! You can watch a brief video about the group by going to our website here, and join our SWAT High Performance Human tribe here. Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life. If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you! Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here.  For any questions please email [email protected].