Into the Woods with Holly Worton

I originally met today’s guest, Sara Stafford-Williams, over a year ago at the London Coaches Group. I loved her holistic approach to staying fit and living a healthy lifestyle, and I couldn't wait to have her as a guest so she can share her tips with you. Sara Stafford-Williams is the creator of The Female Warrior Fitness System for Busy Business Women, helping female business owners and solopreneurs to avoid burnout and keep doing what they love by prioritising their health and...

I'm excited to introduce this week's guest, Jeff Le. Jeff is an ultrarunner who has finished four 100-mile races. About Jeff Le Jeff Le has had a career at the highest levels of public policy and politics at the state, federal and international levels. A recognized thought leader in political advocacy and representation, his analysis and opinion-writing has been featured in POLITICO Magazine, The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, FOX News, The Hill, Washingtonian, Roll...

I'm excited to introduce this week's guest, Courtney Clifton. We’re both members of this fantastic Facebook group for women runners, and Courtney recently posted a link to her blog where she told the story of a misadventure where she ended up going out for a run and spending the night on the mountain. I was really fascinated by her story, and I wanted to get her on the show to pick apart her experience and see what went wrong and what went well. Courtney made a lot of good decisions, which...

I'm excited to introduce this week's guest, Lois Wagner. In this episode, we talk about how her outdoor adventures have taught her resilience—and how they helped her to overcome adversity and challenges in other areas of her life. Lois is a keen hiker, scuba diver, and camper. Her life has been full of both adventures and misadventures—all of which have taught her resilience. She was washed out to sea while scuba diving and was rescued by a fishing trawler. She fell and cut her head open...

I'm excited to introduce this week's guest, Brad Borkan. Brad was recently a guest on the show on episode 370 when we talked about How Outdoors Adventures Can Help You Make Better Decisions In Life. Last time, we discussed Brad's book When Your Life Depends on It. This time, we're discussing his latest release, Audacious Goals, Remarkable Results. I recently read the book and I was fascinated by the stories of three men who set massive goals and achieved them—and in doing so, left a legacy...

I'm excited to introduce this week's guest, Cara Wilde. Cara has been a guest many times on the show, and this time we're talking about adventures with stone circles. Cara lives in Cornwall, where she's got several stone circles within walking or running distance from her home. If you've listened to this podcast for a while, or if you've read my book If Trees Could Talk, you'll know how important the Avebury stone circle is to me. But I don't really understand what goes on when I visit...

I'm back again, with another solo episode! This week, I'm talking about something that's been on my mind for a while. I usually do a bit of research to see what other people have said about the topic I want to cover, but I could only find one blog post about intuition and adventure, and it wasn't that great. So I'm turning to my book Business Intuition, and applying some of the concepts there to the field of adventure. Listen To This Episode What You'll Learn Things I...

I'm back again, with another solo episode! As you may know, I've been really interested in talking more about mental health and outdoor adventures this year. A lot of us have had a rough time with the various lockdowns and restrictions around the world. Sometimes we talk about post-trail depression, but we don't often talk about the blues that can come after an event or adventure. In this episode, I reflect on post-adventure blues, and how we can get through them and move on. Listen To...

I'm back again, with another solo episode! This week, I'm talking about the importance of rest. As you might imagine, it's inspired by the last two weeks, in which I've been recovering from my 100 km ultramarathon. Most coaches recommend active recovery, and I'm certainly not going to talk you out of the value of that, but I just haven't been up to it—so I've been taking a break from running. My muscles felt great just a couple of days after the race, and so I went on a run a few days...

I'm excited to introduce this week's guest, Lesley Waldron. She's an expert in perimenopause and staying active during these years of change. Sadly, I don't think there's enough awareness about perimenopause (I hadn't heard of it until I was already going through it), so I wanted to have this very important conversation on the show. This is a great episode to listen to whether you're in the middle of perimenopause or not quite there yet. It starts earlier than you may think, and it's...

I'm back again, with another solo episode! Last weekend, I ran my very first ultramarathon: the Serpent Trail 100 km race. It was a fantastic event, and it was a truly joyful day: a great stretch outside of my comfort zone. Whether or not you're a runner, you'll find this episode to be useful: it will give you an idea of how to plan a much bigger adventure, in terms of both physical and mental preparation. There are lots of little details in the planning, and I got most of them right. I...

I'm excited to introduce this week's guest, Anna Wood. Like many of my guests, I first discovered her on Instagram. I've been super inspired by her practice of mindful sea swimming. Years ago, when I lived in Mexico, I was a big sea swimmer. Since I moved to England, that never occurred to me—yet I have a few friends who are avid sea swimmers. Because most of my adventures take place on land, I've been increasingly interested in exploring water adventures, like sea swimming. In this...

I'm excited to introduce this week's guest, Rebecca Walsh from Hike Like a Woman. I can’t remember where I first discovered her, but I’ve been following her on Instagram for ages, and I love what she does. In this episode, we talk about solo hiking for women, and why women should give it a try—and how to manage anxiety and fears about getting things wrong or making mistakes along the way. This episode isn’t just for women, and it’s not just for hikers—it’s for everyone who may have fears...

I'm back again, with another solo episode! In this episode, I talk about the benefits of getting outdoors, and how to get more from your outdoor adventures. This is kind of a practice for a talk I'll be giving the night before an upcoming race. I thought it would be interesting and useful for you, too. Listen To This Episode What You'll Learn Related Episodes 411 Holly Worton ~ Who Do You Need to Be for The Adventures You Want to Have? 382 Holly Worton ~ Know Your Why For Your...

I'm excited to introduce this week's guest, Mark Struczewski. I was a guest on his podcast a couple of years ago, and I’ve been following him online ever since. I’ve been particularly fascinated by his running streak: Mark has been running every single day for 1,382 days. Read that again. That’s almost four years of consistent running. Now, whether or not you’re a runner, there’s probably some hobby or activity that you’d like to do more of. In this episode, we talk about daily running,...

I'm back again, with another solo episode! This is a topic I've kind of touched on in a couple of other episodes, but I wanted to delve a bit deeper, and ask the question: Who do you need to be for the adventures you want to have? The way I see it, this is not just about gaining practical knowledge, but also acquiring the adventure mindset that you need. This is more than sports mindset, it's about overcoming the fears, blocks, and limiting beliefs to stretch out of your comfort zone and...

I'm back again, with another solo episode! As I record this, I just got back from a three-day longbow-making workshop, followed by a two-day birdsong course. And I'm about to go back into the woods for the second weekend of my ethnobotany course. I've been reflecting on all the courses I've taken at Woodcraft School and elsewhere, and how they've added an important layer of knowledge to my outdoor adventures. In this episode, I hope to encourage you to get outdoors and learn something...

I'm back again, with another solo episode! I've been reflecting lately on what adventure means to me, and why it's such an important part of my life. I think that my own personal definition of adventure is probably a bit wider than most people's, so I wanted to invite you to reconsider what adventure means to you. Hopefully this will help you to find new and exciting adventures to have! Now that things are opening up around the world, it's time to start planning our next adventures. And...

I'm back again, with another solo episode! I was out on a run the other day and this phrase popped into my head: “start from where you are.” I actually paused my run and sent myself a note with these words. When I got home and googled it, I found out that this is a quote by Arthur Ashe: “Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.” This is exactly the concept I had in mind when the phrase popped into my head. So here's an episode on the topic! In sports and outdoor adventures,...

I'm excited to introduce this week's guest, Keith Foskett, also known as Fozzie (that's his trail name). I've read two and a half of his hiking books (I'm in the middle of one right now), and they were one of the things that helped me to get through this last lockdown—it was like having an armchair adventure. If you've ever wondered about hiking the Camino de Santiago, the Pacific Crest Trail, the Appalachian Trail, or the Continental Divide Trail, this episode is for you. We talk about the...