Lou is an elite endurance athlete, running in the mountains & performing at her peak, & coaching others to achieve their own running goals.
Lou started running in 2014 after being inspired by a Dutch runner who stayed with her when she used to Airbnb her spare room. She started with the Glow Worm half marathon and then did the Careflight Woodford to Glenbrook and the Bilpin Bush Run.
At the time she was really into climbing, & remembers she actually went climbing after the W2G race! She tried hard to do both for a while, but it was too hard with a demanding full time job as well. She got a coach and in her first ultra, the North Face 50 in 2015 (now UTA) she came 9th female and first in her age group and after that things got a bit more serious!
Since then she has raced 30 ultras and finished in the top 10 in 27 of them, which she is pretty proud of as she was 44 when I started running. She is ranked by ITRA in the top 10 in the world in the 44-49 age group: She hopes to inspire women to not let age be a barrier and follow their hearts and dreams, because you never know what will happen unless you give it a go and its never too late to start!
Lou says, I travelled to some amazing places to race but my favourite places were Cappadocia in Turkey, UTMF in Japan, the Eiger Ultra Trail in Switzerland and Lavaredo Ultra Trail in Italy. I don’t mind a bit of road running and try to do a marathon a year.
Lou was hoping to race the London marathon, which is in her hometown, in 2020 and UTMB but due to COVID neither was possible. She did manage to run a sub 3 (a long time goal) as part of the virtual London marathon that was held in October 2020 and she has her UTMB entry for 2022 so she’s very excited about being able to finally do that.
She started coaching a few years ago and coaches eight athletes. She really enjoys helping them to achieve their goals and seeing their progress, & believes it’s very rewarding although sometimes a juggle with her own training and work.
Lou works for NSW National Parks and feels lucky to not only have an amazing job with great people but also have a lot of support from her colleagues. The past year has been very difficult with injuries and but she is hoping that 2022 she can get back to peak fitness again.
If I have a goal, like a race, then I am motivated to train so I can do my best, however it turns out. You can only control what you can control and if you know you have done everything you can, and put in the hard work, then that’s all you can do!
If I know someone is relying on me or if my support will help them in some way, whether a friend, athlete I coach, or a work colleague, that motivates me to step out of my head and my issues and be there for them. That is really important to me.
2) Inspirations: What / who / where inspires you? What influences your actions/life?
When I was about 10 I watched a documentary on Terry Fox, which had a deep impact on me. I read a book on Terry’s life a few years ago and it still touched me very deeply. Utterly selfless and truly inspirational. Paula Radcliffe was at her peak when I was growing up so although I didn’t start running until later, I am still inspired by her.
Before Cappadocia Ultra Trail I watched Eliud Kipchoge run his sub 2-hour marathon and that was a huge inspiration before my race, especially his words: ‘no human is limited’.
Being outside in nature inspires me, especially mountainous places with big peaks! I love that huge expansive scenery and want to be within it, it’s so beautiful and wild, and makes you feel so small.
I am influenced by people who push their limits and those who genuinely care about others and try to have a positive impact on those around them and on the environment.
3) Self care: What rituals / routines / practices / training do you use to nurture / strengthen your self?
I have used meditation in the past and feel it has an amazing impact on performance – my challenge is to make it a regular practice! I try to have regular massages and eat well.
4) Self belief: What do you believe about yourself? How does that affect what you do?
I have to say that self-belief has been a real challenge for me the past year with chronic injuries. While I hoped I would improve as the months went by it was hard to believe that I would and I was pretty depressed. I am not over the injuries, but I have gone back to my training program with my coach and feel I am back on track. When I feel I am not where I would like to be I try to think about where I have been not so long ago (even though it can feel like a long time!) and that helps me to believe I can get back there again.
5) Warrioress: your favourite style from the range & why?
My favourite item is the mountain sunset fabric shorts Leigh made for me because I love the colours of the fabric and of course the mountain inspiration. I also love the serpent print, the fabric is stunning.
Connect with Lou here ~
https://www.instagram.com/loumclifton/
https://www.facebook.com/loumclifton/
https://www.strava.com/athletes/6886908
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