Extraordinariness
What is the key to achieving the extraordinary? Is there a secret recipe for going beyond the normal limits of what we can do? Do we all possess Extraordinariness? These are the questions that Jo and Jon try to answer through discussions with people who have done just that. We uncover the amazing feats that our guests have accomplished and see if we can come to understand how we all might be a little more extraordinary. Extraordinariness is a podcast about adventure, health and fitness, self improvement and the mental life hacks to help foster performance. Through our guest stories we try to build a mental toolkit, our ’extraordinary toolkit’ so that we can all try to push the boundaries in our own lives. Along the way we get to hear amazing stories from ordinary people. That is people, with jobs, families, commitments. These are people just like you and me.
Listen on:
Episodes
Tuesday Jul 26, 2022
Tuesday Jul 26, 2022
Andy Ibbott was MD of the California Superbike School, a highly skilled martial artist and had a starting place on the legendary Marathon Des Sables.
All that changed when he suffered a stroke in 2011... Or did it?
Andy talks us through the events that set Andy's life in a different direction, the challenges of aphasia and having to re-learn to use his body. Andy is the embodiment of resilience, teaching us to keep moving forward, even if it is just once step at a time.
This week Andy Ibbott tells us his inspirational story of being knocked down and getting back up again. Along the way we find a few more tools to add to our Extraordinary Toolbox.
Tuesday Jul 19, 2022
Tuesday Jul 19, 2022
The Transcontinental Race, or TCR for short, is an unsupported race across Europe with riders having to grab sleep and food whilst the clock is ticking. We spoke to Jonathan Rankin, a former rower and 2 time competitor in the TCR to hear about what it takes to enter such an event.
Could you cycle continuously for several days, stopping only for a few hours a day to eat and sleep? How would you even begin to train for such an event? Jonathan tells us about the role of habit in training for such a gruelling event and the mental tricks he used along the way to keep going.
His story is a fascinating insight to the role of ultra endurance cycling, and the extreme lengths people will go to complete a race most people have never heard of.
Tuesday Jul 12, 2022
Tuesday Jul 12, 2022
This week we add to our extraordinary toolbox by speaking with army doctor and rowing record holder Nick Dennison. In 2010 Nick, along with his team mate Hamish Reid became the first pair to row unsupported around Great Britain.
It's a long way around Great Britain, 11,000 miles, depending upon how you measure it. This weeks story is about the first pair to row that distance, and the courage and grit required. Nick tells about the challenges they faced, such as punishing winds, deadly waves and the psychological and physical assaults the seas provided them, and how support from those around them gave them the belief that they could accomplish such a phenomenal adventure.
Through Nick's story we add a few more things to our Extraordinary Toolkit.
Tuesday Jul 05, 2022
Tuesday Jul 05, 2022
In our first episode we speak to pioneering aviator Shaesta Waiz. Born in an Afghan refugee camp before moving to the United States as a child, Shaesta became the 8th woman, and at the time youngest, to fly solo around the world in a single engine aircraft. We hear about her extraordinary accomplishment.
Flying a Beechcraft Bonanza around the world is no mean feat. Shaesta had to deal with the cramped space, due to retrofitted internal fuel tanks, as well as headline picked up somewhere along the way. Not all the challenges were physical though. Flying through such varied culture meant that the very fact Shaesta was a woman was a problem form some.
Shaesta's story is about the dreams we all have, and what happens when you decide to break out of the societal norms expected of you and make those dreams a reality.
www.extraordinariness.co.uk