Dr. Sarah Ruggins – Record-Breaking Endurance Cyclist on Pushing Limits, Managing Pain, and the Power of Aggressive Patience

In this episode of the Tough Girl Podcast, we're joined by Dr. Sarah Ruggins—a high-achieving investment professional, academic powerhouse, and now a record-breaking ultra-endurance cyclist. From her early days as a national-level track athlete in Canada to surviving complex PTSD and rebuilding her life, Sarah's journey is one of transformation, resilience, and radical self-belief.

In 2023, Sarah competed in the Transcontinental Bike Race, and in 2025, she took on her most audacious challenge yet: cycling from John O'Groats to Land's End and back again—2,715 km in just 5 days, 11 hours, and 14 minutes, setting a new outright record.

This conversation dives deep into the planning, training, and mindset behind the ride—from strength work and 3:30 AM mornings to battling hallucinations, sleep deprivation, and pain barriers. Sarah shares her three-part mantra—Focus, Discipline, Gratitude—and unpacks how elite performance is built in the margins: with structure, strategy, and sacrifice.

Whether you're chasing a personal goal or looking for motivation to push your own limits, this is an episode that will fuel your fire.

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Show notes

• Who is Dr Sarah Ruggins
• Working as an investment professional for the past 10 years
• Growing up in Canada
• Being part of a very active family
• Doing a lot of running and focusing on track and field
• Working with the best coaches
• Holding national records in middle distances
• Preparing for junior olympics at 14/15
• Wanting to represent her country at the highest level
• Her teenage years
• Needing a routine surgery on her feet
• Developing a disease of her nervous system
• The impact on her life
• Developing complex PTSD
• Getting back to a 'normal life'
• Starting to focus more on academics
• Getting 4 degrees in 4 different subjects
• Competing in the trans continental bike race in 2023
• Wanting to understand what her limits were
• John O'Groats to Lands End and back again
• Being supported by a crew
• Working with Rob Lee from RLP Coaching
• What training looked like from Sept/October 2024 to May 2025
• What a typical week looked like
• Working with a strength coach to compliment what she was doing on the bike
• Increasing the volume of training on both the bike and in the gym
• Squats increasing from 45kg to - 4 sets of 5 reps at 110kg
• While working a full time job in finance
• Having her whole life scheduled from 3.30am - 10pm
• Figuring out life admin
• Setting big goals in your life - you need to be prepared to make sacrifices in pursuit of those goals
• Planning, schedules and logistics
• Coming back to the WHY was integral
• Building the team and pulling everyone together
• Reaching out to sponsors
• Wanting to make a history making ride
• Probability, chance and luck
• Going to maximise our probabilities of success
• Being on the start line being 100% confident
• Being forced to be brave and tough - but coming from a place of power
• Wanting to demonstrate to herself her own resilience and wanting to inspire others
• Starting the challenge and wanting to ride to her capabilities
• Working in blocks of 4 hours and focusing on the power.
• Managing her process and focusing on what's on the road ahead
• Riding 4 hours and then off the bike for 10 mins - the 'Pitt stops'
• What goes on in those 10 mins
• Eating and nutrition and eating constantly while on the bike
• How her body responded to the challenge
• 3 phases while doing endurance work: phase 1, the first 36 hours - feeling great, phase 2 hitting a pain wall which you need to push through, phase 3 - where you feel like you can go forever, your body has accepted this is just what you do now
• Going though the pain wall and pain gate
• The mind body connection and what was happening mentally
• Developing a 3 part mantra: focus, discipline and gratitude
• The biggest challenge while on the bike
• Not being able to tolerate solid foods on day 3
• Moving to liquid food - Supported by Huel
• Dealing with the sleep deprivation - confusion and falling asleep while on her bike
• Crashing into a nettle bush and going into hyperglycemic shock
• Using blue light to wake her up
• Being ahead of the record by about 7 hours and 175km - stick to the process
• Reaching the end
• The feelings of relief
• Keeping your emotions locked in for 5 days
• Being able to relax!
• 2715 km in 5 days 11 hours 14 minutes. NEW OUTRIGHT RECORD HOLDER
• Her limits….
• Taking the learning and applying it to new projects
• Recovery after the challenge
• Getting back on the bike and back in the gym
• Raising funds for 2 charities
• The Bike Project
• Bikes for Refugees
• How you can connect with Sarah
• Working on a feature documentary about the challenge - due in early 2026
• Final words of advice from Sarah
• Understand what is most important to you, and curate an objective around that
• Demonstrate aggressive patience in pursuit of your goals
• Focus on the small wins everyday.

Social Media

Instagram @sarah_ruggins