This week on the Tough Girl Podcast, we're joined by Tania Carmona—a trailblazing ultrarunner, endurance coach, entrepreneur, and the first Mexican athlete to complete the 5 Deserts Grand Slam. From swimming as a national-level athlete in Mexico to conquering some of the toughest environments on Earth, Tania's story is one of resilience, reinvention, and relentless curiosity.
Based in Dubai and previously living in Scotland and the U.S., Tania shares her path into ultrarunning—from a reluctant marathon finisher to tackling self-supported races across the Gobi, Atacama, Namib, and Antarctica. We dive into her experience navigating extreme heat, physical stress, and the emotional highs and lows of ultra-endurance.
Tania also opens up about the physiological toll of training, dealing with cortisol imbalances, the decision to undergo back surgery, and why she and her husband launched the Ultra Happy Podcast to bring more real, relatable stories to the running world.
Whether you're chasing your own desert dreams or looking for inspiration to keep putting one foot in front of the other, this episode is packed with heart, humour, and hard-earned wisdom.
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Show notes
- Who is Tania
- Ultrarunner, coach and podcast host
- Being based in Dubai, born in Mexico and previously living in Glasgow, Scotland
- Growing up in Mexico City in a small family
- Being into swimming when she was little
- Being a national swimmer
- Deciding to stop swimming at 15
- Moving to Chicago to do her Masters
- Getting into running in Chicago after being inspired by the Chicago Marathon
- Starting running with a free group 3x a week
- Finishing her first marathon and deciding to never run again at 20
- Needing to make new friends after moving back to Mexico
- Deciding to give running another go
- A spartan race…. 2016
- Finding trail running!
- Hiring a coach
- Signing up for a 50k
- Meeting her Scottish husband, Andy
- Moving from Mexico City to Scotland!
- Deciding to sign up for longer, harder races and how her lifestyle started to change
- The 5 Desert Grand Slam
- Wanting to do Cocodona 250km race
- The 5 different, self supported races
- Dealing with the heat
- Gobi Desert in Mongolia - more trails and more hard packed terrain - very similar to Scotland
- Running with really old shoes
- Running in Antartica over 5 days - living on an expedition boat
- Atacama Desert in Chile and why it was one of her most favourite races
- Reducing those feelings of overwhelm
- Focusing on the first step first
- Taking a year off to focus on running
- Working with a running coach
- Recovery runs and resting
- Dealing with gut issues and periods problems
- The impact on her body with spikes of cortisol
- Developing a cortisol hump on her back
- Not sleeping well
- The evening routines and life admin after a race
- Having surgery on her cortisol hump (7 cm by 1.5 cm deep) on her back
- Dealing with more stress, by moving to Dubai
- Ultra Happy Podcast
- Co-hosting with her husband Andy
- Documenting the journey
- How to connect with Tania
- Mini films from each dessert available to watch on YouTube
- Final words of advice
- Live your life with curiosity
- Don't do it for the likes
- Think about what else you could do
Social Media
Website: taniacarmona.komi.io
Instagram: @taniaruns_theworld
TikTok: @taniaruns_theworld
Youtube: @Tania_Carmona