Farrah Herbert is about to embark on her most difficult endurance test to date. Having completed an Ironman in 2023, a 10km open-water swim, and the RideLondon 100-mile competition, the athlete is tackling the London Marathon and taking on the UK’s most prominent cycling event, the Ride Across Britain, whose remarkable nine-day route stretches from Land’s End to John o’Groats.
But these haven’t been the only formidable challenges that Farrah has overcome. The 51-year-old transgender woman transitioned from experiencing gender dysphoria ten years ago, adapting socially and physically to hormone replacement therapy. She attributes endurance sports as a crutch that supported her during challenging times.
She opens up to WH about her future plans for the transgender sporting community, her diet, and her dedication to fitness.
What about sports first captivated you when you were a child?
I used to live near Leybourne Lakes in Kent. I began running around the lake before noticing people swimming, so I joined the open-water team, and from there, I started competing.
You’re running the London Marathon. How are you training?
Despite my prowess in triathlons, running is not one of my strongest skills. Especially at 51 years old, taking care of my legs is crucial. I always make sure to foam roll before running and focus more on cycling and swimming when I experience cramps.
I did a lot of cycling just before Christmas and into the new year, but as the marathon approached, I’ve been running three to four times a week. I aim to do interval runs one day and a long run, which I completed last month. So it’s tapering down now.
What activities do you engage in on particular days of the week?
Since I’m unsure if I’ll have a long day at work as a designated lorry driver, which depends on the weather, I keep my routine extremely flexible and adjust based on the day. If it’s raining heavily, I’ll switch a workout or a run to a swim session instead.
I usually do most of my swimming outdoors. I enjoy being able to work in the garden before heading to the river for a swim.
I don’t, for two reasons: I’m already quite bulky, so I prefer not to add any extra mass. And I dislike weightlifting because there’s always a male ego dynamic at play, and it’s just unpleasant.
When I was struggling with distress, I used to go to the gym back in my thirties when the NHS defines gender dysphoria as “a term that describes a person’s discomfort that a person may have because of a mismatch between their biological gender and their gender identity. In an effort to combat the feminine feelings, I injected testosterone. But that’s the only time I’ve ever really been to the gym, and it didn’t work out.
Farrah Herbert// InstagramWhat will your education for Ride Across Britain in September been like? Have you started or are you waiting until the London Marathon’s over?
I’m waiting. Currently, I do at least two or three bike sessions per week. Every morning, I ride my bike to work every morning. I try and get in: one great Zwift treatment; one hills program; a long trip on a Sunday with the LDN RIDERS, my cycling club Farrah is the ride captain for this LGBTQ+ cycling club aiming to make a welcoming and safe environment for all members of the community and its allies; I ride my racing bike to the VeloPark, occasionally for monitor, and there are times for track.
Farrah Herbert// InstagramWhen you begin the cycle, how do you intend to educate?
I typically research online teaching strategies. After the London Marathon, the second occasion I’ve got is RideLondon, but I’ll get specifically training for that initial-that will be 100 miles.
When I have a truly great occasion, like the Ironman, I’ll reserve myself for longer activities in the lead up to it. So I’ll use those as a stepping stone to get to the fitness level I need for the big one at the end of the year. That’s definitely the best way I motivate myself.
Farrah Herbert// InstagramWhen you look at the entire function, it becomes quite frustrating. Breaking significantly larger activities down as you approach them will help you tackle them and make them seem less daunting.
I’ll often choose a book that frightens me a little bit. You know what they say, ‘If the goals aren’t scary enough, they aren’t big enough.’ And there’s so much more that I can accomplish.
Do you anticipate that switching from running to biking may be simple or because you already have so much experience?
Since you’ll probably engage many of the same muscle groups between running and cycling, it’ll be pretty straightforward to transition. It’ll also give some muscles a great break.
How long do you spend sleeping?
I struggle with taking breaks. I’ll probably only have a few days off before the workout, so I can give my legs a rest by swimming more frequently.
I can’t not do anything. I don’t cope well. I like to keep myself really, truly active. One of my coping mechanisms is dealing with the anger and the media because of my mental wellness.
Talk me through your diet.
Everything is prepared from scratch because I have a fairly healthy diet. I don’t eat any processed food. I gave up alcohol last year and don’t miss it—I found I performed so much better [when] getting up the next morning for training, even though I used to drink a fair bit of red wine.
I consume a lot of fish and chicken, but I also don’t eat any red meat at all. I would probably go down the road of being a vegetarian, but I like meat-based protein; chicken and fish have a different flavor.
Because I’m animal, I occasionally get treated to a special club membership. We usually start off at a café and have a cake, and [I’ll have a] dessert treat in the evening.
Could you give me an example of a staple food?
Grilled fish or chicken, for example, served with wholemeal bread. In the summer, I make falafels, and we always have a salad with a meat caesar.
Farrah Herbert// InstagramYou work as a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver. How do you schedule your classes around your career?
Because loading and unloading typically take up an hour or two of my day, I usually have an hour or two of downtime while I’m at work. I just need four or five hours of sleep when I get home at five or six, but I get some rest around midday.
Therefore, I have dinner, get ready for work, and start between one and five o’clock until about nine. So the days work really well because the roads are less crowded.
You’ve mentioned how uncomfortable it was to be confined in the wrong body? Do you feel like you’re in the right place at this moment? And do you think that’s channeled or translated into action?
I made the transition over a decade ago. As soon as the HRT [hormone replacement therapy] kicked in, it felt right having an estrogen-based system rather than testosterone. Testosterone is such a powerful, effective thing.
Six or seven years ago, I had my surgery. It was 100% right—it felt correct and looked straight in the picture. Exercise keeps me in balance. Since my transition and getting healthy and active, I’ve always been happier in my life. Being a member of clubs like LDN RIDERS and the support is really awesome.
‘When the HRT kicked in, it felt right having an estrogen-based system rather than testosterone’
Was there an adjustment period?
There was a bustle when I transitioned politically, before my surgery. Once I transitioned, I didn’t feel comfortable going to leisure centers [and being in] changing-room scenarios, though I’ve never had any issues. So that caused me a lot of worry and still does occasionally. I took a break from snorkeling.
Physically, did you feel any different?
Being in the right body helps me to stay focused on the game than, say, the distress. When I began my change, I was into rock climbing. I went on the testosterone hormone blockers, and I suddenly found, when I was in Wales, on a cliff face, that I’d lost so much strength, and I wasn’t able to do climbs that I could before. But I grew much weaker, and it required a lot of adjustment.
Climbing is all power (and I suppose freedom)—it’s unique to energy. It’s all fast-twitch muscle fibers [built for quick, powerful movements like in powerlifting]; with endurance, it’s all slow quiver [fibers, for activities like long-distance running]. I had a body with more fast-twitch muscle fibers than slow-twitch muscle fibers. So it’s taken a longer time to build up my endurance features.
‘I went on hormone blockers, and unexpectedly in Wales on a rock face, found I’d lost so much power’
What’s your finest success?
Surely the Ironman. That day was so incredible. Running was never my strongest art form, so I had planned to cycle quickly and swim efficiently to save me enough time if I needed to walk during the running portion. But all I had to do was keep going. I did it in 11 hours and 16 minutes! And I was concerned about passing the 17-hour threshold! It was just remarkable; actually crazy.
What do you think will happen to sexual transgender and non-binary athletes in the game?
Sports should be for absolutely anyone. And my hope is that sports governing bodies will stop yielding to pressure from a small number of extremely vocal organizations that they are frequently lobbying. They won, and they banned us from two different activities, England Athletics and British Triathlon.
There’s no evidence or completed research to say that we have an advantage. We are aware, particularly in endurance activities, that the gap between men and women is much smaller. Up until recently, the longest, hardest running race in this country was The Spine Race, and that [record] was held by a female. So they got us banned, without any real data.
I hope that people will quit clinging to stereotypes in the future. It seems to me that they’re taking the path of least resistance, because transgender people make up only 1% of the population. Due to the negative perceptions that surround sports, the majority of us avoid participating. Few transgender women are involved in sports, which is unfortunate.
I understand why governing bodies would give in to the constant campaigning to get us excluded because they will disturb just one or two people like me while keeping a select few people happy. There’s so much misleading information that is being used. But we deserve a place in sports, and we deserve to be respected. We deserve to get welcomed.
Do you believe that the biggest problem facing trans athletes today is that these governing bodies have such a stranglehold on passing laws?
I think that is the biggest issue. I believe that European Triathlon was the first to outlaw us. Triathlon competitions may be held in the UK without having their sanction by them. To allow me to civilization, they must treat me like a person, which is unfair.
In my daily life, being transgender doesn’t come across my radar that much. I’m treated like a woman wherever I go: at work, when I go to the shops, every day. And then I turn up to a race, and all of a sudden, I’m put into a brush with a pile of people who are looking at me as if to say, “You’re in the wrong location. You’ve got the incorrect color swim hat on. You shouldn’t be here; you ought to be there with the women.” And it singles you out and makes you feel unwelcome.
Farrah Herbert// InstagramFarrah will be raising money for Children with Cancer UK, a cause close to her heart after her now grown-up son, Ollie, at just five years old, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
