Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life

What does “use it or lose it” actually mean after 60 — when recovery slows, strength is harder to regain, and stopping even briefly can change what’s possible? Buzz Burrell is one of the quiet architects of modern mountain and trail culture, to talk about consistency — not as motivation, but as survival. Buzz ran his first ultramarathon nearly six decades ago, long before endurance sports had lang...

What do world-class athletes actually eat — not in theory, not on Instagram, but in real life, day after day? After more than 100 conversations with elite climbers, ultrarunners, surfers, and endurance athletes, I started noticing a pattern I didn’t expect. It wasn’t about optimization.  It wasn’t about trends.  And it definitely wasn’t about eating something new every day. It started with breakfa...

“When I tell people I started sailing at sixty, they’re shocked.” We don’t often think of our sixties as a time to begin something new—which is part of the problem. In this New Year’s Eve episode, I sit down with Deborah Hammett, a former school principal who learned to sail at 60, moved onto a boat, and now travels solo by sea. But this story isn’t really about sailing. It’s about what happens wh...

What does it really take to stay strong into your 70s — physically, mentally, and emotionally? In this episode, I sit down with Steve Swenson , one of America’s most respected alpinists, to talk about endurance, aging, and the habits that have kept him moving for decades. Steve has climbed Everest and K2, completed first ascents in the Karakoram, and summited Everest without supplemental oxygen —...

What really keeps the brain sharp as we age — and what quietly puts it at risk? In this episode of the Ageless Athlete Podcast , host Kush Khandelwal speaks with Dr. Tommy Wood , neuroscientist, physician, and strength athlete, about the science of cognitive reserve and why long-term brain health depends on challenge, learning, and effort — not comfort or flow . Flow states feel rewarding, but as...

This week’s episode is a little different. Instead of interviewing a legendary athlete or coach, I was invited onto the Adventure Sports Podcast to talk about the questions that many of us — everyday athletes, weekend warriors, late bloomers, and lifelong learners — wrestle with as we get older. If you come to Ageless Athlete for honest conversations about aging, movement, and staying curious in a...

What happens when a life in climbing spans five decades, multiple eras, and some of the most surprising moments in outdoor history? In this episode, legendary climber Russ Clune takes us inside the world that shaped him: the Shawangunks (“the Gunks”) of the 1970s and 80s — an unlikely counterculture just two hours from Manhattan where artists, dirtbags, misfits, and pioneers built the early soul o...

What happens after you run for five straight days — 466 miles , 111 hours , two broken ribs, a torn hamstring… and then go right back to teaching high-school civics on Monday? In this rare, intimate conversation, ultrarunner Harvey Lewis shares a front-row look into his healing journey after Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra — widely considered one of the toughest and strangest endurance races in the world...

When Loree Bolin was told she’d never run again, she didn’t just defy expectations — she redefined them. At 70, Loree completed her 11th Ironman triathlon after years of battling knee osteoarthritis. But this isn’t just a story about sport. It’s about service. A retired dentist and lifelong endurance athlete, Loree sold her practice at 60 to launch a nonprofit bringing medical and dental care to u...

This quarter on Ageless Athlete brought together some of the most surprising and meaningful stories of the year — from record-setting endurance swimmers to rebel skateboarders, alpinists, paddlers, big-wall climbers, and athletes redefining what’s possible in their 60s and 70s. Across ten very different conversations, one theme kept surfacing:   Courage in uncomfortable places. Not the loud kind —...

What happens when you mix psychedelics with some of the most fearsome waves on Earth?  What does it take to stay curious, joyful, and deeply alive—well into your 70s? In this wide spanning conversation, legendary surfer Jock Sutherland joins Ageless Athlete to talk about the radical experiences, deep values, and spiritual practices that shaped his life—from surfing Pipeline in the 1960s to climbin...

After 60 years in the weight room, Dan John has distilled fitness down to its essence: Move well. Lift often. Walk every day. Recover deeply. In this conversation, Dan joins host Kush Khandelwal to share the universal rules for staying strong and mobile through every decade — especially for climbers, runners, and outdoor athletes looking to balance performance and longevity. They unpack how fit li...

Imagine growing up in the conservative Deep South, where young women were expected to play it safe Now imagine trading that world for Himalayan storms, frozen walls, and a seven-year stretch of living out of a Subaru to chase something bigger. Kitty Calhoun did exactly that. She became the first North American woman to summit Dhaulagiri and the first woman to climb Makalu’s West Pillar —two of the...

Nutrition advice is everywhere — and most of it overcomplicates what should be simple.  In this replay, EC Synkowski , founder of Optimize Me Nutrition and creator of the 800-Gram Challenge , shares a refreshingly practical approach to fueling performance, recovery, and longevity. She’s coached CrossFit athletes, corporate teams, and everyday movers — and she’s one of the most grounded, science-ba...

At 59, Charlotte Brynn has swum across some of the world’s most punishing channels — in pitch black, in near-freezing water, and even after being bitten by a shark. But her story is more than toughness. It’s about what happens when you don’t reach your goal — not once, but five times. It’s about staying in the fight for 12 years to complete the English Channel. And it’s about discovering that real...

What does it take to climb into the unknown — when you can’t see the way forward? Erik Weihenmayer is one of the most accomplished adventure athletes of our time. The first blind person to summit Mount Everest, he has since climbed the Seven Summits, led expeditions around the world, and kayaked the full 277 miles of the Grand Canyon. Now 56, Erik continues to seek awe and discomfort — from the st...

What does it look like to age curiously , train smarter , and build a life of meaning—together? Meet Joan Weisberg-Beyerlein and Doug Beyerlein : partners in life, love, and adventure. At 75, Joan is training for a 10-mile open water swim in Vermont. Doug is still running ultramarathons and logging 3-hour trail runs for fun. Between them, they’ve overcome addiction, burnout, injury, and the daily...

What does it take to bet everything on a dream? To live out of a van before it was fashionable, to commit to hard lines with no guarantee of success, and to walk away from risk when the stakes are too high? For Canadian climber Sonnie Trotter , it has always come down to conviction. From iconic ascents like Cobra Crack and The Path to bold multi-pitch routes on El Capitan, Sonnie has built a caree...

What does it take to come back after a body-breaker of an injury— not once, but sixteen times ? Chris Anthony is a legendary ski athlete, filmmaker, and adventurer who has stared down more than his fair share of wipeouts, surgeries, and life-altering setbacks. But instead of fading quietly from the spotlight, Chris rebuilt. Physically. Mentally. Spiritually. In this episode, we explore what it rea...

Last week in Part I, we began our journey with legendary alpinist Jim Donini — exploring his surprise cancer diagnosis, his early days in Yosemite, and the philosophy that has defined his career: “Getting to the top is optional. Getting back down is mandatory.” In this second part of our conversation, we turn from the mountains themselves to the human side of Jim’s story. At 82, Jim reflects on: T...

For more than five decades, Jim Donini has defined what it means to be an alpinist. Not by chasing the tallest mountains or summit glory, but by seeking out the hardest lines in the world’s most remote ranges — places where storms, hunger, and survival itself are never guaranteed. Now at 82, Jim is still climbing, still dreaming, and still teaching us what resilience looks like. In this first of a...

At age 49, Susan Marie Conrad paddled 1,200 miles—alone—through the remote, storm-swept waters of the Alaskan Inside Passage. Twelve years later, at 61, she went back and did it again. In this powerful conversation, Susan shares what it means to return—not just to the same wild coastline, but as a different person. We unpack what changes when you chase something bold later in life, how nature resh...

At 65, Judi Oyama is still lining up at the start gate — not in a “Masters” category, but shoulder-to-shoulder with athletes half, or even a quarter her age. She’s a World Champion slalom skateboarder, a Guiness record holder, a Hall of Fame inductee, and a pioneer who’s been breaking barriers since she first picked up a board in Santa Cruz in the early 1970s. Back then, women’s divisions barely e...

Physiotherapist, coach, and lifelong climber Andy McVittie is back for the final chapter of our three-part deep dive into aging well, moving well, and living without fear of injury. If you haven’t listened to Part I ( The Movement Optimist: Knees, Shoulders, Elbows, Hips, Bulletproof Yourself! Never Late to Get Strong! ) or Part II ( Aging Joints & Grateful Bodies: Elbows, Fingers, Sleep, and...

Every few months, I pause to reflect on the conversations that left a mark—ones I keep thinking about long after the recording stops. This episode is a curated collection of those moments from Q2 2025. You’ll hear stories that go beyond performance. These are reflections on resilience, identity, aging, and the human drive to keep exploring what’s possible—physically and emotionally. In this episod...