The Athletic Philosopher Podcast

"The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you....If the machine produces tranquility than it's right." - Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance In this episode I welcome fitness coach Ronald Potts to the podcast to discuss a few book snippets on the meaning of working on a machine, highlighted by the above quote, and how we can use that metaphor to think about physica...

Inspired by the book club I'm running inside my fitness coaching community, The Temple, this episode explores what I'm learning about my training through keeping my own 'quality' exercise journal. Inside The Temple we are reading 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' by Robert Pirsig and finding harmony between the experience and the measurements when it comes to our own training. As a fitne...

Episode 82 welcomes the great Alli Covington to the show for a shorter episode that is deep on wisdom on the power of fitness to make you a positive thinker.  Alli is an M.A in counselling psychology who also trains individuals in fitness and has a unique approach to training. In this powerful conversation, she teaches us what positive thinking truly is and how consistency in the gym breeds it aut...

I won't bury the lead, I made it past the starting line and across the finish line in my very first Triathlon race, Chattanooga 70.3 on May 17, 2026 In this race recap I bring you inside the physical effort and into my experience in the swim, bike, and run like only an athletic philosopher can. How was I able to train in an unorthodox style while still being able to put up a great time as a first...

It's RACE WEEK!  I've been building towards my first 70.3 for months and it's finally the week to put it all together. I've found that to get the most meaning out of these big time events that require tremendous effort and sacrifice it's best to pause and reflect on the big picture of the journey. Specifically, how you've grown as a person towards your best potential through the build to race day....

In this special episode I pour out my open heart for my love of the Montreal Canadiens as this team, that city, and the sport of ice hockey are moving in powerfully meaningful ways in my life right now. I bounce around philosophy, history, psychology, my own experiences, and the sage wisdom of athletes and philosophers to paint a mosaic of meaning around how and why I find it valuable to cheer and...

Turning 40 is a big deal, and even though I tried not to let the milestone number affect my thoughts on growing older there is a stark truth. The body and the spirit know you're turning 40 and they will let you know about it!  Turns out I needed to apply the ancient wisdom I've been helping the guys I coach come to terms with their own aging bodies and how to keep the athletic spirit alive as they...

This is a special episode that celebrates New York Times best selling author Martin Dugard's newest book documenting the rise of distance running in the 20th century "The Long Run." After devouring the advance copy Martin was gracious enough to send me we dove deep into the intertwining narratives and themes he captured eloquently and passionately in this ode to the heroes and characters that help...

We dive back into the world of training and competing in this episode. I give you a behind the wizard's curtain look into how I am thinking about my next race, Chattanooga 70.3 in May, 2026.  This is thin on technical elements and heavy on getting inside of the nature of the competition to best understand the ways needed to both complete and train for it.  I show you specifically how I reverse eng...

In this episode we all get schooled by the great Dr. Phil Pearlman in how to properly approach fitness and life coaching. He and I take you behind the curtain into the minds of two coaches who want to help people take control of their physical health as a starting point to living towards their true potential in all areas of life. We move through discussions on psychology, our personal approaches,...

Episode 74 is an addendum on Episode 73 which in itself is an addendum on Episode 72 where I explore the different dualities in sports starting with endurance characters, moving through fundamental building blocks of reality, and ending with the moral duality of good and evil that is exorcised through sports. I dissect how proper aim in the physical produces moral situations where we bring goodnes...

This is a wild exploration into the nether regions of thought and experience, live philosophizing at its finest. This is an extension of thought off of Episode 72: The Two Types of Endurance Athletes  I dive deep into the idea of the dual elements of reality that I believe best explain how we experience life and that are revealed and understood most properly in intentional intense physical activit...

This is a straight up philosophizing episode that took a sharp turn into a talk with myself about my upcoming jump into the world of endurance triathlon competition. Coming out of my last 50 mile race, I started thinking about what kind of person gravitates towards these ultra endurance events. Thinking about myself and Tribal Training head coach and founder Ryan Dreyer helped my come up with two...

This is another direct response episode to a conversation I started on social media about the difference between the mind searching for truth and the heart knowing the Truth.  I dive deep into why the center of your body must be the place that points towards meaning and break down why the mind cannot be the one that's providing the aim in this crucial area of your life.  The element of physically...

This is the second interview in my new series "Personal Transcendence Through Sport" and I'm excited for everyone to hear the story of Jason Parker who found a familiar yet unknown version of himself through conquering the Oracle Rumble 50 miles trail ultra we ran together on Jan 31, 2026 with 11 of our Tribal Training Teammates. Hear how this one moment is the culmination of years of intentional...

The first interview of 2026 kicks off a new series I'm hoping to bring to the Athletic Philosopher and there's no better first guest that Phil Lee. The series aims to bring on people who have seen their lives break open through athletic pursuit, real stories of transcending themselves by taking on big physical challenges in sport. Phil Lee is the creator and owner of ENAK Seasonings, a bi-vocation...

After a spirited discussion on the value and utility of competition in adults athletics in my Temple coaching group I decided to bring out the big guns and make a full and passioned argument on behalf of getting into the game out of necessity. This is especially important for adult athletes who don't want to get caught back up in the world of chasing goals, outcomes, and achievements for their own...

We're back with the first episode of 2026!  Come along for the ride as I recap the Frozen Gnome winter 50K trail race I completed on January 10, 2026 and how I'm able to use the race result as a measuring stick for personal development and character growth. I took on my first solo race as a way to attempt to better understand and harmonize elements of selflessness and selfishness that at times bat...

In this episode I recap the events of my 'off the couch' fast and smooth marathon attempt from December 4, 2025.  Tale of the Tape: 26.2 Miles (23 on snow) / 3 hr 57 min 11 second elapsed : 3 hr 54 min 58 second 'chip' / 18F (-8C) / Kid pickup 30 minutes after ending  Come inside the effort as I go deep into how I took down a snow marathon in my own unique style. I break down the gear, the pacing,...

This was a fun experiment in podcasting, my very first LIVE podcast that was streamed on Twitter as I recorded. I wanted to bring you inside of how I think about planning and executing improvised physical challenges that are just for me.  I'm running an 'off the couch' fast and smooth marathon but winter has conspired to complicate the entire idea of why I wanted to do it. But as often happens, th...

This episode I fall back into professor mode and take a deep page out of my old academic expertise, the connection of certain sports to certain national identities, to mine the meaning out of two big time sporting events I experience this week. The first was a Saturday Night hockey game in Utah and the second is the wave of NFL games played on the American Thanksgiving Holiday. Come along for a jo...

In this shorter episode I take you inside one of the coolest methods of training I've created for myself as an athletic artist. This 'Enter the Game' method is a perfect way to calibrate the tension between the measures of training and the meaning of training. It's a way to hold yourself accountable to a high standard of progressing in your sport while also taking the pressure off having to be 'on...

On January 10, 2026 I will toe the line for my first ever solo race when I take on the Frozen Gnome 50K Trail Ultra in Crystal Lake, Illinois. In this episode I go deep into my own tumultuous relationship with competition, why I believe now is the time to reengage in a world of high competitive pressures, and how this race is a situated in a long series of process related achievements in training...

2026 is the Year of the Race for me and I want to bring you inside both my thought process on how this all happened but most importantly to bring you deep inside my fitness process that I've been living for over a dozen years.  I detail why I've signed up for 5 big endurance races, 1 solo and 4 team races with Tribal Training. I'm also breaking into the world of endurance triathlon, taking on both...

I'm honored to welcome Collin Brown to the podcast to discuss how faith and fitness merge in both theory and practice in this wide ranging exploratory discussion. Both Collin and I lean on theological ideas in our fitness coaching practices and I invited him to continue a discussion we started on his podcast a few weeks back. Collin shares his experiences as a counsellor, fitness instructor, and f...