The Athletic Philosopher Podcast

Let the experimentation begin! Episode 59 is my bold attempt to synthesize reviews from the latest book I've read and the just released Tribal Training documentary film that captured our adventure in February running a 50 mile trail ultra with 13 athletes. The book The Doctor and the Soul by Viktor Frankl is his theoretical and practical explanation of how to treat the soul of individuals by makin...

This episode is a live demonstration of how to mine meaning from a training session. I was inspired to record my thoughts on a barefoot beach 1/2 marathon that has been anchoring my training since completing my A-Race of the year 4 weeks ago.  By going over why I set this mini-goal, I end up cycling all the way back to my initial 'falling in love' with trail running moment that has propelled my fi...

The Great Mike Donatelli returns to the podcast to discuss his transformation in fitness and life by training for a fast marathon.  Moving from wrestling and strength training, we discuss Mike's pursuit of a sub-3 hour marathon result, why this type of training is fun and meaningful to him, how he's become a runner in body, mind, and spirit, and how training out of passion truly orients one's life...

I'm delighted to welcome back my great friend Mahmoud Rasmi, aka 'DecafQuest' to the show and ever more excited to announce our monthly episode schedule. As a fellow philosopher (with actual philosophic training) Mahmoud and I are going to start once a month conversation to continue exploring the deep world of sports and how a philosophical approach can teach us more about them and how to use them...

Prairie on Fire 2025 marked the first time I got to meet my longest online homie Mr. Ronald Potts, and it was also his very first official race. So I needed to invite him onto the show to provide him the space needed to make sense and meaning of his race experience (he CRUSHED a brand new PR and had an amazing day!) This is a live coaching session, the same that I go through with my athletes and 1...

This is deepest dive I've ever done on my own race experience after a big time competition. I've done lots of coaching reflections, but never drilled down into the specifics of my own aim, attitude, execution, and recollections of the event.  POF '25 will go down as the race that introduced my family to my world of training, racing, coaching, and mentoring. I'm forever grateful for the opportunity...

A little late but better than never, this is the podcast I recorded before heading out with the family and team to take down the Prairie on Fire Backyard Ultra.  Rather than focus on physical training alone, I set up how a holistic approach to training kept me grounded during a crazy 6 weeks before race day and how I manage to keep on track with training all while aiming towards a deeper meaning t...

In this episode, I hand over my hosting job to the fabulous online philosopher Mahmoud Rasmi (AKA Decafquest @decafquest) to interrogate my philosophical ideas on the role and value of sport.  It's a live exhibition into a philosophical debate but also one where I'm put on the defensive and forced to present and then defend my views, similar to how an athlete subjects themselves to the rigor and o...

"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." This famous quote from the Ancient Greek Philosopher Heraclitus sets the stage for a deep reflective dive into my recent experiences running trails back in Canada. I became a trail runner out of deep love of the activity and have missed the rugged forest trails since moving to the North Shore of Chi...

Episode 50! Wow team, we made it. In this episode I dive deep into the spiritual nature of athletic training by synthesizing the classical Greek ideal of 'virtue' with the ancient Hebrew ideal of 'holiness.' I make my argument that practicing sports towards this nature can indeed make one holy and provide historical, philosophical, and theological evidence. This ideal forms the basis of how I prac...

This is another direct response episode where I answer a question directed at me by coaching clients, teammates, or mutuals on social media. Two of my teammates mentioned how they wanted to know my process for creating and putting together a book I have planned for a 2027 release. Perfect opportunity to describe how I'm thinking about creative output and process in 2025 and how it maps up to my su...

Episode 48 is another direct response to a question I got on social media, this time asking for my 'professor's' take on the difference between rituals and routines. I love this topic as it let's me talk about the importance of intention and aim when it comes to fitness, especially making it a consistent part of your life for both physical and spiritual health.  Take a listen and think about ways...

This is the one where I go deep into the nature of sport and it's ability to define and reshape reality.  After a good prompt from my own coach and a fellow philosopher, both of whom I'll be racing with later this summer, I needed to hit record and let my stream of consciousness flow forth freely.  I have deep ideas on the purpose of sport and one of the 'wilder' theories I have is it as the best...

This episode goes deep into my philosophical and historical take on the recent Scottie Scheffler press conference where he seemingly dismissed the outcomes of sport as meaningful.  After two tribal athletes I coach pinged me for my take I knew I had to hit record and let fly.  Perfect timing because I've been meditating on core concepts from the ancient greeks and also the importance of internal m...

In this episode I peel back the curtain and discuss my practice of stacking small wins in fitness over a long time span that lead to incredible growth over that time period. I share how I've gone about staying consistent over the past 12 years that has me in the best fitness of my life as I aim at turning 40 next year.  My methods are more intuitive and feel based but are backed by expert trainers...

Episode 44 is my response to a question I get all the time from people when they find out I'm an endurance athlete who likes to run long distance "What do you think about?" I detail the 3 main categories of thought that I oscillate between on runs to describe my beliefs on the meditative aspect of running without external distraction or stimulus. I then use those  3 categories to provide you 3 way...

Episode 43 takes a bit of a different turn but it's all part of the same long winding path of using athletic training to mine the depth of truth in our lives. This episode is a direct response to a fellow academic traveller I met during the free speech wars of 2017-18 when I was a university professor making enemies in the administration that likely led to me parting ways with the Ivory Tower a fe...

Episode 42 is why I love hosting a sport philosophy based podcast. In this wide ranging and expansive conversation, world class brand builder Torrey Dawley and I swirl around how to realize our individual essence in the world through an understanding of physicality and passion.  Not many conclusions but a treasure trove of golden nuggets of wisdom abound for all of us to consider. If you are in bu...

Episode 41 blends the 30,000ft view with the literal steps on the ground in talking about a recent run where I felt a moment of 'athletic transcendence' in my performance.  I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to get out of the run, but I knew I wanted it to be framed by a passage in the latest Tribal Book Club selection, “The Game'“ by legendary Montreal Canadiens Goaltender Ken Dryden. It’s a fee...

Episode 40 takes you on the wild ride that was my Pirate King of the Suburbs Marathon. I ran 13.1 trail miles and 13.1 road miles from my front door, in a fasted state, without taking any food or water on the run with me as a way to proclaim my arrival in Suburbia.  I go into where this challenge came from, how it materialized in my mind in January '25 when we moved to the North Shore suburbs of C...

Episode 39 goes hard on Team Tribal's epic race weekend at IronMan Chattanooga 70.3 where 19 Tribal athletes, 2 coaches, and an army of family supporters showed up ready to pour our their hearts on race day.  This is the definitive guide to my own experiences, how our team does race day differently than any other sporting organization in the world, and what I saw in each athlete over the course of...

You're in for a treat with this discussion between myself and ultra running superhero Barefoot Ken. On the day after I completed a fasted, no water, no fuel marathon I sat down with only other person I've met who didn't think it was insane and has done it himself as well.  We dive into why we enjoy running in a spiritual way that harness adversity and eschews comfort so we can learn deep lessons a...

This episode goes deep inside the competing pressures of competing in sports seriously as an adult. There's a paradox at play and we don't shy away from diving right into the middle of it. Exercise and sports should be built upon a spiritual foundation, that is, a practice that ennobles character and leads to self discovery and truth, in order to experience them at their best. But does caring deep...

This episode features an open ended conversation about the subjective value of running with creative writing professor Scott Parker, of Montana State University, that he captured in his upcoming book "How to Run: A DIY Guide for Romantics" We discuss the unique ability of running as vehicle of self-knowing and self-discovery, why you need to hit the trails in the winter, why the numbers block us o...

This episode is all about the Tribal Training Book Club I launched and how reading the first title unfolded. I picked 'Walden' by Henry David Thoreau for a few reasons and I detail all the lessons learned. The importance of community and leadership in holding you accountable to establishing a daily practice was one big takeaway.  Another was the value of internal knowing and how to create ease in...