The Athletic Philosopher Podcast

I'm a GIANT ice hockey fan and a couple of gigantic records have fallen in the past few weeks that made me want to reflect on the meaning of breaking through in sports. Centered on the greatness of the legendary careers of Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, I discuss their records and the deep significance sports holds in breaking limitations in the mind by forcing us to 'watch the impossible become...

This is a fun episode where I go all in on the value of going on camping adventures with your family. Part philosophy, part narrative, I dive into the past as tell a great story from the first time my wife and I took our 4 month old daughter tent camping.  The modern world is oversaturated in comfort to the point we isolate from eachother even inside our own homes. Camping brings us into moments o...

This is a bit of different episode where I respond directly to a question one of my followers and friends asked me on social media. They wanted to know where the term 'elbows up' comes from in hockey and why the new Canadian Prime Minister and many Canadians are using this term to discuss their political stance against perceived American aggression. I spent years researching and writing about Cana...

Adults make the world too serious by misunderstanding play and then wonder why they lead unhappy lives empty of meaning. It's the same as a child who's told that they must always be doing serious work. This is a clarion call to stop consuming play and start creating it as an adult. In Episode 31 I swirl hard around one of my core pillars of athletic morality, the importance of fun. Instead of just...

Episode 30 was tough to record because I'm forced to open up about the REAL reason I failed to hit 100 miles last year at the 2024 Prairie on Fire Backyard Ultra. After months of reflection and rethinking logistics and strategies I came face to face with the real truth of why I decided to stop running after 21 hours and 87.5 miles. A philosopher goes to the truth, and finds the courage to face it...

Episode 29 doubles down on an emerging format for my solo podcasts I hit upon in Episode 28. Using the same conversations and concepts I preach in my coaching calls lit me up and helped me find a dramatic and passionate voice on that pod and I wanted to try it again. "The Truth is in the Training" is a tag I've developed over the past year of coaching, training, and competing and I wanted to explo...

Episode 28 deals with a topic close to my heart. Instead of focusing on mindset in the athletic pursuit of self discovery and improvement I want us to instead aim towards our heartstance. The idea of the open and closed heart leading towards and away from the truth is an idea that's fascinated me since stumbling across the phrasing and ideal while reading the Exodus story. I've recently started ap...

Best Day Ever as I welcome my brother, tribal teammate, and legendary athlete, trainer, and adventurer Mike Donatelli to the show. We discuss why fun is perhaps the most important element of a consistent fitness routine. Aimed at beginners, experts, and every one in between in the fitness world, we dive into the meaning of fun in training and how to properly orient your fitness around it. We talk...

This episode I welcome AJ Londono, owner of ELVT movement, to the show to discuss broad philosophies of movement, flow, challenge, life, and the pursuit of creativity and fun through movement, exercise, and sport. AJ teaches unique concepts of motion and ties them to a philosophy of life growth and purpose. We dive deep into his idea and how they align with ancient Greek and Taoist conceptions of...

This podcast is a raw and unfiltered exploration of the ideas that have swirled through my mind and heart after running a 50 mile trail race with 13 of my Tribal Training Teammates. My job was to live coach athletes through the struggles and adversity nature throws you in  such a demanding race. I'm using the race experience to explore the importance of the open heart as the vehicle that aims us t...

In this episode I go HARD on the idea that our minds determine the quality of our experiences and the crucial role of athletics in making us believers in the power of our subjective framing of objective reality.  When you push yourself hard in sports and training, you realize how much the mind holds you back from what the body is truly capable of performing. I share a few stories of athletes I've...

A special episode, the first recorded from my new home in the United States after growing up and living my whole life in Canada. As a Canadian sport historian, it felt appropriate to talk about what I love most about Canadian culture and spirit, and that means explaining why we love winter sports and why they are our best national identifier. Come along on this broad exploration of historical fact...

In this episode I dive deep into the chaos of my life over the past month as my family picked up and moved from a rural Ontario village to the North Chicago suburbs.  This move has been a tremendous trial of having things be completely outside of your control while being uncertain in each important variable. Such trials swallow people and families whole. I recognized early on the true challenges d...

Episode 21 is a clarion call to action for how I want you to approach 2025. No more living behind fear and calling it a 'justification.' 2025 is the year of Courage. Instead of letting fear determine our course, let's together determine to move through fear with righteous action. I explore the connection between daily training and competing in sports with generating real courage in our lives to be...

This episode is a nice overview of the winter mindset I've cultivated for the past 10+ years after learning deeply about the history of winter sports in Canada as a PhD student. For me, the winter is the season of growth.  I want everyone to understand how to thrive in winter instead of being ground down by it's constant challenges. I go back to my own transformation in mindset on the winter and h...

For this episode I welcome the excellent Dennis Michael Hynes (@HynesDm) onto the podcast for an open exploratory conversation. I'm inspired by Dennis' creativity in his golden years to use physical training as a place of creativity and growth. He provides deep takes on why we need to embrace challenge and I've enjoyed our online interactions immensely. This is our first time talking in person and...

I'm excited to welcome Brent from the excellent @AimingUpPodcast to the show to dive deep into the connections between sport and philosophy. We circled hard around the idea that sport and philosophy both aim us towards truth as the best connection between the two. From the recent Jake Paul/Mike Tyson fight, the athletic scandals of the 2024 Olympics, and probing our own minds and experiences, this...

This is a special episode where I dive deep with my Tribal Training teammate Keith Marquis about his experience the past year building up towards IronMan Florida. It's the most intimate look I've given yet of how I coach my guys and girls towards their best selves through athletic competition. Keith and I began talking shortly before he raced IronMan Florida in 2023 and I began helping guide him t...

In this episode I go over my recent race experience as a coach at IronMan Florida. Serving alongside Tribal Training head coach Ryan Dreyer, I fulfilled my role as Tribal Prof live coaching 10 of our athletes across the finish line. Rather that just give an account of what happened, I take care to describe why these races give us a moment to investigate how we create the 'stories we tell ourselves...

It's not the big race, the dramatic landscape, or the personal record that make the most meaningful run. In this episode I talk about how a seemingly ordinary 4 mile road run in the country roads outside my small village turned into a powerful moment of meaning, something deeper than anything I've ever experienced on a run before.  I put on my historian hat to describe the run, why it meant so muc...

I return to philosophizing in real time on this latest episode, swirling around the idea of taking yourself to and beyond physical ruin in a racing context. Inspired by two athlete coaching calls with my Tribal Training I wanted to take some space and explore what 'going to the limit' looks like for different individuals. Given that we take these athletic journey to better know ourselves and aim t...

In this episode I dive deep into my decision making process and the direction I've aimed when selecting all of my races for 2025. There are so many variables at play when choosing how many and which specific races to sign up for. Too often, people pick races based on the wrong aims and it ends up ruining the potential value of that race. Sometimes, the pick is so bad that it's the final race for g...

In this episode I look into the first organized sporting experience for my little 3 year old son. He's learning to play ice hockey and the growing pains of learning to skate have been incredible to watch. The progress he's made in just 3 sessions opened up to opportunity to talk about what's changed from his first time on the ice this year to the one last weekend which saw him smiling ear to ear t...

In this episode, I get to play the proud Dad and talk about what I saw transpire in my daughter for her 3rd Terry Fox Day at her school. I also moonlight as a Canadian sport historian, with a short description of Terry Fox, his Marathon of Hope, and why he stands as the paragon of Canadian sport heroism.  It was truly inspirational to watch my daughter embody all of the great sporting virtues that...

Very excited to welcome Patrick Flynn to the podcast to have an open conversation on the nexus between philosophy and sport and how we can incorporate them into living 'the good life.' Patrick is a kettlebell trainer who's currently working towards a philosophy PhD and has personal and intellectual ideas on the value of sport.   We discuss Aristotelian virtue ethics, the importance of sacrifice an...