Episodes

Ed Viesturs was a childhood hero of mine. When I was younger—dreaming about mountains—his story helped shape what I thought “greatness” actually was: more than bravado, but also patience, judgment, and the discipline to come home. In this episode, Ed takes us inside an 18-year mission: climbing all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks without supplemental oxygen—with Annapurna as the final, most dangerous obstacle. We talk about the real risk near the end of any long goal: when attention, press...

Greg Benning is a masters single sculler outside Boston — and at 64, he’s still finding ways to get faster. I came into this conversation not knowing much about rowing, but that’s exactly what made it powerful: once Greg translates the sport, what emerges is a universal framework for longevity performance. For the last 15 years, Greg’s question has been simple: can marginal gains in efficiency offset age-related decline? In this episode, he shares the practical systems that keep him sharp — f...

Amelia Boone rose to prominence in the early 2010s as one of obstacle racing’s most dominant competitors — known for thriving in long-format, high-suffering events and earning the “queen of pain” reputation. But this conversation is less about grit-as-identity… and more about what it takes to stay capable for decades. We talk about the hidden cost of over-optimizing, why Amelia stepped away from tracking sleep and HRV, and how longevity often demands a shift: from proving toughness to practicin...

What happens when the moment that changes your life doesn’t come from the “dangerous” thing… but from an ordinary day at home? Cedar Wright has spent decades in the vertical world—professional climber, storyteller, and filmmaker whose adventures helped bring climbing culture to a wider audience. But in this conversation, the sharpest lesson isn’t about climbing at all. It’s about how quickly capability can disappear—and how “next year” is never guaranteed. In this episode The freak accident t...

Amy Appelhans Gubsers (56) is a nurse at UCSF, a mom and grandma, and the first person to swim from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Farallon Islands—nearly 30 miles and roughly 17 hours in cold Pacific water, in what many consider shark territory. This is more than an epic swim. It’s a practical conversation about how big goals actually get done: patience over years, calm under pressure, and the ability to keep moving when conditions stop cooperating. In this episode: The long-game reality behin...

Overhead motion is everywhere — in sport and in life. This episode is a practical deep dive on shoulder pain with Dr. Tyler Nelson, who works primarily with climbers but applies the same principles across overhead athletes and active adults: build tolerance with smart progressions, manage volume, and avoid getting trapped chasing “perfect fixes.” What to expect This is more technical than a typical Ageless Athlete episode — but it stays grounded. You’ll get: a clearer way to think about overhe...

What if staying athletic for life isn’t about doing one thing really well — but learning how to start over, again and again? Susan Hunt has spent the last four decades doing exactly that. She describes herself as “very average” — yet she’s completed Ironman triathlons, raced the Eco-Challenge in Borneo, run the Marathon des Sables across the Sahara, and summited Mount Everest at 53. Now at 68, she’s still competing — recently winning her age group at a Half Ironman and qualifying for the World...

What does it take to stay capable through the years? Jason Hardrath is one of the most creative endurance athletes in the mountains today. An ultrarunner, climber, and mountain linkup specialist, Jason is known for massive single-push adventures that combine running, climbing, swimming, biking, and even paragliding. He has completed the Bulger List — the 100 highest peaks in Washington — in record time, along with numerous Fastest Known Times (FKTs) and ambitious multi-sport mountain projects...

What happens when the thing that defines you is suddenly taken away? For legendary American alpinist Jack Tackle, climbing wasn’t just a sport — it was identity. For more than five decades, Jack has explored remote mountains across Alaska, the Himalaya, and the Karakoram. He spent decades guiding in the Tetons and helping shape an era of bold American alpinism built on patience, partnership, and resilience. But in the year 2001, everything changed. Jack was struck by Guillain-Barré syndrome, ...

It’s March. The January energy has faded. The motivation posts are quieter. And this is where the real long game begins. In this episode, I lay out 10 non-negotiables for athletes who plan to keep performing — not just this year, but for decades. This isn’t about hype. It isn’t about biohacking. And it definitely isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about durability. Drawing from over 100 conversations with top athletes, as well as, coaches, and scientists on Ageless Athlete,— I unpac...

Why do we avoid the very feelings that might help us grow? In this conversation, Jerome Rand shares what it’s like to spend 271 days alone at sea—crossing oceans with no easy way out, no distractions, and nowhere to hide. But this is more than just a story about sailing. It’s about what happens when you sit with discomfort long enough for it to change you. We talk about: why real growth often feels like resistance, not progress what prolonged solitude reveals about your mind&...

What does running feel like inside one of the most controlled countries in the world? Johan Nylander entered North Korea shortly after it reopened—joining a small group of foreign visitors to run the Pyongyang Marathon. At 52, he found himself on a starting line few outsiders ever experience. But this story doesn’t start there. After years covering geopolitics across Asia, Johan was burned out—physically depleted and struggling to run even a single kilometer. What followed was a quiet rebuild...

This episode brings together moments from conversations recorded throughout 2025 with athletes who have spent decades working inside uncertainty — in the mountains, on open water, on the road, and in daily training. What connects these excerpts is more than accomplishment or outcome. It’s how each person has learned to operate when conditions narrow, when simplicity, judgment, and restraint matter more than force. Every clip comes from a full-length episode in the Ageless Athlete back catalog....

What if the story you’ve been told about aging joints isn’t the whole story? In this episode of Ageless Athlete, I speak with orthopedic surgeon and researcher Dr. Kevin Stone about what’s recently changed in orthopedics — especially for athletes over 40 who’ve been told to slow down, live with pain, or prepare for joint replacement. Dr. Stone shares how modern approaches are shifting from simply removing damaged tissue to repairing, replacing, or regenerating it, and why many people referred...

At 62, David Green did something radical. He stopped outsourcing his health to protocols and supplements—and started paying closer attention to how his body actually responded. What followed wasn’t decline. It was clarity. In this conversation, David shares why stepping away from supplements helped him simplify his training, sharpen his instincts, and ultimately find his best shape—strong enough to run across Europe in his sixties. David has spent decades in endurance sport and long-for...

This episode brings together moments from conversations recorded across the first half of 2025 — voices from different sports, environments, and stages of life, each describing how they continue to train, move, and stay engaged as conditions change. These clips span endurance running, climbing, paddling, cycling, swimming, and exploration. What connects them is more than performance level or accomplishment, but also the way each athlete thinks about adaptation — physically, psychologically, a...

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 language, infrastructure, or spectators. Since then, he’s lived a migratory life shaped by mountains, ...

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 breakfast. On nearly every episode of Ageless Athlete, I ask a simple question: “Where are you...

“When I tell people I started sailing at sixty, they’re shocked. We don’t see our sixties as a place to begin — which is tragic, especially if you’ve invested in your health. What’s the point, if not to do something fantastic?” In this New Year’s Eve episode of Ageless Athlete, I sit down with Deborah Hammett, a former school principal who did something most people never consider — she learned to sail at 60, moved onto a boat, and now lives and travels solo by sea. Deborah’s story isn’t really...

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 — an experience that strips away ego and rewards preparation, judgment, and restraint. But this conv...

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 Dr. Wood explains, they don’t create the kind of stimulus the brain needs to adapt over decades. Ins...

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 changing body, this episode is very much in that spirit. We recorded this conversation back in Ma...

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 of American climbing. Russ shares rare, behind-the-scenes stories from his incredible career, i...

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. This is not just a running episode. It’s about recovery, identity, and the small, consistent choic...