Episodes

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...

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 underserved communities across Tanzania. Her work now includes safehouses for girls fleeing forced...

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 — but the quiet courage that appears at the edge of uncertainty, identity, aging, and ambition. This “...

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 climbing mango trees and sharing fruit with neighbors at 77. Raised off-grid on Oʻahu, Jock came of ag...

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 literally means “to knit” — body, mind, and life woven together — and how that philosophy can gu...

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 hardest, highest peaks on Earth. Along the way she’s survived avalanches, eight-day storms, and t...

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-based voices in nutrition today. 🧠 What You’ll Learn The 800-Gram Challenge: a data-driven, no-BS way ...

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 strength isn't just physical — it's the willingness to try again, and again, and again. In th...

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 storm-battered granite towers of the Bugaboos to the whitewater chaos of the Colorado River. But th...