The Athletic Philosopher Podcast

Episode 62: The meaning of running my first solo race

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 and life. 
This episode is also a guide for the person who wants to get into athletic competition as an adult but without feeling a hollowness when the finish line passes. Instead, by selecting a competition that elevates the training, which is aimed at elevating your life, you ensure that you engage in a meaningful and transcendent process of overcoming the self so you get to celebrate the starting line.
That's how I go about it and guide my coaching clients as well, now it's time to live it and share it! 
If you are interested in contacting me about 1-1 or group coaching services head to https://www.phyaacademy.com/pages/contact
If you are interested in serious athletic training aimed at overall life improvement and want to join our endurance training team at Tribal Training head to https://traintribal.com/
Let's keep winning together team! 

Episode 61: The Year of the Race: 5 races in 2026 and why I chose to go big

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 a half and full IronMan in 2026, and spill the story on what brought me into this world.
This 'year of the race' is simply an evolution, refinement, and elevation of the same fitness process that has helped me stay consistent in fitness, improving year over year, and remaining injury free for the past dozen years and my hope is to inspire each listener to double down on their own process when selecting competitions.
I end the podcast with 3 key lessons you need to take into consideration if you want to compete in sports as an adult with assurance that it won't become a hollow effort that's defined only by the outcome, but instead a meaningful journey from the start of training to when you reach the start line and get to celebrate your self transcendence through the training itself.
This is how we win together team! 
If you are interested in 1-1 coaching or learning about 'The Temple' my coaching group you can get into contact with me here: https://www.phyaacademy.com/pages/contact
If you enjoy this podcast, you'll love my writings on Substack, head on over to subscribe and never miss an article: https://jordanbgoldstein.substack.com/ 
If you are interested in Tribal Training and taking on a big endurance race with the team you can apply here: https://traintribal.com/ 

Episode 60: The Collision Between Faith and Fitness with Collin Brown

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 faith leader in helping us appreciate the deep philosophical components of combining fitness and faith to truly transform people from the inside out using fitness as the primary vehicle.
We discuss ideas like righteous sacrifice, respecting the truth, and overcoming limiting mental patterns as we smash psychology, theology, history, philosophy, and sports together. 
If you are interested in contacting me for coaching inquires use this link to get in touch. https://www.phyaacademy.com/pages/contact
IF you are interested in consuming my written works head on over to my substack page and check out the 4-5 articles per week I'm producing there https://jordanbgoldstein.substack.com/ 
If you want to reach out and connect with Collin or follow him, check out this link to his chapter of Trinity Fitness Here https://t.co/xoXH237Xd2 and follow him on 'X' here https://x.com/CollinBrown85
 

Episode 59: 'The Dr. and The Soul (book)' and 'Willing To Try (doc film)' review mashup

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 making them conscious of their responsibility in life that produces meaning and deep purpose
The documentary Willing To Try captures the intentional mindset and spiritual preparation work Tribal Training includes in our team race experiences as well as the narrative of the race itself and how each of the 13 athletes came to the desert to find deeper meaning and purpose in their lives through shared struggle and physical challenge. 
This episode is deep dive into my mind and how it connects information into a coherent understanding that I then adapt into coaching methods that produce life changing results for the people I privileged and honored to guide
If you are interested in learning more about my coaching in my blend of life, fitness, and endurance training reach out to contact me or book a discovery call here: https://www.phyaacademy.com/pages/contact
Watch the documentary of our team and get a sense of what we are all about here: https://youtu.be/g5sslzngB7c?si=NbqEWsPxspDrDQN4
If you want to join Team Tribal on our next grand adventure apply to become a teammate here: https://traintribal.com/
 

Episode 58: The Magic of Mini-Goals in Training

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 fitness consistency for the past 13 years. When you train from your heart, you are able to build on the value of each session because they are effectively all tied together through your love. 
I hope this episode inspires you to craft a fitness routine based on passion and enthusiasm, so that you can build systems of internal challenge, discpline, and accountability for yourself, that become meaningful to you. Just like this 1/2 marathon on the beach means so much more to me than just hitting pacing target and moving onto the next 'goal.'
If you want to get into contact with me to discuss ways to create a fitness ritual like I describe in this episode, this is how I coach my 1-1 fitness and life coaching clients to create their own self-sustaining fitness routines, you can reach me from the following page: https://www.phyaacademy.com/pages/contact
Let's keep winning together team! 

Episode #57: The journey of fast marathon training with Mike Donatelli

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 towards better potential.
This is the exact type of conversation that explore the fun and meaning of sports practiced well and I hope you leave inspired to take on a big challenge of your own.
If you want to get into contact with Mike to inquire about his coaching services follow him @mikeddonatelli on X and Substack and shoot him a DM
If you want to get into contact with myself to inquire about my coaching services follow me @JB_Goldstein on X and Substack and shoot me a DM

Episode #56: The Interrogating of Sport Philosophy Part II with the Great 'DecafQuest'

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 for good in our lives.  
In this episode, we discuss first principles of goodness, the importance of experience in the body for self knowing, how to aim ourselves properly with intention, why we need real world evidence to actualize the good, why sports are dreamlike, and how different sports can train different virtues into our selves. 
If you enjoy this type of perspective and want to know how direct coaching in fitness like this can help you lead a better life in body, mind, and spirit follow me on X or Substack (@JB_Goldstein) and send me a message.
If you enjoy Mahmoud's perspective and want to get into touch with him about how he uses philosophy to help business leaders make complex decisions, contact him through his website https://decafquest.com/
And if you want to read the article that we discussed in this podcast check it out here https://thepointmag.com/examined-life/mano-a-mano/

Episode #55: POF 25' Race Debrief with Ronald Potts

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 1-1 clients after we've hit the goal of a big competition. It's a great illustration of how we use philosophy and dialogue to extract the meaning of these big events before they pass into the ether of history. Too often, people who do these big races face a gigantic crash back down to reality, because the real world doesn't have time to sit around and wait for you to pick up the pieces. 
Open space to reflect, explore, interrogate, and pick out the moments that truly matter are crucial in getting the correct depth of the race experience but also in helping us extract out the truthful lessons we learned about ourselves. Then, and only then, is it possible for us to transfer those lessons into our lives outside of the arena.
Thank you Ronald for your openness in sharing your experiences and wisdom. Follow Ronald at his Substack where he writes about his journey and coaching (https://sonofencouragement.substack.com/) 
If you want to join us next year at POF '26 or begin using training to a spiritual guide to self discovery and improvement, follow me on X or Substack (@JB_Goldstein) and send me a message that you're ready to take on the next big journey. Let's win together team! 

Episode #54 - Prairie on Fire 2025 Race Recap: My Race Experience

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 to share this experience with them, and it impacted my entire approach from training, to immediate race prep, the way the race unfolded, and what meant the most to me about the entire journey. 
This is a perfect example of how training and competing with your heart will always make you a winner, even if you end up with a result that doesn't make you a 'winner' on the scoreboard. I hope to inspire you to take a leap and GO BIG in taking on a new physical challenge.
If you're inspired to take on POF '26 with us, or dive deep into my 'embodied' coaching that helps you place your values at the center of your fitness practice follow me @JB_Goldstein on X and Substack and send me a dm on either platform.

Episode 53: The Prairie on Fire 2025 Pre-Race Podcast

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 than just the outcome of the race.
This is how I directly embody and practice the deep philosophy of sports I preach, teach, coach, and guide my athletes and clients towards. 
Races aren't about finish lines as much as they are about using the starting line to anchor personal growth, transcendence, and becoming. 
I'm grateful for the ability and opportunity to test myself like this. You should compete for reasons like this too.