Ageless Athlete — Healthy Aging for a Strong, Capable Life

Latest Episodes:

Whales, Bears, and the Will to Return — Lessons in Survival From Two Solo Voyages Through Alaska Aug 20, 2025

Show notes

At age 49, Susan Marie Conrad paddled 1,200 miles—alone—through the remote, storm-swept waters of the Alaskan Inside Passage.
Twelve years later, at 61, she went back and did it again.

In this powerful conversation, Susan shares what it means to return—not just to the same wild coastline, but as a different person. We unpack what changes when you chase something bold later in life, how nature reshapes your mindset, and what happens when you open yourself up to synchronicity, generosity, and the unexpected.

We also talk about the stark environmental changes she witnessed: the plastic where it didn’t belong, the shrinking glaciers, and the fragility of ecosystems many of us will never see.

This episode is a meditation on endurance, improvisation, awe, and the will to keep growing—even (especially) as we age.

🧭 What We Talk About

What exactly is the Inside Passage—and what makes it so wild and magical
The brutal logistics of a solo sea kayak expedition (and what people get wrong)
Fear, failure, and what to do when a grizzly bear shows up 30 feet away
How aging changed her approach to adventure—and made the second journey even deeper
What climate change looks like from a tiny boat in a vast and fragile ecosystem
Why she mentors younger women to take on big expeditions of their own
Finding purpose through challenge, stillness, and storytelling

🔗 Links & Resources

📸 Susan's Instagram

🌊 Susan’s Website

📷 Susan's Books:

📚 Inside: One Woman’s Journey Through the Inside Passage
📷 Wildly Inside: A Visual Journey Through the Inside Passage

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

INFORMEDISH: Real life. Artificial cohost.
Movies, parenting and life's absurdities. Jason and his AI cohost Heather take sides.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

From Teenage Rebel to World Champion at 65 — How She Keeps Winning | Judi Oyama, 65 Aug 12, 2025

Show notes

At 65, Judi Oyama is still lining up at the start gate — not in a “Masters” category, but shoulder-to-shoulder with athletes half, or even a quarter her age. She’s a World Champion slalom skateboarder, a Guiness record holder, a Hall of Fame inductee, and a pioneer who’s been breaking barriers since she first picked up a board in Santa Cruz in the early 1970s.

Back then, women’s divisions barely existed. Prize money was unequal. Media crews left during women’s finals. Judi skated anyway — pushing through invisibility, injury, and a sport that wasn’t built to include her. Five decades later, she’s still competing, still winning, and mentoring the next generation of racers who may one day take the sport to the Olympics.

In this episode, we talk about:

What slalom skateboarding actually is — and why it’s so addictive
How Judi fought for gender and racial equality in skateboarding
The longevity toolkit she’s built: CrossFit, heavy lifting, recovery, and smart nutrition
Why representation matters, and how she’s mentoring young women in the sport
How to stay competitive, joyful, and relevant in your sport for decades
Her motto: “Be badass every day” — and what it means in practice

Whether you’ve ever stepped on a skateboard or not, Judi’s story is about rewriting the limits others put on you, and replacing them with your own.

- Follow Judi on Instagram

- Judi in the Guiness Book of Records

Cover pic 📸 Dave Re

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

INFORMEDISH: Real life. Artificial cohost.
Movies, parenting and life's absurdities. Jason and his AI cohost Heather take sides.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

Strong Hips, Ankles & Feet — The Movement Basics We Lose With Age | Andy McVittie Aug 06, 2025

Show notes

Physiotherapist, coach, and lifelong climber Andy McVittie is back for the final chapter of our three-part deep dive into aging well, moving well, and living without fear of injury.

If you haven’t listened to Part I (The Movement Optimist: Knees, Shoulders, Elbows, Hips, Bulletproof Yourself! Never Late to Get Strong!) or Part II (Aging Joints & Grateful Bodies: Elbows, Fingers, Sleep, and the Stories We Tell Ourselves), I highly recommend going back. In those episodes, we tackled the myths about aging, explored upper body resilience, and broke down joint-by-joint strategies for staying strong.

In Part III, we turn our attention to the often-overlooked foundation: hips, ankles, and feet.

We cover:

Why hips, ankles, and feet are often neglected—and why that’s a mistake
Early warning signs your hips or ankles need attention
Simple self-tests for hip mobility and ankle strength
What to do if you’ve been living with old injuries or imbalances
Strategies for preventing long-term issues and keeping your lower body strong for decades
How to return to activity after injury or time off
Andy’s take on recovery tools—what’s worth your time and what’s just marketing noise
How to structure a realistic, sustainable weekly maintenance plan
The mindset shift that keeps you moving confidently for life

This is practical, encouraging, and packed with the kind of wisdom that comes from decades of helping real people—not just athletes—move better, heal better, and age with optimism.

Resources & References

Andy McVittie

Andy's Website
Andy's Instagram
The Self-Rehabbed Climber
Level Edges Pulley Splints: leveledges.co.uk

Relevant Past Episodes (look for these titles in your podcast app)

Tools & Resources Mentioned

Calf Raise App on iOS – for testing ankle strength and endurance

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

INFORMEDISH: Real life. Artificial cohost.
Movies, parenting and life's absurdities. Jason and his AI cohost Heather take sides.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

The Lifelong Pursuit of What Matters Most - Best of Q2, 2025 Jul 31, 2025

Show notes

Every few months, I pause to reflect on the conversations that left a mark—ones I keep thinking about long after the recording stops. This episode is a curated collection of those moments from Q2 2025.

You’ll hear stories that go beyond performance. These are reflections on resilience, identity, aging, and the human drive to keep exploring what’s possible—physically and emotionally.

In this episode:

Sarah Thomas reflects on childhood, potential, and joy after record-breaking swims and cancer survival.
🎧 [#76 Four Times Across the English Channel: What One Impossible Swim Can Teach You About Identity, Grit, and Starting Over]
Bob Becker, 80, shares what he’s learned from DNFs and brutal finishes in 100+ mile races.
🎧 [#73 Unstoppable: The 80-Year-Old Who Runs 100+ Mile Ultramarathons—and Reminds Us Why Showing Up Still Matters]
Bill Ramsey introduces the “Pain Box” and how meaning comes from effort, not ease.
🎧 [#75 The Thinking Climber: What a Philosopher’s Double Life Reveals About Curiosity, Reinvention, and the Long Arc of Mastery]
Bianca Valenti recounts a terrifying moment that launched her into big wave surfing—and a fight for equal pay.
🎧 [#72 Bianca Valenti’s Second Act: How She Won Equal Pay, Redefined Her Sport, and Trains Her Body and Nerves for Big Waves — and for Life]
Rob Matheson, age 74, recounts his bold climb of an E7 sea cliff route—and what came after.
🎧 [#78 When the Gear Might Not Hold: Cutting-Edge Rock Climbing at 74, Mentorship Across Generations, and Why Boldness and Growth Don’t Have an Age Limit]
Dean Karnazes on laying it all on the line for the world’s first marathon at the South Pole.
🎧 [#70 Dean Karnazes: Fighting Fit in His 60s, Running Ultras on Weekends, and Tracing the Marathon’s Roots in Greece]
Andy McVittie, climbing physio, shares how to assess your shoulder health and why tendon care is everything.
🎧 [#65 The Movement Optimist: Knees, Shoulders, Elbows, Hips, Bulletproof Yourself! Never Late to Get Strong!]
Jerry Moffatt narrates one of his proudest moments: the visionary onsight of Equinox.
🎧 [#67 Jerry Moffatt’s Revelations: Dangerous Free Soloing Before It Was Cool, The Power of Obsession, Letting Go at Your Peak, and His Surprising Key to Success]
Neil Gresham, climbing coach, explains why Rob Matheson wasn’t treated any differently—and what that tells us about aging, mindset, and training.
🎧 [#80 Lexicon, Boldness, and the Long Game: Training Smarter, Climbing Harder, Peaking Late—Because Age Doesn’t Matter]

—

Each of these clips holds its own power, but the full conversations go deeper—into mindset, identity, resilience, and what it means to keep pushing, especially as we age. If something in this episode resonates, I hope you’ll go back and give the full interview a listen.

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

INFORMEDISH: Real life. Artificial cohost.
Movies, parenting and life's absurdities. Jason and his AI cohost Heather take sides.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

The Deep End: Cold Oceans, the Edge of the Map, and the Mind’s Breaking Point | Andy Donaldson Jul 24, 2025

Show notes

In Part II of our deep conversation, Andy Donaldson takes us into the heart of open water swimming—where the body aches, the mind wanders, and sometimes… things go wrong.

We pick up the story after his return to the sport. But this time, it's different. Andy isn’t chasing medals—he’s chasing meaning. And the path leads him through shark-infested waters, swollen throats, and swims so long and cold they push his body toward shutdown.

In this episode, Andy shares:

What happened during his 15-hour swim across the Molokai Channel that landed him in the hospital
The physical and psychological cost of extreme endurance—and how he prepares for it
How he trained his mind to stay calm through chaos, pain, and fear
Why rest is one of the most underappreciated tools in elite performance
The habits, rituals, and community that help him stay grounded—even as he takes on the world’s hardest swims

This is a conversation about what lives on the other side of burnout—and what it means to build a second act rooted in intention, not just achievement.

Whether you're an athlete, a late bloomer, or someone reevaluating what truly matters… there’s something in this episode for you.

🎧 Listen now and share your thoughts with us.

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

INFORMEDISH: Real life. Artificial cohost.
Movies, parenting and life's absurdities. Jason and his AI cohost Heather take sides.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

The Comeback: From Accountant to the Pinnacle of Open Water Swimming | Andy Donaldson Jul 18, 2025

Show notes

What does it take to walk away from something you’ve trained for your entire life… and then find your way back — stronger, wiser, and with a whole new purpose?

In this two-part conversation, we sit down with world-record-holding swimmer Andy Donaldson. But Part One isn’t about records. It’s about the reset — the season of burnout, career shifts, mental struggle, and the slow, imperfect process of coming home to yourself.

Andy was once on the edge of elite swimming. Then he left the sport entirely — went to work as an accountant, burned out, and eventually found himself guiding volcano tours in Nicaragua during the pandemic. Somewhere along the way, he started swimming again —, just for himself.

That path led to an unexpected win at the legendary Rottnest Channel Swim… and the beginning of one of the most astonishing comebacks in open water history.

🧭 In This Episode (Part I):

How burnout pulled Andy away from competitive sport
What it's like to truly step away — and live life outside the pool
His quiet return to swimming in Perth, and why it felt different this time
The daily practices and mindset shifts that set the foundation for performance
The win at Rottnest that changed everything
What open water swimming teaches you about control, trust, and identity

💬 Stay tuned for Part II next week:

We dive deep into Andy’s record-breaking Oceans Seven challenge, a brutal 15-hour swim in Hawaii that nearly ended in disaster, and how he reframed suffering to find meaning, connection, and strength.

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

INFORMEDISH: Real life. Artificial cohost.
Movies, parenting and life's absurdities. Jason and his AI cohost Heather take sides.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

He Sailed to the Dawn Wall — Why Values Make Hard Goals Deeper | Seb Berthe Jul 10, 2025

Show notes

Seb Berthe didn’t just train for a legendary big-wall objective — he built the entire pursuit around a constraint: no flying. So he and his partner sailed across oceans, lived simply, trained creatively, and arrived at the wall already shaped by the journey.

This episode isn’t only about climbing. It’s about what happens when your values become part of the plan — and how the “how” can change what the achievement means.

In this conversation:

Why the constraints you choose can deepen a goal
Training for a long, technical objective with limited resources
Momentum, patience, and the mental rhythm of long projects
Partnership under stress: what it looks like when two people commit fully
A practical, non-preachy view of sustainability in outdoor culture

Takeaway: Big goals don’t have to be optimized. Sometimes they get more meaningful when you choose the harder route on purpose.

🔗 Links + Resources Mentioned

📸 Seb Berthe on Instagram:
📹 Seb Berthe on Bon Voyage in Annot, France

Cover pic credit: Alex Eggermont

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

INFORMEDISH: Real life. Artificial cohost.
Movies, parenting and life's absurdities. Jason and his AI cohost Heather take sides.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

When a World Champion’s Body Betrayed Her — And What Came Next | Jamie Whitmore Jul 04, 2025

Show notes

What happens when your life as an elite athlete is stripped away—and you’re forced to rebuild, not just your body, but your identity?

In this powerful and personal episode, we sit down with Jamie Whitmore—a world-class endurance athlete whose story is less about podiums and more about persistence.

Jamie was once one of the most dominant XTERRA racers in the world—winning races across continents, climbing mountains on her bike, and chasing down competitors on foot. But when life shifted, so did her focus. Today, she’s a mother of twins, a coach to high school runners, a deeply intentional athlete, and a reminder that strength comes in many forms.

We talk about:

What XTERRA racing actually is—and why it’s so brutally beautiful
The moment she lost her athletic identity, and how she found her way back
Why fear on a mountain bike was her way through, not away from, trauma
Training with a paralyzed leg, and what it taught her about compensation, patience, and adaptation
Her daily habits: 5:00 AM wakeups, coaching teen athletes, core work, cross-training, and the power of doing less—but doing it well
Why movement, variety, and play are the keys to longevity—and joy
The mindset shifts that came with motherhood, midlife, and physical change
And why being “gutsy” today looks different than it did in her 20s… but might matter even more

Whether you’re in a season of rebuilding, reinvention, or quiet consistency—Jamie’s story will help you rethink what real strength looks like.

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

INFORMEDISH: Real life. Artificial cohost.
Movies, parenting and life's absurdities. Jason and his AI cohost Heather take sides.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

Lexicon, Boldness, and the Long Game — Training Smarter and Peaking Later | Neil Gresham Jun 25, 2025

Show notes

What does it take to climb your hardest route at 50—and then hold the rope while someone else pushes that same line even further?

For Neil Gresham, that moment came on Lexicon, a bold and beautiful E11 route he developed and climbed later in life. In this conversation, Neil shares the full story—from discovering the line in the Lake District to the deep personal shift that allowed him to reach a new peak, years after he thought he’d already hit it.

We also talk about what it was like to support a rare flash attempt by another world-class climber (whose recent film on Lexicon just dropped), and how that moment made Neil reflect on performance, legacy, and the long game.

But this episode goes far beyond a single climb.

We explore:

Why Neil climbed his hardest routes after 45
The nutrition and training strategies that helped him recover faster in his 50s than in his 20s
What most athletes misunderstand about aging
Coaching climbers into their 70s—including how he succeeded working with Rob Matheson
The mindset shift that helped him let go of pressure and finally enjoy the process again

Whether you’re a climber or not, Neil’s story is about curiosity, adaptation, and staying sharp—mentally and physically—as the years go by.

References & Resources:

🎥 Lexicon: The Story of a Climb (Neil’s own film):
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/e11lexicon

📘 Learn more about Neil’s coaching and training programs:
https://www.neilgreshamtraining.com/

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

INFORMEDISH: Real life. Artificial cohost.
Movies, parenting and life's absurdities. Jason and his AI cohost Heather take sides.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

From Olympian to Freeskiing Pioneer — How One Woman Rebuilt Her Identity | Wendy Fisher Jun 18, 2025

Show notes

Wendy Fisher was once one of the fastest women on skis. A U.S. Ski Team racer and 1992 Olympian, she seemed destined for a long career in elite competition. But by her early 20s, she was burned out, struggling with identity and disordered eating, and quietly unraveling inside a system that prized performance over well-being.

This could’ve been the end of her story. Instead, it became the beginning of a much more human one.

In this episode, Wendy shares how she walked away from ski racing and found her way into big-mountain freeskiing—becoming one of the sport’s pioneering women and starring in iconic ski films like Ski Movie and Global Storming by Matchstick Productions. We talk about her second act in life, how she stayed connected to movement and self-expression, and what she’s learned about letting go, showing up, and staying curious in her 50s.

Whether you’re a lifelong athlete or just trying to stay grounded and active as you age, this episode offers perspective, honesty, and a few good powder-day metaphors.

🧩 Topics We Cover

The mental toll of elite sport and perfectionism
Why Wendy left ski racing at her peak
Disordered eating, burnout, and identity loss in early adulthood
How one freeskiing contest changed everything
Becoming one of the first women featured in major ski films
From athlete to coach, DJ, and community builder
What movement looks like now — and how it feels different in midlife
Letting go of guilt, chasing joy, and embracing new chapters
Parenting young athletes with honesty and humility
What it means to be ageless in a results-obsessed culture

Want to see Wendy ski? Start with Skiing For Myself

More on Wendy: https://www.wendyfisher.me

Marek Health: Deeper look at your health with comprehensive bloodwork and personalized guidance. 10% off with code AGELESS at https://agelessathlete.short.gy/marek

Timeline: Support cellular renewal and mitochondrial function with Mitopure, featuring Urolithin A. Up to 20% off at timeline.com/AGELESSATHLETE

Support The Show Love the show? Here’s how to support it https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

INFORMEDISH: Real life. Artificial cohost.
Movies, parenting and life's absurdities. Jason and his AI cohost Heather take sides.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Follow Ageless Athlete — How to Stay Strong, Curious & Capable for Life for new episodes each week.

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