#33 Josh Pierce - 37 Miles, 9 Weeks: A Birthday Test of Discipline
Mon Jan 19 2026
On his 37th birthday, our guest ran 37 miles—with just nine weeks of preparation.
What makes this story remarkable is not the distance alone, but the starting point. Prior to this decision, he had never run more than six miles in a single session. He had never trained for a race. He did not consider himself a runner.
This episode explores why he chose to do something deliberately uncomfortable, borderline unreasonable, and deeply personal. What began as a spontaneous idea quickly became a non-negotiable commitment—one that required discipline, identity shifts, and an honest confrontation with physical and mental limits.
We unpack the nine-week training process, the psychological shift that happens when you remove “failure” as an option, and what it felt like to move through pain mile after mile—especially when the real race began after mile 28.
More than a feat of endurance, this run became a pilgrimage back to self: a lived lesson in resilience, fortitude, and what happens when you intentionally raise the ceiling of what you believe you’re capable of.
We also discuss why setting goals with a real chance of failure can fundamentally change how you see yourself, why fear never showed up during the process, and how this experience has reshaped what the future might hold—next up, a marathon, and possibly an ultra.
This is a conversation about identity, commitment, and the quiet power of doing hard things on purpose.
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On his 37th birthday, our guest ran 37 miles—with just nine weeks of preparation. What makes this story remarkable is not the distance alone, but the starting point. Prior to this decision, he had never run more than six miles in a single session. He had never trained for a race. He did not consider himself a runner. This episode explores why he chose to do something deliberately uncomfortable, borderline unreasonable, and deeply personal. What began as a spontaneous idea quickly became a non-negotiable commitment—one that required discipline, identity shifts, and an honest confrontation with physical and mental limits. We unpack the nine-week training process, the psychological shift that happens when you remove “failure” as an option, and what it felt like to move through pain mile after mile—especially when the real race began after mile 28. More than a feat of endurance, this run became a pilgrimage back to self: a lived lesson in resilience, fortitude, and what happens when you intentionally raise the ceiling of what you believe you’re capable of. We also discuss why setting goals with a real chance of failure can fundamentally change how you see yourself, why fear never showed up during the process, and how this experience has reshaped what the future might hold—next up, a marathon, and possibly an ultra. This is a conversation about identity, commitment, and the quiet power of doing hard things on purpose.