Podcast on The Infirmary with Chris Bagg

For a number of years, I was coached by Cliff English, who was based out of Tucson, Arizona and in early February each year he would get as many of his professional squad to come down to Tucson and train together for several weeks.

The second year I attended the camp, in 2012, a contingent of three athletes from Portland, Oregon came to the camp, one of whom was Chris Bagg. I thoroughly enjoyed having the Portland crew on the team. They really seemed to bring a different perspective on life and sport and all had very interesting backstories. One had been an English teacher, one had been a basketball player for LSU, and one had grown up on Kodiak Island in Alaska.

Some of my favorite training partners have been individuals that I can talk to about things outside of sport, and Chris could certainly do that. Even though we only got to train together for a few weeks a year, I really appreciated the miles we got to spend together.

Today, Chris runs a successful coaching business out of Bend, Oregon called Campfire Endurance, hosts two podcasts (one of which I recently appeared on called the The Infirmary), and writes on Substack: The Infirmary.

Our discussion on his podcast mirrors many of the conversations we had over the years while training on the roads around Tucson.

Some of the highlights of the conversation include:

• Mental toughness lessons from The Great British Bake Off

• How a high school journal entry I wrote included “completing an Ironman triathlon”

• The importance of culture for athletic success

• Longevity vs. High Performance