Choose the Hard Way
by Andrew Vontz
Conversations about how hard things build stronger humans who have more fun.Guests from pro cycling, sports, politics, business, tech, journalism, the military and more. Resilience, grit, mental health, high performance, mindfulness. Host Andrew Vontz is an entrepreneur & founder of One Real Voice, the strategic & coaching consultancy for podcast guests & hosts. Previously, he was a Strava executive; a communications leader at the human performance company, TRX; and a journalist with hundreds of bylines in dozens of top outlets including The LA Times, Outside Magazine, Rolling Stone and more.
Episodes
-
Cancer Update - All I Need is a Miracle
Four weeks after CAR-T gene therapy for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, Molly and I went back to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for the PET scan that would show whether it worked. Three months earlier, my first-line treatment had failed. This is what I found out when the results came back. — Guiding...
-
Dr. Stephen Seiler - How to Train VO2max - Beyond Huberman & Attia, how to get started & keep going - Case Study with Shannon Jones
As I go through my cancer experience, I can't wait to get back to riding my bike, and to doing intervals. Today my VO2max is 47. Before I got sick, it was 67. I put in a lot of hard work as part of a well-balanced training program to get there. — People frequently ask me about training for...
-
I have cancer. Andrew Vontz on chemo, DLBCL, CAR T, & what happens when The Hard Way chooses you with guest host Shannon Jones.
Andrew Vontz has been an endurance athlete for 38 years. In March doctors found a tumor running from his the cavity between his lungs up across his neck that had displaced his carotid artery and was crushing his trachea. — This is the cancer episode. Andrew is five months into treatment for…
more -
The PE Guy - Johnny Hilbrant Partridge on grief, bouncing back, & an overnight success 11 years in the making
Choose the Hard Way is the show about how hard things build stronger humans who have more fun. — One of my favorite comedians is Johnny Hilbrant Partridge, aka The PE Guy. His comedy operates at the intersection of private equity, hyper-conspicuous consumption, and radical insecurity. He is...
-
Dr. Stephen Seiler - You're not Pogacar, don't train like him. Breathing, Polarized Training, Joy, & High Performance
Dr. Stephen Seiler coined the term polarized training and systematized the 80/20 method used by Tadej Pogacar, Kristian Blummenfelt, and the world's top endurance athletes. — From the New York Times to the podcasts of Andrew Huberman, Peter Attia, and Rhonda Patrick, Dr. Seiler's polarized…
more -
Veteran & Maine US Senate Candidate Graham Platner: Combat Fitness, True Strength, & The Defense Insecurity Complex of Hegseth, RFK Jr., and Elon Musk
Graham Platner is a Marine Corps and Army infantry veteran with combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and a candidate for US Senate in Maine. He is also a lifelong student of fitness and strength whose training evolved from grunt-era running and calisthenics to CrossFit, Rob Shaul's Mountain...
-
Tour of Flanders & Why Our Kids Love Riding the Wahoo Kickr Core w Spencer Martin x Andrew Vontz of Beyond the Peloton
Spencer Martin of Beyond the Peloton / WEDU & Andrew Vontz breakdown Pog's big ride at the 2026 Tour of Flanders and share why their kids love riding the trainer. — Andrew explains how he set up the Wahoo Kickr Core with Click & Cog so his kids could ride on Zwift + product feedback — And we...
-
Art O'Connor / Wukar Fit - Iditabike, Ultra-endurance, & Strength Training for World Champions like Keegan Swenson & You
Choose the Hard Way creator Andrew Vontz in conversation with Wukar Fit founder Art O'Connor, a strength coach for pro cyclists including World Champion Keegan Swenson, Sofia Villafane, Chase Wark, and athletes of all ages & ability levels working to be strong for life. — Art is a former pro...
-
Sharice Davids - MMA fighter, Congresswoman, White House Fellow
Sharice Davids is a congresswoman from Kansas, a former White House fellow, a lawyer, and MMA fighter with 7 fights including two professional bouts. She joins Andrew Vontz & Jonathan Kaplan on United States of Sweat p/b Choose the Hard Way to share stories about training, fighting, and her…
more -
Jeff Troesch - Mental Performance Coach to NFL, MLB, NBA World Champions & Olympians
Choose the Hard Way creator Andrew Vontz in conversation with Jeff Troesch, one of the most experienced mental performance coaches in elite sport. For nearly four decades, Jeff has helped athletes and teams win at the highest level, including the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup,...
-
Friends, Sweat, & Tears: the Shocking AYF Finale LIVE from Pace Ranch in Tucson
The dramatic JK Normatec addiction intervention, detonating Mt. Lemmon records, the Dan Swenson World Tour 2026 bid, traveling with SciCon bike bags, and the applied high performance practices of aging parents going big in the desert. — Spencer Martin of WeDu / Peacock / Beyond the Peloton +...
-
Abandon Your Family 30,000 Roundtable - Spencer Martin, Andrew Vontz, Jonathan Kaplan, Paul Redmayne
Tears, chamois cream, glory. Carb slurry was downed by the gallon and tears were shed in garages and at dinner tables around the world as the community collectively gave everything to secure midpack glory at select gravel major and minor races in mid 2026. — This episode is a conversation about…
more -
Jens Voigt on East Germany, Parenting Six Kids, Crashing at 70 km/h and Life after 17 Tours de France
Jens Voigt raced the Tour de France 17 times, wore the yellow jersey, won stages in the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, and set the Hour Record on the track at age 43. He joins Choose the Hard Way creator Andrew Vontz how crashing at 70 km/h changes you in ways the world doesn't see and the…
more -
Patrick J. Murphy - 1st Iraq War Veteran Elected to Congress - Former Under Secretary of the Army
Patrick J Murphy, First Iraq War Veteran Elected to Congress and Former Under Secretary of the Army — Patrick J Murphy was the first Iraq War veteran elected to the United States Congress and later served as Under Secretary of the Army. He joins Choose the Hard Way creator Andrew Vontz for a...
-
The 10 Pack is Next - AYF500 Day 8 - Andrew Vontz, Jonathan Kaplan, Spencer Martin
On day 8 of the Abandon Your Family 500, Choose the Hard Way creator Andrew Vontz, Spencer Martin of Beyond the Peloton, and Jonathan Kaplan of Riding With share stories of deep fatigue, angry families, and the kind of indoor training glory you can earn but can't buy. — They explore the strain…
more -
Frosted Flakes & Point Break - Chase Wark x WUKAR Fit x Andrew Vontz x Jonathan Kaplan - #AYF500 Day 6
Chase Wark pounds Frosted Flakes & puts in 4.5 hours on a single bottle of water in his in-laws' 15-degree garage to pass the 760 km mark -- and Kip Taylor -- on the Abandon Your Family 500 leaderboard on day 6. — Art O'Connor, aka WUKAR Fit, strength coach to pro cycling's biggest names…
more -
#AYF500 Day 4 - Mad Watts: Carb Fury - Andrew Vontz x Jonathan Kaplan Reflect on the Event of the Year
Abandon Your Family 500 2025 Day 4 with Jonathan Kaplan and Andrew Vontz. Reflections on bad sleep, big carbs, and the skirmish between Front Range legends Andy Leach and Kip Taylor to top out first and complete #AYF500 in an FKT of under four days. — Day 4 sees the Kingpin, Big Spence, continue...
-
#AYF500 Day 3 - Boulder Storm - Andrew Vontz x Jonathan Kaplan - Abandon Your Family 500 2025
Abandon Your Family 500 2025 Day 3 brings big drama when 100 mile-per-hour winds mean the power grid goes offline in Boulder and Big Spence has to skip the daily recording to keep banking secret miles to upload later at an undisclosed location. Meanwhile, Andy Leach powers over the top and...
-
#AYF500 Update 2 - Kip's Stealth Century Knock Out - Andrew Vontz, Spencer Martin, Jonathan Kaplan, & Special Guest Kip Taylor - Abandon Your Family 500 2025
A deep dive on the big action and family fallout from day one of the Abandon Your Family 500 in a groundbreaking conversation with Andrew Vontz / Choose the Hard Way, Spencer Martin / Beyond the Peloton, Jonathan Kaplan / Riding With, and the front range legend Kip Taylor (of Kip's Corner fame)...
-
#AYF500 Special Update 1 - w Spencer Martin, Jonathan Kaplan, & Andrew Vontz - Abandon Your Family 500 2025
Nothing says I love you like abandoning your family to get in shape for your endurance sport. The Abandon Your Family 500 is a challenge to ride 500 km on planet earth or on a virtual cycling platform over the course of 10 days brought to you by Choose the Hard Way / Andrew Vontz, Beyond the...
-
The Abandon Your Family 500 Challenge w/ Spencer Martin, Jonathan Kaplan, Andrew Vontz - p/b Kip's Corner
Choose the Hard Way is the show about how hard things build stronger humans who have more fun. This episode is about living that philosophy and how you can, too. Choose the Hard Way & One Real Voice founder Andrew Vontz, Spencer Martin of WeDu / Peacock / Beyond the Peloton, and Jonathan Kaplan…
more -
Colin Allred - NFL, Congress, the Senate Race - United States of Sweat - with Andrew Vontz & Jonathan Kaplan
Former NFL linebacker & Texas Congressman Colin Allred joins hosts Andrew Vontz & Jonathan Kaplan on United States of Sweat, presented by Choose the Hard Way. Allred played at Baylor and for the Tennessee Titans before a neck injury ended his NFL career. He went on to earn a law degree from...
-
Dylan Johnson - Always Finish the Race You Start - The Long Walk at Big Sugar
Pro cyclist Dylan Johnson & Choose the Hard Way creator Andrew Vontz on why you should always finish the races you start. Choose the Hard Way is the show about how hard things build stronger humans who have more fun. This conversation explores why Dylan Johnson walked two hours in road bike shoes...
-
15 Minutes Is Enough to Train – Spencer Martin (Beyond the Peloton / WEDU) x Andrew Vontz (Choose the Hard Way / One Real Voice))
Spencer Martin of Beyond the Peloton / WEDU / Peacock's Tour de France team & Andrew Vontz, co-host of the Beyond the Peloton podcast & creator of the Choose the Hard Way podcast & newsletter talk about why 15 minute training sessions count and how we get it done on the road, at the playground…
more -
Josh Turek - 2x Paralympic Gold Medalist - U.S. Senate candidate from Iowa - ex Pro Wheelchair Basketball Player
Josh Turek knows how to win. A U.S. Senate candidate, current Iowa State Legislator, and two-time Paralympic gold medalist for Team USA, Josh joins Andrew Vontz & Jonathan Kaplan on United States of Sweat presented by Choose the Hard Way. This is the show where politicians and policymakers share...
-
Pro Cyclist Payson McElveen - The Hardest Ride Is the One You Don't See - on Creativity, Pressure & What Comes Next
Choose the Hard Way creator Andrew Vontz (@hardwaypod) in conversation with pro cyclist Payson McElveen (@paysonmcelveen), Red Bull athlete and creator of the With Pace podcast & Riding with Pace YouTube channel. In a sport filled with mustaches, Payson McElveen has the most famous mustache....
-
Stephen Starring Grant - Author of MAILMAN: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home
Choose the Hard Way creator Andrew Vontz in conversation with Steve Grant, author of the memoir MAILMAN: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home. With rave reviews in The New York Times, the Washington Post, The New Yorker and The Atlantic, the memoir MAILMAN: My...
-
Rahm Emanuel - United States of Sweat
Rahm Emanuel was the U.S. Ambassador to Japan from 2022 to 2025. Prior to that, he served as the White House Chief of Staff from 2009 to 2010 under President Barack Obama, and as the Mayor of Chicago from 2011 to 2019. He also represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2003 to...
-
Cameron Jones - Unbound Gravel 2025 Champion
Cameron Jones won the 2025 edition of the 205-mile Unbound Gravel, the most competitive edition ever of the most prestigious gravel race on the planet. Three months earlier, he showed up in America, walked into a used car dealership in the Bay Area, walked off the lot with a used Honda Odyssey…
more -
One Hour to Train - What do you do? w/ Spencer Martin of Beyond the Peloton / WEDU x Andrew Vontz of Choose the Hard Way
You've got an hour or less to train, what do you do? Spencer Martin of the Beyond the Peloton newsletter & podcast + WEDU's Outcomes / The Move takes a break from the Tour de France to join Choose the Hard Way creator Andrew Vontz to talk about what they do when life and work are at max stress…
more -
Tom Perriello: Congressman, Special Envoy - United States of Sweat
Welcome back to United States of Sweat presented by Choose the Hard Way where politicians and policymakers join us to share stories about fitness, health and the sports they love playing. In 2008 Tom Perriello won the election to represent Virginia's 5th Congressional district by fewer than 1,000...
-
United States of Sweat with Ambassador Jeff Flake - Desert Island Survival, Long-Distance Swimming & More
During a divided time in America, our love of sports and fitness cross party lines and can keep us healthy as individuals and bring us together as a nation. The United States of Sweat is a new series from Choose the Hard Way that features the world's leading political leaders and policy makers...
-
From Start up to End up - From The Better Lab to One Real Voice & Beyond - Andrew Vontz x Shannon Jones
Subscribe to the Choose the Hard Way substack at www.alwaysthehardway.substack.com for a look behind the scenes of this episode and human-generated insights about bikes, zen and life. Walking away from an executive role at a high-growth unicorn to go all-in & start up your own company sounds…
more -
Pro Cyclist Chase Wark pt. 1 - Mega Mid South FKT
Pro gravel cyclist Chase Wark joins me today to talk about setting the fastest known time on the 300-mile Mega Mid South gravel loop after wildfires devastated the Stillwater, Oklahoma area and cancelled the Mid South gravel race. Find Chase @chasethebiker on Instagram. I wrote a story with my...
-
Harry Sweeny - Pro Cycling & High Performance Living
The #1 thing you can do to support this podcast is to subscribe to the Choose the Hard Way substack. Just go to substack and search for 'Choose the Hard Way' or go to https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/ and hit subscribe today. That's where Andrew Vontz writes about bikes, zen and life +…
more -
Christopher Blevins - the World Champion & Olympian on Mindfulness + the Transformative Power of Community & Bikes
Christopher Blevins is a mindfulness practitioner who builds community and a more inclusive and healthy world through bikes. He's one of the best professional mountain bikers America has ever produced and one of the best in the world. He has won the Cape Epic and taken gold in the mountain bike...
-
Rewind: Olympic Gold Medalist Kristen Faulkner - The Power of Positive Risk Taking, Why She Walked Away from Her Dream Job & the Path to Pro Cycling Success
Kristen Faulkner is an American pro cyclist who won the gold medal in the women's cycling road race at the Paris Olympics in truly stunning fashion, surpassing two of the most dominant racers in the sport with a bold attack that left them looking at each other while she drilled it to victory.…
more -
Cory Richards pt. 2 - the Legendary Alpinist & Nat Geo Photographer on his new book 'The Color of Everything' - Rising, Falling & Beginning Again
A student struggling with his practice once asked the zen master Shunryu Suzuki to boil down Buddhism into a single phrase. Suzuki thought for a moment, then he responded: everything changes. This is part two of my conversation with Cory Richards about his memoir, The Color of Everything. Cory is...
-
Rewind: 2nd at the Unbound 100 Gravel Race 2014 with @vontz x @blakeotoday - from the Archives
Doing hard things with friends is fun and even when you lose, you win. In 2014 I took second at Unbound 100 and superstar creator and now BJJ black belt @blakeoftoday took third. This episode originally dropped in 2019. I skipped the weddings of several close friends and trained 20+ hours many...
-
Joe Petrowski: Quitting Rocket Science to Be a Pro Cyclist in France
Joe Petrowski landed a great job as an aerospace engineer right out of college. Then he got the bike racing bug. People told him to stick with his demonstrably awesome, impressive and very high paying gig. Instead, he quit to go live in at times dismal conditions to be a pro cyclist, first in the...
-
Cory Richards - Presence is the Real Summit - Beyond Everest & Life as a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year & Photographer
Charisma, fame, good looks, superhuman physical and artistic achievement. Some people seem to have done everything and to be everything you dream of becoming. And as Cory Richards shares in this interview, everything can be nothing and anything can be the opportunity for presence, mindfulness and...
-
Heather Jackson: Gravel & Ultra Trail Running Pro - Positive Risks, Growth & the Power of Starting Something New
Heather Jackson has won six full Ironman triathlons, 16 Ironman 70.3 races, the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon and she also won the Wildflower triathlon four times. She played D1 hockey at Princeton where she was a two-time captain and was on the US National team for cycling track racing. In…
more -
Michael Marckx - Belgian Waffle Ride Founder
Michael Marckx is the founder and CEO of the Belgian Waffle Ride, one of the biggest and most influential multi-surface, gravelish series in the world. He's a prime mover behind what has become today's booming gravel scene and wow, this guy has lived what would be 20 lives the average human. We...
-
Joe Goettl: Gravel Pro Cyclist x YouTuber on Making it as a Privateer
Joe Goettl grew up working on a farm, almost made it as a pro snowboarder and went deep into competitive running--until he hit an endless string of injuries that doctors said would end his athletic career. Here we are in 2023 and Joe is a rising YouTuber & pro cyclist knocking on the door of…
more -
Kimo Seymour - Building the LifeTime Grand Prix + Endurance in Life, Business & Sport
One day you wake up and a thing called the Life Time Grand Prix exists and two years later it's all anyone who follows pro cycling in America can talk about. How did we get here? And what's next? Today, we find out. Kimo Seymour is the Senior Vice President of Media and Events at Life Time and…
more -
Alexis Skarda - Pro Cyclist, National Champion, Music Producer + DJ
Alexis Skarda is a professional cyclist who rides for the Santa Cruz HtSqd and is the US Marathon National Cross-Country Mountain Bike Champion, a Lifetime Grand Prix racer, an emerging electronic music artist and she's a formidable force on the 1s and 2s as a DJ as well as a podium threat at any...
-
Drew Dillman & Dylan Johnson - Gravel Racing 90210 -- The Lifetime Grand Prix, BWR and Beyond
Dylan Johnson and Drew Dillman join @vontz to talk about pro gravel racing 90210 and the fun they had battling for 17th place at the final race of the Lifetime Grand Prix series, Big Sugar down in Bentonville, Arkansas, home of Walmart and the global epicenter of competitive cycling. We get into...
-
Joe De Sena Spartan Race Founder & CEO - Exclusive: Near Death Wipeouts in Life & Business
Joe De Sena is the founder and CEO of Spartan and creator of the Spartan Race and the infamous Death Race. After he created a hugely successful Wall Street trading firm, Joe left finance behind in 2001 to build a new life and a new business from a farm in rural Vermont. His goal was to change 100...
-
@tristantakephoto on Racing 800 Miles Across Morocco's Atlas Mountains & Selling Everything to Start the Life He Wanted
Tristan Cardew, aka @tristantakephoto, sold everything and moved from Sydney, Australia to Girona, Spain to build a life that revolved around cycling and visual storytelling. Five years later, he's racing gravel and road at a high level and has built the creative career he dreamed about making...
-
#100 - Hard Things Build Stronger Humans Who Have More Fun - Andrew Vontz x @Blakeoftoday
Six years ago, I launched Choose the Hard Way to inspire more people to embrace the idea that doing hard things builds stronger humans who have more fun. My guests are among the very best in the world at what they do and I've been lucky that they've graciously shared their stories here. To...
Topics in this show
About this show
Conversations about how hard things build stronger humans who have more fun.Guests from pro cycling, sports, politics, business, tech, journalism, the military and more. Resilience, grit, mental health, high performance, mindfulness. Host Andrew Vontz is an entrepreneur & founder of One Real Voice, the strategic & coaching consultancy for podcast guests & hosts. Previously, he was a Strava executive; a communications leader at the human performance company, TRX; and a journalist with hundreds of bylines in dozens of top outlets including The LA Times, Outside Magazine, Rolling Stone and more.
Hosted by
Andrew Vontz