Atlantic CEO Nick Thompson on Master's Training, Motivation, and Breakthroughs

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Oct 30, 2025

Nick Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic and a seasoned competitive runner, shares insights from his impressive athletic career and personal journey. He explores the deep bond with his father that ignited his passion for running and how his cancer diagnosis transformed his approach to the sport. Nick discusses effective training strategies that led to breakthroughs as a master's athlete and offers advice for runners in their 40s. He also touches on ways to encourage a love for running in children and highlights essential low-effort changes for maximizing performance.

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ANECDOTE

Early Running Bond With His Father

Nick's father ran marathons and introduced him to running as a child, creating an early bond through shared runs and races.
Their relationship later fractured, but running remained a connecting thread after his father's death.

ADVICE

Let Kids Choose While Modeling Running

Never force your kids to run, but always be available when they ask and model the behavior.
Set an example by participating and letting them observe rather than pressuring them into the sport.

INSIGHT

Training Shapes Better Life Habits

Competing and structured training cultivate habits that improve other life roles like parenting and work.
Nick values racing because it enforces healthy routines that support a fuller life beyond sport.

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Nick Thompson has been running and racing for 35 years. He's the 40-44 age group American record holder in the 50k with a 3:04 finish time (that's 5:56 per mile for 31 miles), and was previously the world's top ranked runner in his age group in the 50-mile.

He's now the CEO of the Atlantic Magazine and his new book is now available: The Running Ground: A Father, a Son, and the Simplest of Sports.

You'll hear:

How Nick's relationship with his father helped him get into running
What drives him to compete today vs. 30 years ago
His recommendations for passing along a love for running to your kids
How his cancer diagnosis changed his relationship with running
The training changes he made to finally have a breakthrough as a Master's runner

Resources from the show:

Thank you MOBO Board!

Invented by renowned physical therapist Jay Dicharry, MOBO helps you stabilize your stance with an innovative rocker board that's set up on two fins. The design effectively forces you to drive your big toe into the board to improve your stability. I was pretty arrogant going into my first session on the MOBO Board. How hard can it be to balance, right? Well, I was humbled pretty quickly!

Even if you're a good runner, better balance, stability, and proprioception is going to help you have a more powerful stride and prevent more running injuries. You'll learn how to improve the efficiency of the kinetic chain from your hip to your big toe. Because as Jay likes to say, it's not just how strong you are, but how well you use that strength.

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Thanks to The Performance Training Journal!

The Performance Training Journal is now available on Amazon and debuted as the #4 new release in the running category. Since I started running in 1998, I've kept a hardcopy training journal. Holding a tangible log, writing in it daily, and reflecting on the ups and downs of running is a surefire way to improve.

This hardcopy training journal helps you focus on the training metrics that matter, prioritizes a long-term outlook so you don't take any shortcuts, and maintains your motivation with strategic self-praise. With a no-frills, functional design, the Performance Training Journal includes coaching advice on racing, injury prevention, strength training, and more. It will guide you through race scheduling, how to plan your race morning, the best workouts for endurance runners, and encourage you to track your personal bests over time.

You have the space to make this journal your own whether you're a new runner or a professional, a trail or road runner, or a mid-distance specialist or ultra marathoner.⁣ So don't just track your running, learn from it with the Performance Training Journal! Check it out today on Amazon.

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Previnex's new Gut & Green Superfoods powder is my new go-to. It has organic barley and oat grass, alfalfa, spirulina, chlorella, kale and broccoli… and that's it. Their ingredients are backed by clinical data and contain three specific gut fibers that help promote GI health, digestion, reduced inflammation, and a better microbiome.

And it has twice of the fiber of my last greens mix - something I'm trying to work on. I don't always eat as many whole foods as I should, so G&G gives me more peace of Mind. Plus, the flavor actually tastes good. I don't have to choke it down so I enjoy drinking it!

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