The Dailey Edge Podcast

A backyard ultra looks harmless on paper: run a 4.167-mile loop every hour until you can’t. Prairie On Fire proves how misleading that is. After a 43-hour livestream, we sit down to unpack what we saw up close and what we heard directly from the runners who lasted, including the patterns behind why so many athletes “complete their race” earlier than expected.

We start with the #1 theme: fueling. Not just “remember to eat,” but the real, unglamorous details that decide the outcome when the heat, humidity, and sleep loss pile up. We talk calories, fluids, sodium, digestion, and why the best backyard ultra athletes are shockingly data-driven, down to spreadsheets and measured caffeine. If you’ve been searching for backyard ultra nutrition, hydration strategy, or how to survive night two, you’ll leave with a clearer plan and fewer myths.

Then we zoom out to what separates a long day from a deep performance: community and purpose. Running solo can be its own obstacle, and working together becomes a legitimate strategy when you’re trying to stand up for the 30th or 40th time. We also tackle the conversation around kids running yards, what “safe exploration” looks like, and why confidence gained on the prairie can echo far beyond race day. Finally, we highlight New Shoe Day and the real-world impact of turning miles into thousands of pairs of shoes for kids across Indiana.

If Prairie On Fire is on your calendar next year, hit subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a bigger why, and leave a review so more runners can find the playbook.

Quitting is never complicated at a backyard ultra. You sit down, the pain fades, and the story ends. What fascinates us about Prairie on Fire is watching people refuse that easy exit for hour after hour, then hearing the honest reasons why once it’s over. We bring you the voices of the top five finishers from the 2026 Prairie on Fire backyard ultra, a race that turned 4.167 mile yards into nearly 180 miles of grit, problem solving, and community. 

Johnny Brazis breaks down how he finally outran a past moment that haunted him, plus the practical hacks that kept him alive in brutal heat: ice soaked sun shirts, an ice bandana, and the kind of crew support that makes the next yard feel possible. Angel Soto Lazata shares a deeply personal approach to endurance, leaning on faith, Scripture, and mantras when the walls hit at very specific miles, while still finding ways to uplift other runners on the course. 

Then we go deep with Phil Dodick and Bob Rowdabush on what it takes to survive night two: training volume, gut training, gear rehearsal, and the ugly reality of sleep deprivation under a relentless countdown clock. Finally, winner Matt Sandlin explains why he trains in the dark, how gratitude shapes his race, and why the most meaningful wins are the ones you earn together. You’ll also hear how the “New Shoe Day” mission turns yards into real impact for kids. 

If this hit you in the chest, subscribe for more stories from the edge, share this with a runner who needs it, and leave us a review with the one mindset tool you use when you want to quit.

AI isn’t just getting smarter, it’s getting wired into everything you already use. We sit down for a monthly AI update and quickly realize the “wow” moments have shifted: the real breakthroughs now come from connectors, context, and workflow design, not just the next shiny model release. When Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Google Gemini can see your inbox, calendar, documents, and systems, the productivity gains stop being theoretical and start showing up in minutes saved every day. 

We talk through what that looks like on the ground, from AI inbox tools that pull action items out of chaos to scheduled agents that generate a morning digest. We also get practical about the money: advanced models are getting more expensive, companies are setting spend limits, and the winning move is learning when smaller models are “good enough” versus when you truly need the heavy hitters. Along the way we share a real internal example of an AI prospecting workflow that checks databases, scans a company website, and drafts outreach that still gets reviewed by a human before it goes out. 

Then we zoom out to the parts people don’t like to say out loud: AI slop that makes real messages feel fake, security fears around agents that can hack or escape sandboxes, and even how kids react when parents reach for AI at home. We end with a grounded look at where humans still matter most and where AI coaching may actually help in fitness and training when it’s built around real context and feedback. If this sparked a new idea or a new concern, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review. What’s one task you want AI to take off your plate next?

Keeping a strong sibling relationship as an adult is harder than people admit, especially when careers take off, kids’ schedules explode, and old competition patterns resurface. We sit down as three brothers and trace how our family dynamic formed, starting with the two big forces in our house: a dad wired for sports and performance and a mom wired for people, education, and inclusion. That combination gave us love and opportunity, but it also created clear “lanes” for attention and a quiet pressure to measure ourselves against each other. 

From there, we get honest about the transition most families struggle to name: moving from rivalry to real support. We share the uncomfortable moments, the slow process of swallowing pride, and the surprising relief that comes when you stop keeping score. We also talk about why it’s actually more fun to be a fan, how shared hobbies and common denominators keep conversation alive, and why intentionality matters more at this stage than it ever did when we were kids. 

The conversation goes deeper when we talk about working together in business and what it takes to keep family and leadership healthy at the same time. We break down ego, authority, negotiating compensation, and the role clarity that finally changed everything. A key turning point is the Working Genius assessment from Patrick Lencioni, which helped us stop judging each other by our own strengths and start building around complementary skill sets like vision, galvanizing, strategy, and tenacity. If you care about family dynamics, sibling communication, leadership, and building trust that lasts, you’ll take something practical from this. 

If this resonates, subscribe, share it with someone navigating sibling tension, and leave a quick review so more people can find the show.

Silence sounds simple until you try it and realize how addicted your brain is to input. We sit down with Todd after his latest silent retreat at a Trappist monastery in Kentucky, where monks wake before dawn and return to the chapel seven times a day. That steady rhythm of prayer, chanting, and space in between becomes a mirror for our own lives: how rarely we stop, how often we live on adrenaline, and how hard it is to hear anything deeper when our minds are always “on.”

We get practical and a little nerdy about what’s happening under the hood. Todd breaks down the feeling of moving from a busy beta state into a calmer alpha state, and why breathing cadence, repetition, and ritual can make that shift more accessible than most people think. We also talk about productivity from a different angle: sometimes the best way to do better work is to spend real time training your attention, building self-awareness, and learning to change mental gears faster, like a workout for your brain.

Then we go where the retreat inevitably leads: faith, perception, and the limits of pure analysis. What does it mean to stop “doing” and try to experience the living God? How much of reality are our senses missing? We even touch on the cultural pull of psychedelics and altered states, while staying grounded in a structured path that doesn’t require going off the rails.

If you’ve been craving a reset, a digital detox, or a deeper spiritual practice, hit play, share this with a friend who needs space, and leave a review. What would be the hardest part of a silent retreat for you?

Prairie On Fire is around the corner, and if you’re racing or crewing, the smartest “training” you can do now is getting the details right. We walk through the 2025 Prairie On Fire backyard ultra logistics with TJ, including the runner bio link you received, how canopy status affects phased load-in, and why sharing a canopy can improve your setup near the corral. With the event swelling to about 240 runners and a huge number of canopies, we also get blunt about the biggest change: no on-site parking for crews or runners, plus a faster, more organized Saturday morning gear load-in so the start stays calm instead of chaotic.

We also talk about what’s new and worth getting excited about: physical therapists available in a more prominent spot, Mount To Coast on site with demo shoes, and a Daily Edge livestream that will capture interviews, crew stories, and the real-time highs and lows that make a backyard ultra unforgettable. TJ teases new approaches to timing and improved runner tracking so friends and family at home can follow yards more easily, then shares why filling out your bio questions and social handles helps the broadcast team tell your story.

The biggest addition is purpose. Prairie On Fire is partnering with New Shoe Day to donate shoes for kids, aiming for a pair of shoes for every yard run. We connect that mission to performance advice you can actually use: eat real food early, don’t overhaul your fueling plan last minute, save caffeine for later when you truly need it, embrace walk breaks, and protect your mental energy because your mind usually quits before your body does. Subscribe, share this with your crew, and leave a review, then tell us what part of Prairie On Fire you want us to cover next.

AI is moving so fast that it’s hard to tell what’s hype, what’s useful, and what’s quietly changing everything. We sit down as three brothers for a semiannual AI update and get brutally practical about how we’re using Claude and ChatGPT right now, where the models feel better, and where they still fall flat.

We dig into the cultural shift around “AI slop” and why audiences are getting shockingly good at spotting work that’s been generated and pasted without thought. That leads to a bigger point: AI is a 10x multiplier when you use it as a tool set, but it becomes a crutch when you outsource your judgment. We talk about the real workflow behind good results, including the iterative back-and-forth it takes to get output that actually fits your voice and your intent.

Then we get into the fun stuff: AI-assisted coding and automation. We share examples like building a private, multi-page internal data platform in weeks instead of months, and creating a recurring family scheduling agent that pulls from Google and Outlook calendars, flags gaps, and sends nightly “here’s tomorrow” emails. We also cover token costs, why enterprise AI needs security and accountability, and what we think happens next: an AI interface layer that sits on top of legacy systems before those systems ever get replaced.

We wrap with a candid conversation about using AI for more existential, personal decisions, plus a simple tip that changes your prompts: using incognito mode to strip memory and get a cleaner answer. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s AI-curious, and leave a review if it helped. What’s one task you’d hand off to an AI assistant this week?

You can train through a lot, but you cannot out-stubborn a body that’s breaking down. We sit down as three runners who love big goals and big mileage and admit what we usually avoid: the recovery conversation. One of us has been stuck in a 15-month leg injury that was misread, mistreated, and made worse by shutting it down. The turning point is learning what tendinopathy really is and why the fix often looks like progressive strength training, not endless rest. 

We also get practical about where runners should go for help. Family-doctor advice can be too broad for endurance athletes, while sports-minded physical therapists and specialists can spot the real issue faster, whether it’s gait mechanics, hip rotation, or even big toe mobility throwing the whole chain off. From there we dig into what “recovery tools” actually do: blood flow, inflammation reduction, compression boots, dry needling, cold plunge, and using HRV as one more signal to pay attention to what your body is telling you. 

Then we zoom out to the mental game: the fear of losing fitness, the temptation to quit Boston or stop racing, and the relief of finding smart substitutes like incline treadmill work and strength-focused training. We also share why a daily running streak can become a confidence engine and a family discipline practice. Finally, we connect purpose to performance through our partnership with New Shoe Day, raising money to put shoes on kids in Indiana through per-yard sponsorship at our backyard ultra. 

If this hits home, subscribe, share it with a runner who needs a smarter recovery plan, and leave a review so more injured athletes can find the conversation.

The most dangerous lie about success is that there’s a top. We sit down as three brothers and unpack a realization we wish someone had handed us 20 years ago: the mountain keeps going, the goal line keeps moving, and if we don’t choose our definition of success, the culture will choose it for us.

We talk through why the rat race is so hard to leave even when you’re doing well financially. Some of it is modern incentives, consumer debt, and a work-and-spend cycle. Some of it is deeper: progress is baked into our biology, and so is the fear of being left out. That tribal wiring shows up today as status, comparison, and the quiet pressure to keep upgrading. We also explore whether contentment is a spiritual battle, and how material possessions can pull us away from what actually lasts.

Along the way, we compare the American Dream to other ways of living, from European attitudes toward work-life balance to the Amish model of community and simplicity. We share a story about a family who quit high-paying jobs, slowed life down, and discovered they were spending money on things they do not even miss. That launches a real debate about privilege, kids, expectations, purpose-driven work, and what it would mean to downshift without drifting.

If you’ve ever thought “I’ll be happy when I get there,” this conversation is for you. Subscribe for more honest conversations, share this with a friend who’s burned out, and leave a review with your take: what would you change first if you stopped chasing the next summit?

School starts in late July for some families, early August for others, and it sparks a question that sounds simple but gets complicated fast: do kids really need a 180-day school year? We pick apart where the modern school calendar came from, why it became the default, and why it can feel disconnected from how families actually live today, especially when summer disappears before it even starts to feel like summer. 

From there, we get into the trade-offs people don’t always say out loud. Sure, academics matter, but school also provides structure, daily rhythm, and a built-in place for kids to learn social skills through shared experience. When school is out, many parents feel the squeeze immediately: work schedules get crushed, the “tablet mode” temptation creeps in, and the lack of routine can turn an eight-week break into chaos. We also explore whether older students can get some of those same developmental benefits through jobs, sports, work-study, and apprenticeship-style pathways that connect learning to real application. 

We zoom out to what’s changing right now, including Indiana’s new diploma pathways and the shift toward banning phones at school, plus the bigger wave coming for everyone: AI in education. If information can be delivered faster and more personally than ever, what should school optimize for next: problem solving, creativity, discipline, relationships, or something else? Listen through and then weigh in with us. If you enjoyed the conversation, subscribe, share it with a parent or teacher, and leave a review so more people can find the show.