The Stubborn Tortoise

149 episodes listed below

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Trail culture, sore hips, stubborn miles.

The gist

The Stubborn Tortoise follows Donna Pazdera through the messy middle of running culture: physical therapy, hip pain, trail work, race logistics, and the moods around them. It is intimate and conversational, with detours into travel, weather, music, old friends, and the small negotiations that keep a runner moving.

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About The Stubborn Tortoise

The Stubborn Tortoise is a personal trail-running show about the parts of the sport that rarely fit into a race recap. Donna Pazdera talks from inside the routine: getting to physical therapy, trying new exercises, managing a cranky hip, deciding when rest is actually rest, and wondering what counts as progress. The tone is candid and lightly self-deprecating. It can be very funny. A visit to a physical therapy clinic becomes a story about walkers, BOSU squats, taped floor lines, and a zero-gravity treadmill that feels gimmicky but useful. A medical update becomes a reflection on x-rays, osteoarthritis, and the odd fascination of seeing one’s own joint on a screen. The show is about trail running, but it is also about the conditions around running. Weather matters. Travel matters. Flu recovery, time changes, missed routines, and the mental pull of a half marathon all become part of the story. Pazdera often lets the path wander, then finds her way back through memory, annoyance, and practical self-assessment. That wandering is part of the appeal. The show has the rhythm of someone sorting out what the body will allow this week. It also keeps a close eye on community. Episodes mention course marking, local trails, hill repeats, trail stewards, and the friends who make running culture work. When guests appear to talk about race work, the focus shifts from personal mileage to the hidden machinery of race day: setup, timing, barriers, crew work, and lessons for smaller events. The result is not a coaching show or a glossy endurance brand. It is a field notebook from a stubborn runner, full of aches, jokes, detours, and practical affection for the trail world.

Made for: For runners who care as much about trail community, injury management, and race-day logistics as finishing times. It especially suits listeners who like candid solo storytelling with dry humor and real-life detours.

What sets it apart: The show stands apart by treating running culture as an ongoing life, not a performance. Its most memorable moments come from physical therapy rooms, course-marking struggles, local trail systems, and the quiet decisions around backing off or continuing.

In their own words

People often ask me why I love trail running. It's all about the stories. You meet a different kind of person on the trails: connects with nature, doesn't mind slowing down if someone is in need, says, "Good job, runner." Trail runners are competitive, for sure. But it's also egalitarian. Seldom will you find the elites separated from the regular folk. Everyone gets lost at some point. Everyone falls. These are our badges of passage. This is my take on trail culture.Logo: Kevin StichMusic: "Our Sky," by Overland (via Free Music Archive)Contact

As heard by us

Based on 4 episodes we listened to · September 2026

Donna Pazdera gives running an intimate scale, connecting injury, recovery, trail routines and the practical work behind organized races.

Donna Pazdera treats running as a lived practice, tracking the awkward distance between ambition and what the body will currently allow. Her solo episodes move through physical therapy, advanced hip osteoarthritis, altered race plans and the cautious pleasure of returning to a…

Read our full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Donna Pazdera turns a balky hip and Boston barricades into the running chat that keeps you company.

Press play if you want

honest companionship when your body edits the race plan
behind-the-scenes race logistics from people hauling barricades, timing events, and learning on the job

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

trail running culturephysical therapy and strength traininghip pain and osteoarthritisrace volunteering and course markinglocal trailsrace storiesrace logisticsweather, travel, and disrupted routines

Talks about

Sports Running Addiction & Recovery

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Find your next episode

About The Stubborn Tortoise

In their own words

As heard by us

Why you'd press play

Talks about

Podcasts like The Stubborn Tortoise

Episodes

A Brief Hiatus and Big Plans

Don't Skip Leg Day and Other Stories

Things going awry all at once

The Flu as a Parting Gift

Two, count 'em, two, adventures

I Have Become Fran

Rekindling the Love

"We Don't Have to Feel Alone as Runners."

Returning to Big Boy Races

I Guess I Should Train, Eh?

Season 7, People!

It's about time.

Lots of DRAMA

Giving Back

The Dark

I'm Still Here

Reflecting on my Past and Looking Ahead

Life Goes On

Extraordinary People: Tia Banks

Back to Square One, part ????

Found objects and other stories

Three Events, Two Cancelations and One Great Experience

Snowdrop Relay Experience

Spilling the Tea and Other Stories

Reminiscing, Recommitting and Resilience

Some Inconvenient Truths

Some Political and Personal Stuff, But Some News!

Deepak Shukla: 100 Miles Isn't Enough

Master's Edition: Mironda Meyer: Normalizing Menopause

Discovering Romance Doing What You Love

Perspective Pays.

Recommitting, Part ?

Master's Edition: Courtney Lumpkin Classen

Using an Ultra Mindset and Other Stories

Still at It.

Annnnnd, I'm Back!

It's All in the Hip

The Boston Marathon, Inside-Out with Coach Basilio Mendoza and Orlando "Hundo" Montalvo

Master's Edition: Robert Gonzales. No Quitting, Always Aspiring.

Getting Committed

Remix: Trail Foes and Friends

Master's Edition: Lisa Tuckwood

Basics for Beginners

Satan's Driveway in Plain Sight

Extraordinary People: Olga Laque and Rustie Johnson

Extraordinary People: Steve Carter

Extraordinary People: Kate Motsko

Master's Edition: Timothy Sneed. Overcoming the RUSH

Extraordinary People: Meg Eckert

Resolving, Rowing, Running

2023 roundup

The Buddy Chat: Angela Coppi Wojcik

Master's Edition: Robbie De La Rosa. Runs for the Love of the Sport

In Many Directions, But All Point Forward

This one time at Band Camp

Special Master's Edition: Brad and Pamela Toelle. Jiking the Javelina Jundred (K)

Volunteer Fun and...Body Image Issues

Forging Ahead, Slowly, Very Slowly

Rodeo Roundup: J&J, circa 2017, cats! and You've Got to Make Your Own Music

The Race of Surprises

The Cedar Choppers and Why I Am Not Cut Out for Trail-Building

The Mental Sherpa and Other Stories

The Top 10 Trails in Texas -- Donna's Version

Special Master's Edition: Julie Haynes

Master's Edition: Liz Casa Perez

The DNS That Shouldn't Have Happened

On the Comeback -- I Hope!

A Masochist's Paradise

The Tortoise Goes West

Happy Season Five! (And more personal stuff)

Extraordinary People: Sara Dudzikowski - The Comeback Kid

Paz n' Hundo: The Great Reset