Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / BONUS: The Podcast About Podcasts – Featuring Companions of the Compendium

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BONUS: The Podcast About Podcasts – Featuring Companions of the Compendium · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

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  It's. Bonus time.
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  Here we go. This month in February of 2025,
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  we are doing a podcast about podcast.
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  We want to introduce you to other track and field themed
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  podcasts that are out there that might be great for your
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  listening pleasure. So all month we're introducing a
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  new podcast each and every day, showing you who they are, what
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  they are, how they are, why they got started, and even their
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  favorite episodes and most popular.
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  And hopefully this adds to your podcast listening library.
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  So here we go. Let's get started with today's
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  podcast about podcast. All right, so let's get started
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  here. How about introduce yourself,
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  maybe give a little bit of a 32nd, 30,000 foot level on you
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  and your background and track and field and give us the the
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  name of your podcast. Yeah, so my name is Ryan Banton
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  and I'm a long time frustrated sprinter and lifelong learning
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  coach. And the name of my podcast is
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  the Companions of the Compendium Podcast.
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  I love that. And what do you for your
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  podcast? You know, this is all about
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  helping people find other podcasts that they may like and
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  like listen to. What do you focus on?
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  You know, some people focus on news events, some people focus
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  on training, some people focus on coaching.
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  What do you what is the I can never say your name correctly.
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  What does the Companion of the Compendiums focus on?
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  So the Companions of the Competitive podcast is a focus
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  on empowering coaches through in depth conversations about
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  training, philosophy and leadership.
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  And at first I was thinking it was going to be like, you know,
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  just in depth talks about training and oh, how do you
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  design A workout and what are your micro and macro cycles look
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  like and what drills and what's your favorite workout?
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  And as it evolved, it just became more and more of a
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  conversation and, and we'll get into it, but there's a lot of
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  fun in hosting a podcast too that we can talk about, but
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  that's kind of the the basis of what it is.
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  And so I'm looking at for people in the performance space.
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  So not all track and field, even though most of my audience is a
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  track and field audience. However, it is a coach that
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  wants long form conversations. We are definitely not a Twitter
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  or X based where we're going really short and sweet, which
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  there's a value and a space for that.
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  But for us, as we want to have a long form conversations to get
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  into all different aspects of what it is to be a leader, to be
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  a coach and to be in the performance space.
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  That's a great point you make up there.
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  What is your average and the audio?
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  Sometimes they change, but what's your average length per
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  episode and what kind of style are you a a solo podcast?
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  Is it just you? Do you interview?
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  Do you have a Co host? So average length and style of
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  podcast. Sure.
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  So they're very long. I mean, we're going an hour
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  plus. So when I talk to people, I'm
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  like, do you have an hour and a half?
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  If you have an hour and a half, we can do this.
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  If you don't have an hour and a half between the time that it
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  takes to have the nice, how you doing?
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  How are things? How's your mother conversation?
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  Then hit the record button, then get done with the recording and
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  then have a conversation. You know, that sometimes is more
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  beneficial to both the guest and the host after, you know, just
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  to kind of sum things up and to thank them.
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  And so like, I mean, I think KBA Tolbert's was my longest
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  actually it almost two hours in length.
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  And he's very patient and he's got a lot to say.
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  And so that's really good. I like having guests.
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  I have done a few solos as a lot of people who have ever heard of
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  me before know that I try to get on every stinking podcast that I
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  can get on to spread the good word, the message, and to just
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  share, you know? And I feel like I have some
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  value through my mistakes and my lessons learned through those
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  mistakes. But what's interesting is a lot
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  of people who know me and probably can tell already by my
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  answer here, I'm long winded. And so one of the things that
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  was really cool about doing this was learning to listen and
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  learning to listen with intent, which has been very valuable.
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  And when did you start the podcast and why?
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  What was your original motivation for starting the
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  podcast? Well, Mike, you kind of told me
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  I should do a podcast. And so that was a big part of
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  it. But I think that in the times
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  that I've been able to get on and do conferences through Zoom
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  or or any of those kind of things, people, you know, and
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  obviously both of us are kind of under the weather today a little
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  bit with our voices. But, you know, they say I have a
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  face for radio. But, you know, it was one of
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  those things where, hey, you seem to communicate pretty well,
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  better than average, and you seem to be a good
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  conversationalist. Wouldn't it be cool if you
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  helped other people be platformed, amplify them, and
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  have really good conversations with maybe some of your network
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  that you know are really good master practitioners at the
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  particular thing that they do, but maybe others don't know
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  them. You know, it's it.
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  The first season was over three years ago now, and the second
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  season just kind of got started. But I'm not going to go in the
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  same fashion that I went with Season 2 as Season 1.
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  And reasons for that are, you know, when you have family and
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  you have kids and you have other responsibilities, there are
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  decisions you have to make as a host to provide good content,
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  but also to make sure you balance your life.
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  You kind of alluded to this. Has it kept its original idea
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  and formed through today? You know, sometimes things
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  evolve. Hopefully things should actually
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  maybe evolve. You kind of alluded maybe doing
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  things a little bit different now in Season 2 than you did
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  Season 1. What's we know?
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  Why? What?
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  What are some of those changes? So the big change is, is right
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  now I don't have a backlog of content that I can throw on as
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  bonus material. Like this is as well that we're
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  doing right now over the original, you know, connections
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  podcast that you and I have talked on previously.
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  And so there's that. The other thing is I want to be
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  a little bit more judicious in the guests that I bring on.
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  And I also want to bring on people that are people that I
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  really not that I haven't brought on people that I
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  respect, but people that now I've gotten through a lot of the
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  obvious guests in the performance space.
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  I now want to bring on people who are maybe more at the ground
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  level with this world of track and field or sports performance
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  that have have a lot of value that maybe people are not so
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  aware of out there. When you when we're in business,
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  we talk about our ideal customer.
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  So there's a lot of people that buy for us, Gil Athletics,
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  there's a lot of people that buy equipment from us, including
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  moms and dads and even athletes. But that's not our ideal.
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  That's who we're really focusing on.
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  We're focused on the coach in high school and college athletic
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  directors or customers, but again, our ideal customer
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  profile is that coach in the high school and college level.
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  Who would you describe as your ideal listener profile?
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  Who's ideally going to get the most value out of what you're
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  bringing in the podcast? So lifelong learning coaches,
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  coaches who are open minded, coaches who are not absolutists.
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  I don't like absolutists. If you're an absolutist, you're
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  absolutely wrong. Which is an absolute, which is a
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  bit of a brain teaser. But in terms of the essence of
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  that idea, I want people who are curious.
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  I don't want people to agree with every guest that I have.
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  I don't want them to agree with me.
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  I would tell you also, when I have a podcast, the the, it's
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  supposed to be a conversation, which does mean you're going to
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  have to hear my voice as well. And I'm going to be talking.
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  And the best podcast episodes I've had are the ones where the
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  conversation is natural and there's some good back and forth
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  dialogue. I try to serve an audience that
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  is not only curious but likes to go way out into the deep water
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  with topics and really explore some of these deep ideas and the
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  long form conversations and the details and minutiae of what we
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  do. But most importantly, coaches
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  who are altruistic. Coaches who are in the sport for
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  the right reason and understanding the humanity
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  behind the meters of work and the number of jumps and the reps
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  in the weight. Room, what's been your favorite
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  episode or maybe a different way and you can answer both or
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  either. What's been your most popular
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  episode? Besides the one that I was on,
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  of course. We'll just set that to the side.
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  Well, thank you for for giving me that out.
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  I know last time when you said what's the best part of my book
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  and I forgot to mention you and you set it up on a tee for me.
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  It was so easy and I screwed it up.
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  But no, I the most popular by a long margin with 10s of
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  thousands of views is Vince Anderson's.
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  And it was right after one of what seems to be a perpetual
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  folly of Team USA and relays. And so it's it's a go to every
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  time there's a bad issue with a relay, I can just push that
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  podcast out there and go, hey, there's, there's ways to do
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  this. We've already workshop that.
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  And maybe at one point somebody who's in the decision making
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  process of who picks that and how that his system is run,
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  we'll listen to Vince because it's a well informed,
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  experienced, elite coach who also understands the logistics
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  and humanity that's behind that performance.
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  That sits in pretty high esteem and in my own personal
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  experience with the podcast, I like that one a lot.
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  But I would be lying to you if I didn't mention two others.
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  The very first episode with Dan Path is by far my favorite
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  because I when I first started coaching, there was so much
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  information that Dan had put out and he's again lifelong learner,
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  lifelong educator, and has been so generous and gracious with
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  his Freedom of Information, if you will.
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  And so when I went away from being a scarcity coach to an
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  abundance coach, he was really influential in that.
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  And it was also one of those things where it's like, man, one
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  day I would love to have even a Micron of respect and influence
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  that Dan has as an educator coach.
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  And to have him on there and for us to be tipped for him to be
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  considered a friend of mine is one of the coolest things I can
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  experience. The other episode would be Kelly
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  Sturrett's. Kelly Sterett was on the Joe
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  Rogan podcast at one point. He's the guy that's really big
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  in the fitness and health world in, you know, like in, in all of
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  the, you know, strength and in competitions and all that kind
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  of the fitness competitions and, and all that kind of stuff.
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  And his big thing is, is getting beyond the pay wall of a medical
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  person to treat yourself. So when you're looking at the
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  sport of CrossFit, that's a hard sport.
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  And that's where he's got most of his background is in
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  CrossFit. But just you could tell, like,
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  thank God this guy doesn't lead a cult because he could be so
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  dangerous. Because when I got off that
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  episode with him, I understood why he has so much influence and
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  so many people like him and find him so groundbreaking and
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  interesting. It was one of the coolest
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  conversations I had ever had. And like the last 10 minutes
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  when we're talking about the future of humanity and the
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  importance of the coach might be one of the most important
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  careers and occupations of the future was beautiful.
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  And I was so jazzed and excited. And you could just tell this guy
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  is a master of communication and in enthusiasm and motivation.
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  And I could see how in a sport like CrossFit, which requires a
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  lot of different things, that his skills are a perfect match
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  to that puzzle piece of that sport.
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  It's really special to be a guest on a podcast.
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  I, I hold all of our guest and guest of your podcast and others
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  of really high esteem. I, I'd love to hear what their
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  thoughts and feelings and actions and their history is.
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  But a few of us, as you're seeing through this bonus series
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  that we're doing right now in 2025, being a host of a show has
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  other benefits. I mean, we, we get to see every
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  guest. We get to be in depth on every
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  guest or every topic, things like that.
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  What, if anything, have you learned from hosting a podcast?
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  That there are many different ways to come at the opportunity
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  of coach coaching and sports performance.
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  That there's not a single way to do something.
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  Also, even though our methods may be different, good coaches
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  are motivated by the same thing. We want to be a vessel to be an
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  opportunity for others to be successful, right?
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  We want to be a vessel for that success.
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  We want to be someone who changes the trajectory of
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  people's lives in a positive. But also we have the
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  responsibility so much so and so importantly, that we can also go
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  the other way if we don't do it right.
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  It's also given me an opportunity to talk to people
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  that would never want to talk to me.
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  And it's funny because when I first put the book together,
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  there was many people who said yes, like yourself and Dan and
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  and Vince and others. And I'm so gracious and thankful
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  for them. But then later on in the
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  podcast, like, oh, yeah, I didn't know who you were back
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  then. And now that I've gotten to hear
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  you talk, and I know you're not necessarily a maniac and that
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  you have some value to give people that you know, I'm
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  comfortable with having a conversation and sharing with
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  you and chatting with you for an hour and a half.
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  And I've gotten to talk to people from almost every time
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  zone on the planet, and never my wildest dreams do I think I'd
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  have that opportunity. And I've gotten to learn a lot
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  from them, not just in affirming what I already do, but looking
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  at solutions from a different pair of eyes and in different
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  angles. And by far that's the coolest
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  thing. And then you know, when you go
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  to some of these big events like the USTCCCCA conference and you
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  go to the World Championships or the NCAA's or a Level 2 school
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  at you, the US ATF, people kind of know who you are.
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  And, and that gives you an opportunity to continue to
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  provide value and connection and meet with people who you would
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  never be able to have access to otherwise.
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  It's a really special thing. All right, last two questions,
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  kind of the easy 1 is where can listeners find you right now
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  they're listening to us on probably Apple and Spotify are
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  two most popular. Where do you host for all your
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  different channels for this podcast?
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  So obviously it used to be on Anchor.
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  It's on Apple Podcast as well and on Spotify currently I'm
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  doing all of my work through Spotify.
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  You can also find my book, The Sprinters Compendium, which has
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  a lot of the guests that are on the companions of the compendium
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  and you can find that on Amazon as well.
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  And I mean, you can type my name in and find me on pretty much
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  any social media, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or whatever.
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  All right. Last question, assuming that
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  you're also a podcast listener, since you're a podcast creator,
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  what is your favorite podcast that's not track related?
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  So I know that, you know, Joe Rogan has become a little bit of
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  a controversial figure because of politics and things like
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  that. But at the end of the day, he's
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  probably the best at long form podcasting and getting a lot of
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  guests with a lot of different viewpoints and being able to
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  most of the time. And since he's podcasting almost
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  multiple times a day, it seems as being a inquisitive,
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  respectful participant and I've wanted to provide that in my own
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  little space. A lot of people think I look
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  like him, which is hilarious as well.
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  Bald short guys, I guess. But anyway.
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  And then there's a couple others that are not necessarily
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  podcasts, but they're kind of long form YouTube.
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  So I am AAP, human geography teacher, and so I'm constantly
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  trying to be up to date like the day of on world events.
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  So there's William Spaniel who does a bunch of stuff, and he's
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  this guy who's just incredible at breaking down very complex
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  issues in almost a mathematical way to make, I think it makes
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  sense in terms of data. And then there's this Australian
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  guy named Prenan, who he does long, long, long form basically
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  weekly dissertations on similar issues of warfare and the
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  economy as well. And if you look up William,
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  you'll find Prenan as well, and they're really, really great.
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  I love it, man. Thank you so much for your time,
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  listener. You have a high probability that
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  whatever app you're using right now, you can find the companions
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  of the compendium. So pause right now because we're
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  at the very end of the episode search companions of the
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  compendium. And my challenge to you is find
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  an episode that looks interesting to you.
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  Find out if there's a flow for you, if you like this style, and
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  then go all in, subscribe and check out his.
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  This is one of our biggest challenges.
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  Go look at his backlog, his library like you mentioned, Dan
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  Pathman, Sanderson, many, many other amazing guests, yes, even
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  yours truly. But go check out Companion of
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  the Compendium and check out his book as well.
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  And Ryan, thank you so much. Thank you for what you do.
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  Thank you for the value that you put into our sport, into our
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  coaching body. That means the world to me.
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  And we're super grateful for you and hope a lot of people go
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  check you out on their podcast of choice.
• 18:30
  Thank you, Mike. Back at you buddy.
• 18:31
  Appreciate it.