Brad Seng
Episode 203
19 DEC 2022
He competes year-round as a professional ironman triathlete. He is the head coach of the 18-time national champion University of Colorado Boulder triathlon team, and he is a USA Triathlon Level II Certified Coach AND a Certified Sports Nutritionist. He had spent his years as a student-athlete competing in soccer, including during college, and was even a swimmer in high school. In addition to his racing endeavors, he is a nationally recognized abstinence speaker and has spoken to thousands of teens & young adults on the benefits of being physically, emotionally & spiritually “buff.”
Notable guest quotes:
“Our Catholic faith was a big part of my life growing up, as a child, even when I left the local Catholic grade school and went on to the public schools… I was consistently going to the CCD classes and involved with the local high school youth ministry groups.”
“As a Catholic athlete, a Catholic coach, my faith is just interwoven into my being, my person. It’s part of my coaching philosophy now and how I interact and engage with athletes.”
“I really look at our student-athletes as people first, students second, and athletes third and really try to embrace a coaching philosophy and methodology that looks at the whole person and really tries to lift up and make sure that they’re being protected and watched over as a complete person, and that’s spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally, psychologically.”
“For me it comes, like, second nature to practice my faith within the coaching I’m doing… and it’s extremely rewarding knowing that perhaps I’m having an impact… but I really treasure and value being able to not necessarily hide my faith, but to be able to share it in various ways.”
“We can do all the training and get ourselves physically prepared, but if our mind – and our heart, even more importantly – are not aligned to really where God wants it to be, then we’re not going to be able to reach our full potential.”
“Triathlon can become a very selfish endeavor… Fortunately for me, as I was racing professionally and making the move out to Colorado… that was a catalyst for when my faith really started to flourish and tapping into the treasures and resources of our Catholic faith.”
“What better way for me as a professional triathlete to recover my body spiritually and even physically from the rigors of training than receiving the holy Eucharist? Getting involved in Adoration, attending Adoration, confession, opening the Bible, reading the Word, and then ultimately the time that I’m out there training – swimming, biking, and running – is prayer time.”
“I can’t tell you how many decades and how many rosaries I’ve prayed over the years while I’m training and racing.”
“I pray to St. Sebastian before every single team practice at CU.”
“Prayer is a huge part of what I’m doing athletically. Often times we can compartmentalize prayer and think, well, as Catholics, maybe it’s reserved for one hour a week on Sundays to attend Mass. But I think if we are fully open to allowing God into our lives, He’s never ever outdone in His generosity.”
“We need to avoid the emotional and spiritual ‘junk food’ that is out there, that is constantly bombarding us and trying to grab at us and pull us into an unhealthy and negative direction and away from Christ and away from God and perhaps away from our faith.”
“As a Catholic I always really, really valued the opportunities I had to go into the local public schools giving that healthy message of abstinence.”
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