What Spartan Racing Taught This Combat Veteran – Tara Pipia

In this episode, Joe De Sena sits down with veteran, coach, and author Tara Pipia to explore how Spartan Racing and military discipline can help you overcome life’s greatest challenges.

 

Tara shares her journey from serving in Afghanistan to rebuilding her life through community, fitness, and purpose. Together, they dive into how doing hard things—whether on the battlefield or on the Spartan course—can heal emotional wounds, build resilience, and create lasting transformation.

 

If you’re looking for real-world strategies to thrive through adversity, tap into grit, and find meaning in discomfort, tune in now!

 

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

00:43 Meet Tara Pipia

01:44 Military service & leadership lessons

02:08 Sara’s most challenging experience

03:36 Lessons from doing hard things

05:21 Turning pain into progress

06:58 Growing up tough in New York

08:02 Family lessons on resilience

08:59 Joe’s story on kids quitting the camp

09:36 How Spartan race inspired Tara’s book

12:40 Spartan race & recovery

14:20 How to live an optimal life