RR 222: The RRC Author Spotlight with David Clark, Addiction, Recovery, SobrietyRR 222: The RRC Author Spotlight with David Clark, Addiction, Recovery, Sobriety
The SHAIR Recovery Podcast
Conversation with David Clark about addiction, ultra-running, Buddhism and writing, showing how deep honesty and spiritual growth can reshape life in sobriety. The discussion also touches on grief, family expectations and choosing happiness as an ongoing practice.
1:38:23•14 May 2019
Warrior, Monk and the Blank Page: David Clark on Sobriety, Ultra-Running and Real Happiness
Episode Overview
- Writing can work like an extended moral inventory, helping to expose secrets, fear and shame so they lose their hold.
- Physical change alone is not enough; meaningful recovery also asks for spiritual growth and emotional honesty.
- Happiness is described as a deliberate daily choice, not a reward that appears after achievements or milestones.
- True love for those we’ve lost does not require endless suffering; letting go of pain does not mean letting go of love.
- Lasting balance comes from involving loved ones in ambitions and changes rather than disappearing into solitary self-improvement.
“We become quite attached to pain sometimes because we feel if we feel enough pain, then that means that our love was deeper or more profound. And it's not necessarily true.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This SHAIR Recovery Podcast instalment from the Recovery Revolution series brings back ultra-runner and author David Clark for a candid author spotlight that feels part meeting, part coaching session. David talks with host Omar Pinto and community member Kim about his books *Out There: A Story of Ultra Recovery* and *Broken Open: Mountains, Demons, Treadmills and a Search for Nirvana*.
He explains how writing acted like “a two‑year fearless moral inventory”, stripping away labels and false identities so he could rebuild on honesty instead of ego.
As he puts it, “when I took every single secret and every fear and every insecurity that I've ever had and wrote it down and released it to the world, it was the freest I've ever felt in my life.” You’ll hear how he shifted from being a 320‑pound alcoholic to an ultra‑runner, using daily movement as a simple affirmation of a new identity. At the same time, he explores the limits of relying only on physical transformation.
The real turning point comes when he realises his ‘warrior’ side (the one that runs 100‑milers and world‑record treadmill attempts) has to make room for his ‘monk’ side – the part that wants stillness, presence and genuine happiness. The conversation ranges into Buddhism, grief and family dynamics.
Kim shares the pain of losing her mum and feeling judged for not grieving “the right way”, opening a powerful discussion about attachment, religion and why “letting go of pain is not letting go of love.” Throughout, the tone is relaxed, funny and deeply honest – ideal if you’re in recovery and wrestling with identity, balance, or how to build a life that actually feels good, not just sober.
If you could choose happiness as a daily practice, what would you need to let go of first?
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