One of the things I enjoy most about being in SEALgrinderPT is getting to meet and know ordinary people who decide to do extraordinary things.
Graham Dessert is one of those athletes.
He is not a professional athlete. He is not a Navy SEAL. He is not someone blessed with unlimited free time or perfect training conditions. Instead, Graham represents what happens when an athlete commits to showing up day after day, embracing discomfort, and refusing to quit when training gets hard.
Over the years, Graham has completed some impressive challenges, including graduating the demanding SEALFIT Kokoro event and taking on the Murph 365 challenge. Those accomplishments were not built in a single workout. They were built through consistency, discipline, and a willingness to keep moving forward when most people would stop. The same qualities show up again and again in successful Kokoro graduates and endurance athletes.
In this interview, Graham shares lessons learned from training, overcoming obstacles, staying motivated, and finding purpose through hard physical challenges. Whether you are preparing for a Murph, a ruck event, a mountain climb, Kokoro, or simply trying to become a tougher and more disciplined version of yourself, there is something here you can apply to your own journey.
Grab a cup of coffee, take some notes, and enjoy this interview with SGPT athlete Graham Dessert.
SGPT: Tell me about yourself.
GD: My name is Graham Dessert, I am 45 years old. I now live in Loveland, Colorado, and I work in the roofing industry. I was born into a large military family of 10 children. We moved every two to three years growing up: Colorado Springs where I was born, Kansas City, New York, DC, Savannah, and then back to Kansas City for my father’s last assignment. I attended high school and college there in KC and that is where I met my wife. We eventually got married and started our family. We have five kids and two grandkids.
I attribute my work ethic to my father and how I was raised. I had a paper route for three years in DC delivering the Washington Post. My brothers and I would wake up every morning at 5am to deliver the newspapers rain, snow, or shine. We delivered daily, regardless of the conditions.
I got into business early at the age of 20 and started to progress in my career year over year.
SGPT: Did you have an athletic background growing up?
GD: I’ve always been drawn to hard physical challenges and competition. I played multiple sports growing—swimming, baseball, basketball, wrestling, football, golf, and competitive weight lifting. I loved football and did whatever I could to get better at it. My passion for football got me into wrestling for the conditioning and competitive weight lifting for the strength and power.
I played football in college as a three year starter and eventually again in my mid-30’s.
I got burned out of competitive sports and said after my last game of my senior year, “I don’t ever want to lift another weight or run ever again.” So I didn’t for an entire decade.
At the age of 33, I looked in the mirror and did not like the man I saw, the physique, or my habits. I was habitually drinking alcohol and it was getting very unhealthy for me. I had to make a life change. My family, marriage, and life depended on it. I decided to get back into shape and try out for a semi-pro football team.
Long story short, I made the team and it forced me to take care of myself. I had to change my identity from a mid-30’s dad bod dude to a restored athlete. As soon as I saw myself as an athlete, I started acting like one and treating myself like one.
I excelled and my body changed drastically.
This led me to SEALFIT Kokoro. If there was someone that could help me make some changes in my life…it would be the most elite athletes in the world. I wanted what they had and I wanted in.
After having a successful football season and playing better than I did in college at the age of 35, I was confident and ready to train for the next challenge.
SGPT: You finished SEALFIT Kokoro. Tell us about that experience.
GD: I did Kokoro in 2016 in Southern California, and it was a true crucible. The most life transforming thing I have done aside follow Jesus. It forced me to train and become the man who would win before showing up. I had to make decisions ahead of time.
“I know I am going to be wiped and tired…in those moments…I will not quit…I will lean on my teammates, I will focus on the next goal right in front of me, I will focus on the next few minutes vs how many hours or days are left…pain does not last forever…help is on the way”
I created strategies and mantras ahead of time. Jokes, mustard packets, and smells kept my mind moving. Not my jokes, other peoples.
In a bad moment, “hey dude, tell me something funny” or “tell me a joke’. The mustard packets from the sandwiches we ate taste terrible by themselves but get your senses focused on something else so I would put some in my pocket and suck on them. I also had basil oil in my pocket and would smell it now and then to break pre-occupation in my mind.
One of the hardest moments was an unexpected beat-down right before a mountain evolution. It completely sucked the life out of me—and then we immediately had to hike uphill for the next six hours. The beat down consisted of crawling across the gravel road in the 100 degree heat with rocks, thorns, and dirt. An impossible time hack to beat that resulted in more punishment. It was designed to suck the life out of you and it fulfilled its purpose. ‘
Broken physically but not mentally, the coach took a picture of me and as he did I put the biggest cheesiest fake smile on my face.
As we charged up the mountain, I fell behind and I literally hated life for a lot of that climb. What changed it for me was my teammates. They kept telling jokes and did as I asked, “hey can you just keep talking?”
Staying connected and not going inward—kept me in the fight.
And on the way down the mountain, it was a total confidence and energy shift. I went from last to first with an individual competition win. From there 48 hours+ of no sleep, we moved into boat ramp sprints. This is where each individual got tested and where I accelerated.
We did boat ramp sprints for what seemed like a full hour, one of the most impactful and potent hours of my life. A time in my life when I felt the most alive and the most authentic as a man. Yes I felt the most alive sleep deprived and doing boat ramp sprints.
Why? Because I was winning. Not just once BUT EVERY TIME!
Despite the odds, the head starts for everyone else, being physically held back…no matter what was thrown at me…I still won the race.
The coach did not use a whistle or a horn to start each race. He started each race by saying a phrase and when we heard that phrase we knew it was time to sprint up the ramp.
That phrase was, “Pays To Be A Winner”.
Photo: Mount Huron with Joe Jenkins, Graham Dessert, George Shepherd, Laurence McCullough, Charles Allen August 2025
SGPT: What did you learn about yourself?
GD: In a brutally competitive world, it won’t always be a fair fight but you are still expected to win, you are still expected to hit your objectives. Regardless of position, circumstance, environment, or resources you can still be victorious.
This exercise created an indestructible neuropathway in me that is triggered by one key phrase that is now tattooed on my arm, “Pays To Be A Winner”. Every time I look at my watch…I truly know what time it is.
I know that in any competition I can defy ALL odds and still win. I know how to plan and how to prepare. This makes me humbly confident to face whatever life throws at me.
SGPT: Tell us how you got interested in the Murph workout.
GD: The first time I did Murph was part of my training for SEALFIT Kokoro. Then when I started doing crossfit I started doing it every Memorial Day. As I write this I just finished Murph this morning with about 50 other men from church. If I was to count how many Murphs I have done since I started training it would have to be over 400 full Murphs completed.
Then one bright sunny day in October of 2019 I came across the idea of doing Murph every day for an entire year.
You can listen to the podcast below to hear more about that.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-on-mission-steve-weatherford/id1436670002?i=1000514059525
SGPT: How would you coach a tactical athlete or everyday warrior who wants to do their first Murph?
GD: 1) Your first Murph should be a training day, not an ego test.
2) Choose the right version up front.
– Newer athlete: no vest, scale volume (half Murph), and partition.
– Intermediate athlete: 20 rounds of 5 pull-ups / 10 push-ups / 15 air squats.
3) Pull-ups and push-ups break people. Practice sustainable sets (stop well short of failure) and build density over time.
4) Control the first mile. Start easier than you want. The first mile should feel almost “too controlled.”
5) Use the clock. I love EMOM-style pacing because it makes you move based on time, not mood. Run a 10 min mile, do a set of work every 90 seconds, and cap with an 10 min mile
6) Have a recovery plan. Hydrate, fuel, and plan for shoulder/chest/legs soreness. I like hydrating with LMNT and taking hot epsom salt baths.
SGPT: What good book are you reading right now? Podcast?
GD: Four Time Felon by Rick Scadden. My neighbor just released it. The story is as dramatic as the title, but it has an epic turnaround—and it reminded me there’s no mess too big for Jesus. It brought me hope, and I think we could all use more hope.
The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication by John Maxwell. I speak in small group settings and in meetings, and this book is helping me make my messages more effective. I recommend it to all leaders.
I am listening to Shawn Ryan’s Podcast #306 with Bryce Crawford. Crawford turned his conversion to Christianity in a bold public ministry where he chose street ministry versus traditional church roles. He often goes to the most controversial areas and settings for Christians—Burning Man, Furry Con, and many others to spread the gospel message. This podcast has been inspirational for me to be more bold about sharing my faith in Jesus not just in deep, dark places BUT in every day life—grocery store, gas station, restaurant, coffee shop, or work.
SGPT: Tell us about your next big endurance project with the Nolan’s 14 ultra running.
Nolan’s 14 is one of those “at your own risk, on your own time” mountain challenges: about 90 miles, 14 peaks, in under 60 hours along the mountain range west of Buena Vista, Colorado.
I love those mountains, I love adventure, and I love doing hard challenges—and this has been on my list for about eight years.
Photo: Graham Dessert at top of La Plata Peak August 2025 with Joe Jenkins, Brad McLeod, Laurence McCullough and George Shepherd.
This year I’m planning to complete about a third to half of the route, then go for the full monty in 2027. My biggest concern is afternoon exposure when lightning and storms are active. My next biggest concern is having the right support team. This is not a challenge you do by yourself and must have the right teammates helping you.
Photo: Nolans Fourteen route from Mount Massive, Mount Elbert, La Plata Peak, Huron Peak, Mount Oxford, Mount Belford, Missouri Mountain, Mount Harvard, Mount Columbia, Mount Yale, Mount Penceton, Mount Antero, Tabeguache peak, Mount Shavano.
SGPT: Thanks for the interview Graham.
GD: Brad—thank you for having me. I’m honored to share this with your community, and I appreciate what you’re doing to build tougher, more capable men and women.
About the Author:
Brad McLeod is a former U.S. Navy SEAL, endurance athlete, and founder of SEALgrinderPT. Through his coaching, he helps military candidates, endurance athletes, and everyday people develop greater fitness, mental toughness, and resilience through purposeful training and real-world challenges.
Brad has known Graham Dessert through the SEALFIT and endurance community for many years. He served as a coach during the 2016 SEALFIT Kokoro event where Graham earned his Kokoro graduation and later climbed La Plata Peak, a Colorado 14er on the Nolan’s 14 route, alongside Graham during SGPT Peak Week. Those shared experiences give Brad a firsthand perspective on the grit, discipline, and perseverance discussed throughout this interview.
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