Running After Hip Replacement Surgery a 140 lbs weight-loss journey with Samuel Pappas

Samuel Pappas: if there's any other disabled veterans that think they can't do it, you can, it's not going to be easy and it's going to hurt, but like, they would wish to say, you know, suck it up and press on. Don't hurt yourself, but you just gotta work through that pain a little bit, cause it's gonna hurt, you know, regardless. But, uh, I think you can tell whether your body is hurt, hurt, or you're just sore. But if you had any type of late the surgery back surgery, like that, just take it slow. And, you know, keep at it. Kevin Chang: Hello and welcome to the race mob podcast. This is episode number 25. I'm Kevin entrepreneur technology and fitness nerd, and the founder of race mob. I'm joined by master motivator, founder of two legit fitness co-chair of the Tazi 100 R R C a certified coach USA track and field certified official the incomparable Bertrand Newson. I am so excited to introduce you all to Samuel. Papa's a member of our very own race mile community. A few weeks ago, I asked the community, what are you struggling with? And Sam replied, trying to balance my newly found love for running, with making sure that I don't aggravate my double hip replacement surgery. I was like, what? Through our email exchange, it was clear that Samuel was an absolute inspiration. So we quickly jumped online to chat and you're going to love this conversation. We talk about Sam's background about the story of a retired air force veteran. Who's living a sedentary lifestyle. Sam had ballooned up to 260 pounds on his five foot five inch frame. After his second hip replacement surgery. Samuel had to decide whether he was going to go back to that sedentary lifestyle or he was going to make a change. Thankfully for all of us, he decided to make that change. And honestly, it probably sounded small to the rest of us. But bear in mind when Samuel decided to start walking on that treadmill, he had to use both his arms to support him. Now you fast forward two years and Samuel says walking and then eventually running has given him his mobility back. Now he's down to 140 pounds and able to run 10 miles, even in that Florida heat. People might mistake him for a different person all together. This episode is brought to you by race, mob, and inclusive community for endurance athletes. If you like our podcast, you'll love our YouTube channel, where we keep you up to date with news from the running world and give you tips that will help you improve door running. Check us out by searching race mob on YouTube and subscribe today. We hope that you enjoy this incredible conversation with one of our own Mr. Samuel Papa's. Weve got Samuel here. Thank you so much, Samuel, for jumping in and chatting with us today. You kind of answered the call on the email. When I asked what are people struggling with? What are the things that people are struggling with and you reached out and you told me that you've had a double hip replacement surgery. Is that right? Wow. And then you told us that you have a story to tell, and gave us a little bit, a little nugget of it. how running has helped your life helped improve your life? Tell us a little bit about running, how you got into running. Samuel Pappas: I retired from the air force in 1998, I was security forces. I was, disabled. And I got up to about a 200 she's nine pounds. I'm only barely firefighter for five, six. And, I moved to Florida. got remarried and I had my first hip, my right hip replaced in April of 2017. And I had my left hip replaced in January of 2018. And that April, I started going to the gym and I was just initially starting on the treadmill. And I did that for quite a while, up until the pandemic hit and then they closed the base gym. So I had no choice, but kind of start doing things on my own. And the gym is still closed for a retirees and everybody else's stuff I can do, they only, but, uh, I just started running around here and, uh, I'm doing my short distances, probably about six and a half miles. And, once a week, usually on Mondays, I run between nine and 15 mile. Bertrand Newson: Wow. Kevin Chang: That's incredible. Samuel Pappas: But it has definitely it's, the weight I'm down to about 147, and I've maintained this weight for about nine months now. And, you know, just constantly doing that at least, doing, or at least, like I said, the six and a half miles, you know, five days a week. I usually take two days off a week. Talk to us about hopw you Kevin Chang: got Into it how'd you get into running. So you said you were in the 260 pound range. Samuel Pappas: Yeah, 269 was my highest. Kevin Chang: And had you been at that weight for, for a while? Samuel Pappas: I was at that weight for probably about seven years after I had my hip replacement. I was just like, you know, I, I was really tired of it and it was. Quite a while the gym with the treadmill and slowly increasing. And then when the pandemic hit March and I closed everything down, I just started hitting the street and started doing that slowly and slowly worked up to what I'm doing right now. Kevin Chang: So, I guess when was it that you started jumping on the treadmill? Samuel Pappas: That would have been April of 2018 is when I started on a treadmill. Kevin Chang: And what was it that made you say treadmill? Samuel Pappas: I was really sketchy cause I was worried about, you know, injuring myself in my hips and whatnot. So I was just taking a really slow and I was using the hand rails and support and I just slowly built up strength and my endurance went up. Kevin Chang: Did you start time-based? Samuel Pappas: I started off with about 20 minutes. At a walk. And then I slowly started, you know, doing an incline and I started going a little faster. And then I started doing the unsupported for about two or three months without holding on with hand rails. And like I said, I wouldn't have had dedicate. I was just like, I got nothing else. You know, I don't have a treadmill at my house. So I just started running on the street. Kevin Chang: What was the transition from walking to running when. Did that happen? And do you have any recommendations for people that have had hip injuries, hip replacement surgery? Samuel Pappas: From my experience, I would just have to say, you got to take it slow and you just gotta keep at it. You just make sure you gotta do it. You know, you don't, you don't Slack off or take off the diet. And that's my personal opinion. Don't take too much time off and it has to be a constant thing that you, you have to stick to it. And a lot of it to me is a mental challenge. Cause you have to go over that and you gotta fight through the pain because you're gonna have pain and you know, almost 56. So you're going to have aches and pains, but in watching some of your stuff and learning about my form, cadence, foot strike, all that kind of stuff. My shoulder movements, all that kind of stuff and how it all things together, you know, having the, uh, the Runkeeper con app that I have and that kind of stuff, it's just been fantastic. Bertrand Newson: On your remarkable fitness journey here over the last two plus years, what did you see first? Did you see your cardio endurance improved or the scale weight be reduced? I mean, um, because you know, Kevin and I are w we're, we're very curious and in the sense of we know that physical activity. Working out does promote weight loss, but also diet plays a role in there as well. So share with us if you could. Um, which did you see first? Did you see your, your cardio endurance build, as you said, you were using the hand rails and gradually got off of them. Or did you see this, the scale weight, which you know, where did you start to see the results that you could quantify? Samuel Pappas: I would say the weight loss and then the cardio was, was kicking in the weight. Loss was probably the first I got started seeing. And that's, that's the motivating factor right there to have, you know, started losing weight and, you know, being old by smaller pants and stuff like that. You just want to keep at it. Kevin Chang: Was that like your initial goal was the weight. Samuel Pappas: My initial goal was just to lose weight and. Get off a lot of the medications that I was on through the VA and stuff like that, which I have, I've gotten rid of, uh, a lot of my medications as far as blood pressure measured on a cholesterol meds are gone because I went from having to go once a month for a month to have my, my labs checked now every six months. So they've kind of said, you know, you're good to go clean belt health type stuff, and that's worth it right there. Kevin Chang: Talk to us about what life was like before, you know, before the weight loss journey, kind of, if you could paint a picture about, you know, what has changed. You know, what was life like before and what's life like now, you know, Samuel Pappas: I retired out of Malmstrom out on a month, Anna. And for many years I just didn't leave the house. You know, and just the physical aspects of having to move around and stuff like that. It was, I kind of had given up for quite a while. For many years, I had just given up and, uh, when you're not doing much, it's getting up and watching TV and not doing anything, that's not a good thing. And then when I, uh, came down to Florida and I had my surgeries and whatnot, I kind of reverted the way I, where I used to be in the military. And I kind of fell back to that person who I was just kind of given up on things, which I did for quite a while. You just kind of give up and you don't want to really do anything. And that's where I was for many years. Bertrand Newson: Hearing you speak that out loud. The changes one, we relocated to a new state. You had significant surgery, not on one hit, but on both hips. Those changes alone. Don't cause some people the switch to flip psychologically. And where was it for you above them? You know, change the scenery, but psychologically, and you said you reverted back to some of your previous military time and mindset. Samuel Pappas: My medical stuff, but, uh, some of the issues, uh, the PTSD issues I had. I don't really want to say too much, but, uh, you get stuck in the mindset that you're broken. And even though you talk to other groups and stuff like that, you meet weekly. I just, I quit doing that. I quit. I'm not saying not to support that stuff, but I had to get away from that and kind of find out who I was again, instead of going back to that time, but you, okay. This happened in this, we have things and it's really depressing. So I, I quit doing all that stuff. When I got here, I did, I ended up when I first got here and then I quit that and the running that I'm doing right now, it's just, we knew to me psychologically big time and that's renewed me physically. It's just incredible the way I feel anymore. And, you know, I'm able to get up at three 30, four o'clock in the morning and go run for an hour and a half or so, and get back and do my volunteer work and stuff like that. And I got an energy all the time and that's just amazing to me. Not have to take naps or like that, and just, just have that energy and I'll do so Bertrand Newson: I can not stop smiling. Samuel Pappas: well. The running is I probably what it is so refreshing. It's a good habit to have, I guess that's the way I look at it. Now I could probably do it five days a week. And then I do all my body weight stuff at the house. So I don't even have to go to the gym anymore. I just take care of everything here. Bertrand Newson: Do you have, uh, maybe some. Accountability buddies, workout partners, people that you may walk or run or wit, or you may follow. Samuel Pappas: Nope. I see a couple people in the morning when I, when I run in the neighborhood here. And, uh, you know, basically I'm it, I'm the only one because it's an older, it's kind of a retiree area of, uh, the air force base out here. Where I live and yeah, a lot of older people and they see me running. There's a couple of people that are walking in the morning and we just exchanged hellos, but I don't have any partners or anything like that. No, I don't. It's just me made my music and that's about it, Bertrand : Just to let you know. I mean, your story is profound and you do have a community out there that you belong to. You, you belong to the running community. Samuel Pappas: right? Yeah. I do. I do. I just haven't found any around here that they don't come run with me kind of doing, I haven't been doing it myself the whole time, but I do. I have the race model and I do look at all that stuff that I get from you guys. Kevin Chang: Have you run any races over time? Samuel Pappas: I have not, they cancel a lot of them around here. Like They have they've canceled them because of their cause of stuff like that. So, I mean, I'd love to, I wouldn't win, but my most important thing is actually finishing. That's my important thing. Kevin Chang: Yeah, we just had a Bob Anderson on who founded runner's world. And he was talking about how running without racing. It's kind of like writing a book, but not publishing it. And I think it is really interesting. Yeah. I know. I haven't done a race in a little bit of time just because of the pandemic and everything like that. But, um, it was one of the first reasons that made me fall in love with running in general was, you know, I love running with my dog and, and going out there every day, but then going out and being able to meet other people and hear other stories and figure out where they're coming from. And. You know, we all have these incredible stories about how physical activity, how running has changed. Our life has improved it over time. And so, yeah. Um, I was curious, you know, I didn't know if that's something you're looking to do when the pandemic, you know, kind of only finally subsides. Samuel Pappas: I would love to, if it was, if it was a big asset or pandemics, I would love to start it. I would, I'd love to find some, but that's all the ones in this area at Fort Walton area, they've all been canceled. They have that virtual run stuff, so, but know, Kevin Chang: Yeah. Bertran: Whereabouts in Florida. Do you live Samuel Pappas: uh, the port Walden area. Bertrand Newson: so in relation to Orlando or South Florida? Samuel Pappas: Oh, no, we're I'm in Northwest Northwest Florida Destin area, the Gulf of Mexico now Fort Walton beach, Fort Walton beach area. Bertrand: Yeah, I was in Florida earlier in the week. I was in the Tampa area was in Pompano. I was in Fort Lauderdale. I was in Naples. Uh, clear water. Samuel Pappas: Where are you visiting or running or what. Bertrand Newson: I did a little bit of running with one of my best friends and I helped a friend move, but I will be back out in Florida and February, most likely because that same friend is going to be running a half marathon, I believe in a Sarasota area. So I know that there are races that are happening in the state of Florida and happy to share. Um, and there might be an opportunity to, you know, meet at a socially distance race. That is well thought out. You know, I have run a couple of races this year, where there's a staggered start. And if you want to put some of that hard work to the test, um, in a race at some point in years in the sun, great Sunstein state, uh, let's see what we can make happen. Samuel Pappas: No, that would be fantastic. That would be great. Cause I have not, I have not running the race at all. I'd be, it'd be an interesting for me. I'd really enjoy it. Bertrand Newson: And you're not too far, um, from the peach state and Georgia. Yeah. Um, I just got word a day via email that they are going to host the 20, 21, uh, Publix Atlanta marathon, the 27th and 28th. It's not going to be held in downtown Atlanta. Like it was this year, which is a very hilly course. It's going to be held at the Atlanta Speedway, which is at a suburb. Um, and they're going to be using part of the track and some of the February portions of the facility to facilitate a 5k, half marathon and marathon race. In late February. So again, there some, some opportunity that we can talk more about that. Um, but, uh, yeah. Keep putting in the great work, man. And, uh, as Kevin touched on kind of what you were doing before and kind of where you're at now, why don't you shape that up for us regarding your diet? How was your diet before surgery before moving to Florida? And how is your diet now? Samuel Pappas: Before it was beer and hot wings. Um, it's still a beer and hot wings know I once in a while, but, uh, um, as far as like my breakfast and stuff like that it's Oh. And, uh, I take a whole bunch of different supplements, uh, mainly through, I don't want to say anybody's company's name, but it's through GNC. Um, I get a lot of supplements from them and some of that stuff is working pretty good. Like some of the pre-workout stuff I do, I take about an hour before I run it. It's helping, it's been helping quite a bit, but I do watch what I eat daytime. Uh, I, I stay away from any of the, uh, the white stuff as far as like breads or rice, you know, it's kind of a Brown. That kind of stuff and no bread. Like I said, sodas very rarely, a lot of fruits, a lot of vegetables. I do a lot of my own cooking. I cook for my wife too. I love this grill on the, uh, the peppers and onions and stuff like that. So I make a lot of that stuff and I use a lot of chicken, you know, just the brushed meat without skin. So, yeah, I've, I've cut it down as far as no junk, no, uh, chips or anything like that. Kevin Chang: Was this all like an all at once type of thing, or was this gradually over time? Samuel Pappas: When I did it, I did it. I can't do that. Gradual. I'm one of those inner all or nothing kind of people. So when I started, I started. Kevin Chang: Are you enjoying the show? Help us out by sharing the podcast. You can Win some cool prizes like headbands, wristbands, training programs, shadows, and more, especially if you're part of an existing running group online community, or have friends that you think will enjoy the show. Get your personal referral [email protected]/referral Uh, what made you decide on this type of diet? What made you decide on the, I think they call it the slow carb diet, right? The no, no white bread, no white car, probably Tim Ferriss kind of championed this type of diet or, you know, a lot of people use either the whole 30 or, or something kind of similar, but it's like the no white carbs, no rice, no white breads, no pastas. Only the slow car type of type of deal. Was there, was there something that you would read that made you gravitate towards that type of diet or was Samuel Pappas: Yes. That's the research I was looking online when I was getting ready to, you know, make up a mind to go, go ahead and make a life change. And, you know, just the research I did and just started like a lot of, uh, like the Progresso light soups and stuff like that. So the low calorie, low carb lifestyle. So yeah, I've been doing that for quite a while. Kevin Chang: Was it literally like right after surgery that you decided to make this change? Or was it like something that. Samuel Pappas: About three months after I had my, my last tip of my, my left hip replaced. And I try what, when that way come off my back. I still have Mac problems and I still have to get the RFAs, but every six months, but, uh, the amount of, uh, pain that's off my, my hip. My back and stuff like that. It's incredible dropping that weight. How much better you feel physically? And a lot of the pain is gone from this, from the losing the weight and the knees aren't bothering him anymore and stuff like that. So dropping away it's been a big help, you know, as far as, uh, the way my joints feel. Kevin Chang: Yeah. I mean, we're talking about a 120 pounds, 130 pounds almost cool. Samuel Pappas: 48 inch waist. Kevin Chang: Wow. On a five foot, six inch body. I mean, Samuel Pappas: Not even five, six. Yeah. Bertrand Newson: Bye for Samuel Pappas: It was pretty bad for awhile. Bertrand Newson: Have you had some people who maybe hadn't seen you in two years, kind of a before and after, maybe didn't recognize you as much because your, your transformation has been fantastic. Samuel Pappas: Actually, I mean here, I mean, besides I, cause I don't don't do any social media, any Facebook, but my wife does, she's posted pictures and a lot of people like, you know, who's that guy. So let's say him well, he's changed a lot. He looks really good. But, you know, after I had my, uh, my last, but I think I got back up to like two 18 at one before I started everything again. Because I had to lose a little bit of weight, forehead hit surgery. So one of the things they wanted me to do, so I did, but I kind of went back up in a weight a couple months after I had the surgery. And then I came back off and I can't show them, never put it back on. I don't want to, but you know, you just never know sometimes, but if I keep going what I'm doing, I'm not going to worry about, cause I'm down to 147 now on a 4,447. Kevin Chang: I want to get back into the transition between walking and running again, because I know there's a lot of people definitely within our circle that, you know, they're on walking programs, they like being on walking programs, but they never thought about actually kicking that up into a running program or getting into, you know, a walk run or doing anything. So I guess, what was that transition like? Or was your goal always to. Be able to run. I know a lot of people probably who have had hip surgery are a little bit more afraid to put impact on their body. So talk to us about that transition and you know, when you thought it was okay, was it hurting to begin with, I guess just that whole scenario around transitioning into running. Samuel Pappas: Well, what I was doing when I was going into the gym on a treadmill as I would, I was steadily increasing no, a very fast walk. And then I started raising the incline. And I was doing it for quite a while on that. And then when, like I said, when the gym shut down, I I'm going to just go and see how it feel. Kevin Chang: This was actually just during the pandemic that you transitioned to running. Samuel Pappas: I started running it in March and I got the Runkeeper app on April 13th and started tracking that day. Kevin Chang: Give us an idea of like, what was pace, like I'm sure you're kind of keeping it, you know, consistent. What type of pace were we talking about when we started, has that changed at all during the pandemic? Samuel Pappas: Oh, well, my pace has gotten better, but it really depends on temperature, humidity and anything like that. I really noticed the cooler, like it has been here till yesterday. I bought kicked my butt because it was. 74 degrees at three 30 in the four o'clock in the morning. And the humidity was like 98%. So that really affects my run. But, uh, the pace I initially started off on a walk and I got, I was about 14 minute mile on a walk steadily, increased that started getting 11, 10, and then, uh, with my, my best time on my run was last week. For my a seven, seven and a half mile was eight minute and 48 second pace. Kevin Chang: Wow. Samuel Pappas: That's my best when I push it to, you know, when I go up to 14 miles and it's, you know, not that good Brown, 10 minute mile, Kevin Chang: I still incredible. That is fantastic. Bertrand Newson: You know what? Let's Samuel Pappas: what I mean. I showed a couple of people in my, in my times. They're like, you know, that's really good for an old guy. I said, I, I don't know. Cause I really know anything to. Compare it to, I mean, I've done some of our stuff online and seeing, you know, see the pace for somebody at my age. No, I'm pretty happy. And I'd be more than happy to send you a, if I can, I don't know. All the one keeper stuff, all the, uh, my times and distances and stuff. I'd be more happy to send you guys that stuff. Kevin Chang: You said that you also do some strength training or some other body weight, workouts and stuff. Samuel Pappas: Yep. Sit up and push up. Yes, I do those every other day. Kevin Chang: Fantastic. Has that always been part of your routine or when did you start incorporating. Samuel Pappas: I've been doing that for, for a while, you know, especially getting the core sprint going to me. I mean, that's made a world of difference. It's incredible. What, you know, The core is just, it's awesome. This happened that spring, but you know, again, it's a slow process to work up to, and I know you've probably heard this before, but you just can't jump into it and start doing it. You know, you just can't get down and do a hundred sit-ups if somebody's going to have to gradually work up to like anything else. Bertrand Newson: Take us back. What's your athletic history, you know, Samuel, you know, getting into the military, you know, through high school things along as take us through, you know, what you, you know, there's sports you've played and then maybe where life life took over career took over. Samuel Pappas: Um, I really didn't do that much. I did, uh, very, very little, I did a little bit of boxing and, uh, in high school it was for the city. But as far as sports and like that, I, I just, I didn't play any sport, but, uh, in my career field, it was very physical career field in the military. I don't know if you guys know anything about security forces, but you know, having to wear the body armor every day and the ammo and the weapon and that kind of stuff. So you're just held to a different standard, I guess, for when you do certain jobs. And absolutely no, what I did in the military, Bertrand Newson: And in your opinion, what do you think caused your, you, you to the point where you needed to have the surgeries that you did? Samuel Pappas: that's a long story, but, uh, it's related to my military career, but I, yeah, that's, that's a long story, right? Bertrand Newson: I can see where you are at right now. I mean, and many people have, have had a tough 2020. Your story is inspiring. You have, have taken the. Adversity of life and turned it upside down and catapulted. Even when the pandemic hit, when your gym was closed off and you had to pivot and got outside and found a new way to keep moving forward and pushing yourself, being inspired. Yeah, it's really, really good stuff. Samuel Pappas: Well, I hate to say it, but the pandemic was probably a good thing to happen for me as far as what I'm doing now. I hate to say that, but it was, it's kind of forced me to go on my own and do my own stuff. Not having to go to the gym and, you know, use their equipment. I just do everything in my house and I got the state of Florida running, so I don't have to worry about going to a gym. Bertrand Newson: And we talk about equipment. I mean, being in the gym is one thing. How has your personal equipment changed since you're now running on the road? I mean, Attire shoes, which you did. Did you end up getting different types of shoes? Samuel Pappas: Oh, I go through a lot of shoes. Yes. I go through a lot of shoes. I get a lot of the ACS. That's the one I'm running with right now. And that's what I'm actually, it's the whole time I've been running with Asics because they get they're pretty cheap on base. Bertrand Newson: I was going to ask you that was that a personal choice? Because just the look and feel, or is that something that maybe you've gone to a running store and got professionally at the running evaluation and fitted for a particular shoe that's stuck with you. Samuel Pappas: I haven't had one, I've gone to one of their outlet stores and that person I don't think was very knowledgeable. So I just, I go to the basic strange, and I get the shoes there. I haven't had anything professionally done as far as, you know, shoes or what my, uh, Um, what do you want to call it? My running profile is or anything like that. So I'm not even sure. I just know, you know, by watching your stuff and reading the stuff from, from the race mom's stuff, as far as form goes, and that's helped me a lot to put strikes, especially as it's eased up the pain on my hips and stuff, you know, proper foot strike for me and stuff like that. And transition from a walk to a run. That, that really amazed me that, you know, and going uphill and downhill, but it's the different dynamics of how your foot hits, you know, uphill and downhill. That's really amazing. And I was having a lot of kind of shoulder pain and then I watched somebody or, or looked at some of your information. I was like, I'm not moving my shoulders. Right. And I started doing them correctly and then they didn't, they didn't hurt anymore. Especially after about 10 miles. It was causing a lot of shoulder pain on both of my shoulders, but it wasn't, I wasn't doing them. Right. And then I kinda got the mechanics of the body flowing, you know, from head to toe Bertrand Newson: And so how did race mob get on your radar? Samuel Pappas: was sort of the Runkeeper app that led me to you guys. That's how I found out about y'all. Kevin Chang: That's awesome. I'm going to have to figure out how we got into the Runkeeper app, but that's great. Samuel Pappas: Yeah. I mean, I w popped up with some information. I hit it and it led me to you guys. Kevin Chang: Wow. Incredible. Samuel Pappas: And I'm very thankful for that. I tell you what the information that you guys put out is fantastic. And it's, like I said, it helped me out immensely. And, you know, if there's any other disabled veterans that think they can't do it, you can, it's not going to be easy and it's going to hurt, but like, they would wish to say, you know, suck it up and press on. Don't hurt yourself, but you just gotta work through that pain a little bit, cause it's gonna hurt, you know, regardless. But, uh, I think you can tell whether your body is hurt, hurt, or you're just sore. But if you had any type of late the surgery back surgery, like that, just take it slow. And, you know, keep at it. Just don't give up the pet hurts. You gotta go through it. That's my philosophy. And it's worked out for me. But like I said, you know, take it slow, especially when you guys are my age or, you know, I've gone through the, uh, any type of an injury, something like that, you know, just take it slow. Bertrand Newso: Again, thank you for your service. When Kevin asks our listener base, you know, our race, mob family, to share your feedback and to share your story. That took a lot for you to share with us Samuel and by you doing so it is going to help somebody else. It probably has already certainly. Will we thank you for that and anything that we can do to help support your fitness journey, that's tips, you know, things that we've learned, um, you know, over the years from other people in the fitness community, as we have other professionals that are coming in and sharing. From a diet perspective, running form analysis, the mental mindset, all those things play a role. But what I see and hear from you is you made a choice. You said enough is enough, you committed. And then everything else kind of transformed from that point. And there's really no shortcuts. You still got to put one foot in front of, you have to make the decision each day to get up and put in the work. If you want to see change and navigate through, sometimes there's going to be some soreness. There's going to be some pain. Samuel Pappas: Oh, yeah, there is. And you know, it's up in here too. There's some days I don't, I don't want to do this, but you know, you've got to go out and make yourself do it. You got to push through it because there's been many a days where I'm just like, you know, I don't want to do this today. Or whatever, and it's not doing so much then to go with metal. Sometimes you just don't want to do it for me after the first mile. I'm good. That first mile for me, sometimes it's tough. But after that, you just, I don't know if you want to call it the runner's high, but you just get it and you just, you're gone. There's some days you want to keep going and there's other days you want to quit. Bertrand Newson: Self-supported. I mean, you know, there was some people in our fitness community and the race model community that have like-minded individuals that they able to go and socially distance, but still get in a workout of some sort. Um, or maybe you have a friendly challenge of somebody and it keeps you motivated and keeps you focused and driven. But you have all that kind of self-contained, you know, where you say, okay, you know, five days a week, I'm going to get into some work and you know, your long day, you, if you're taking some taking days off, um, because sometimes too much, you know, I'm gonna have some diminishing returns, but you've found that very good balance, um, where diet is still very important. Um, but still, you know, putting in the work and immune 140 plus pounds down from the two sixties. And running sub 10 minute miles sub nine minute miles and coming off of your best sub nine minute effort and just turning into fantastic direction. Proud of you, man. Samuel Pappas: Yeah, I'm getting happy. I'm pretty happy. Well, thank you very much. And we got some cooler weather coming, starting Sunday, so I'm kind of looking forward to that and my best temperatures in the 40. Bertrand Newson: We've got to get, to, got to get the ad man to work with that humidity. You know, we'll get the humidity. Yeah. Soak up that, all that sweat. Kevin Chang: Yeah, I was going to ask for your address. I'll make sure to ship out some stuff. We've got some, uh, visors and other stuff come in in December as well. So I'll, I'll send you over some stuff. All I need is your Samuel Pappas: That would be great. Kevin Chang: happy to ship it out there? Yeah, absolutely. What you're doing is just incredible and we want to make sure that. We tell the story and I think your story is just going to help so many people. Cause I think there's so many people that have been in your shoes have, you know, have gone off the path or gone off track a little bit and just need a little course correction and just need a little change and just need a little motivation and somebody to tell them. Yeah, take it slow. Take it easy. One step in front of the other. Let's get going and you can make big changes over time, and it's never too late, you know, it's never too late to start. Samuel Pappas: It's not, I never thought it, you know, 55 plus that I would be doing anything like this. I never thought it was possible. Not with all my surgeries and stuff. I thought it would not, it would never happen, but it's definitely possible. Bertrand : Sam, your, your story resonates with Kevin and I, and everybody else that that is listening. But with myself in particular, my father served 23 years in the army. And, uh, he lost part of this hearing, um, due to his military service, um, at a second career as a police officer, but he also had to get replacements as well. He did. He did. And I can not complain about a dang thing, man. I cannot because to see how tough he was, um, got off the pain meds quick. He's like, no, I can ha I toughed it out. And when the doctor said, you know, do you really want to go through this surgery again on the other side? And he's like, yeah, that's what I want to do. And to see him go from cane, no, from wheelchair for a bit to cane then to back walking, um, then I'll kind of speed walk. I mean, um, yeah, man, S I have all the respect for, for you. It really hits me in the heart in a good way. You know, Samuel Pappas: Does he run? Bertrand Newson: he moves quick. Um, he moves quick. Samuel Pappas: we're gonna hang out a couple of retired guys with Bertrand Newson: Yeah. He's not running sub sub sub 10 minute miles though. Man, you gotta be. Samuel Pappas: I guess now, like I said, I show a couple of my friends are like, you know, that's pretty good. I said, cause I really don't know that much as far as that goes. But as far, because I don't have anybody to run with or like I said, it's just from I'm racing against myself every day and that's, you know, checking my times. Bertrand Newson: And there are some events that are on the horizon. That are virtual events. So you may not have to physically live in the area, but you can still participate and log your mileage GPS, and then see how you stack up against other like-minded individuals. Samuel Pappas: My app, it sends those to me, but I, I'm not really sure how to do that. As far as the, you know, it says virtual race, but I'm like, I don't know. Kevin Chang: Yeah. Well, I know that we'll probably be looking at to doing some accountability thing here in either December or January. So, uh, we'll definitely let you know if that's something that interests you probably, I mean, you know, those are things that we're just going to do free of charge of just like a, Hey, get us together. Let's try to try to put some goals out there, set some goals out there and,, hold each other accountable and kind of build this virtual community. Type of thing. The other big thing that's on the horizon is the Tazi 100, which is a big virtual event that we normally do in February. That's a hundred miles in the month of February. So that's something that interests you of doing something virtual. , that's something that Bertrand is a chairman of,, that has had a lot of success over the years, getting people up and out the door. , but those are kind of things on the horizon. Things that if you're looking for something virtual or some virtual challenge or something to post and get the mileage up there, compare yourself with others. , those are some of the things potentially on the horizon. And then like Bertrand said, races hopefully are going to come back. , you know, there's been some decent vaccine news over the past. And so we're hoping that probably by Q3, Q4, it'll be back to. Well, we call semi normal of next year. So,, there are probably some, some great opportunities for races. And if there's like a distance that you are interested in pursuing or going after, or there's, you know, something that you're interested, always happy to help you set those goals, help you with the training along the way and help you in any way that we possibly can. Feel free to reach out to us, let us know what you're excited about, what you're training for. Reach out to us with pictures, or we'll try to follow you on Runkeeper as well. And just hear your story. Keep up with your story and keep in contact with you because this is so fantastic. Samuel Pappas: Thank you guys so much. And like I said, uh, This entire journey of learning that it has given me everything back, actually given more than I've ever had before. Kevin Chang: Well, Samuel Papp: it's a great thing. Kevin Chang: the start of the journey. So we can't wait to continue learning about your journey and keep in contact with you. So. I'm going to ship you over a care package here in the middle of December. So Samuel Pappas: That sounds great, Kevin, I appreciate it Kevin Chang: yeah, absolutely. Samuel Pappas: sounds good, man. Kevin Chang: Yeah. Thank you so much for the time. This has been fantastic, man. Fantastic. Samuel Pappas: Thank you. It was great meeting you guys. When he come to Florida next time. Uh, get my address and cabinet. Come on by Bertrand Newson: Remember, this, this conversation is being recorded. Conversation is being recorded. Samuel Pappas: That's fine. Kevin Chang: Stand back Samuel Pappas: I didn't, I didn't say everybody. Bertrand Newson: one way or another, we'll be running together at some point. Samuel Pappa: That sounds great. Bertrand Newson: Take care now. Samuel Pappas: You take care. Thank you. Kevin Chang: Well, I hope you enjoy this episode of the race mob podcast. Check out all of the show notes or find a running buddy [email protected]. Please subscribe to us on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to your podcasts and leave us a review until next time. Keep on moving.