Steve Panzik: Ultra running is, well, I joke it's cheap in the therapy.
Diane Johnston: And the mid-state mile is no joke, y'all.
Steve Panzik: Doesn't mean you're fine.
Steve Panzik: He was like, fine is just average.
Steve Panzik: Quasi scared to be social.
Steve Panzik: We still needed that socialization.
Diane Johnston: Hi, welcome back to Port Washington Public Library on Long Island in New York with my friend and my coach, Steve Panzick.
Diane Johnston: He's the owner and founder of Power 10 Fitness, which started in 2006.
Diane Johnston: And he has just taken his journey
Diane Johnston: next level.
Diane Johnston: It's so inspiring that I've been hunting him down for a few weeks, begging him to record an episode of Winged and Ready with me.
Diane Johnston: So I'm very excited to have Steve here.
Diane Johnston: Steve, can you just take a minute or two and introduce yourself and your origin story, why we're sitting here?
Steve Panzik: Well, thank you so much for having me on this, Diane.
Steve Panzik: And I'm sorry that it took so long to haul me in, not because I didn't want to be here.
Steve Panzik: It's because you were running hundreds of miles.
Steve Panzik: Yes, definitely.
Steve Panzik: I've been trying to do my best Forrest Gump impersonation lately.
Steve Panzik: But so as you said, Power 10 Fitness, we actually opened in 2005.
Steve Panzik: Before that, we were Powerhouse Pilates in 2001.
Steve Panzik: We're having our 20th anniversary for Power 10.
Steve Panzik: I'm a physical therapist by trade, certified strength and conditioning specialist, and have kind of taken a journey to where I started as a rehab and fitness center.
Steve Panzik: And we've
Steve Panzik: kind of developed more into a fitness and post rehab center as well as a sports specific training.
Steve Panzik: And over the years have expanded from 10 to 5 to 10,000 feet and have been very fortunate to be in the community of Port Washington with the people that have come into our lives at the gym.
Steve Panzik: It's been a nothing but positive experience over the last 20 years.
Diane Johnston: An incredible, incredible community.
Diane Johnston: We say P10 fam for a reason.
Diane Johnston: You really do feel like family there and you can be of literally any fitness level.
Diane Johnston: To all the listeners out there, I think you've probably gathered by now.
Diane Johnston: I'm A middle-aged woman.
Diane Johnston: I can concretely tell you that Steve has gotten me and my family through a lot.
Diane Johnston: I'm going to choke up even saying it, but got us through COVID.
Diane Johnston: That was such a genius move.
Diane Johnston: He set up an outdoor gym with like literally putting
Diane Johnston: together like 2 by fours to hold gym equipment so we could still get together in the parking lot.
Diane Johnston: Then he expanded next door into what used to be a gymnastics center and took that over, made a huge turf, which is incredible.
Diane Johnston: And more importantly, I mean, thank God for Steve.
Diane Johnston: He got me through menopause, which was a big one.
Diane Johnston: It was a big one.
Diane Johnston: Yeah.
Steve Panzik: No, I've heard that from others too.
Steve Panzik: And funny, as we talk about the run, one thing that we'll talk about is my wife gives me a hard time because I ran myself into menopause as one of my post-run ailments that kind of hit me.
Steve Panzik: But we'll talk about that later.
Diane Johnston: So Steve is a
Diane Johnston: amazing husband, amazing father, amazing community member, incredible entrepreneur.
Diane Johnston: I've had the pleasure of watching his business grow since 2011 when I became a member.
Diane Johnston: I've watched him coach rowing teens for the high school kids.
Diane Johnston: I've watched him get his own children into young adult mode with great success and become a hugely important part in the Manhasset community.
Diane Johnston: I think you're part of their
Diane Johnston: You're on the board for the town, correct?
Steve Panzik: I was on the school board for the past three years.
Steve Panzik: I was president of the school board the past two.
Steve Panzik: And with my kids being out of the system, it was time for me to kind of move on and let the next generation take.
Steve Panzik: So we came in during a time of maybe unease right after the COVID and all the school issues and was really able to put a sense of calm.
Steve Panzik: back into the school system and make sure everything was in the right direction and able to turn the handles over to that next generation that has the young kids and the fiery passion that's required to be on that school board with children in the system.
Steve Panzik: So that passed and now I'm just a
Steve Panzik: I'm a father, a husband, entrepreneur with the gym, and really try to be the best community member I can, whether it's Port Washington or Manhassett, because both are near and dear to my heart.
Diane Johnston: Yeah, and fundraiser.
Steve Panzik: And where, you know, always get back where you can.
Diane Johnston: Yeah.
Diane Johnston: So just when I thought he couldn't eek another thing into his schedule, because you're up at the crack of dawn every day.
Diane Johnston: You're at the gym bright and early.
Diane Johnston: Then he used to skedaddle, post gym, and go coach kids.
Diane Johnston: But somehow in there, you've decided to become an ultra runner.
Steve Panzik: Yes.
Steve Panzik: So a couple of years ago, my older son was curious about running a marathon.
Steve Panzik: So I've done a couple of marathons.
Steve Panzik: I've done an Ironman.
Steve Panzik: So we did the New York City together and came out of that and someone sent me a movie on Prime called One More Mile.
Steve Panzik: And it's about a last man standing ultra down in Tennessee.
Steve Panzik: And I watched that.
Steve Panzik: It's about an hour and a half.
Steve Panzik: You can still get it on Prime.
Steve Panzik: And you saw the people that were associated with this ultra and the community that was surrounded in this ultra.
Steve Panzik: And it was one of, it just really drew me in.
Steve Panzik: It was supportive.
Steve Panzik: It was encouraging.
Steve Panzik: It was competitive.
Steve Panzik: You know, they wanted to beat the person next to them, but they wanted to make sure that person got as far as they could.
Steve Panzik: There wasn't.
Steve Panzik: And
Steve Panzik: I went down there that year and competed and was just taken in and enthralled by all of it and have kind of like haven't looked back and have continued down that path.
Diane Johnston: Yeah, that's so cool.
Diane Johnston: You told me about that movie.
Diane Johnston: I think it took me all of a week to go watch it with my family.
Diane Johnston: And the mid-state mile is no joke, y'all.
Diane Johnston: And you can't just go down to Tennessee and run it.
Diane Johnston: You have to apply.
Diane Johnston: Be accepted.
Steve Panzik: Yeah, first it opens up on January 1, the applications.
Steve Panzik: It's in someone's backyard, so they only allow 110 people.
Steve Panzik: It is a 1.1 mile loop.
Steve Panzik: It has just under 400 feet elevation.
Steve Panzik: And that 1.1 mile, that's about a 30 to 40% grade going up and going down.
Steve Panzik: It's laid out as you have 20 minutes to complete that loop.
Steve Panzik: And whatever time you come back inside that 20 minutes is your rest time.
Steve Panzik: Then on the 20 minute, the next loop starts.
Steve Panzik: And it starts every 20 minutes until there's one person left.
Steve Panzik: Every 12 hours there is a 20-minute break.
Steve Panzik: So and the races go for 30 plus hours for the winners.
Diane Johnston: That's so insane and inspiring.
Diane Johnston: And it's hot and humid.
Diane Johnston: Tennessee is a hot, humid place.
Steve Panzik: June, Tennessee is unforgiving.
Steve Panzik: It was 98 degrees one year.
Steve Panzik: And then last year we had torrential floods and rains as we were running.
Steve Panzik: So we were actually running through
Steve Panzik: creek beds that have now become 6 inch deep creek beds through it.
Steve Panzik: So it was a, different variables that you have to deal with, like in life, different curveballs get thrown at you and you just got to buckle down and deal with it.
Diane Johnston: So you dealt with it.
Diane Johnston: You did it your first year.
Diane Johnston: I think as an observer, it was, I want to say a wake-up call for you to get to know yourself a little bit better in a way that you never knew you could.
Diane Johnston: Is that fair?
Steve Panzik: It was very humbling.
Steve Panzik: I went down there with very high expectations and trained what I thought was tremendous for it.
Steve Panzik: And I ended up in the top 30, but again, only lasted 10 hours and was only 10 hours, which it was the furthest I've ever run, but it was very humbling.
Steve Panzik: to where I took a step back.
Steve Panzik: I was like, I need to give this another shot and kind of refocused myself over the next year to get back down there again this past year.
Steve Panzik: And that was,
Steve Panzik: Again, it's something of that nature, that competitiveness, the people that are there, it's an awesome community.
Diane Johnston: And you really started to hone in on pushing yourself, not only physically, but from a nutritional standpoint too.
Steve Panzik: Yeah, I revamped everything.
Steve Panzik: I kind of, I got an ultra coach to help me kind of put together.
Steve Panzik: because it was a new realm to me as much as I, it's kind of the smartest person, what and what you don't know.
Steve Panzik: And trying to find someone who is more of an expertise in this ultra world and helped me build out a training plan.
Steve Panzik: One of the first things was I always consider myself fit and in shape, but getting the leaner I am, the less pounding.
Steve Panzik: I'm not a light runner, I'm a heavy runner.
Steve Panzik: I'm sitting at 230, now I'm down at 205, and it makes a big difference on
Steve Panzik: on your joints, pounding it.
Steve Panzik: So I changed, I got very serious about the nutrition, cut out the drinking, and really just made that my focus for that time and ended up last year going down there and finished in the top 10, which was rewarding.
Steve Panzik: And I thought that was enough and that I gave it all and like, hey, the young guys ahead of me are the young guys and this was good.
Steve Panzik: I can put this one to bed.
Steve Panzik: And then I woke up the next morning, thought I would be completely debilitated, and I felt fine.
Steve Panzik: This past year, I lasted 22 hours, did about 21,000 feet of elevation.
Steve Panzik: And when I woke up fine the next morning, I realized there was more physically in me, and I mentally quit when I thought I physically quit.
Steve Panzik: And that's the amazing thing of this race.
Steve Panzik: It is a mental,
Steve Panzik: You're finding new mental, physical limits for yourself that you really try to push your, like, what is your extreme and how far can you stay mentally focused?
Steve Panzik: So I am going back this year.
Steve Panzik: You know, I left something on the table and I gotta go find it.
Diane Johnston: Amazing.
Diane Johnston: I love that.
Diane Johnston: And you also kicked it into a different gear because you decided to
Diane Johnston: do some impressive runs here in New York.
Diane Johnston: I vicariously loved, listeners don't know, but I had a full knee replacement almost a year ago.
Diane Johnston: And going into that, I had wanted to run 50 for 50.
Diane Johnston: I just turned 51 yesterday.
Steve Panzik: Happy birthday.
Diane Johnston: Thank you.
Diane Johnston: But I didn't get to do it, but I got to enjoy it through somebody else.
Steve Panzik: Yeah, that was a fun run.
Steve Panzik: I woke up that morning, took off at 6 o'clock, and I kind of like mapped out on Google Maps a loop that started on Long Island.
Steve Panzik: And we took off down Northern Boulevard.
Steve Panzik: I had a buddy for the first 10 miles, which was a nice way to start the day.
Steve Panzik: Through Flushing, past Citi Field, and then we went over to LaGuardia.
Steve Panzik: That's where he turned back.
Steve Panzik: And then from LaGuardia to Randall's Island, Randall's Island to the Bronx to Yankee Stadium.
Steve Panzik: from Yankee Stadium into Harlem, cruised all the way down through Central Park till we got to Brooklyn, Brooklyn across the Brooklyn Bridge, which is so iconic, and then kind of making the way back through Maspeth, Corona, until you hit Citi Field again, and then you, know, rerun that last 6 miles along Northern Boulevard.
Steve Panzik: And it was really cool to see.
Steve Panzik: I mean, we hit every borough but Staten Island.
Steve Panzik: I apologize.
Steve Panzik: You know, I'll have to wait for the 60th, and we'll loop into Staten Island.
Steve Panzik: But it really was neat just to see the people, the atmosphere.
Steve Panzik: The Yankees won the night before, the Mets didn't.
Steve Panzik: So it was very different atmospheres around the stadiums.
Steve Panzik: it was, it was really, it was an enjoyable day out there.
Diane Johnston: That's, and you probably feel more bonded with the New York City area than you ever have before after doing that.
Steve Panzik: Yeah, it was, there's no words for it.
Steve Panzik: Like it really was just a great run, great scene.
Steve Panzik: Like I rarely listen to music.
Steve Panzik: I kind of turned the music off until like the last five miles down northern because that's probably the most boring of the stretch.
Steve Panzik: because you've just taken in the sights and scenes.
Steve Panzik: You're listening to the city.
Steve Panzik: You're listening to the traffic going over the bridges, Randall's Island, you know, people out there playing baseball or soccer that early in the morning.
Steve Panzik: Like it was just, it was neat.
Steve Panzik: The guys at stands outside Yankee Stadium cleaning off from the night before victory where, you know, everyone's gone home and they're getting ready for the next game and cleaning everything out.
Steve Panzik: Like it was a day after 9-11.
Steve Panzik: It was September 12th.
Steve Panzik: So
Steve Panzik: There was definitely some heaviness going into Brooklyn Bridge, seeing the Statue of Liberty.
Steve Panzik: I kind of see Brooklyn Bridge as that is a that's America's bridge.
Steve Panzik: That's the history behind that.
Steve Panzik: So there's a lot of other deeper things that were going on in that run too.
Diane Johnston: That's amazing.
Diane Johnston: Have you had any
Diane Johnston: I mean, you're going to have a ton of time to contemplate and think, and I'm sure it's also probably a very spiritual time.
Diane Johnston: How has it impacted, do you think, if at all, how has it impacted you as a business owner, entrepreneur, or coach?
Steve Panzik: I think, you know, ultra running is, well, I joke it's cheaper than therapy.
Steve Panzik: It gives you a lot of time with your thoughts.
Steve Panzik: You know, you go through, you become very, you have to find different things
Steve Panzik: toss in your head that either motivate you or have meaning to you.
Steve Panzik: And I get to think about the business as an entrepreneur and it gives me time to kind of play out different scenarios and really play out different scenarios.
Steve Panzik: I'm out there running for 8 hours.
Steve Panzik: As a dad, as a husband, I think a lot about family.
Steve Panzik: whether there's little things that we're trying to solve as a family that comes about every day having kids or just thinking about the good things that kind of push you through moments on the run that things aren't going according to plan.
Steve Panzik: So as a coach, I think about certain issue I may be having with clients and how I could work through them differently and work with different people differently and work out plans.
Steve Panzik: Like you get a lot of time to yourself.
Steve Panzik: And it's almost like a meditation.
Steve Panzik: It's my therapy.
Steve Panzik: When I run, typically, I run early in the morning before work.
Steve Panzik: So the streets are empty.
Steve Panzik: I typically don't run with music.
Steve Panzik: So again, I can kind of think about my day, set my day up, anything that I went to bed with that was kind of holding on me that I can kind of get up with a fresh head and attack it in the morning on my run.
Steve Panzik: running is very therapeutic.
Diane Johnston: Yeah, it's such a, and your body chemistry changes too, so it even enhances that meditative state that you're going into.
Steve Panzik: Absolutely.
Steve Panzik: You definitely have, trying to have a positive turn on things and trying to have the best outlook and really get to
Steve Panzik: something that you can solve, a solution to it.
Diane Johnston: Yeah.
Diane Johnston: I used to say it was taking time.
Diane Johnston: I used to tell people it was my church, but also the change curve, which is a lot like going through the emotions of grief as well.
Diane Johnston: When I was doing long runs, I used to find like I almost went through that arc of a curve, that same emotional change until you get to the other side.
Steve Panzik: No,
Steve Panzik: There are many phases to a run, and they come and go at a moment's notice.
Steve Panzik: They're curveballs that come.
Steve Panzik: I think no matter how much you plan out a run, whether it's a three-mile run or a 30-mile run,
Steve Panzik: you kind of go into the headspace of a plan.
Steve Panzik: And I think, as Mike Tyson has that famous quote, is you got to plan until you get punched in the face.
Steve Panzik: And during a run, you can take a lot of punches that just, you know, this doesn't feel right, this feels right, or this is going and you got to adjust.
Diane Johnston: Yeah.
Diane Johnston: And I mean, you went through a lot of changes before you became an ultra runner too.
Diane Johnston: I want to rewind the clock a little bit and go back to COVID.
Diane Johnston: I mean, your pivot as a business owner during COVID was
Diane Johnston: not only inspirational and helpful to the community, but it was really impressive how you didn't just sit on your druthers and say, oh, this is too bad.
Diane Johnston: We're being shut down.
Diane Johnston: What gave you the courage and mindset to do what you did?
Steve Panzik: Failure not an option.
Steve Panzik: You know, like it was a very scary time being closed down for five months and in New York not really having a
Steve Panzik: They weren't planning or giving us a very clear path for gyms at that time.
Steve Panzik: So trying to pay attention to neighboring states as to what some of the rules they were doing and be proactive about that.
Steve Panzik: And then when we saw a little bit of sliver, like looked online, learning how to build a squat rack out of four by fours and two by fours, as you said.
Steve Panzik: And we built a bunch of those outside and bought 10 by 10 tents.
Steve Panzik: So everyone had their own lift station and
Steve Panzik: We were open sunrise to sunset once we were allowed to gather outside and carrying the equipment we could out there and carrying it in at the end of the day.
Steve Panzik: And it was about survival, you know, like to sit there and
Steve Panzik: take the money the government was handing out and do nothing didn't seem right to be able to produce something.
Steve Panzik: And I know for people, as much as we were quasi-scared to be social, we still needed that socialization.
Steve Panzik: So trying to find a way to bridge that gap for those that were comfortable with it.
Steve Panzik: And then the opportunity came to open the other side.
Steve Panzik: And it was, I remember sitting down with my wife, Shaz, and it was, do we double down?
Steve Panzik: And we do we expand in the middle?
Steve Panzik: We don't know when we're going to open.
Steve Panzik: We don't know if, what this long-term play is at this point.
Steve Panzik: Or do we close?
Steve Panzik: And we took the bet that people are going to want to come back to a gym.
Steve Panzik: This is something that we can build in this community.
Steve Panzik: We're going to double down.
Steve Panzik: We're going to expand while we're closed over this five months and take this out, take the risk.
Steve Panzik: And
Steve Panzik: the community has been responded just overwhelming with support.
Steve Panzik: And it was the right decision 20 times over.
Steve Panzik: And I'm truly grateful for just the support we had from people all over.
Diane Johnston: It had to be a scary decision.
Steve Panzik: Very scary.
Steve Panzik: It was, you know, if you're closing, then are we selling the house and moving somewhere else and starting something anew?
Steve Panzik: Or are we, like there's, and at that point, the kids were all in,
Steve Panzik: I think they were 8th, 9th, 10th grade, my kids at that time.
Steve Panzik: So there's still a lot of growing up to do and just trying to put it all together.
Steve Panzik: But I think the biggest motivator is family and that failure wasn't an option.
Steve Panzik: And we're going to find a way to
Steve Panzik: make it work, and we're going to find a way to come back even better with it because we didn't want to be in this position again.
Diane Johnston: And that's awesome that you did it as a cohesive unit.
Diane Johnston: That's amazing that you have a partner that you can sit down and do that with.
Diane Johnston: A lot of people out there are trying to do some scary things by themselves.
Diane Johnston: I'm like, you don't have to do it alone.
Steve Panzik: Yeah, no.
Steve Panzik: I'm married above my pay grade.
Steve Panzik: I was very smart.
Steve Panzik: The smartest thing I ever did.
Steve Panzik: And I'm very thankful for
Steve Panzik: for my wife and just the partnership and the insight and being able to throw as a thought partner off of different ideas and to know that when push comes to shove that biggest fan biggest supporter and we're gonna we're gonna get it done.
Steve Panzik: And that's huge.
Diane Johnston: That's beautiful.
Diane Johnston: And it's a power too of not only partnership, but I love highlighting that from a cognitive basis, we all make decisions.
Diane Johnston: differently.
Diane Johnston: So if you're not talking it out with somebody else, you're going to miss a nuance or you're going to miss a spark or you're going to miss whatever that potential secret sauce could be in the plan going forward.
Steve Panzik: No, 100%.
Steve Panzik: You know, you surround yourself with, you know, smart people and everyone comes with a little bit different lens, a little bit different background.
Steve Panzik: And sometimes it could be the most obvious thing that you just don't see until someone else points it out to you.
Diane Johnston: Right.
Diane Johnston: And I know you do that for a lot of people with their physical health.
Diane Johnston: and trying to keep us treading and keeping our heads above water as we face our own challenges in life.
Diane Johnston: So thank you for that.
Diane Johnston: Yeah, the expansion was incredible.
Diane Johnston: Your journey's been incredible.
Diane Johnston: What we've not touched on, though, was your most recent run and your inspiration for doing it.
Diane Johnston: So kind of saving the best for last.
Diane Johnston: Everybody who listens to Winged and Ready knows that I have a philanthropic leaning, and I love talking about charities and giving back to the community.
Diane Johnston: So you've taken your new position in life as an ultra runner and a coach and a community member, and you kind of packaged it up into one powerful punch.
Diane Johnston: to do something pretty impressive.
Steve Panzik: Yeah, about a year ago, and that's a very kindly, thank you.
Steve Panzik: And about a year ago, I pointed out to my wife that it'd be kind of cool to run the length of Long Island.
Steve Panzik: And she's like, yeah, that'd be kind of cool, but you're nuts, which is the usual reaction when I throw like some of these ultra runs out.
Steve Panzik: And then, you know, a few more months passed and I kept looking at it and I started plotting it out just to see what would this entail.
Steve Panzik: And
Steve Panzik: And in my training, I was kind of after I did the mid-state and came away feeling really good about my level.
Steve Panzik: And I had doing some maintenance and I had a couple runs in this fall that I wanted to do with the 50-miler.
Steve Panzik: And I went out to Colorado Springs and raced to the top of Pikes Peak.
Steve Panzik: And I was like, you know what, this would be a good time.
Steve Panzik: And she's like, if you're going to do it, you should add value to it.
Steve Panzik: And over the last two years working on as a president on the school board, I got to work with the Manhasset Great Neck EOC.
Steve Panzik: And it's just a impressive, impressive organization, a group of people that are there doing so much for the community that sometimes gets overlooked in Manhasset.
Steve Panzik: It's off
Steve Panzik: community drive over in Spinney Hill.
Steve Panzik: And the building is actually, was the African-American school before, during segregation.
Steve Panzik: And after segregation, the building was given to the town and then sold to the community for a dollar.
Steve Panzik: And it's central to the community there to where there is tutors, after-school programs, summer camps,
Steve Panzik: food pantry, daycare, it's a real anchor and support system for families in that community and learning more of what they did over the last two years and they lost some funding and I thought there was a way that we could help bridge that gap and help them with some of the programs that they've that they're trying to work on a daily level.
Diane Johnston: Yeah, that's amazing.
Diane Johnston: So you decided to raise money for them by running the length of.
Steve Panzik: Running the length of the island.
Steve Panzik: And it started with the length of Long Island, like point to point, Montauk to, I guess it'd be, you know, the Queensboro Bridge.
Steve Panzik: And then my head, exactly, my head started thinking, I'm like, Manhattan, Montauk to Manhattan just has more of a, sounds, rolls off the tongue better.
Steve Panzik: Yeah, I was like, if you're going that far, you might as well run across the bridge.
Steve Panzik: and the extra mile and a half and get to Times Square and end it.
Steve Panzik: So we made it to Montauk to Manhattan.
Steve Panzik: I will tell you, somewhere around 50 miles into the race, I was like, this was horrible marketing.
Steve Panzik: I should have done Montauk to Manhasset and I could have been done at 107.
Steve Panzik: And I laughed in the middle of the night when my wife was dropping off my second-half food.
Steve Panzik: I'm like, we really missed on this one.
Steve Panzik: I could have been done.
Steve Panzik: in Manhasset.
Steve Panzik: I was like I said, there's another 20 miles after that.
Steve Panzik: But it was, it was really, it was really, it was a neat feather in the cap.
Steve Panzik: We raised over $18,000 for the organization.
Steve Panzik: The community really pitched in.
Steve Panzik: So thank you to anyone who's listening who donated.
Steve Panzik: Like it was awesome.
Steve Panzik: And they, and I told them when we started, I don't know what this will bring.
Steve Panzik: Maybe we can bring $3,000, $5,000.
Steve Panzik: They just lost
Steve Panzik: $18,000 in a grant the year before.
Steve Panzik: So the fact that we were able to fill that entire aspect, it'll go directly to programming for them, was absolutely awesome.
Diane Johnston: That's incredible.
Steve Panzik: Really, really awesome.
Steve Panzik: And the run was an experience.
Diane Johnston: 120
Steve Panzik: 124.26.
Steve Panzik: and it was, and it was the perfect, I talked about the 50 earlier and how what a wonderful and enjoyable run this was.
Steve Panzik: And I tell people, it's kind of like you can, any day you go for a run, those people who run five days or three days, you can go out for a run and feel as light as can be, and it's just flowing.
Steve Panzik: And then you could go out two days later and just, it's not a running day.
Steve Panzik: And there's no rhyme or reason
Steve Panzik: sleep, something.
Steve Panzik: And I could tell about 3 miles into this run that it was going to be a grind.
Steve Panzik: And I had a little self conversation with the head, like, okay, like this is going to be a mental run.
Steve Panzik: Like the physically I knew I had the physical ability to do it, but it wasn't feeling it and it didn't want to do it.
Steve Panzik: Then I was like, okay, the mind's just going to have to take over on this and be ready for the battle that's going to come for the next
Steve Panzik: Twenty-four hours, because it's gonna be a battle, and it was a grind.
Steve Panzik: It was an awesome grind.
Steve Panzik: It was awesome to push through those and reach those moments, but it was a lot of self-talk back and forth, especially doing it solo and you're out there just with your own.
Steve Panzik: thoughts in the middle of the night going through Riverhead, it's 40 degrees out and you're running along the median of the shoulder of the road and it's just you and a couple cars and the farmland and.
Diane Johnston: I was like crickets, literally.
Steve Panzik: Yeah, you're like, oh, you know, I was like, gotta, and you just, you gotta finish, you know, you gotta finish.
Steve Panzik: And that's, and that's part of it.
Steve Panzik: Like you can't, you can't quit.
Steve Panzik: Part of it is the example you're trying to set for your kids.
Steve Panzik: like your family, like I said, this was the goal and this is what we're going to do.
Steve Panzik: And, anything that comes up in life every day, you can always find a reason to quit.
Steve Panzik: It is so easy to find a reason to quit anything that you're doing, whether a lift, a run, a paper, like you can find a distraction and you can justify it.
Steve Panzik: And we're so good at justifying why I quit and then people will tat you on the back and be like, oh, yeah, you're right.
Steve Panzik: That is, yeah, it's okay.
Steve Panzik: Don't worry.
Steve Panzik: You tried.
Steve Panzik: And I didn't want that to be the message to where if I stopped at mile 50,
Steve Panzik: 50 or 62 or something.
Steve Panzik: we got halfway or, stopping in Manhasset and being like, okay, you got to Manhasset.
Steve Panzik: That's pretty, you ran over 100 miles.
Steve Panzik: That's pretty good.
Steve Panzik: But, you put a goal out there, you're like, you're going to finish it.
Steve Panzik: And it may not be as fast as you want and there may be a grind, but there's a goal you're going to finish.
Steve Panzik: And I think that's important for the next generation to see and understand.
Steve Panzik: And there's a lot of variables and there was a lot of punches in the face that came during that.
Steve Panzik: that I had to deal with physically and mentally.
Steve Panzik: But you just, you find a way.
Steve Panzik: And on the flip side, I made a promise to this organization that I was going to do this run for these kids, and we were going to raise this money.
Steve Panzik: And I wanted to come through on that and not
Steve Panzik: fall short of running it.
Steve Panzik: They can be, oh, well, we got the money, Steve.
Steve Panzik: It's okay.
Steve Panzik: No, I said I was going to run this and we're going to raise this money.
Steve Panzik: I want them to know that those kids that are going there, that someone's willing, I'm willing to put myself in a physical position that it's going to benefit them.
Steve Panzik: And it was,
Steve Panzik: And it was a grind.
Diane Johnston: That's beautiful.
Diane Johnston: But they literally can see it.
Diane Johnston: They can see that somebody's literally out there busting their butts, slogging through it for them.
Diane Johnston: That's pretty beautiful.
Steve Panzik: Busting the button a whole lot more.
Steve Panzik: There was real...
Steve Panzik: Mile 63 to 80 was the most enjoyable, where everything kind of came together.
Steve Panzik: I was dealing with a lot of cramping of my calf and hamstring right from the beginning.
Steve Panzik: I couldn't find the right electrolyte balance, not to bore people, and you know, taking salt packets from 7-Eleven and pouring it underneath my tongue, trying to get salt directly into it to level out.
Steve Panzik: So 63 to 80 was the smoothest of it.
Steve Panzik: 80 to 100 wasn't bad, dealing with a different gastro with all the food that you're trying to eat on.
Steve Panzik: You're eating 400 calories an hour, trying to get 1,000 milligrams of salt, 90 grams of carbs, and fuel the body, and carrying all that on you.
Steve Panzik: So you're carrying 10 to 15 pounds on you.
Steve Panzik: At mile 100.
Diane Johnston: You did look like a camel with your.
Steve Panzik: When I saw pictures of me, I'm like, that does not print well.
Steve Panzik: That is that is definitely that is not cover material.
Steve Panzik: So when I hit mile 100, there was something really cool about that is a mile 100 happened to be on Northern Boulevard, right past LAU.
Steve Panzik: There's this roses
Steve Panzik: nursery that has the old gas pump right in front of it.
Steve Panzik: And you're never really sure if it's open, not open, if it's still a work.
Steve Panzik: But when my dad was around, that was one of our favorite nurseries to go to.
Steve Panzik: And we used to buy, you know, roses there from there.
Steve Panzik: And, you know, my dad passed, you know, going on six years.
Steve Panzik: So when I came up and I'm like, wow, I hit 100 miles.
Steve Panzik: This is the first time I've hit 100 miles.
Steve Panzik: And I was like, and I looked up and I'm like, I'm in front of this nursery, which was.
Diane Johnston: That's really amazing.
Steve Panzik: Feeling a little tired and a little goosebump.
Steve Panzik: And then I turn around and Chef Chris, he goes by, he's an ultra runner on the island.
Steve Panzik: And I met him just Instagram DMing.
Steve Panzik: And he said something to me that, you know, I'll catch up with you at some point during the run.
Steve Panzik: And I hadn't seen him until that point.
Steve Panzik: So I just kind of thought he forgot about it.
Steve Panzik: And I turned around, kind of feeling a little like run down, like I still got another marathon to go.
Steve Panzik: And here he is, kind of like, my dad sent in someone, like he's like, hey, I'm here to run with you.
Steve Panzik: And I was like, wow.
Steve Panzik: I was like, all right.
Steve Panzik: And he did 3 miles with me.
Steve Panzik: It was the most enjoyable 3 miles to have someone to talk.
Steve Panzik: And then he had, he took off for some other things.
Steve Panzik: But it was, now it was really,
Steve Panzik: really need to have that moment, that feeling where it happened, and then all of a sudden there was someone there to help me.
Steve Panzik: So, there's a lot of spiritual things going on.
Diane Johnston: A lot of deeper meanings out there.
Diane Johnston: Yeah, that's amazing.
Diane Johnston: Did you ever think when you finished your first New York City marathon, you're like,
Diane Johnston: probably very proud, have done 26.2 miles.
Diane Johnston: Do you ever think you'd say, oh, I just did 124.26 miles?
Steve Panzik: No, I would say my first marathon was Philly, and then I did New York, then I did Philly again, and I threw an Ironman in the middle of that.
Steve Panzik: And as we learn, as we go, my nutrition and my fueling was so bad, I was under, now that I, what I know now, that I would deal with pretty severe leg cramping at mile 19, 20, like locking up and not sure what was going on at that time, because I'm hydrating and not realizing my electrolytes were just so diminished.
Steve Panzik: And yeah, those, I've never had like a,
Steve Panzik: a beautiful, nice, enjoyable marathon.
Steve Panzik: I'd kind of like to go back to it in the upcoming year and give it a shot and see how fast I can go with the training, but I never would have imagined of running further than that.
Steve Panzik: Like my long run training for a marathon was 20 miles, and I thought that was ridiculous.
Steve Panzik: And now I find myself like on the weekends, for me to go do 25 to 30 miles is on a repetitive Saturdays.
Steve Panzik: It's like, it's okay, long run on a Saturday, let's go do 25 miles.
Steve Panzik: I'll run into the city, pick a different bridge, run over that bridge, go to Penn Station, take the train home.
Steve Panzik: You know, so I've hit almost every bridge into the city.
Steve Panzik: Yeah, just end up at Penn Station and train at home.
Steve Panzik: You always get a seat by yourself.
Steve Panzik: I guarantee that.
Diane Johnston: So if you're in Penn Station, you can look out for Steve on a Saturday, getting on a train all sweaty.
Steve Panzik: Find a seat to yourself and get a ride home.
Diane Johnston: Look for the P10 logo.
Steve Panzik: Exactly.
Diane Johnston: That's awesome.
Diane Johnston: All right.
Diane Johnston: You said you ran yourself into menopause.
Diane Johnston: I got to know what that means.
Steve Panzik: So I would say to go the last 13 miles of that run
Steve Panzik: It was real pain.
Steve Panzik: Not like, okay, I'm tired.
Steve Panzik: It's discomfort.
Steve Panzik: It's like, okay, is there a stress fracture?
Steve Panzik: Is my, am I tearing a meniscus?
Steve Panzik: Like it was step after step of this is, we're now causing some type of damage.
Steve Panzik: And I've never run to that point before.
Steve Panzik: Like I've run to tired.
Steve Panzik: I've run to where I thought I was done, like in the mid-states, but I've never run to like pain.
Steve Panzik: And my legs from the thighs down were like one straight line of just swelling.
Steve Panzik: So the post was I would do 2 ten-minute ice baths a day, Normatex sleeves.
Steve Panzik: I got an IV one day, someone recommended, and that was phenomenal.
Steve Panzik: Right here in Port Boost IV was awesome.
Steve Panzik: But the first night I go to sleep and I am up every hour.
Steve Panzik: And the legs are uncomfortable, so it's already a little bit uncomfortable sleep.
Steve Panzik: They're hurting.
Steve Panzik: Every hour on the hour, waking up and just a full-on body sweat.
Steve Panzik: Like not a little, but like full-on sweats.
Steve Panzik: I'm like, what is going on?
Steve Panzik: And so that was six or seven times, night one.
Steve Panzik: And I wake up and touch, we got to wash the sheets.
Steve Panzik: I have no idea what's going on with my body.
Steve Panzik: And I'm running very hot.
Steve Panzik: That lasted for four days.
Steve Panzik: Wow.
Steve Panzik: looked and there was like a ketone pneumonia smell to the sweat too, which was weird.
Steve Panzik: And so looked it up and it was basically, there was so much muscular damage and internal that your body's repairing itself.
Steve Panzik: So it's running hot because internally it's fixing.
Steve Panzik: And it's fixing and it's sweating out all the ketones and pneumonia byproducts of your muscles until it gets you back to homeostasis.
Steve Panzik: And this was, it was four nights of just
Steve Panzik: And that's when after second night, Shaz turned and she goes, you ran yourself into menopause.
Steve Panzik: I was like, how long is this going to last?
Steve Panzik: Mine lasted 4 days.
Steve Panzik: So I got out, I got out easy.
Steve Panzik: I realized that.
Steve Panzik: But it was, I think that was the biggest
Steve Panzik: surprised at the end.
Steve Panzik: I expected to be sore.
Steve Panzik: I expected the legs to hurt and kind of have the shuffle of moving along.
Steve Panzik: It took about, in three days I'd say I was at 50%.
Steve Panzik: recovered.
Steve Panzik: In about 6 days, I was at 70% recovered.
Steve Panzik: And a week later, I was able to run again at 90%, with it.
Steve Panzik: I still have maybe a little bit of tenderness at one Achilles, but nothing that's debilitative at this point, just healing.
Diane Johnston: And you did get up, was it the next day you went and greeted your running club in the morning?
Steve Panzik: Yes, I had missed the run club over the last
Steve Panzik: month.
Steve Panzik: We meet on Saturdays because of traveling to see my kids at their colleges and sporting events.
Steve Panzik: So I had to be at that run club.
Steve Panzik: So I got up with my sweaty, poor sleep and made my way over there enough to shuffle out of the car.
Steve Panzik: And we meet at the farmer's market at the poor Washington town dock, which is a phenomenal farmer's market, and greeted them, shared little stories.
Steve Panzik: and I sent them on the run.
Steve Panzik: I thought I would try to walk with the walking group and I couldn't keep up with the walking group.
Steve Panzik: So I turned around, went to the farmer's market.
Steve Panzik: At that point, we calculated on the, and I was like, I burned over 16,500 calories during the run.
Steve Panzik: So I went back to refuel those and I got a chocolate croissant.
Steve Panzik: a chocolate baguette and a cinnamon croissant.
Steve Panzik: And I parked myself on the bench like the old school cross-country coaches.
Steve Panzik: And I sat there and I was like, I will wait for them to come back.
Steve Panzik: And I enjoyed my treats.
Steve Panzik: And then they helped me get up after when they were done.
Steve Panzik: And went to work.
Steve Panzik: I had a couple of clients at work.
Diane Johnston: That's awesome.
Diane Johnston: In closing out, if you had one piece of advice to give the listeners or anything you would want to share that we've not touched on.
Steve Panzik: Challenge yourself.
Steve Panzik: I think from the expansion at Power 10 to physically challenging, I had a client once asked me how I'm doing, and I said, I'm fine.
Steve Panzik: He goes, well, what does that mean?
Steve Panzik: What does it mean you're fine?
Steve Panzik: He was like, fine's just average.
Steve Panzik: You know, so I've really taken that to heart to where I'm like, okay, fine's just keeping your head above water.
Steve Panzik: That's just normal living.
Steve Panzik: Like, do hard, you know, do hard **** challenge yourself.
Steve Panzik: Like, whether it's
Steve Panzik: Taking that risk at work, whether it's taking that risk on a personal level, whether it's taking that next step and challenge on a fitness level, like don't be fine, challenge yourself, go for it, and...
Steve Panzik: And when you go for it, you go all in.
Steve Panzik: You go with all your heart.
Steve Panzik: You can't, any of the stuff that is worth accomplishing, you can't do it with half a heart.
Steve Panzik: You got to be, you got to be all in.
Diane Johnston: I love that.
Diane Johnston: Get uncomfortable?
Steve Panzik: Yeah.
Steve Panzik: Uncomfortable, get comfortable being uncomfortable.
Steve Panzik: You know, as one of the coaches used to say, like you just, everyone wants to be like, oh, you're stressing me out.
Steve Panzik: This is, you know, like, you know, this isn't comfortable.
Steve Panzik: There's too many variables.
Steve Panzik: Like, that's life.
Steve Panzik: Life's throwing you variables on every single level.
Steve Panzik: personal business level, get comfortable with it and take care of them.
Steve Panzik: don't run from them.
Diane Johnston: Yep, stormy weather, hoist the sails go.
Steve Panzik: Yeah, 100%.
Diane Johnston: I love it.
Diane Johnston: Thank you so much for this conversation.
Diane Johnston: I had a blast.
Steve Panzik: Oh, Diane, thank you so much.
Steve Panzik: I really, truly appreciate you having me on here.
Steve Panzik: It's an honor.
Steve Panzik: I love this.
Diane Johnston: Yeah, I do too.
Diane Johnston: Thank you.
Steve Panzik: Thank you.
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