A Shark, a Half Marathon, and My Ride-or-Die
In case you missed it, our latest episode of the Thrive A/F Podcast was a little personal for me. Our guest was Doug Sarmousakis, one of my closest friends on the planet. Doug is a father and husband first. He’s also a successful businessman, a lifelong surfer, an expert boater and fisherman, and the most “all in” person I know.
Doug and I met the way a lot of dads do. Our kids were in the same school. And in the years since, we’ve participated in many adventures. Including half marathons, Tough Mudders, ice-water dumpsters, and at least one very bloody game of pickleball.
So this one felt less like an interview and more like three friends telling stories and laughing with the microphones on.
We covered a lot of ground. But three things stuck with me enough that I want to highlight them here.
Saying yes is a mindset, and you can build it
I’ve never known Doug to say no. Not to a friend who needs help, and not to a challenge. So I finally asked him: were you born that way, or did something make you this way?
“I think people have been telling me that my whole life. I’m all in... I don’t have any regrets about it. I actually like that. Because I feel like, man, we’re here, let’s do it. Right? That’s my mindset.”
Then I asked if any adventure ever made him think it wasn’t such a great idea.
“No. Because even if it doesn’t work out right, I look at it and say, I’ll take something good out of it.”
That second answer is the one that matters.
Because Doug’s adventures don’t always go perfectly as planned. Ask him about the dive where he stayed down alone after his son’s tank ran out of air, with a bleeding hogfish clipped to his hip. A reef shark showed up and got a little too close to, as Doug put it, his “happy place.” He’s honest about it:
“It’s not safe to do that. It’s not smart to do that.”
But he came up, learned from it, and he’s still diving.
That’s the part I think we can all train. Not recklessness. Antifragility. The habit of looking at a setback and asking what you can take from it.
Give your training something to shoot for
Like a lot of us, Doug let exercise slide when his kids were young and his career was taking off. And like a lot of former athletes, he’s carrying some hardware. Football left him with a partial shoulder replacement.
So how does he stay ready to surf the Pacific in his 50s? He trains for something.
“I’ll train for six or eight weeks in the pool, just paddling every day, just to get my cardio up, get my shoulders in shape enough to be able to paddle out in the Pacific Ocean... and still have a good time, be safe, and enjoy the time with my son... I like having something to shoot for. It just makes it easier for me.”
I see this constantly with patients and clients. A goal on the calendar gives your training a purpose. Furthermore, it gives you a reason to show up on the days you don’t feel like it.
And Doug has adjusted how he trains as he’s gotten older:
“I’m not interested in lifting heavy weights anymore... I’m more about the stretching and strength training, but not heavy weight training.”
As a physical therapist, I’ll add one thing. Adjusting doesn’t mean quitting. You can stop chasing max weight and still keep building strength. Shifting toward mobility and sustainable strength is exactly what keeps you in the game long enough to take the next trip.
Friendship is the best training partner you’ll ever have
Our half marathon started after a night out and a scare that Doug calls “a whole different podcast.” The next day, he knew he needed a change:
“I said, man, I gotta do something, dude... Somehow running a half marathon came up and I said, would you be interested? And Lou was like, [bleep] yeah. And that really started it... Lou’s my ride or die when it comes to stuff like that.”
We went from zero to a half marathon in 13 weeks. Doug ran it on a badly sprained ankle, against the professional advice of his training partner. On race day, the course ran out of water.
We didn’t set any records. But we got it done. And that’s what started the friendship.
Keith made a point on the episode that I haven’t stopped thinking about:
“Especially for men, it seems like as we get older, those deeper relationships, sometimes they’re harder to find... But it’s like at different stages in your life, like when your kids are in school, that’s when you seem to form some bonds like this.”
He’s right. And here’s what I’d add. Those friendships don’t just make life better. They make you do things. I would never have signed up for a Tough Mudder on my own. I definitely wouldn’t have walked into a dumpster full of ice water.
But Doug asked. So I said yes.
This is the short version. The full conversation runs about 50 minutes and gets into a lot more, including the full shark story (yes, he shot it, and no, he would not let go of his $500 spear), why blood looks green 85 feet underwater, the electric-shock obstacle Doug ran through with a metal shoulder, and a rapid-fire round where Doug took pickleball over tennis and then tried to walk it back. We didn’t let him. The full episode is live now, so go check it out.
Oh, and Doug signed me (and Keith) up for the Everglades Half Marathon in January. Live, on the podcast.
We didn’t say no.
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Lou | Thrive A/F Team
🗨️ Join the Conversation: Who’s the friend in your life who always says yes, and pulls you along with them? Tell us about an adventure you never would have taken on by yourself. Leave a comment and share your story.