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Inspiration Sensation: Pat Mahady

April 29, 2023

Andrew Siegel MD 4/29/23

And I thought I was motivated, being the daily exerciser that I am! Truth be told, I’m a “couch potato” compared to this guy, my patient who is the topic of today’s entry and who gave me permission to use his name — Pat Mahady. Pat is 64 years old, happily married, and is blessed to have 11 grandchildren who keep him quite busy. (All I to show for my 67 years on this planet with regard to my three children having children themselves are two grand-dogs and one grand-cat — maybe someday soon I will be a grandfather as well!)

I have known Pat for many years, initially meeting him at the Hackensack Hospital Fitness Center where he was a trainer, and I was a member. Many years later he became a patient. Last October, based upon a biopsy triggered by an elevated PSA lab test. he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was treated with radical prostatectomy, and I recently saw him back in the office for follow-up six months after surgery. He has done remarkably well since the surgery, has no detectable cancer, and experienced no side effects. He informed me that he was able to resume urinary control in a matter of hours after his urinary catheter was removed!

At the time of his recent office visit, Pat revealed to me that he is a “streaker,” not the type of streaker who runs naked through the streets (like we did in college), but an exercise streaker, having not missed a single day of exercise for 1100 consecutive days, including going for a run the morning immediately prior to his surgery.

Pat’s surgery went well, and he was discharged the day following surgery with a bladder catheter attached to a leg bag, as is the norm for having undergone a radical prostatectomy in which a bladder catheter is typically left in for one week or so. On the car ride home from the hospital he had his wife drop him off one mile from their home so that he could continue his exercise streak. 24 hours after surgery with a Foley catheter in place and fresh laparoscopic incisions…oh my! Over the course of the next week, when most men after radical prostatectomy are taking it easy and nursing their catheter that literally tethers them, he was walking outside up to 7 miles daily! He commented: “Maintaining a streak takes a bit of creativity.”

Two weeks after the urinary catheter was removed, he resumed lifting light weights, 100 repetitions at a time, as well as stretching and performing full body routines. It took him about a month or so after the catheter was removed to resume running because of abdominal discomfort related to the surgery.

Regarding his cancer, Pat related the following: “When I was diagnosed with prostate cancer I was already in good shape and competing. I researched prostate cancer and read everything one could read about it — surgical choices, radiation therapy, and alternative treatments. I found that I kept running across a single treatment — exercise! When presented with my options, I felt that robotic surgery was my best option, and that the strength of my pelvic floor was integral to the success of my surgery and my recovery.”

“When you and I spoke you gave me a copy of your book. I read it completely and found it to be very helpful. It also provided me with information to access online. Through those threads I became a pelvic floor master. I knew that a strong pelvic floor was valuable to running and now I had to focus on it in an effort to stay strong and recover well. I developed a routine that I performed 5 days a week. I incorporated the best of all the information I accessed. I think I may have over-trained a bit, but I do believe that the success of my recovery was related to my pelvic floor work.”

Pat’s inspiration for “streaking” began in 2017 when he read an article about a man in Miami, Florida who fell on hard times and began running 8 miles daily on the beach and did so for more than 18 years! Pat shared the article with his wife and exclaimed: “I can do this! – maybe not 8 miles, but certainly a mile or more daily.” The criteria to maintain a streak is a mile or more of walking or running daily. Most days he does more. He averages 25 to 30 miles a week.

His first streak lasted 237 days. It was abruptly halted when he contracted pneumonia while running in the mountains north of Las Vegas. The doctors believed he inhaled something, quite possibly mountain sheep dung while he was tracking sheep to get a good photo.

His next streak lasted 787 days was halted by COVID-19. Pat was part of that first wave and spent 17 days glued to his couch and was resigned to the fact that he was going to die. He lost 24 pounds and experienced a significant decline in muscle mass, strength, conditioning, and looked awful. In his own words: “Exercise was what I knew best, and I believe it to be medicine. So I got right back on that horse. I was lifting 5 lb. weights and it made my body hurt. My first mile after my recovery from Covid took me 45 minutes to complete. One mile! And I haven’t stopped since. I still suffer lingering effects from Covid, but exercise was and is still my medicine.”

“I believe that the human body is a survival machine, and it functions best while it is in motion. And so I run or walk every day and my streak is now over 1100 days. I lift weights 4 days a week. Sometimes more. I alternate my resistance training between high-rep endurance programs and low-rep power programs. I enjoy full body routines, but time sometimes dictates what body parts I am training that day.”

Pat does his long runs on the weekends, and he loves competition and trail races. He always feels strongest in the woods or the mountains but will run anywhere. He has run four 50-mile races and a slew of ultras. He commented: “You meet the coolest people running trails. Everyone supports everyone.”

Pat has had remarkable life. He states: “I have done so much and experienced so much. I have run every rail trail in the state of New Jersey. I have climbed 15 of the highest peaks in 15 different states including Mount Rainier. I have run and hiked every trail in Harriman and Bear Mountain State Parks. I have hiked the Grand Canyon 16 times including 4 rim-to-rim single day crossings.”

Pat will be retiring in June and he and his wife plan on driving cross country for 6 months and then settling in New Paltz, New York. He has a bucket list of trails to run and hike in addition to visiting as many major league baseball parks as he can.

Regarding his retirement and future, Pat states: “I can’t think of a better way of keeping my streak going!!! I have a loving wife who supports my crazy ideas. My success is our success and none of it would have happened without her. I hope I can inspire more people to take charge of their health and use exercise as the foundation.”

Wishing you the best of health,

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Dr. Andrew Siegel is a physician and urological surgeon who is board-certified in urology as well as in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery. He is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery at the Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School and is a Castle Connolly Top Doctor New York Metro Area, Inside Jersey Top Doctor and Inside Jersey Top Doctor for Women’s Health. His mission is to “bridge the gap” between the public and the medical community. He is a urologist at New Jersey Urology, one of the largest urology practices in the United States. He is the co-founder of PelvicRx and Private Gym. His latest book is Prostate Cancer 20/20: A Practical Guide to Understanding Management Options for Patients and Their Families.