Instagram story viewer> @sam_hammers> Tagged

Sam Hammers

@sam_hammers

undefined

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Every year brings new messages and new life lessons.

Last year’s lesson: Growth doesn’t come from self-loathing. It comes from self-reflection. Learn your own flaws instead of obsessing over everyone else’s. Self-reflection is the path to growth.

This year’s lesson: You can’t help everyone.

Everyone isn’t your homie. Just because you break bread with someone and help them out doesn’t mean they won’t try to burn you or take from you. That made me a little bitter at times this year.

But you don’t need to impress everyone, and you don’t need to put effort into everyone.

Put that energy into the people who show you love. If you’re a good person, you’ll see that you have a lot more people with you than against you. Focus on the good in each day, not the bad. Think positively, and you’ll attract good people and good energy. Think negatively, and negative energy will surround you.

Here’s to good people and a great year of life. Here’s to adding to my family, physically and spiritually!

Into year 34 we go!

PS: sorry I couldn’t fit you all in the Tag section, IG didn’t allow it! Had another 50 pics I could have added! Love you all!

292

35

Massive weekend ahead for the guys I’ve been training!

While sport owes no one anything, the work these gentlemen have put in leading into this weekend has been incredible. They’ve endured an incredibly brutal training block that would break most people.

I’m sending one prayer up to God: Let everyone display and showcase the fitness they’ve built, then return home healthy—with another medal and another war story to tell!

Cheers to a monumental weekend ahead!

Athlete highlights:

@loganverboomen : This is his A-race after completely immersing himself in the triathlon lifestyle and completing a proper Ironman build. To me, winging a race with no training isn’t cool—it has no meaning. You miss the best part: the process.

It’s where you learn so much about yourself by pushing yourself to an incredibly vulnerable place, only to build yourself back mentally and physically stronger than ever. That strength carries over into sport and every other area of your life.

Logan toes the line at Ironman Wisconsin!

@outlawtriathlete : After a hard-fought season filled with life challenges and injuries, he toes the line against some of the best triathletes in the world at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship!

@chris.cjk4 : He’s no stranger to the process and is the definition of hard work. I hope he displays his fitness to the fullest and absolutely has a day at the Erie Marathon!

@j.sik03 : The silent workhorse! While this race isn’t a high priority, don’t get it twisted—he has been putting in the work!

@sam_hammers : Can’t forget about my guy! While he’s racing to pace his sister, he has helped turn her into a runner. Getting to share that finish line with her will mean more than any personal result! Much love to Macknize BQ or not have a day! @kenzhammers your part of the FSF family too!

Some coaches post their athletes’ results. I let my athletes do that and have their moment. I want to celebrate their journey, their build, and their process.

Race day is a celebration of fitness—so celebrate, boys, by having a day!

Godspeed!

(If you have time in your day, reach out and wish them luck!)

78

8

All you can control is what you do—the attitude you bring and the effort you put into it.

You can’t control everything that happens around you. You can’t control other people. But you can control how you show up.

So live life with everything you’ve got. Give your best effort, bring the right attitude, and keep chasing the best version of yourself.

At the end of the day, that’s what you can control.

131

10

“It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”

Life has a way of humbling you when you least expect it. If I’m being real here there were moments recently when moving forward felt incredibly difficult. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that no one gets through the hard seasons alone.

I’m beyond grateful for my incredible wife, Shannon, my amazing kids, Julian and Quinn, and my brothers and sisters who stood beside me when I needed them most. Your support reminded me that strength isn’t just about what you can do by yourself it’s also about the people willing to help carry you when you can’t do it alone.

This weekend in Sandusky was exactly what the heart needed.

Watching Julian and Quinn cross the finish line at the IRONKIDS race with huge smiles on their faces was worth more than any medal. Seeing their excitement reminded me why I love this sport in the first place.

Then I had the opportunity to race IRONMAN 70.3 Ohio and earn my first-ever podium finish. Standing on that podium meant so much more than a result. It represented resilience, gratitude, and proof that even after life knocks you down, you can still find your way forward.

This weekend wasn’t just about racing. It was about family. It was about perspective. It was about remembering what truly matters.

To everyone who’s been in my corner thank you. I wouldn’t be here without you.

And above all, I’m thankful for God’s grace. He never lets go!!

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Isaiah 41:10

93

35

Never make the mistake of assuming a person of peace is unskilled at war.

The phrase “taking someone’s kindness for weakness” always makes me think. Some people believe that being kind and open will only lead to getting burned.

Throughout my life, I’ve found genuine joy in helping people. Whether it was in the military, the fire service, or coaching, being an open circle and helping others become better versions of themselves is what I’ve enjoyed most.

Has that openness burned me before? More times than I can count.

But instead of becoming bitter and changing who I am, I’ve chosen to see those experiences for what they are—lessons. I try to become a better man in the eyes of the Lord every day. I’ll never claim to be perfect.

But never mistake kindness for weakness.

Be kind to everyone. You won’t make everyone happy, but you can always do your best. Being arrogant, elitist, or thinking you’re better than others for any reason is a weakness.

As it says in Epistle to the Galatians 3:28:

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Be strong. Be capable. Be dangerous if necessary.

But choose kindness.

213

38

Just keep chopping at that tree.
•
•
•
•
•
#ironman #triatholon #running #motivation

218

21

Track work in PA. Iron sharpens Iron.
•
This is what it’s about.

1x 2mi

2x2k

3x1k

191

26

Never claimed to be the best at anything — but the work is honest.

And life is damn good. Building the family, life, and community I’ve always wanted!

285

38

Memorial Day Murph has always meant more to me than just a workout.

It’s about honoring the men and women who gave everything for this country — carrying forward the mindset of sacrifice, grit, and service that guys like Lt. Michael Murphy embodied every single day.

What makes this workout hit even deeper for me is where I first learned that mentality.

RAW: Realize the Athlete Within was the gym that helped prepare me for Marine Corps boot camp and eventually the brutal selection processes for Marine Recon. Long before Full Send Fitness, Ironmans, Hyrox, or any endurance accomplishments — RAW was one of the places that helped build the foundation.

That gym taught me how to suffer, how to compete, and how to keep pushing when your mind wants to quit. It taught me that toughness is earned.

So every time I do Murph there, it carries a different kind of meaning for me. It brings me back to those early days chasing the dream of becoming a Recon Marine and reminds me how much those experiences shaped who I am today.

Grateful for the people, the environment, and the culture that helped forge me.

Today we remember the fallen.And we honor them the best way we can — through effort, gratitude, and never taking freedom for granted. 🇺🇸

472

29

5 DAYS OUT FROM THE BIG ONE ☝️!

JACKSONVILLE WE ARE READY!!!

#fitnessmotivation #running #runnersofinstagram #ironmantraining #ironmantri

40

16

Couldn’t miss out on the Pittsburgh Marathon fun!

The Pittsburgh Marathon is only two weeks after the Boston Marathon, so I wasn’t sure if I was going to run it.

I actually only got a full bib the Friday before the race! Feeling much better and more recovered from the concussion, I decided to do it last minute.

The goal was to pace a couple of my athletes for a 2:45 marathon. After a quick bathroom break on the South Side 💩, I hammered pretty hard up the Birmingham Bridge and into Oakland to catch my athletes and continue pacing them. Unfortunately, that burned a few too many matches, and I just didn’t have the legs to finish it out over the last 5K. FINISHING IN 2:47:17

Congrats to @logan_maloni and @noahr.9 on pushing the final 5K and absolutely crushing the race plan to a T! And also congrats to @sam_hammers staying tough after just running the Boston Marathon and still smoking a sub 3.

So yes, I paused my watch during the bathroom break, which means I did technically pace a 2:45 😅 Though a 2:45 is still about an episode of Friends away from being relevant to winning the race 🤣

321

86

Sam Hammers… the HAMMER 🔨 himself!

Last year, about a week after the Boston Marathon, I was at the Pittsburgh Marathon trying to pace some buddies for a sub-3. After losing him in the chaos of a city marathon and chatting with the 3-hour pacer, I decided to take off and descend the pace in the second half.

Once the field thinned out, around mile 17 or 18, I see a dude from my local CrossFit gym—who’s not really a runner—@sam_hammers, averaging about 6:20–6:30 pace. I’m like, “Yoooo Sam, who put you up here?!”

He goes, “I have no idea… I’m about to die.”
I started laughing. He still finished around 3:15–3:20.

We caught up after, and I said, “Let me coach you—I bet you could make Boston next year.”
He basically said, “Bet. Let’s do it.”

He qualified last minute in Erie—by less than a minute—even after the cutoff tightened.

Then he went to work, trained his ass off for the Boston Marathon, and hit a PR on a brutal course. Sam is now a 2:46 marathoner… and now we’re chasing sub-2:40 👀

Beyond pumped for you, @sam_hammers.

Hammer time! 🔨🕺🔨

168

23