In marathon running -- a different beast compared to competing on the track -- she has a relatively new event to train for, and away from the roads and trails her filmmaking career is also taking a step into the unknown with a "top secret" TV project in the works.

"Trying something in a television world is almost like moving from the track to the marathon -- it's like the same sport but a different event," Pappas tells CNN Sport.

"It's like we're learning new rules and that's what's fun about the running and the creative worlds -- you can try new mediums and new events ... similar muscles but different."

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Pappas' wide-sweeping interests have seen her become something of a cult figure in running circles and beyond having been identified by Runner's World as an influential personality among a "new boom" of athletes helping to make running "bigger and better."

She has gradually developed into a role model for young athletes. On her social media pages -- where photos are captioned with pithy poems and quirky observations -- Pappas gives guidance to followers who come to her for advice on running, injuries, diet or body image.

Her desire and willingness to be a role model can be partly explained by her mother's suicide when she was four years old.

"That impacted me in two major ways," says Pappas. "The first was that I felt I didn't matter enough for her to stay and the second was that I suddenly had this huge vacuum in the female role model department and I needed to fill the gap of: what am I becoming and what can I look up to?

"I latched onto athletes, I latched onto anything to imitate and I really absorbed and ran with anything I saw that I liked, or what I didn't like I would steer away from.

"When somebody is looking up to me now, I'm very aware of just how much that can matter and just how much people need those mentors sometimes."

READ: 'Uncertainties' surround next year's Olympics, says Tokyo governor

Pappas is finalizing her memoir in essays, "Bravey," which is to be released in January next year and grapples with her experience of mentorship.

The title originates from a poem she wrote on social media and has turned into a term of endearment she uses to describe her followers; her message is that "it's okay to be confused or to need help ... it's okay to not feel great all the time.

"Most of all, you're trying to give someone the gift of confidence, right?" Pappas continues.

"That's the toughest thing to give yourself and it's the one thing I think we can give each other and that's the one thing I'm trying to do."

READ: Here's what we're missing from Tokyo 2020

Juggling training, writing and filming for a new TV show is nothing new for Pappas, who at the age of 30 has already accumulated a showreel of accomplishments on and off the running track.

Alongside her partner Jeremy Teicher, she co-wrote and co-directed "Tracktown" in 2017, an indie sports d

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