Weekly Pace Setter: John

This week welcome John as our pace setter!






Name/alias
John King, johnking82, original ehh? Better than hotgurlie69…

Blog
Running on Empty

I run in
Mizuno WaveRider & Elixirs and in races 13.2 and below are in Brooks T5 racer

Why I run...
Oh god, that’s like asking why do I love hotwings and beer.

1. Appearance: Initially, I ran in college to fend off those dreaded beer calories I got after chasing women (that didn’t involve running, just an occasional walk of shame). Then one morning, after a long, long night, I ran for like an hour and I was like wow, this is awesome…I’m gonna go puke. So I run to stay in shape, get a tan, and stay fit.

2. Prove a Point: I like to think I just run for myself, but I don’t. I run to relieve stress and give me time to think. I run because I wasn’t the best athlete in high school, but now I am in better shape and excel at something which most don’t do, or don’t do as much as us. I run to make myself proud and my family and friends proud. I run because it isn’t what time you clock or where you end up, rather, it’s how you got to that point.

I've been running since...
I didn’t run cross country or track because I hated the coach, so I used to run by his practices to piss him off. In my undergrad at Illinois State I ran maybe 10-15 miles a week. When I moved to Louisville is where I really picked it up in 2005 and haven’t stopped yet, well yes I have since my injury. When I am training it is generally between 55-80 miles a week.

Training for anything now?
I’m currently training my hamstring to stop being a b’otch and get better. I haven’t ran consistently in 5 months and finally am getting A.R.T. therapy (thanks high hamstring tendinopathy), BUT I’d like to possibly do the St. Jude Half or something in Memphis in December and I put Boston 2009 on the schedule. I have confidence I can run it, if not I’ll sit in an Irish Pub all day and get wicked wasted.

Running Pet Peeves
--People who come to a dead stop at waterstops during a race
--Bicyclists are assholes, why? Because I always say hi or headnod and I get nothing, maybe their spandex tights are a little too snug….I don’t know
--Most of my pet peeves are related towards pedestrians though…I’ve thrown a few high school kids down and yelled some obscenities at a few people who think it is cool to mock me or say things when I run. Oh you’ll get your’s when your sitting on your coach naked eating cheetos watching reruns of Jerry Springer in his hayday when a heart attack gets you, then whose laughing. I’ll make sure and give your funeral procession the finger as I’m running by. Did I say I’m sarcastic too?


Favorite Running Song
Ohhhh snap! Can we make this running songs? Anything Bruce Springstein sings gets me superpumped running. Thunderroad, Born to Run, even Dancing in the Dark because then I can do the Courtney Cox dance during water breaks. Baba O’Reilly by the Who usually makes me jump my speed. I listen to a lot of stuff that mellows me out when I run like Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, James Taylor, and Ray Lamontagne though. I have been known to click off a few 5:00 minute miles when Whitesnake “Here I Go Again on My Own” hits the Ipod. Poor Poor Tawny Kitean, the Surreal Life did you no good…

Favorite race
I wouldn’t say it was my favorite race to run, but it meant the most to me. I ran the Frosty 5K last year back home in Late January with my Dad. My Dad is not a runner at all but he had been trying to get in better shape after deciding to quit the deadly sin of drinking (guilty as charged!). So I signed him up as a birthday present for him. Sitting in his truck I was giving him tips and saying how to approach it. He would call me every week to let me know how his training was going. He said “I’m just gonna run the god damn thing and not get last”. On the race day, I went out fast on the out and back course and caught him at the 2 mile mark and gave him a Tecmo Super Bowl jumping high-5. I ended up running one of my faster 5k’s at 17:58 and waited for him to cross the line. It was a great because he got to experience something I loved and then we went to the stripclub after the race and I experienced something he loved. The prize money was never better spent. I’m joking, we never went to a stripclub because it was a Sunday morning, I think we went to Old Chicago. Same thing.
Favorite place to run
My favorite place to run is anywhere that is secluded in nature and no one else is around, preferably in the morning. Location wise, I love running on the beach in Florida on Anna Maria Island. I can go for a 10 mile jaunt, come back, jump in the ocean, and enjoy a St. Pauly Girl for re-hydration purposes.

Short Term Running Goal
Pretty much get over my injury and be able to run again with no pain, is that too much to ask?!?!? My goals this summer were a 50 miler and a sub 5 minute mile, but thanks high hamstring tendinopathy. ASS! I’d like to learn to not be a slave to my training program and enjoy those days I am not running. I too often let it take first priority in my life.

Long Term Running Goal
Get back in the sub 3 hour marathon shape I was before I got injured a month out of Boston last year. The sad thing is I know how I did it (overtraining) but I was too damn stubborn. Thank god for Cortisone shots. I’d like to run a marathon in a speedo to. For fun. That’s it. I also want to create a race too will all the proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen Foundation to support Breast Cancer Research since it runs in my family. Some possible names are “Save the Boobies 5K” and “The Ta Ta’s Ten Miler”

Favorite Cross-training activity
Pool running sucks, but it gives you a chance to be around 80 year olds in the pool and be thankful I’m not that senile yet.

Favorite inspiring quote
That one from Frost about the road less traveled, but running wise I love any prefontaine quote.

Post Run Guilty Pleasure Food
Chocolate chip blueberry pancakes and beer (dogfishhead, magic hat, miller lite, or makers mark bourbon)..beer is food.

Running Gear Wish List
Anything brooks I love, I’d like some Merrill trail running shoes. Anything that protects my nipples mostly.

Proudest Running Moment
Finishing Boston 2008 after not running for a month and running injured and still setting a PR was pretty damn cool. It was like completing the impossible. I had a goal, I achieved it…Boston was my dream. I teared up when I crossed the finish line and called my dad. I don’t think I will ever experience anything like that again, unless I poop my pants during a race…then I might just retire.

The best piece of running advice I've received...
Your shoes are untied.

Favorite Race Fuel
Clif Shot Mocha or Clif Block strawberry

Magazines I currently have subscriptions to...
Runners World, Mens Health

Top places I want to visit...
Colorado, Ireland, …I’ve already been to Sheboygan, WI….what else is there?

Currently listening to...
Ray Lamontagne, Watermelon Slim, 80’s burnt cd, Robert Earl Keen, George Strait

On my nightstand you'll find...
Lamp, picture of my grandpa during WWII, whatever book I’m reading (right now Father Joe and 30 articles concerning College Male Athletes and Body Image…my dissertation topic.)



Ha ha, very entertaining, John, very entertaining indeed.

Have a good weekend!