"It is simply that we can all be good boys and wear our letter sweaters around and get our little degrees and find some nice girl to settle, you know, down with...Or we can blaze! Become legends in our own time, strike fear in the heart of mediocre talent everywhere! We can scald dogs, put records out of reach! Make the stands gasp as we blow into an unearthly kick from three hundred yards out! We can become God's own messengers delivering the dreaded scrolls! We can race dark Satan himself till he wheezes fiery cinders down the back straightaway....They'll speak our names in hushed tones, 'those guys are animals' they'll say! We can lay it on the line, bust a gut, show them a clean pair of heels. We can sprint the turn on a spring breeze and feel the winter leave our feet! We can, by God, let our demons loose and just wail on!"
Quenton Cassidy, Once a Runner
Hello all. I'm not really sure who will be reading this, or even exactly what my purpose for writing this blog is. Maybe I'm just copying my current roommate (read his blog here http://scottschmick.blogspot.com/). Maybe its just because I like to write. Regardless of what the reason is, I hope that whoever reads this will find my posts thought provoking and enlightening, or at least interesting.
So who am I? And why should anyone care about what I have to write. Well, my name is Kyle Johnson, and I am a runner. Why do I run? Simple answer: it gives me fulfillment. I like setting goals, and seeing how close to them I can come. But its really more than that. When I first became a runner, almost 11 years ago, I couldn't imagine the places that it would take me, and the friends that I would make because of it. My closest friends in high school, college, and now have all came to be because of the common interest we all shared in the sport of running. Running took me from being a nerdy, unathletic, and severely introverted junior higher to a still nerdy, somewhat more athletic (coordination is still lacking; although I did play some basketball in high school), no longer socially awkward (okay, maybe a little) man. It took me to a college that I loved. And, most importantly, it became a way that I defined myself. I am Kyle Bruce Johnson, runner!
Although it was impossible for me to imagine where running would take me, once I began running, I somehow new that it would be something that I would do for the rest of my life, God willing. It wasn't half-way into my freshman year of track (I began a middle distance runner only a month earlier when I saw that I would be able to be varsity by running the 400/800 distance, giving up my Junior High exploits as a 200 meter runner and long jumper) that I knew that I wanted to run in college. Both my high school and college running careers were extremely rewarding and, although I fell short of my goals to be a state and national champion, I did come close and was able to see consistent improvement, sometimes in the face of injuries.
You may be wondering why I am still competing after college. I mean, if I came so close to my goals, and really pushed myself in college, then what more to I hope to accomplish? Well, for one, when I started out, I had certain time goals in my mind that I still have not reached. Secondly, I think it would be awesome to compete for Team USA, and, short of that, at least compete in the track and field national championships. Both of these goals are a long ways away. Third, I really don't think I have reached my full potential yet. In the past, my training has been hampered by a number of injuries (athletic hernia, retrocalcaneal bursitis, chronic knee pain, and recently, a grade 3 stress reaction in my cuneiform bone in my foot). I believe that with a strong balanced core, smart training (including cross-training), and smart recovery I will be able to overcome these injuries and take my running to the next level. Finally, I love to compete!
Since coming to Michigan from Concordia University, Nebraska, I have joined a club team, whose core group includes myself, my roommate, another marathoner, a 4:05 miler, and a few other people. We are sponsored by the running store Playmakers, and many of us are or were members of the Brooks ID program. We all share the common goal of improving our running, and it is great to have training partners with similar goals and abilities.
This blog will mainly be about me and my friends training and racing. All of my training for the last year has been chronicled on strands.com under the name KyleBJohnson, if you are interested. Blaze on!
