John Bruce - "Embrace the Suck"

John explains that after reaching his heaviest weight and feeling depressed, he quit alcohol, joined a gym, bought cheap running shoes, and began running on a treadmill, completing his first 5K in October 2023 in about 56 minutes before progressing through 10Ks, half marathons, and ultras with the Scallywags.

He recounts his breakthrough first 50K at Lake Guntersville, later running a 100K (In the Heat of the Night) and his first 100 miler (Chief Ladiga 100), emphasizing discipline, giving yourself grace, and “embrace the suck,” with goals including 100 miles in a 24-hour race, Leadville 100, and Cocodona 250.

John Bruce - https://www.facebook.com/john.bruce.912284


Races Mentioned
Gray Ghost 5k
Eagle Ridge Half Marathon
In the Heat of the Night 100k
Chief Ladiga 100
Leadville 100
Cocodona 250

Shout Outs
Gabe Cross
Dirty Soles
Becky
Zombie Trail Races
Jeff Browning
Courtney DeWater
Trey
Nick

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Hi, Runner Story family. This is Alison Gilliard with Runner Story, where every story needs to be heard. And making sure their stories get heard this month is our friends from Run Tall. More than about running, more than about a lifestyle. Run Tall is a brand built for those who move with purpose, those who stand firm under pressure, no matter what life throws at them. It's not just running, it's about more than that. It's about discipline, resilience, growth, and the mindset to keep showing up every single day. And the story you guys are gonna hear today is all about showing up every single day. So this is perfect. So whether you're chasing goals, overcoming setbacks, training for something bigger, or simply becoming a better version of yourself, Run Tall is a brand that represents you. Every design, product, and message is created to inspire you to keep going through strength and consistency, hard work and perseverance. And whenever possible, RunTall chooses sustainable and recyclable materials because taking care of the places we run is just as important as the miles we log. So, my friends, run proud, run strong, run tall. You can find out more about RunTall at shopruntall.com and on the Run Your Story website. You can also use code RUNYORSTORY15 for a discount. That is RunYourStory15. Again, thank you, Run Tall, for believing in this story and believing in this podcast. Talk about belief. Wow, John Bruce. What an overcomer. Guys, his story, there may be, I just want to give you a little heads up. He does talk about things that he went through, um depression and drinking. And so just if that's a trigger for somebody, I just want you to be aware. John shares this. He shares his heart in this story. And the thing that I took away from him is to embrace the scared. And you can make a change. It's gonna be hard, but you can do it. And three years into his running, he decided it's time for Hunter Meiler, because why not? He has fallen in love with running and what a runner he is. Just his mindset, and you guys are gonna hear who he becomes while he's getting ready for his races. He's absolutely amazing. He's such a great dude. I am incredibly proud of John and his story and what he's doing for the running community. So you guys are gonna prepare to be inspired, is all I gotta say, because he is definitely the version of inspiration. And why not when you run with the scalywag runners? So thank you, John, for sharing your story, for sharing your heart, for being vulnerable and incredibly thankful for all that you're doing. All right, guys, with that being said, place the best running shoes. Get ready, get set, and go run with my friend John and his run story. All right, John. Thanks for being on the podcast. Thanks for reaching out to us and saying, hey, I have a story to tell, and what a story you have. So, what is your run story? How did we get here?

SPEAKER_01 3:18

It all started about three years ago. I think I ran I ran my first 5K October 22nd of 2023. And prior to that, did not run. I had never ran a mile in my life, didn't play sports growing up, didn't play anything in high school. Just I was 270-something pound at my heaviest, I think. And uh just kind of woke up one morning and was driving to work, and I don't know, something clicked. I was like, man, I'm I'm tired of living like this, felt bad all the time, and just had a lot of depression and drank quite a bit. And I said, Nah, I'm not gonna do this anymore. So I came home that night, poured everything I had in the house out, went and bought a gym membership, bought a pair of cheap running shoes, and jumped on a treadmill the next day, hadn't haven't let up since.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Wow. So you quit everything cold turkey and then started running the next next set.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

Wow. So what made you decide to do the 5K?

SPEAKER_01 4:24

I actually had a friend that I went to high school with, and I hadn't seen her in years. She had shared a 5K in Spring Hill. I think it was the Great Ghost 5K in Spring Hill. And she had shared it, and I seen it, and I messaged her. I was like, hey, I didn't even know how long a 5K was, I had to look it up. And I found out it was 3.10 miles. And I'd been kind of doing on the treadmill, I'd been doing around three miles, running as much as I could and then walking. And I messaged her and I was like, I think I can do this. And she's like, Yeah, you should do it. And she's like, My husband's running it. She said, I'll be there. So I went and did it. I think it took me 56 minutes or something to do the first one. And I finished it and hung out with her and her husband. And her husband was an avid runner. He had ran half marathons and marathons. And I remember talking to him that day, and I was like, I was like, man, that's so cool. And I never dreamed of even doing anything over a 5K. And now I've run 100 miles. So it's still hard for me to wrap my head around everything that's happened in the past three years.

SPEAKER_00 5:31

So let me also ask you this, because you're in Tennessee, so it's hilly.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Yeah.

unknown 5:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

First 5K, it was it was rough. It was a hilly course, and I would run as much as I could, and then I would just walk. And then before I got my breath back, I'd run again. And I just did that until I finished.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

So you do the 5K. How was that to accomplish?

SPEAKER_01 5:56

It felt amazing. And from then on, I was like, I just fell in love with running. I was like, man, I wanted to cut my time down. So I started working on the treadmill, running for three minutes and then walking, and then I just kept upping it. I would I would do that for like a week and then I would try to run for five minutes. And then I would try to run for 10 minutes. And I just kept slowly working my way up to where I could run for 30 minutes without stopping. And I did a bunch of 5Ks and then finally got the nerve to do 10K and just kept stair stepping from there.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

I mean, it's one thing to do a 5K and a 10K, but within three years, you then said, I'm going to run 100 miles. Tell me that thought process.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

I ended up meeting a group of ultrarunners called the Scallywags. Got got really close with Gabe Carls, and he's an ultra runner, so there's a bunch of the other Scalywags. And I had ran a bunch of running lane races early on. I don't even remember how I think I ran across running lane on Facebook. And I started running a bunch of their races down in Huntsville at Montesanto. I ran a bunch of their races, and then that's when I met Gabe and the Scalywags, and they were all ultra runners. And I had just ran some 10Ks and stuff and started hanging out with them. And I was signed up for a half marathon with Running Lane, Eagle Ridge. It's at Lake Gunnersville State Park. And I had done the 5K the year before. And I was signed up for the half marathon. But I'd already ran a bunch of half marathons. And I was like, man, I didn't really want to run another half. And they had a half, it's a 5K, a half marathon, and a 50K.

SPEAKER_00 7:39

Whoa, okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

You got to thinking. I was like, I was like, well, I've already ran some half marathons, and so I know I could do that. But I was like, what if I did the 50K? Because I did the 5k last year. That would be I could jump to the 50K. So I reached out to Gabe and told him what I was thinking about doing, and he was like, Yeah, man, let's do it. He's like, you can do it. So I messaged the race director and was like, hey, I want to swap from the highest marathon to the 50k. And I paid the difference and we started planning it and ran that 50k.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

How did that finish line feel?

SPEAKER_01 8:16

It was to this day, that's probably my 100-mile race is pretty special, but that 50k, I never ever thought I would be able to do something like that. And there was actually one point in the race, it was two loops of the you gotta do it's you do two loops to get the 50k. And I was on my second loop and I was cramping so bad. I mean, my legs, I was probably three miles from where I want to see my crew again, and my legs had just locked up like I could not move. And I sat down on a tree stump, and I was just kind of sitting there and I was crying. I was like, man, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to finish. And I sat there just a few, probably 15 seconds, and I was like, Well, you gotta get up and keep going, like you can't quit right here. You're in the middle of the woods. So I got up and I made it back to the truck, and Gabe was like, What's wrong? And I was like, Man, I'm cramping so bad. And they gave me uh, I think it was element, and I chugged that and ate some bacon and drank a pickle juice shot. And 10 minutes later I was good to go.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

But crossing that finish line for that one was it was special. They were, of course, ultra running is kind of the lonely sport when you the longer distances when you cross the finish line, there's usually nobody there but your crew and the people putting the race on. But but Gabe was there and his wife, another fellow runner from the scaling legs, they careed me and they were all there. So it was it was pretty special to me.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

I love that. So you have the 50k experience, you cross the finish line. So then is that when you started eyeing the 100?

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Yeah, soon thereafter I was already thinking about the 100 miles and I did 100k. My first 100k was August of last year. I ran in the heat of the night.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

Oh, Medok Mount, Medok Mount?

SPEAKER_01 10:15

Yeah, Dirty Souls puts puts it on Becky down in the Aniston area.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

So, how was that experience?

SPEAKER_01 10:22

That's a great race. I highly suggest anybody looking to do it's a loop, it's about a 15-mile loop. Yeah, because you do it for the 100k, you do it four times. It's all gravel, that's the only bad thing. It it's all gravel road, but the aid stations are great. But usually does an aid station there, zombie trail races. They they have an aid station there. And Becky's a great race director. I love that race. It starts in the evening, so you run all night, so that's pretty cool, and you get cooler tips. You're pretty yeah, I like roading at night myself, but that is incredible.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

Yeah, so obviously, you've had some lessons that you've learned. Will you share some of those?

SPEAKER_01 11:08

Yeah, so I guess the main thing running has taught me is is a lot of discipline. I was very hard on myself early on. I tried to compare myself to other runners a lot and never felt like I was good enough. And finally I was like, you know what? I had to realize that a lot of these guys that I'm comparing myself to and girls had been running for five, six, seven years. And I had to tell myself, you know, you've only been doing this for three years. So I had to learn to give myself a little grace and like I said, discipline, just getting up every day and doing something, even the days I didn't feel good, just going to the gym and doing something, even if it's not a killer workout, at least I'm in there doing something instead of sitting doing nothing.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

That is amazing. Let's talk a little bit about routine. What does pre-race routine look like for you?

SPEAKER_01 12:01

If it's a big race like these 50Ks, 100Ks, 100 miles, usually the week before, like I'm running a 24-hour race tonight. It starts at 7 o'clock this evening. And so I had to run it all this week. I think I did run three miles Monday, but I had to run it all this week. I usually just try to rest, get as much sleep as I can. I try to do some ice baths in the morning. I usually uh do eat as much as I can throughout the week, get get plenty of nutrition in me. I try to drink a lot of electrolytes the week before. And really the only tradition I have is the night before well, if it's a day race, the night before is like today's an evening race. So today I watch the movie Iron Man. That's really the only tradition I have. I watch Iron Man before every race.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

And how did that come about?

SPEAKER_01 12:54

I'm a big Marvel fan, and I've just always kind of compared like like when I'm running, when I hit that wall and I have to go to the dark place and dig deep. I just always kind of compare that to when Iron Man closes his shield. And I don't know, that's the part in that movie in the first one when he's getting suited up and the shield closes, and that's just kind of that's mentally, that's kind of what I think about that when I'm running. So I just always watch that movie before it always gets me hyped up and uh ready to go.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

That is definitely a new thing we've heard for pre-rest routine. So you cross the finish line. How does Iron Man celebrate? What do you do, John? What is what does that look like?

SPEAKER_01 13:38

My favorite post race food is pizza. That was probably the of all the foods that I had to quit eating on my weight loss journey, pizza was the hardest. I love pizza, pasta, anything Italian. And so that's the only time I'll eat pizza really is after a big race, because that's the only time I can justify it minnowly. So usually after the race, that's my go-to, is to try to go somewhere and eat some pizza. Other than that, it's just just trying to, especially after these hundred milers, just trying to recover. And 100 K's, 50 K's, focus on recovery, trying to get back to normal as quick as possible.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

What does recovery look like for you? How do you do that?

SPEAKER_01 14:23

I actually recovered very well after my first hunter in April, and I recovered very well. I was really surprised. I do a lot of salt baths. I like the Epsom salt bath after. I like to do the ice baths before getting ready for the race. But afterwards, I like the Epsom salt and soaking in a hot tub helps a lot. And during the race, there's a lot of things I've started doing during the race. I feel that really helped me afterwards. About every half marathon, I'll chug a 20-ounce bottle of BCAs and creatine. Okay. I think that helped a lot. I take creatine every day, at least five milligrams every morning. And I also do uh collagen. Firstborn makes a French vanilla collagen, and I put that in my coffee every morning. And I feel like all those things help with my recovery. I've I feel like I recover that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

I I love that. I need to be more consistent in taking my supplements for sure.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Yeah, yeah, I do that. I do the five milligrams of creatine every morning, and I do a first form makes a men's multivitamin. I take that, the first form Ultra Omega, which is basically just like official, and I do calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin C.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Nice, okay everyone. So I gotta know what is your favorite running item?

SPEAKER_01 15:54

Favorite running item. I really like Jeff Browning, but I like Courtney Daywater. I I really like her. And I say she's probably my favorite is Courtney.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

Okay, okay. Do you have a favorite item that you will not go run without?

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Favorite item. Probably had to be my lakey pose.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Especially with the stuff that's got elevation. I really I really like the lakey pose. That's probably my favorite item that I take with me. I don't go anywhere without them. I always have them in my running toad. And that way if I need them, they're there.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Sweet. Okay. What trail shoes are you running in?

SPEAKER_01 16:38

Right now I'm I have a pair of Mount Decoast, I think it's the H ones. It's the yeah, the hybrid. I have a pair of those and I have a pair of new balance heroes. And the new balance heroes are what I mainly run to.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

Okay, sweet. So are you still in the gym doing for recovery and for cross-training? Like when you because you mentioned going to the gym, but even when you don't need to do a hard workout, are you still avid into the gym?

SPEAKER_01 17:08

Oh yeah. I go to the gym every day. Every evening when I get off, I I go and I had a personal trainer for about a year and a half or two years, I had a personal trainer. And then finally it was costly. So I don't have one now, but I learned a lot with him. And everything else has just been from watching videos and I've got into kettlebells lately. I really love kettlebells. That's mainly what I use now. I used to do a lot of barbell squats and stuff like that, but I pretty much just use kettlebells now. I mean, I can take one kettlebell and work my entire body from shoulders to feet. But I do a lot of squats, I focus on my legs a lot, obviously, with the running. And I've been trying to do a little more core stuff here lately and try to build my core up. And I've tried to implement a lot more upper body stuff because I was just doing legs nonstop.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

Sure. John, do you have a race that you're like, I want to go back and try again, or I have goals to beat? Is there a race that you want to go back to?

SPEAKER_01 18:14

I've done a lot of races that I've done that I like in the heat of the night. I'm signed up for it again for the 100k this year. So I'm doing that one again. My first hundred mile was in April with zombie trail races. It was the Chief Ladaga 100. Nice. I really loved that race. I want to go back and do it again someday.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

And the swag for that just looks so good.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

So I've gotten pretty tight with the zombie trail race guys, Trey and Nick, and they're like family times now. I've run so many of their races, but that's two of the nicest guys you'll ever. They're such good race directors, and they're just like you said, the swag. I don't know that there's better out there. I mean, they do such a good job with their with their marketing and their t-shirts and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

John, what advice would you give to somebody who wants to start running or somebody who wants to get into trails? What is something that you would tell them?

SPEAKER_01 19:13

It's easy to get caught up in comparing yourself to other runners. It's not hard to get competitive and forget to look around you, especially with trail running. I feel like a lot of people are so focused on winning and they're zoned out that they're not looking. Because some of these trail races, that's my favorite part about trail racing, is that it's so some of these places we're running are absolutely beautiful. And I feel like a lot of people don't take time to look around and see what they're running through. I mean, it's so pretty at some of these places. Just don't get caught up in that hype and be so competitive that you forget to look around and be like, man, this is absolutely beautiful. Not be so hard. Like I said, I was I was really hard on myself early on. I didn't realize that a lot of these people, they've been running for years. So if I could give anybody the advice, it would be don't be so hard on yourself. A lot of these guys and girls have been doing this for years and years and years. So if you go out there and don't perform at the level you expected, don't be so hard on yourself. Because just being out there doing it is more than a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 20:19

So that's such great advice. So, John, you've hit 100 miler, you've done 50K's has. What's next? What are what goals are you looking at?

SPEAKER_01 20:29

So I'm signed up for that 24-hour race tonight, this starting this evening. And I want to get 100 miles in 24 hours this weekend. That's my goal. But uh beyond that, someday I'd like to run Leadville, the 100, and then eventually I'd like to run Cocodown 250.

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Those are some great goals.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:55

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 20:57

Yeah, big goals.

SPEAKER_00 20:59

That's way to be fearless. That's absolutely incredible.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Yeah, this is something that Gabe told me. I don't like being signed up for anything that doesn't scare me. Gabe has told me from day one, if it doesn't scare you, there's no point in doing it. Wow. He's like, there should be a part of you that says, I don't know if I can do this. He said that's what makes it worth doing. And he said, if you're scared of it when you finish it, you're gonna feel and it's the truth. I was scared to death when I signed up for that hundred mile, but when I finished, it was a feeling like I can't even explain.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

So, John, when things get hard, when it gets hot, when it gets human, when you have to really dig deep into the Iron Man mentality, is there a mantra? Is there something that you tell yourself?

SPEAKER_01 21:47

Embrace the suck. I have a patch that I wear on my weighted vest, and it says embrace the suck. And early on I read one of the one of the first books I read was God and. first book and then I've now read his second book but he's really on embracing the things that are hard and the things you don't want to do. So that's always been my things just to embrace this when I look around and other people are complaining because it's hard because it's raining. I've made myself like those things. I feel like if they don't like it and I do then it kind of gives me an age. So I've just kind of learned to embrace this in everything and if it's raining alone if it's hotter Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

Alright.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

And I actually do well with heat. I cannot stand I hate the cold weather and hate running in it. So I prefer the heat. I lived in Texas for three years and I don't know if being down there just got me used to being hot but I just love the heat.

SPEAKER_00 23:02

I despise being cold John, do you have a favorite length run, whether it's race day or it's a training run, do you have a mileage that you really enjoy?

SPEAKER_01 23:13

As far as just training goes, I have a little 6.20 miles that I do where I live in Lewisburg every day. Every day when I get off work I go to the gym, I change clothes and if I'm not doing strength training I go outside and I got a little 6.20 mile loop that I run. And I like running that's my favorite loop to do training wise. As far as race distance now that I've done one probably the hundred miles it's it's just so much literally like a lifetime of there's so many highs and lows and I don't know it's just it's just something magical about that hundred mile distance. Just anything outdoors really my dad's big into antique tractor pulling I grew up doing that with him. So we do a lot of that in the summertime. Spending time with family hiking I love to hike just anything to do with water whether it be creeks or whatever going to the river and kayaking and me and my fiance both have kayaks we love to be on the river floating fishing and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 24:25

And being outdoors I love that John this has been amazing.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

Your story's been incredible any final words of wisdom my friend just anybody that's going through what I was going through whether you're depressed or alcohol whatever my whole reason behind sharing my story and doing all this is to help people. I really love helping people I love helping other runners as much as I do run. Any advice I can give anybody I love doing it and I just want people out there to know that are struggling and you can change it at any time. No matter how bad it is or what you've gone through you can wake up and the power to have a new life is there. You just have to decide you want it and get out there and do it.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

John you are so inspirational and so excited to hear your story. What an honor it is and just so proud of you. Thank you for being so brave to share your story and being vulnerable with us and I agree with you I think it's definitely going to inspire so many people and we can't wait to see what else you accomplish my friends.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 25:41

What a guy I know that you guys want to be his new best friend definitely reach out to him. He's such an incredible human being and again thank you John for sharing your story for being who you are and for being vulnerable and sharing it. It's absolutely amazing. So the reminder to give yourself some grace definitely needed that and I really appreciate that. All the nuggets that you dropped of wisdom is I'm very grateful for. So thank you John for sharing your story for being who you are and for making the running community better. And thank you for our friends like Run Tall who believe in the running community. It's not just a brand it's not just a saying that they have it's literally how they live their life Charles does an extraordinary job at Runthal and we are so excited about the collab with the hats. So if you want a run tall slash runner story hat you can go to shopruntall.com but you can also look on the runner story website and you can get your exclusive hat there. You can also use code RunnerStory15 for a discount while they're also shoparound for other stuff. He does great tanks he's got some hats just and he's always growing so definitely go out and support him. He's a Louisiana boy we don't hold that against him because he really is a cool dude. So thank you Charles thank you Run tall for believing in run your story. And again thank you to Greg Gilliar from Gilear Tech Services whether you're listening to us on Spotify or Apple or if you're listening to us on the app or on YouTube it's all because of Gilead Tech Services and he has built our website and it has gone through so many transitions and it's because he's always trying to make it better. The app is brand new and it's free so if you haven't downloaded it please do so. It gives you access to the blog that Dave writes it gives you access to the podcast to community it's really cool and we are just incredibly grateful for all that Gray Gileard at Gillard Tech Services does. So guys check him out if you need a website an app. He is your go-to we love him appreciate him he pours so much time and effort into runner story and into the running community. So thank you for that Greg Gileard and Gillard Tech Services. Thank you to our guys at Run Your Story, Dave, Scott and Stefan for what they do. They do such a great job as part of the team and we're incredibly grateful for them. They're also Patreon family members and we love that. We love our Patreon family members. We love that these three were like we want to do more and we were like okay here you go and so they do an outstanding job and we just love and adore these guys so much. So thank you so much for what you do. If you haven't read Dave's blog please go and do so I will go to his blog whenever he posts about shoes and if I'm shoe shopping I'm like what did Dave say about that shoe again? And you can easily access it. So really cool stuff that he does and so thank you for that for Dave. And again thank you to our Patreon film universe. We love you. Thank you so much for believing in us for supporting us for being with us every step of the way we've had somebody been with us since day one and that is just amazing. And so we love whenever we get an email that says that somebody else is joining. It's a really cool feeling to know that there are people that believe in this podcast so much. So thank you so much for believing in us and supporting us and helping us get stories out there. That's what truly matters and we're grateful for that. So make sure that you like share comment make sure that John's story and every story that we are able to put out gets heard because they're so inspiring. They make us better they make us see each other for who we are and that is more than runners but people and I hope that this inspires that the stories connect us and that we all learn something each and every time that's why we do what we do. So make sure you like share comment until then guys go runner story because every story needs to be heard