Jon Vasquez
Jon at Concord Coffee 9-17
How was your run this morning?
It was good, it was good. First time going double digits since injury, so feeling good. A little little bit of pain, but nothing some foam rolling cant fix.
Are you injured right now? Are you good?
Yes, so I'm dealing with kind of a strained meniscus right now, just from overloading. I was out in Portland running Hood to Coast and I had a lot of fun on the downhills and the downhills are kind of what really messed up my knee.
So thankfully it's nothing that is going to be detrimental to my marathons, but it's something that I have to be cautious of.
It’s so funny I forget how going downhill is awful. It sounds really fun, and then after a while, you're like… shit. How was Hood to Coast? A few of us talked about it but we never really committed to it.
It's so much fun. If you ever get a chance to I highly recommend, it's insane.
You sleep in a van and you try to run back-to-back legs. But it was a good time. You don't get scenery like that here in Florida. And it was just great team bonding.
We used it as a team building. I got to hop in a van with people I didn't know and got really close to by the end of that.
So was it random people you didn't know?
It was random people from the Nike team. So we had a bunch of people from brand marketing out there that I ran with. I got to know them and I texted them yesterday when I was running in the structures because one of them loves the Nike structure.
Did you get to go to the Nike HQ while you were up there? Because it's in Portland, right?
Yeah, so I went to the HQ, the employee store. So much fun. And the weather is just phenomenal right now. Summers in Portland are phenomenal. You have to go.
How long have you been an Ekin. Is working with Nike as an Ekin is that your full time?
Yes, full time.
So I've been doing it for a little over a year now. I started back last May. It's cool because I got the job mainly because of the fact that OBRC was so successful. So Ekin just means Nike backwards
And my job essentially is just to represent the brand, to know the brand backwards and forwards, and then bring it to life through storytelling.
Okay. How did you get into that? Just through the running world?
I got into running myself. I started the run club. I started really building a run community in Tampa. And I got to know brand reps at the time. Ekins are not brand reps. If you ever call one a brand rep, they'll correct you quickly, that's what I've learned.
But I got to know different reps of different brands. I got to know ASICs, New Balance, Saucony. But Nike was never in Tampa. And so Nike was the hardest to get to know. But I got to know them through social media.
And then when I went out to Miami during Miami Marathon Week and got to know the two Florida Ekins out there. Learned who they were, got to know what an Ekin was, and got to see that they just do really cool stuff while product storytelling.
I was like, man, if I ever get the opportunity, I would love to maybe hop in that role, not knowing that it was going to open up in Tampa the next month. Which is crazy. So that's kind of how I got into it. Just shot my shot and went in.
Damn, were you a Nike fan before that? Was that your go-to?
Yeah, my rotation was 80% Nike at the time.
Invincible 3 was my favorite. I was running in the Pegasus 38, 39. I raced in the Vaporflys, dabbled in the AlphaFlys, and so those were shoes that were already staples in my running rotation.
I ran Chicago Marathon in the Vaporfly 3. A cool story about that is that Kelvin Kipton, that was the year that he ran the marathon record running in two hours, 35 seconds I think.
And so that was the shoe I ended up really getting to know. That was the shoe I did my interview on. And ended up with the job.
You mentioned if you call Ekins brand ambassador, they're going to quickly correct you. So what is the difference between that and what you do?
So what we do is similar, but when we show up, we like to elevate the market. If I show up to a run to trial shoes, I don't just want to show up to trial shoes. I want to make it an experience. There has to be a difference between if ASICs comes to a run or if New Balance comes to a run, but then Nike comes to the run.
That already is going to grab attention, so we basically have to build up to meet the standard the brand has already set within the community. You know, when Nike shows up, everyone shows up as well.
What do you feel Nike does differently?
We're able to product story tell differently. I think Nike is one of the only brands that has such a deep history and heritage. Even the running line, the Pegasus has been around for 41 years.
Nike was essentially the king of running for a very long time. Vomero has been a shoe that has been around for a long time. Nike has such deep roots in running. So it's cool to be able to use the history and heritage to product story tell, to tell, hey, here's how we got to the Alpha Fly 3.
We can tell the entire history of Nike and show how they've been masters in innovation that led to the fastest marathon shoe in the world. So I think that's what Nike can do differently and that's what we have to really lean into is the fact that there's no other brand with the history and heritage like Nike.
I'm going to start paying attention to that more. I feel like there's so many different groups that come to demo shoes. Having been to multiple runs you’ve demoed at, I can definitely say you provide a very elevated experience.
But it is very different just because of the name behind Nike. Everyone knows who Nike is. Not that there aren’t other running brands who are good and prominent. But the brand and awareness surrounding Nike is incomparable. So it's making sure that you meet and surpass that expectation
Yeah and that's the thing too. I don't want to show up and just have runners try shoes without them knowing about it. I'm going to tell you about the shoe. I'm going to tell you what the purpose is about the shoe.
I'm going to tell you how we got to the shoe. How it identifies versus the shoe you have on. I always make sure like any run club I’m at, I’ll try to take a part in the huddle, to be able to tell runners about the shoe they're wearing on their feet.
That way they're not just trialing shoes, but they'll leave there knowing what kind of shoe they trialed, what the purpose of it is, and how we got to where we are right now.
It's so important because so many people don't know the shoes they're running in.
Exactly. They don't know. They have no idea why they run in the shoe they run in. How it's going to help them or support them. And I think education is so important.
That's what helps to avoid injury. That’s what helps you perform your best.. So I think education is so important.
So do they sponsor your run club?
No. How I like to put it is, Nike is my 9-5. Off-balanced Run Club's my 5-9. And so they don't sponsor, but there’s time's when work and play collide.
So for example, for the Vomero 18 launch, we did an activation called Cafe Krewe where we had tied in Vomero 18 to the Gasparilla half marathon that was going on in Tampa at the time. So we were able to kind of take over a coffee shop, custom mugs, custom coffee cups, to-go cups.
We had Neon Swoosh Lights. We had Alpha Fly, Vomera 18 trials. It was a time. Those times where work and play get to collide are some of my best moments.
How'd you start with it? It’s been two years right?
Three. We just hit three years this past August. What's funny is we're in Lakeland right now, and this is actually where I started running.
I always wanted to become a runner. Always saw it as unattainable. But then I didn’t have anything else to do. I came from New York City to quiet Lakeland, Florida, and I was like, hey, I'm going to take up running while I'm out here.
I vividly remember a moment in my run where I kind of went a little bit off balance, tripped up a little bit. And I just remember, I'm not going to let this ruin my run.
And it was a light bulb moment for me where the idea of off-balance was birthed, where life throws us off balance all the time.We can't control that, but what we can control is how we get back and strong. And so that was the idea of Off-balance.
The run club came through this idea that, hey, I knew so many runners in Tampa and I wanted to run with people. And this idea was birthed from running. Originally it was going to be a podcast. The goal is eventually to do that at some point. But I feel like the run club was birthed first. We were just four people on the Tampa Riverwalk.
And it's grown ever since. Shot my shot with different coffee shops and with different partners. And that's how we started to grow with coffee shops. That's how my relationship actually started with Nike.
Started running out of their stores and all of a sudden it started to grow, especially at a time where I feel like run clubs were just starting to become a thing. We really got lucky where we got it right before it really became a wave across the country.
3 years is awesome. And your’re right, you were way ahead of the curve with that one.
It's nuts. I love run clubs that have a mission and a purpose. And not just meeting together for the sake of meeting together, but hey, there's an idea that we're all kind of rallying around and then running together as a result of it.
So it's been really cool to see. It's crazy that we've been as consistent as we have been for the past three years. And it still feels there's still so much that we can do that we just haven't tapped into yet.
How would you say you went about growing it? Cause it’s absolutely massive now.
Honestly grassroots marketing. We've never paid for any sort of anything. We used to post group photos and no matter what the size was, we post a group photo on our Instagram page.
If 20 runners showed up, we'd post the group photo. They'd post it on their stories, kind of like a digital souvenir of what they did today. People started kind of figuring out who we were through those people sharing the group photo, but also through word of mouth or through people seeing us run and seeing the pack.
We were at 20 people for a long time and out of nowhere we just kind of exploded. The summer of 2023 was where we really kind of made noise and really became a staple in Tampa.
That was the first summer we hit over 100 and then we just haven't really been below since which is so crazy.
I saw that TikTok that someone made of like - I know you saw it. It was making fun of people in Tampa. He was like I go to Off Balance Run Club. I do this. etc etc.
Yeah, which is crazy to see that people are associating Tampa Trends with us like that. It was funny, but also kind of an honor to see, hey, we're one of the things to do on a Tuesday night.
How do you organize it all?
We have a really good team, thankfully, over the past few years, I've just been really lucky to have great people that had locked arms with me to make the run club better.
So we've got a content director, we've got captains, we've got pacers and as a group we’re committed to the safety of runners. Just having them and having a team that is able to make sure runners are safe, make sure our pacers are really being leaders of the run, making sure runners are not passing out or runners are not running past street lights where they're not supposed to.
So we just have a really good team. I'm blessed. I'm thankful. Every single time we run, I'm just like, this is massive. I don't know how I would have ever done this by myself. Just thankful to have a great team.
How do you manage a big group like that as well as you do? I feel like now the big thing I keep seeing with the boom of run clubs is people are annoyed with them. Especially bigger groups. And honestly, I get it. Because it can be disruptive to people just going about their day in the city. How do you go about being conscious of that.
Yeah, so typically I always tell my team and runners, we want the city to be fans of us. We don't want to make enemies of the city. And so I've learned, we can't please everybody.
So regardless of if we do everything right, somebody's going to be annoyed and somebody's going to complain and somebody's going to say that it's unsafe. So my goal is essentially just to make sure our club is taking every precaution possible.
So just preaching to my team, let's make sure we're stopping for lights. Let's make sure we're staying on the right side of the river walk, right side of the path. Make sure we're not going more than three wide.
And so at times it does happen and it does expand over. There's only so much you can do to control a crowd. If you have a good amount of people that are attentive and really committed to kind of navigating in the crowd in that way, it makes a difference, you know?
Even yesterday, we had one pace group completely ignore the “don't walk” sign, but then we had another pace group that completely followed it. So if I can at least keep the majority following those precautions, I think we can stay on the good side of the city and everyone else around this.
What's your goal? You mentioned about how it's good when run clubs have a goal and are striving for something in mind. What do you think that is for you?
I don't know. It's funny because when I started this thing, there was no end goal in mind. I think for us, it's just how do we evolve as a run club now?
I think for us, it's kind of seeing now that we've already established ourselves in offering a 2mile or a 3mile run, how do we get into making runners faster?
Just this fall we have 47 runners running some type of race. A lot of people are going after the marathon, the half marathon. You got some people going after the 10K, some going after the 5K, some doing ultras, which is insane.
So we got a lot of people that are getting the racing bug. So how can we cater to that? Especially when we have hometown races like Gasparilla. So kind of figuring out what's the next step, how can we create some dope merch?
How can we continue to make representation of our clubs outside of the runs that we do?
So are you trying to cater more to the competitive side now?
Yeah, yeah, I think we're trying to figure out what that is.
Maybe not have a speed run, but figure out, okay, do we want to offer long runs, especially during Gasparilla season where everyone just seems to be training. So we want to cater towards that. Do we do a long run once a month or every other week?
What's also cool about that is we dabbled in it a couple years ago and we had a lot of runners that weren't even training for those races, run eight miles, ten miles for the first time and didn't think it was possible until that day.
So I still want to create that opportunity for people to be able to challenge themselves in the distance. For me, I never saw myself running a marathon. I thought it was impossible. I thought it was crazy until I did it. So I want to be able to show that to runners as well. Like, hey, you can go above the three mile mark if you want to.
It's possible if you commit and just kind of shoot for it. So I want to be able to create that opportunity for us. Also, make sure we're keeping the sport inclusive to truly showing all people that they can do anything they put their mind to.
Right. And I think you can cater to all of that. You can come to run club as a space to just move without pressure but you also can push yourself if you want to. So being able to offer that to people so they can see that they can do more than they think.
So when was your first marathon in your list? What was the first one?
New York City, November 2022.
How’d you get it
I did a charity spot. That year, I remember I ran five miles for the first time and I realized I could run a lot further than I actually thought I could.
And that January, first week of the new year, everyone's kind of really hyped up on New Year's resolutions. I reached out to Team for Kids, figured out that I can raise money to run this marathon and just locked in with them early.
And then boom, I was now committed to the New York City Marathon in November. Setting up that goal and really having 11 months to work at it and to get up to that distance.
What did you use to train for it?
It was gradual. I just started little by little every week and then I started extending my long run.
By the time I started training, I had already done a half marathon distance. That summer I did a virtual training program they had. Before Runna and all these AI programs were created, they had this New York Road Runners and Team for Kids had this, I guess AI, before it was AI, generated programs to where they set out a plan for me 16 weeks out and I just kind of followed that plan.
Did it work out well for you?
I think training did. Race Day didn’t. So sometimes that happens. Race Day doesn't always work out.
Well, that was the year that it was really freaking hot wasn’t it?
Yeah, it was not the weather I wanted it to be.
I was expecting New York to be cool and crisp, and it was actually hot and humid, which, yeah, we're used to it in Florida, but it doesn't mean we want to run in it,
And so it's a learning curve for sure.
How hot exactly was it?
It was 75 degrees and 85% humidity. The race was fun until I think mile 16. Right after the 59th Street Bridge, you hit the wall of sound with the crowd on 1st Ave. And then right after, once you leave the big crowd, that's when I started to feel little itches in my calves.
And the cramps just started coming through. And I went from Manhattan, Bronx, back to Manhattan, dealing with cramps the entire time. So it became a walk-run race for me. And so that was my first experience with the marathon.
What do you think it was specifically?
I should have adjusted at mile one when I figured out the weather was going to be as hot as it was. Maybe I would have had the time I wanted, but I definitely would have had a better race. So mainly it was not making those adjustments that I needed to when I'm dealing with the cards that we were dealt.
It’s just hard when you're in that race mindset. You think you're going to be fine. The marathon is truly a humbling distance. You can feel good at mile 13, but for me, it's always mile 20. Mile 20, when I ran Disney this past year, I felt I was about to hit a big PR up until mile20.
I mean, it's also that debate between chip time and watch time, my watch definitely said 26.8, and if it was 26.2, I would have PR’d, but I still have that desire. I want that chip time.
I want that official PR, both on the chip and the watch.
Okay, so asking for myself and everyone else running NYC Marathon. Talk me through it, Where is it hard? Where is it easy? Where is it fun?
Oh, it's the best race in the world. It's a tough race, but the best race in the world. You start, the first two miles going up and down the Verrazano. So got to keep it cool, got to keep it contained.
You're going uphill, so you're already kind of exerting a lot of energy.
I feel that's good in a way because it almost stops you from going out too hot the first mile like you want to.
Yes, exactly. The hills will humble you.
But once you get off the Verrazano, you're in Brooklyn and you got pretty much 10 miles of flat throughout Brooklyn. Brooklyn is an absolute party. What I love about Brooklyn is that you got a bunch of different countries and ethnicities and communities represented. So at one point you'll see a Hispanic community, a Filipino community the black community.
You get to experience different cultures the further on you get into it. There's even a point where you experience a Hasidic Jewish community where they run across the street mid race.
It truly shows you that New York City is a melting pot and it's 10 miles of pretty much flat course up until you get to Queens and that's when the bridges start. Then you go over the Pulaski in Brooklyn, you go through Williamsburg, you go through Greenpoint and then the Pulaski is going to be that first bridge, that first bridge since the Verazzano that you're going to hit.
That's where you get a slight bit of incline, you get a quick tour through Queens and then you get the infamous 59th Street Bridge.
And that's when the race truly begins once you hit the 59th Street Bridge.
What mile point is that?
15 to 16 on the bridge. But what's interesting about that that's when you start to see people that haven't prepared well, you start to see them kind of break down a little bit and start walking
But once you get on the decline, you hear the roar of first ave. I feel like you feel the bridge shake a bit from the noise and as you get on the decline it just gets louder and louder and you make the turn onto first. I've always wanted to be a professional athlete and just thinking about the fanfare, you experience that moment when you get onto first ave and the crowd is all cheering for you.
Everyone's giving high fives. They're offering you shots. They're offering you water. It’s just such a fun time. There's truly nothing like the New York City Marathon, that's kind of the high point. Then as you get into Manhattan, as you go further down first, get a little bit of rolling hills and then you get back onto Fifth Ave where you get some more rolling hills before Central Park.
When I watched it I was parked right at mile 25 or 26, right as they're coming up. And finishing up. And I just remember seeing this steep incline and thinking that is the most evil 26th mile that has ever existed in a marathon
Central Park is one of the more underrated parts of the course. I feel like everyone talks about the 59th Street Bridge. But for me, it's the rolling hills from 20 to 26 that really get you because at that point your body's tired.
You could be dealing with lack of hydration. You could be dealing with a ton of things that went on during the race. But now you're dealing with a change in elevation consistently and your calves just start to break down.
I remember I saw two people drop at that point. People had to come up with stretchers.
Yep. Yeah. I remember at 23, it was tough. I had to make sure that I was just focused on the finish line.
Especially this year racing it, I'm just going to consistently remember, hey, like 20 to 26, you've got to save as much energy as you can for 25.
Yeah, what's the bathroom situation like?
So when you get to the start Village, you know, you just get in and hope you can use the restroom or just get like...
There's a lot of them, right?
Yeah, there's a lot of restrooms and you'll have multiple points to use them.
Everyone is just kind of panicking and inline for the restroom, even if they don't have to go, because everyone's just thinking about not having to go during the race. I want to try and let everything out before.
Perfect. Hey that's a really important question sorry.
Yeah, yeah, no, it is. It is. Definitely is.
Tough part about New York is just the waiting time. You got a long journey to Staten Island and then also you're waiting for a few hours before the race actually starts. So it's just important to stay hydrated, stay off your feet as much as you can, find a spot.
Sometimes they have bagels and stuff. Fuel up as much as you can.
And you're from New York, right?
Yeah. Brooklyn, East New York, Brooklyn, so the hood in New York.
My parents will probably be in Greenpoint mile 12. My fiancé will be there for the first time.
She's never experienced the New York City marathon, so she'll be hopping around. And I just told her it's the best weekend of the year to be in New York. So I'm excited to have her there as well.
I'm thankful because I feel like me being born and raised in New York, just made me the person I am today. I feel like I'm able to be self-aware, but I've been exposed to a lot.
I've used it to my advantage to where I'm able to cater to different communities. I can walk into any area, any neighborhood, and nothing will phase me just because the way I grew up.
It doesn't get much worse than where I grew up. It's so different because you really get to grow up in such a melting pot, and I feel like people don't really get to experience that.
You don't realize how most people are accustomed to growing up around a/their certain demographic. A lot of times parent subconsciously choose that for you and then you continue it on. And then you get into the world and it's like, well, I hope you like everyone. Gonna be really hard if you dont…
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And it taught me early to be accepting of everyone from different backgrounds, different walks of life. And so I'll never judge anyone from being richest to the poorest. I've seen it all.
Why did you leave?
Change of pace. I think the hardest thing for native New Yorkers is to leave New York just because you've grown so accustomed to it.
So for me, it was COVID. It was a tough time to live in the city. I was 26, I saw it as a time to roll the dice and move somewhere else. And every person that hates New York, not that I hated New York, has always dreamed of moving to Florida.
You probably see a ton of New Yorkers in Orlando, a ton of New Yorkers here in Tampa. I had some friends that lived in Lakeland with a room. They said, hey, we have an open room. It's $400 a month.
If you want to try something new, you’re more than welcome here. So for me, it was low risk, high reward. If I hated it, I'll go back to New York. If I loved it, found the second home, and it kind of worked out.
Fell in love with Lakeland, fell in love with Tampa. And I got to love Florida, except for the summer. It's too hot. But I got to love just the state itself and what it offers and everything like that.
I miss New York like crazy. Nothing will ever be like it. But I've learned not to compare, but truly just kind of hold them in different categories.
Totally. Do you see yourself staying in Tampa long term?
I think so. I'm getting married in January. My fiancé's family's here. Hope is my family at some point will move out here. So I can see myself at least staying in Central Florida for a very long time.
Definitely Tampa for the foreseeable future, but I can see myself maybe once I have a family moving to somewhere like Lakeland or we even talked about Orlando. Orlando's dope. One of the things I love about Orlando is that you guys have great food compared to Tampa. Especially when it comes to different cultures. Like this street, I love, I don't know where it is. It's a strip with just a bunch of Vietnamese spots. I think even after the time we did the run with you guys, that's where we went right after.
I know my fiancé got Baobunz. There's a Bao bun spot that she loves.
King bao?
Yes! She loves that place!
They’re the best. Mills/50 district is where you’re talking about, very Asian/Vietnamese influenced.
But I get you. You can always go back to New York and your family's always there. And you're always going to have that.
Right there's always a tie to it, too. I feel like a personality trait of New Yorkers is just always saying they're from New York. And I'm like, yes, it is, because we're just so proud of where we came from.
And so, while it's tough to live there, the stars would have to align for me to move back. I love visiting and I love where I came from.
How has New York, another hot topic now I feel. How has it changed?
I mean, gentrification is real. think it's done a lot of good, but it's also done a lot of bad in terms of making things expensive and making it hard to live for those that were born and raised there.
You know, like you got people that own brownstones in Brooklyn and end up getting priced out, or end up getting good offers, but they're forced to relocate because they can't really move anywhere else.
They get an amazing opportunity because someone's buying the property that they own for years, but at the same time, they can't live in the city they grew up in because they can't afford to live anywhere else.
So, I would say it's done a lot of good, but it's also made things tougher, specifically for native New Yorkers, I'd say.
How do you preserve that native culture?
So I kind of look at Tampa. I feel like Tampa is in a very similar position to where there’s been a lot of gentrification happening in Tampa.
I feel like those that come in have to do the best job in preserving and elevating the history and heritage of the city. And so how I look at Tampa is, I don't want to come to Tampa and change it.
What is Tampa's culture? What is Tampa's history? And I want to lean into that and build that up and showcase that rather than try and change it and have it become something else.
So I think for those that kind of come to New York, I think it's important to, one, make things as much as you can in this economy, make things affordable. Obviously you got to make money, but don't try and take advantage of communities. But really, like, lean into the history, lean into the culture, and don't try to erase it, but elevate it and embrace it because it's one of the best cultures in the world.
And even Tampa, I'm trying to find out, hey, what's Tampa's culture? What's Tampa's history? What helped build this city? What the heck is gasparilla? Why is it so important? And trying to find out more about the roots of the city and really elevate it.
I think the Buccaneers have done a really good job as they tied into their roots and their history. Really elevated it, even elevated local spots, local businesses. And so I think I just wish that would happen in New York and in Tampa.
Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, I still don't know what Gasparilla is. I really thought it was just a drunk pirate festival.
But it's sad because I think that when it comes to these conversations, people can never really understand the root of the problem. I notice it here in Florida like crazy and it’s everywhere. It’s not just people should stop moving and pursuing things. People have always moved places. Communities as a whole get developed to cater to wealthier individuals completely disregarding the people and culture who already live there.
Yeah, exactly. I went to school in Williamsburg. So I was around Williamsburg right at the start of it becoming what it is now. And I just remember there were certain streets you couldn't walk through because there was a lot of gang affiliation. So at the same time, that's definitely not cool.
But also it's like, yeah, there's a medium we can get to.
Now I walk through, it’s cheap shops or random boutiques and fancy apartments that have popped up. And I just know the original owner of the building or the people that lived there 10 years ago are probably somewhere else or completely priced out of this area.
There's a medium that we can get to to and I don't know what that medium is, it's complicated. Where we don't have to price out individuals, but at the same time, make neighborhoods better.
Agreed. Well now you’re here.
Yeah. Here in Lakeland, Florida. Love Lakeland too. It's great. You know, it's not Tampa, it's not Orlando, but it's got everything you could possibly want in a city in Florida.
Yeah. No, really, it's cute here. I didn't realize how cute it was.
Oh yeah you got to run Lake Collins, it's a great 2.8 mile loop.
Oh, no, I hate that shit. I can't just run in loops. I needed to be somewhere busy yknow. Randomly turn into an ally, maybe get hit by a car idk. I get bored really easily
Yeah. I only did it here because I’m navigating an injury. So, like, in case I needed to cut it, it’s only 2 miles away from wherever.
But I do love running through new cities. And my favorite part about going to a new city is going on a run and figuring out where the good coffee spots are, where the good restaurants are, what area I shouldn't run through again.I just love city running.
Hows wedding planning going? Congrats on that again.
Thanks, we're doing a small ceremony. We're just eloping, technically eloping, but we're going to have a ceremony with our families. Make it really small. My fiancé dreams of her house more than her wedding.
What a smartie
Yeah, oh yeah, super smart. I hope she hears this. We really want to prioritize our future while still celebrating the moment and not belittling it.
I grew up in an Hispanic family, so weddings were at minimum 60 people. So if we would have invited all our families, it could easily be like a 100-person wedding. But for me, what's important is giving my parents that moment.
For me, I'm their first child getting married. For Michelle, she's the last. And so it's a special moment for both our families. So my only ask was that our families were a part of it. And they will be.
We're getting married in January. And we're going to go to Mexico City. We're going to go to a new city. I can't wait to spend time with her, but I also can't wait to run through Mexico City.
It makes it so much more intimate that you just have your families there. I feel like a lot of people who have big weddings really don't get to see the main people that are important to them.
Yeah, and Michelle's an introvert too. So her biggest nightmare is being the center of attention. And in a wedding the bride is 90% of the attention.
100%. I think about that. Like you want me to look at someone in the face in front of all these people and make oogly eyes at them. Hell no.
Exactly. Exactly. We're even talking about if she's going to do her vows in front of everyone. So we're leaning towards private. I think society and tradition has this idea, and I think it's cool that we're kind of going against the grain, but I feel like society as a whole is starting to really go towards the micro wedding or smaller wedding kind of thing.
It really is about the couple. It can be almost unfair, you know, and you get into a ton of debt for other people to have a good time. You want to make sure you're having a good time, that both parties involved are having a great time.
And yeah, so that's what we're going to prioritize and save money, go on a nice honeymoon, hopefully go to Europe later next year too. We just want to travel, have fun together, just enjoy each other's company and enjoy our marriage before even thinking about kids.
How'd you meet her?
Through a young adult's night, so the church that we went to in Tampa had this game night. And I just remember, I knew of Michelle for a while, but we had never met. And she walked into that game night.I remember seeing her and knowing she's different than anyone else I've encountered here. And then my friends were like hey, you have to meet Michelle.
The next day all four of us got together, just kind of had dinner and went shuffle boarding. And I just remember getting to know her for a bit and every single box was being checked within 20 minutes of conversation.
We were friends for like six months until I shot my shot. It didn't go in the first time. But a couple months later, you know, it worked out.
So I'm thankful. I’m excited.
What else are you excited fot?
I'm most excited for my wedding, but also excited to run the marathon in Toronto. Never been to Toronto. 32 days.
We've never had a reason to go to Toronto except for running this. And Michelle loves to travel. So kind of checks both boxes.
Does Michelle also run?
No. She despises running. She's been running recently.
So I think she's starting to get into it. So I'm trying to get her to catch the bug. But she is down to go to a new city, eat different food, try different coffee, and explore. So kind of checks both those boxes for us.
And so I'm excited to go out there. And then head my way to New York two weeks later. And so just, it's going to be a fun fall for us.
So it's going to be a hectic next few months, but rewarding at the end of the day.
Are you going to use it as like a bench point to see where you are for New York? They’re pretty close together.
So I'm hoping to PR in Toronto.
I want Toronto to be the PR. It's fast and flat.
What's PR for you?
Right now 3:55 is my PR. So I would love sub 3:40. Trying to navigate with the injury still and kind of trying to be realistic.
I still am confident I can, but I just want to see how I do in the long run. See if I can maintain the speed. At this point, I've had a bunch of setbacks this training. Got sick before my 18 miler. My 20 miler is when the knee pain started, so that wasn't happening.
And this Sunday is supposed to be my 22 miler. So it's like one of those things where every single big long run has been affected by this. But I'm confident and I'm banking on my experience in the marathon, but also the fact that we're in a cooler, fast race to where I can hopefully make some magic happen.
And so the goal is to get there healthy, to train as best as they can leading up to it. But I'm excited to just go out there and PR. Then New York, I'm familiar. I'm just going to have a good old time, put on some max cushion shoes, and just have a ball.
Drink all the beer, eat all the pizza. I've always wanted to party pace that race, so that's the goal. It's just essentially go and have the best time I can.
Vomero Premium
What’s Nike have coming up?
Vomero Premium, which is exciting. It’s something that we've never done before. It's something that I think the running world has never seen before.
It's a max recovery train. And so it's a max, max cushion shoe, but it's meant to kind of be worn after hard efforts. The idea behind it was an anti-gravity treadmill.
I don't know if you’ve ever ran in one, but they're meant to kind of reduce body weight. So like when runners are coming back from injury, they typically will run there, or they'll run with just 30% of their body weight, kind of to ease back into running.
And that essentially was the inspiration behind this shoe. So it's going to be cool to introduce that to the running world to see how they respond. It's something the running world has never seen before, but it's also something we haven't done at Nike before.
So it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm excited.
Any closing thoughts?
No, I think this is dope. I'm excited for fall running season. I think we're about to enter the best time to run in Florida. Everyone’s going inside, we're going outside finally.
So it's going to be cool to see everyone going after their races, going to see you cross the marathon finish line for the first time and see you run the best race in the world.
I can't wait to see you out there!
Yeah, I'll let you know about any activations we do, but I'm just excited for this season. I think it's just a fun season we're heading into. It's been a rough summer.
It's been a hot summer. But the fall is truly where I love Florida the most. Fall and winter. Winter's a little cold, but it could be worse. I could be in New York during winter, which is not fun.
So I'm just excited to enter in a cooler season where we can be outside and not sweat our outfits out. But yeah, that's pretty much it. Thank you for having me.
Jon is a Tampa based Nike Ekin and founder of Off Balanced Run Club