Watching The Sunrise with Coach KWatching The Sunrise with Coach K
Addict II Athlete Podcast
Herb "Coach K" Kieklak shares how he moved from heavy drug use to triathlon, trading late nights for sunrise walks and long runs. The conversation focuses on identity change, service in jail programmes, and using running and recreation as practical tools in sobriety.
56:26•21 Feb 2022
Watching the Sunrise: Coach K on Sobriety, Running and Changing Your Story
Episode Overview
- A single decision can mark the start of sobriety, especially when paired with a clear sense of who you want to become.
- Replacing harmful habits with meaningful routines, like watching the sunrise or training, can reduce the pull of substances.
- Shifting identity from labels such as addict or felon to roles like parent, runner, or triathlete can make old behaviours feel incompatible.
- Standard job-skills classes often miss the mark; addressing "your own personal shit" and mindset is key to lasting change after jail.
- Running without headphones can act as mental floss, giving space to process emotions and thoughts rather than constantly distracting from them.
“"My new identity was, I'm a triathlete. This beer is going to get in the way of who I want to be."”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation between host and mental health therapist Blu Robinson and running coach Herb "Coach K" Kieklak gives a raw yet hopeful look at what happens when recovery meets a pair of running shoes. Coach K takes you right back to his early years, growing up around what he calls a "functional alcoholic" dad and a culture where getting drunk felt like a rite of passage.
Things escalated quickly: LSD, cocaine, pharma-grade morphine, ketamine, even waking up at 3 a.m. to shoot up. He jokes about long sleeves in July and spotting other users by their clothes, but he doesn’t sugar-coat how "it gets kind of ruthless, doesn’t it?" The turning point? Waking up on a sidewalk, watching shoes walk past his face, and saying, "All right, that's it. That was my turning point.
I just quit." Blu pushes on the idea that change can start with a single decision, and Herb backs it up with another moment years later: sitting with a post-gym beer and realising, "This beer is kind of killing that last hour that I just spent at the gym" – so he drops alcohol cold turkey again to live as a triathlete. From there, the episode moves into service and recreation.
Herb describes teaching addiction classes in jail, ditching the standard job-resume scripts and instead helping inmates tackle "your own personal shit" and rewrite their identity from "I'm a felon" to "I'm a dad" or "I'm an athlete." Blu connects this with his own work, emphasising that being an "addict" is only part of someone’s story, not their whole identity.
You’ll also hear some practical running chat: starting slow, avoiding the macho sprint-then-walk pattern, and Herb’s nudge to run "naked" – ditching headphones so you’re forced to sit with your thoughts and let long runs act as "mental floss." It’s a blend of gritty honesty and practical tools, perfect if you’re curious how movement, identity, and service can all support a life without substances. So, what identity are you choosing to run towards?
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