Frankly, that’s probably at 5:30 a.m. in the Hendrick Motorsports shop, where crew chief Chad Knaus and others already have arrived for work, getting cars prepared for Johnson to race.
But 16 miles from Hendrick Motorsports, Johnson is among a group of about 50 serious runners out for an early-morning 4-mile sprint. Hendrick Motorsports has a nice workout room and a running track available for his use, but this is how Johnson prefers to start his day.
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When he won the first of five straight championships in 2006, this is not where Johnson imagined he’d be at 5:30 a.m., just 11 days before he hoped to clinch his sixth Sprint Cup title.
“Five years ago? I didn’t know there was 5:30 on the clock unless I was coming in from the bar,” Johnson says with a laugh.
But the only bar Johnson is worried about in the late stages of this season is the one he is raising, both on the track and off. With a 28-point lead on Matt Kenseth and a 34-point lead on Kevin Harvick heading into the season finale Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Johnson appears poised to clinch his sixth Cup title — one shy of the record seven won by NASCAR legends Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.
The 38-year-old driver will make it to the end of the race Sunday ready to race some more, at least physically. But he also should be mentally fresh, the result he believes of a training regimen that includes competitive running, biking and swimming.
On Wednesday before last week's race at Phoenix, Johnson’s plan after his 1-mile warmup run and 4-mile sprint was to take his daughter to preschool and then go mountain biking. It’s what gets him ready and focused to race, and anything that accomplishes that goal is worth it for any racer.
“There is without a doubt physical benefits that I surpassed a long time ago in the car,” Johnson said of his training after setting a personal record with an average pace of 6 minutes, 18 seconds per mile for the 4-mile run. “But the mental side — by 11 o’clock, I’ve run five or six miles and mountain biked.
“I’ll feel so accomplished by 11:30 and I doubt (Dale Earnhardt) Junior is out of bed yet.”
Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart most likely aren’t out of bed yet either by that time. And yet Keselowski beat Johnson for the Cup title last year. And Stewart won it the year before, snapping Johnson’s five-year reign. So, really, does it matter?
“It doesn’t guarantee anything but for sanity. I don’t know if it’s part of being close to 40 or starting a family, but it’s what works for me,” Johnson said.
Johnson averages five days of running (30-40 miles total), two days swimming (four miles total) and two or three days biking (100 miles) during the week under the direction of former professional triathlete Jamey Yon of Tri-Yon Performance. They began working together about 18 months ago.
“He’s worked so hard for so many years being average (in his running) and now that he’s hit his stride, it motivates him more,” Yon said.
“And he fits the physical fitness in when he gets a window. He knows that is going to make him a little bit different than the other drivers.”
Johnson crew chief Chad Knaus said he believes it does make a difference on the track. He has seen the transformation of Johnson since they started working together in 2002.
“He wasn't a training athlete (when he started),” Knaus said. “He didn't enjoy it, he didn't do it. He knew he needed to. He would do enough to potentially get by. … It makes him more alert and better come the end of the events when other drivers are maybe more tired.
“I think it also has provided a significant outlet for him to where he can go, train, get away from the racing environment and enjoy it.”
Johnson admits that back when he started racing, the term “running hard” off the track didn’t have anything to do with running but instead living in New York City. As he worked on finding other distractions to his life as a racer, he took up golf and moved to various forms of strength training, which helped him focus on diet and nutrition.
He then transitioned to more cycling/spin training before his current triathlon training, which he knew would require someone other than himself if he wanted to have better times.
“I knew I was missing something,” Johnson said. “I need a crew chief. I take direction well and I needed to zero in.”
Johnson absorbed information like a sponge, Yon said. The two have become friends, and Yon believes Johnson doesn’t fatigue in the car as much as he used to.
“The most impressive thing is how he balances family and work and his physical fitness,” Yon said. “It takes a very driven person and his first priority is his family.
“He loves to race. He loves the fact that he’s in the stride of his career, and he’s not going to ease up now.”
As Yon’s runners stretched after the workout, Yon gave an update on Johnson’s season. The other runners applauded and some others came up to him afterward to congratulate him — not for what he did on the racetrack but for his fast run that morning.
Johnson beamed from the response, and he fits into this group well. He follows the exploits of some of the other runners, including one who had run in a 50 kilometer (31 miles) race the previous weekend and won the female division in 4 hours, 53 minutes. That’s longer than any Sprint Cup race Johnson has competed in this year.
“It’s a run,’ Johnson said in amazement at her feat. “Are you crazy? At least I’m sitting there (when I’m racing).”
Johnson wants to run in the Boston Marathon, hoping to earn a sponsor’s exemption so he can do it in 2014. That goal is one of the reasons why he ran 20 miles a couple of weeks ago, just to see what it would be like.
He does have a resume that should help him get such an exemption. Johnson won his age group and finished ninth overall last December in the Palm Springs Triathlon’s Olympic distance (1,500-meter swim, 24.8-mile bike, 6.2-mile run). He posted a time of 2 hours, 17 minutes, 45 seconds — well under his goal of 2:30:00.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Johnson said. “I cross the finish line and they’re reading my time and I stop and go back to the little scoring booth (to make sure). … That felt like winning a Cup race.”
How can that be? There’s satisfaction of a goal achieved.
“Physically, the (Cup) race is the easiest thing I do during the week,” Johnson said. “There’s benefits to that. But the lifestyle, to get up at 5:30 and hit two-a-days (sessions), there’s just clarity. I’m eating well, I’m up early, I’m involved with my kids, I’m involved with the house. I’m involved at the shop.
“It’s a high energy, very accomplished day that happens day after day and it makes me feel good. My peace of mind is so much different in this last year-and-a-half as I’ve gone down this road, there’s just a natural high of being accomplished.”
