 What about a GoPro? Is the camera that small? No. It's a GoPro 7. Is it real? Oh, this is awesome, dude. It really sees everything. Isn't that amazing? Yeah. I've never seen a GoPro. Look at that out there. Where do you put it at? So I run, I'm a big runner. And so I run with it. And you can also put it on a bike. You can put it all sorts of places. Oh, I have never seen anything quite like this. Isn't that neat? Maybe a Christmas gift. We got him. We got him. All right. Starting today's vlog, a little off topic. We're going to talk about warming up here in a second. But first, vitamins and minerals. I'll probably make a series of videos about nutrition and vitamins and minerals and supplements at some point. I'm not the expert. However, I do tend to think that putting vitamins and minerals into your body is a good thing. However, I definitely don't think that it replaces eating a diet that is well-rounded. I've heard that you don't necessarily even need to take supplements or vitamins and minerals if you have a well-balanced diet. Anyway, we're not going to talk about it in depth today. We're going to talk about warming up instead. But I just want to let you know I did pick these up today. And yeah, anyway, this is what I do. It's what I do. It's what I do. I'm not even going to say what do you do because that's not the focus of today. Let's warm up. Cheers, YouTube. Cheers. Oh, man. What a day. What a day. Okay, before we get into the warm-up routine, I want to talk really briefly about something that happened today. And it connects to this whole story of today. I did not get all the shots I wanted today in the Nike of Emeril 14s. And something unfortunate happened. Basically, for me, when I'm doing a warm-up, a lot of times I am carrying the shoes that I'm going to do the workout in in my hands to the starting line. So I used to do this in college and the habit has just continued forward. Well, today I parked my car. You saw me there on the side of the road. And I wanted to do the time trial, which is going to be a video that publishes at 3 p.m. today if you're watching this in the morning. And essentially what happened was I ran with these turbos down to the starting line down this creek path. And lo and behold, somebody saw me hide my Nike of Emeril 14s in the bushes. And so they're gone. They're gone. Somebody swiped my size 8 Nike of Emeril 14s out of the bushes. So whoever you are, I hope you needed them. I hope they bring you some joy this Christmas season because they're gone and I only was able to put 10 miles into them. I'm sorry. And it's just a habit that I have to warm up to a starting line with shoes. And this is going to connect to everything about the warm-up routine in a second. But with shoes that I'm not going to actually do the race in or do the workout in. Therefore, I don't know if I'm actually going to be able to do a Vemaro 14 full review for you. I apologize, but they're gone. And, you know, they're a little pricey. So I'm not sure I'm going to be able to pick up a second pair. All right. That's what happened today. Anyway, the filming running balance on YouTube. It's an interesting predicament sometimes. I'm not bitter. Hopefully whoever has them now is going to be able to put some miles in them. All right. The Vemaro 14 rest in peace. Leave that as it may. Let's get to the topic of the day, the warm-up routine, 10 steps, which again is listed below. First of all, this is not step number one, but you got to think about how are you getting to the starting line area and how long does it take you to get there? Is it a three-hour bus ride? Is it an airplane ride? Is it a bike ride? How are you getting to the starting line area? Because that will impact what you do actually once you arrive, which on that topic, I would recommend arriving to the start-finish area an hour and 15 minutes before the race. Maybe an hour 20, but I think an hour 15 is usually spot-on, especially for the 5K and 10K distance. Because everything I'm about to tell you, yes, it takes about an hour and 15 minutes. Step number one, find your base camp, find the place that is going to be your home for the next three hours, somewhere under a tree in the shade if it's hot out, somewhere that's a little warmer if it's cold out, like in a building or in a tent, and you're going to have your bag and you're going to put it on the ground and you're just going to lay everything out. I like to have a blanket or a towel with me and I put it on the ground and then I roll it out and I lay out all of my gear, my shoes, my socks, everything that I'm going to need that day to make sure, because if you arrive an hour and 15 minutes ahead of time, if there's something that you forgot in the car or something you forgot at your house, you might have enough time to go get that item before the gun goes off. So lay everything out right when you get to the starting area. That is step number one. Step number two, once everything is laid out on the towel or laid out on a blanket, you're going to want to get all of your gear on that you're going to use for the warm-up. This is step number two, including your shoes, your socks, your pants, your long sleeve, and that's what I prefer. I prefer to have, especially if it's cooler out, if it's too hot, don't wear a long sleeve, but if it's a little cooler, you want to make sure you're getting your muscles really warmed up, and therefore a long sleeve pants is really important, maybe even hats and gloves. Step number three, and I already just alluded to this in step number two, is that in it, but it's so important it gets its own step. Here you go. You want to warm up in training shoes, not your racing shoes. Why? Because on your warm-up, you're going to be sweating, you might step in mud, water. You do not want to go to the starting line with wet shoes and wet socks. So make sure you have separate shoes for your warm-up, and it's just so important. Especially, I mean socks, it's almost just as important as the racing shoes. Make sure they're separated, totally separated. Step number four, and this connects back to the question that I posed to you at the beginning. How did you get to the starting line area? If you had a five-hour bus ride, which sometimes in high school for me, our bus rides were like five hours. So when you got to the track or got to the cross-country course, you were kind of like tired, sore, sluggish. Just, you know, when you're in a car for that long, your legs don't feel great. Therefore, this is step number four. I do not start jogging right out of the gun. I walk a mile because I have actually seen athletes just go right from sitting on a bus for five hours to warming up with a jog and they pull something. They pull their calf, they pull their hamstring. It's not good. You don't want to injure yourself right before your race. Therefore, I would recommend before you start jogging that you do a one-mile walk, which takes about 15 minutes. It's just going to, it's just a precautionary step so that you're getting your muscles going. Now, if you bite to the starting line area, you probably don't have to do a one-mile walk because you already got that circulation and blood flowing. But that's what I do. Instead of jogging, I do a one-mile walk. Step number five, after the one-mile walk, you do the two-mile jog. Maybe two to three miles. I like to lean toward the two miles. I don't think you need more than two miles, so I do a two-mile jog. Again, this is that incremental speeding up from getting off the bus to the walk to the jog. And then the next step. Step number six, stretch. Good old stretching. The stretching is probably, I think it should take 15 to 20 minutes if you're doing it right. All the different stretching, this video is not about stretching. It's about the warm-up routine. We'll do more videos in the future about stretching and what I like to do for stretching, but so that's step number six. So whatever you like to do, but I like to recommend 15 to 20 minutes of good stretching. And of course you do this after the walk, after the jog. Step number seven. Oh baby, we're getting closer to that starting line. Here you go. Take your trainers off, take those sweaty socks off. Oh, here's the tip of the day. You ready for this? Let your feet, I know this is getting a little too much detail. Let your feet air out for two to three minutes, maybe five minutes if you have enough time. I like to let my feet air out so they're not sweaty when you put your fresh socks on, your racing socks and your racing flat, whatever shoe you're racing in. So that's the tip of the day. And that is step number seven. Transition from your training shoe to your racing shoe, your training socks to your racing socks. Step number eight. I like to do, and this depends on where you're at. If you're on a road, if you're on the track, cross-country course, but basically right from your base camp, maybe at the starting line area, maybe it just depends where you're at. I like to do four strides that are 120 meters in length. So out, back, out, back. And so that four strides, it should take you no more than, it'll take you about five minutes approximately. And just nice stride, not all out, not like crazy all out. Just, but maybe a little faster than race pace. Like ease into it. The first one should be easy. And then just get a little faster on each one. And again, this is that incremental step from getting off the bus to the walking, to the jogging, and now we're on the strides. Okay. So we're getting a little closer to that starting gun going off. Step number nine, and this can vary a little bit depending on the weather, but I like to, yes, drink a little bit of water and a little bit of, maybe if you have a special, you know, sports drink that you particularly like, this is the moment to take one last swig. So step number nine, because I do, oh, I loathe. I loathe going to the starting line, a little thirsty. Because if you start thirsty, like you're just setting yourself up for being a little miserable out there, or at least not enjoying it as much as you would like. So I like to take some swigs of water. If it's a longer race, like a 50k and above, you know, this could be a good moment to eat a half a granola bar, maybe a half a banana. So it's just kind of depends on the distance, depends a little bit on the weather. But this is your last chance at your base camp to get some nutrients in you and some hydration in you. Step number 10, we did it. We did it. Okay. So here you go. You're in your racing flats. You've got your singlet on. You've got your bib number on. Head to the starting line. I like to get to the starting line five minutes ahead of time, no less than three minutes ahead of time, that three to five minute window. It's really, really important to be very precise on this. I do not like to be at the starting line too early, because I think it gets your jitters going and your nerves going a little bit too much. And for some people, like that's okay. For other people, it can really make them nervous. So I like that three to five minute window. Why that three to five minute window? That is enough time to get to the starting line, find your position. And if you are near the front, this is what I like to do. Get to the front. And basically I like to do one more stride. So once I'm at the one more stride out, 120 meters, and then walk back to the starting line. And as I'm walking back to the starting line, I know where I'm going to stand. And if somebody gets in my spot, you just throw those elbows. Boom. See you. Boom. Let's go. Come on. And then you wait. And then you wait. And you wait for the gun to go on. There you go, ladies and gentlemen. There you go. Ready to rock and roll. That is my 10 step warmup routine for a race or a workout. You can use it in both. Okay. And it's listed down below. And of course the keyword is warmup. You knew that was coming. And the question of the day, what you can answer in two ways. What is your number one tip for your warmups? Like what do you do? What do you love to do? One tip. Or if you have the time, you can list down below in the comments like your step guide as well for what you do for your warmup. Of course, we're going to have overlap. But the key on this channel is learning from each other. Therefore, if you could list your ideas down below and chime, chime into other people's comments, because I guarantee we're all going to learn a lot after this question of the day. Because the warmup, it's, it seems, it seems simple. It is a fine art and it takes precision to make sure that you're not rushed, that you're not worried about something being missing. It's, it's a fine art. I'm telling you, like if you do the warmup well, you will race so much better and you will do your workout so much better. After 20 years of running, 20 years of racing, I can't even remember. That's a good question of the day for me. How many times have I arrived at a starting line? You know, it's like, it's just, it's like ingrained inside of me now and I love it. And I love it. That is it, folks. I'm warmed up. I don't know about you, but I feel warmed up. I'm jazzed up, even though my Vamaro 14s are off to the races. Seek beauty, work hard and love each other. See you tomorrow.