 Well, yeah, we made it back. You know where I'm at by now. You recognize this place. Been training here a lot in this block. And yes, the work does not stop, ladies and gentlemen. Even though we are tapering, the work does not stop. Remember, I want to arrive at the starting line as fit as possible and as fresh as possible. So obviously, when you're talking about tapering, you're talking about decreasing your volume so your legs can freshen. But I still have time to work with. What is it now when you're watching this about 11 days to fine-tune, refine, sharpen the legs, sharpen the mind? The aerobic base is basically set. Like, you're not going to really advance there too much. But I'm not afraid to put in some more work before Pike's peak, so that's what I'm doing today. And yes, keyword is work. And question of the day, I like this one a lot. How, oh, baby. How has long distance running taught you or infused into you as a person the ethic of work or work ethic? Like, how have you? So what I'm getting at is when I say seek beauty, work hard, and love each other, that's what we're focused on today. Because I want to share with all of you where my angle and where I'm coming from, when I say that every single day at the end of the vlog, I'm not just saying that for, I don't know, a catchy motto or a catchy way to end the vlog. I really, really mean it, all right? So today we're working. We're working on the uphill. We're getting close. This is not the last uphill, but we're getting closer. So thank you for being here. I can't wait to read your thoughts on work ethic down below in the comments. Connecting it to long. OK, one last point before we dive in. And I'm going to start getting ready with a B roll here. Basically, for all the high schoolers out there, you have no idea the gift that you are being given right now as a cross country or long distance runner in track. I'm telling you, you're setting yourself up for success. I had no idea when I was in high school, even a little bit in college, what kind of wisdom and, again, work ethic I was being given as a long distance runner, because it's sacrifice. It's the pain cave. It's doing things you don't want to do. Like nobody really wants to go out and run 20 miles on Sunday morning when everyone else is sleeping in. It's in college. So all I'm saying is keep going, especially for all the young folks out there. You're setting yourself up for long term success. I promise. I promise. Your work ethic is going to be through the roof. And don't hesitate when you're in a future job interview after college or maybe after high school to tell them that you are a long distance runner and that this has taught you so much about what it means to sacrifice and to work hard. All right, let's get rolling. Work, work. Less talk, more action. Get the job done. Whether it's with your cross training, if you're injured, getting good food in you, taking care of your teammates. You know, if you're still on a team, it's a less talk, more action. Remember last week I told you what I was telling myself on a 14 to run last week? Well, today it's less talk, more action. Get the job done. Working hard, working hard. We're not done working yet in this training block and not done working in the Soccany Mad River TRs. That was the shoe I, a couple of people have been asking, what is this Soccany shoe that Seth is wearing out on the trails? It's called the Soccany Mad River TR. Yes, it is available down below from Running Warehouse. I love it. I love it, I love it. Now I'm only at 33 miles in the shoe, so it's not quite time for a full review, but it's just, it's such a comfortable ride. And today I was going back and forth between Solomon or Soccany and I decided to go Soccany because I was wearing the weighted vest, the 20 pound weighted vest today. And I wanted to just have a little more protection for my knees, my ankles, and just absorb a little more of that, especially the downhill pounding with the weighted vest on. And yes, today's run was 14 miles, 22 kilometers, 5,000 feet of vertical gain and loss or 1,500 meters of vertical gain and loss. And how did it feel? Felt solid, felt okay. So the last time I wore the vest, I went, I went eight miles. So today was 14, so not quite double. And just so you know, that was the last time I'll wear the vest in this training block. Don't worry, but I'm feeling pretty darn strong. In fact, those four, so I did four strides and then some forum drills afterward. That's what I was doing by my car there after the run. And as soon as I took the vest off and I did those four strides, like I was loud. Oh, I was ready to rock and roll something, like something fierce. So anyway, solid day up on Grace Peak today. And let's dive into work ethic. Oh man, I love it. I love working hard. I love, just so you know, true love and I, we just got back from date night. So I love leisure. I love rest. I love like good drinks and sitting around pools and sitting on beaches and just chilling. Like I love that, but I also love working hard. Like I think it's a good to have a balance. And just so you know, huge rainstorm is rolling in right now. So if you hear the thunder, I'm just looking out to make sure everything's all right out in my backyard. So it was an amazing day. Now, where did I learn my work ethic? Definitely from my dad. He was a former runner. Now he's just a big time hiker and walker. He doesn't run anymore. He's in his early sixties now. And he ran Pikes Peak probably at least eight times like the Pikes Peak ascent big. He was pretty accomplished runner back in the day. He won a couple local trail, but this is like back in the seventies and the eighties when trail running was not really at the top of everyone's to-do list. If you know what I mean, compared to today where there's a big strong community of trail running. So he worked very hard at his career. So what did he do? He sold life insurance. He helped people with investments, but he did it the right way. You know what I mean? He worked for I think 32 years and then retired and now he's enjoying the grandchildren. But I'm telling you like, I don't, I can only think of maybe one or two other people that I don't even know personally but people that I've heard of who might approach my dad's work ethic. Even to this day in his retirement, taking care of all the grandkids but like going on adventures with him. Like he just loves to do things. And anyway, so he passed that work ethic on to me. And frankly, as a seventh grader, as I was transitioning away from soccer, which I bet is the story for many runners out there. I was transitioning away from soccer because I could not kick a soccer ball. First of all, soaking wet, I weighed about 95 pounds. And so my legs were teeny tiny chicken legs and I could not kick a soccer ball from the corner kick to the goal. And like at that point in seventh grade, sorry, just thought I heard thunder, we're good. At that point in seventh grade, I said, okay, I'm eliminating the soccer ball and we're just going to run. So anyway, that's how I got started into running and my dad really invited me to start waking up at 5.30, 6 a.m. and go run with him before he went off to work. And that's what I did as a seventh grader and frankly haven't really stopped since. Now I've said it once and I'll say it again right now, there's really no luck in long distance running in my humble opinion. It comes down to these three variables for me. Yes, it helps to have a little bit of talent, a little bit of talent helps. A sound training plan, training philosophy really helps as well. And then number three, work ethic. Listen, we're not shooting pucks at a net and it hits the crossbar and bounces in. We're not doing an onside kick and football and the ball happens to bounce the right way or you hit a baseball and depending on how the dirt is groomed that day will determine on whether the ball rolls foul or rolls fair. I'm telling you, like a lot of other sports, I see it all the time. And I don't know if you don't have to call it luck. You can call it whatever you want but I just believe running comes down to your fitness and how well you trained and how hard you worked. But balancing that, remember, walk the line between fitness and freshness. So I'm a big proponent of working hard. That's why I say it every day and not just in running but in our careers, in our family life, in our relationships, in taking care of the house and being frankly, and this is, I'd like to work better, be better at this as well but being a strong contributor to our communities that we live in, I don't know. I just gotta find more time to figure out how to do that but so anyway, that's what I'm talking about when I say work hard at the end of every vlog. Like I wanna live by it and I want you guys to hold me accountable to live by that and I'll do my best through DeMord Global running on Strava to help you live by that as well if you want to. And I think is for success in long distance running, it really does come down to that consistency and that work ethic. And so with that said, yes, that is the last vest run. I didn't necessarily wanna put that vest on today but I wanted to work hard today so I said, okay, let's do it one more time in this training bar. Let's do this, all right? Let's do it and that's what I did and I got it done and it's all about that up here between the ears to make that happen. So I love you guys and if you wanna dive a little more into mental toughness, click on that box on the left and if you wanna click on the box on the right, that'll take you to a vlog where I really went to the well in a hard, hard long run. All right, I love you guys. Thanks for being here. Thanks for watching. See beauty, work hard and love each other. See you tomorrow.