 Okay everyone. Oh my goodness. We made it. We made it to race day. When you're watching this, it's race day. This vlog published early because I want my race strategy and thoughts to be out there before the race actually happens. So the vlog published early. Let me just pull up the app here though in real time. How much time do we have to go? According to the app real quick here. It says 17 hours 20 minutes and five seconds. So we are in the home stretch and yes, I did just eat a meal, my dinner. I'm going to have a lighter meal later, but I ate my bigger meal of the day right about, it was right about 2 30 p.m. I just wanted to make sure that my stomach can fully digest the pasta and get the carbs in the body. And so then at about 6 30, as I start to begin to wind down the day, I'll have a little more pasta, a little more banana, but I wanted my bigger meal to be earlier in the day leading into the race. And yes, I was, I did get the bottles done for the race course. So let me also pull up tracking here on the app, see if I can pull up. Well, it was showing up earlier. I don't know if it's going to let me right now, but basically I can set out eight bottles along the way. And those bottles basically coordinate with the tracking on the app for the 5k, the 10k, the 15k. So especially if you're in Europe or somewhere where you're not sleeping, I realize most folks, yeah, most folks will be asleep in the US. If you stay up, that's amazing. I think it will be streamed live just so you know, I believe on the TCS Amsterdam marathon Facebook page, also on I believe their home page of the website for just Google it and it'll pop up. So I was methodical in getting the bottles ready for today. I went down into the kitchen here at the hotel and asked them to measure out exactly 500 milliliters. Show me where it's at on the bottles that I'm using. And then because the Morton drink mix, which is in there right now, but the Morton drink mix that you see on your screen, it needs to be mixed exactly with 500 milliliters for it or 17 ounces for it to work out correctly. And yes, I have the gels taped to the bottles as well. So three gels along the way at 10k, 20k and 30k. So I feel great about that. They're on the bottles, they're already delivered to the location where they will be distributed out across the course. It looked like about at least from today look like about 20 other people were doing this for their own bottles. So people that basically are not elites that are going to have bottles handed to them. We have to grab them off the tables, which is totally, totally fine. So remember we're going to get into the race strategy here in a minute. And by the way, I kept today's filming pretty simple, not a ton of B roll. I just want the day to be as relaxed and calm as possible. And frankly, the biggest thing is keep the editing concise and quick tonight so I can go to bed as early as possible. So here we go. My five points for what I do to mentally prepare for all of my races. Point number one, a calm mind. You know how much I love classical music, just nice. And I've been listening to classical music most of the day, just staying calm. That's how I stay calm. Point number two, offer my race for someone else. So when it starts to hurt, I think of this person, I'm not going to tell you who that is. I will maybe if I remember, I'll try and tell you after the race, but it's between me and my own being to offer this race for this person to really sacrifice the pain for them, okay? For this one person. So that's point number two. Point number three, I will tell you this, an actionable word. So something that I will remind myself during the race. This word for this race in particular, and I'm going to talk more about this in a minute is rhythm, rhythm, okay? And I'll explain why it is here in a second. Let me just take a sip of tea. And then point number four, inspiring words, okay? So like an inspiring quote, maybe an inspiring song that you want to think of. So that's point number four for how I prepare mentally for a big race, especially a peak race like this one. And then point number five, kind of going from the 30,000 foot view down to the practical. So kind of the dreamy, actionable, you know, inspiring words or offering the race for someone it's good. But at the end of the day, it also helps for me to really know the course well. So that's point number five for my mental strategy, know the course well, know where the aid stations are, know where my bottles are going to be placed and where my Morton drink mix is at, where my water is at, and then where my gels are at. So again, at 10K, 20K, 30K. Of course, I was unable to preview the entire course, but I have a pretty good feel for just like the pavement, the different services will be running on. I know the first really five to six K really well, because I biked it. And but anyway, so know the course well, which I will talk more about here in a second. Now, why am I here? If you're new, and you're not sure why I flew all the way from Denver to Amsterdam to run my day, yes, my debut marathon, I am attempting to qualify for the United States Olympic trials in the marathon, which is taking place next February, this upcoming February in Atlanta, Georgia. It's been a lifelong dream to race in the Olympic trials. And I kind of had put the dream on the back burner for many years, because the last five years I've been doing trail running, ultra running, mountain running. Okay, so that's why this is my first marathon. I just I just never got around to it. I was doing other types of running, specifically a lot of mountain running. In fact, my last race, three weeks ago, or was it four weeks ago, was in New Hampshire, where I qualified for I ran the US mountain running championships, took third place. And that qualified me for the world mountain running championships in Argentina in November. So what I'm getting at is that I am trying to do something that I realize is a little unique. This isn't your typical build up for a marathon. But the goal here in Amsterdam is to run under two hours and 19 minutes. That is the only way I will receive an invitation to go race the United States Olympic trials marathon race in February. So under two hours and 19 minutes. Now let's break that down. That comes down to and I'm glancing at my computer here. That comes down to five minutes and five minutes and 18 seconds per mile, or three minutes and 17 seconds per kilometer. If you if you break that out, that turns into 16 minutes and 28 seconds per 5k 30 about 33 minutes for 10k, or about 109 an hour and nine minutes and 20 seconds through the half marathon. So as you're tracking me on the app, if you don't have the app downloaded and you are awake and you want to track live, there it is now it's working, they will update the splits along the way 5k 10k 15 20 21.1k, which is halfway 25k. I don't quite know why they have 26.1k. I'm trying to figure that out and then 30k 35k all the way down to 40k and the finish. So those are the splits that I need to run. Okay. Now I have a lot of confidence in those splits because what was it nine days ago 10 days ago you watched I did the last threshold run at 517 a mile at 5,280 feet in Denver, Colorado for 13.1 miles on pretty tired legs. I must say like my legs were not fresh in that effort, but we got it done. So the fact that I can do that in Denver, I feel very good about that 517 a mile pace and getting into 24 mile long runs. One of those runs was up at 10,000 feet above sea level in Leadville, Colorado. You all many of you saw me do that training run. So the confidence is definitely there. Now what is my actual race strategy? So as I already mentioned my last race in New Hampshire was 3000 feet of vertical gain over seven miles. That's a lot different than what I'm doing here in Amsterdam. A lot different, different obviously vertical and different surface. So ultra running and trail running is it's very, it's obviously very different and your pacing in an ultra race or a trail race or a mountain race is you basically kind of throw it out the window to a certain extent. It's more about effort and controlling yourself at the beginning. So you're not going out too fast, but like the pacing is not as let's say regimented as a flat marathon course like here in Amsterdam. And that's why I mentioned rhythm for my actionable word that I'm going to be reminding myself in this race here in Amsterdam because okay, so the race starts in the old Olympic stadium. I should know the date of when the Olympics were here. I'll look that up and put it on the screen. So you start on the track and then you go around the track. So my goal is to hit. So the first one K is going to be busy with other runners. It's going to be out of the stadium. Kind of you have to take a hard left and then I'm kind of throwing the first one K a little bit out the window. I'm not worried about it. Just get out of the stadium without tripping and just get out onto the roads. But by one K, the one K mark, I want to begin to think about finding my rhythm. And then by let's say two K no later than three K, I am when we take a hard right into Vondelpark, I want to definitely be really focused on the rhythm of my stride and not remember don't fight it, float it. This is a little different because that is when I say don't fight it, float it. I'm talking most especially about mountain running, meaning don't fight the mountain. Just float it, just float it, float it. Well, it's I can see it being the same in the marathon here on the roads in Amsterdam at sea level. But at the same time, I want to find that cadence and that rhythm. And so when I was in Vienna, this was maybe five days ago, I did a fart lick in this park in Vienna. I filmed some of it. And I did this fart lick and I did three minutes on two minutes off. And during the three minutes on, there were some moments where I found that rhythm. And it felt unbelievable. Like now it was only a short amount of time I realized, but it was five minute pace, 505 pace, sometimes 450 pace. And I was just just like relaxed and just in that rhythm where your arms and legs are working together. So that is what I want to achieve by 2k, no later than 3k, where I'm really in that rhythm. Lock it into is it going to be 315 per kilometer? Is it going to be 312 per kilometer? I just don't know. And the reason I don't know is because this is my first race at sea level in a long, long, long time. I'm talking 10 years long, where it's especially on a flat course. So it's been a long time. So I just have to be open to listening to my breathing, obviously no music, no music or anything like that, just listening to my breathing and listening to my legs, knowing that there's going to be a lot of runners around me at all different ability levels. Some of the, you know, the elites will be up there because they start first. And then I'm hoping there's a pack of guys that I can lock in with. But I must say I'm confident in the fact that I don't think there's going to be anybody around me who has done kind of the leg strength training that I have done by putting a weighted vest on my back, 20 pounds and running up a 14,000 foot mountain. I think I did that three or four times in the last two to three months. So I feel very good about letting the legs wake up that first 3k and then trusting that they are strong and that they're finally tapered and rested after this good solid taper. It's been a good, it's been a good taper. It's been a little different than usual because I'm just not used to this type of taper, but I'm confident that the legs are ready and that they're strong and that I can, if I want to make a move later in the race. So my goal is to, okay, my goal is to negative split. I want to come through the halfway point. I don't know if it's going to be 109, which would put me on 218 pace or 109 20. I don't know if it's going to be, I don't think it's going to be slower. I'm just going to say that right now. I don't think it's going to be slower based on my threshold runs. So I don't know if it's going to be 108. I don't know if it's going to be 107 45, but whatever it is, I want to feel confident enough to where I can close the last half marathon, but specifically the last really the last like 6k. So about four miles to go. So from 22 miles to 26 miles, where I say, okay, why, we didn't get the rest for nothing. And so that is my race strategy. Trust the leg strength. Always remind myself eyes up, pump arms, quick feet. Rhythm is key. Okay. Remember the green water bottles along the way. Okay. Right. You know, I'll know where I'll know, I know in my mind where they're going to be. And just like, you know, using that first table to really make sure I can spot the bright green, which I'm confident I'll be able to do. And at the end of the day, enjoy it. This is my first marathon on the roads. Like this is a big deal. Like, you know, the second or third or fourth road marathon might not be quite as exciting or special. And so I'm just going to soak in this moment and enjoy it for what it is. So that is my race strategy. I'm trying to rack my brain real quick, make sure I'm not forgetting to inform you on anything. I would really love to lock, I would just want to emphasize, I really would love to lock into a group of runners. If it's four of us, four of us, eight of us, two, you know, not two, but three or four of us, like it would be great to find a pack. And so I will be doing a little bit of circulating and talking in the starting area, trying to just gauge where everyone thinks they're going to be out there on the course. I love you. Question of the day. What are your race day strategies for a road marathon? What is your number one tip? Share down below. A lot of new runners out there that are training for their first marathon. Go down into the comments. Excuse me. I know you'll learn a lot. And thank you for sharing your insights. Thank you for coming on this journey. And when you're watching this, I literally might be out there pounding ground, getting this baby done. So let's do this, everyone. All right. And yes, of course, you can track on the app. I will update as quick as possible everywhere else. Again, you're probably going to know how I did before I even know. So all right, signing off a couple of blogs from here in Amsterdam on the right and the left. There you go. You can check out how my days have been here in Amsterdam. And don't hesitate to yeah, just send the good, send the goodness over, send the goodness over. All right, everyone. See beauty, work hard and love each other. See you tomorrow.