 It's a relaxing Saturday morning type day. Good morning, YouTube. Here we are just working on some magnet tiles. I love these things as an adult. I love these things. Do you guys play with magnet tiles out there? Probably not, but it's fun. It's fun, right, Joseph? Right. And guess what? Good times. Good times on a Saturday morning. All right. Solid morning playing with the magnet tiles. Solid morning playing with the magnet. Oh my goodness, it's windy. Okay, hold on. Okay, I'm sitting in my car now. It's just too windy to film outside for the sake of the audio. Basically, tonight I'm gonna go back to my house and field as many of your questions as possible. Keep them coming via email, Instagram, Strava. Those are the top three places that I'm getting questions right now with respect to training, nutrition, racing, running shoes, all of that good stuff. But listen, it is getting a little more difficult to type out my answers. So I'm trying to come up with a good game plan for how to better field your questions and answer them in a really solid way, in a really detailed way. So tonight I'm gonna spend a little time in the shed just answering your questions. And for example, where to go? I think it's outside. The Solomon Speedcross 4. Some of you expressed some concern and questions about why I was putting screws into the bottom of them yesterday. So I'll explain in better detail tonight why I did that. And again, keep the questions coming, direct messages on Instagram, email through the desktop version of YouTube. You can find it under the about section. And then, yeah, on Strava, just down in the comments, I'll do my best to answer them there as well. So I just love connecting with all of you. Alright, let's rock and roll. Questions, questions, questions. As a daily creator and uploader to YouTube, I don't have a lot of extra time to field all of the questions that are coming in through all the places, all the online social media places. And I just want you to know if I'm not answering your questions in a timely matter, it's really difficult to pull off the daily video every single day at a decent quality level and still sit down and answer all of the questions down in the comments. But I think what I might start doing is a video like this maybe every week in addition to the live stream where I basically have written down on my phone your questions that have come in through Strava through Instagram, through the YouTube comments, because I don't watch a lot of other YouTubers. I just don't have the time. I would love to watch more running YouTube channels on a consistent basis. I just don't have the time. And therefore I don't know what's happening on other channels as far as the dialogue down in the comments. I want to continue to be as the best that I can be in answering all of your questions. Okay, so anyway, thank you for keeping the questions coming. And I have like six written down. We're going to run through them. And they're not all from YouTube. But I do want to begin by talking about the Solomon Speedcross 4. I did not I decided not to run an issue today because there was not enough ice up at Deer Creek where I was running today. It was just a hard pack snow and a lot of mud. And so basically some people voiced their concern about why in on Earth I would put screws, which I did yesterday, I put screws in the bottom of these shoes in order to add grip to the bottom for icy runs, kind of like putting snow tires on your car. You know, have you ever seen snow tires have little metal studs? Well, my dad used to do that when we lived up in the mountains. Basically, in the ultra running and trail running community, this is a pretty common practice to put screws in the bottom of your shoes. It's ridiculous how much grip screws give your your shoes when you're running on ice. Now, I know there's yak tracks. And what's the other big one? I'm not going to remember the name right now. But I have found that yak tracks slip around just a teeny tiny bit. And so these Solomon Speedcross 4 is they are old shoes. They're kind of beat around shoes now that I have especially now that I have the Speedcross 5s. And these guys are kind of on their way out. They served their purpose in 2018 with tons of miles out on the trails. But now I feel like they actually have a new lease on life, because what I'm going to do is basically I'll run this spring in the snow and ice with the screws in the bottom. And then I'm just going to put them in my closet and pull them out for next winter 2019 2020 and use the screws in the bottom of the shoes for the icy runs next winter. So I actually am approaching the screws in the bottom with a new lease on life. All right, let's move on to the questions from all of you. The first one is from Switzerland from Joseph. And again, the reason I'm doing this is because I don't have enough time in the live streams to answer all the questions in this box. In addition to all of the questions coming in in the live chat on the side of the live stream. So here we go. Joseph asked this. I am Swiss. We run a lot on mountain trails. Solomon is the common choice for trails in Switzerland. That's good. I'm not surprised. Most of my colleagues have switched to Hoka. That's interesting. The best shoe they but some of them tell me that the best shoe that they've ever used on ultra trails like the Mungo Trail in Africa came from La Sportiva. What is your experience regards Joseph? Joseph, you are in luck. You are in luck because guess what? I've got a Hoka shoe. I've got a La Sportiva shoe. And yes, we've got the Solomon shoes. Here's where I'm at, Joseph. I had a Hoka Challenger ATR4 last year. Ended up not loving that shoe. This is a Hoka Stinson 3. Hoka Stinson 3. This is an old school Hoka at this point. But I must say this one treated me pretty well in 2018. I'm realizing that the stack height of the heel is a little too much. And then I switched over to the La Sportiva lineup last year because I won this pair of shoes and I just wanted to try them out. And listen, La Sportiva is a very, very rugged mountain. I would even say rigid, rigid mountain running shoe, meaning like there's not a lot of flexibility in this shoe. Now, basically I wore this shoe last year to help alleviate my plantar fasciitis. But I'm actually in retrospect thinking that it did not help. It may have actually even inflamed it even more. I don't actually know. But I actually attempted 100 mile race in this La Sportiva. So I'm a little on the fence right now about La Sportiva. But I am not on the fence about the Solomon lineup and the Solomon Speed Cross Fives. Come back later today, 3pm mountain time, I will be publishing my full review of the Solomon Speed Cross Five. Come back for that video. I love this shoe. I love this shoe. Joseph, to answer your question, I am definitely in the camp of Solomon at the moment. But guess what? There's rumors out there that an innovate mudclaw, who knows, might be in the works, might be arriving at my front door in the not so distant future. I'm very interested in innovate in 2019. All right. So I know that was a lot to throw at you. But right now I am in the Solomon camp. All right. Moving on. Thank you, Joseph, for that question. Here we go. From Jim, what advice would you have for road runners switching over to trail? A lot of great content coming from your channel. Don't let one day get you bummed. Hashtag perseverance. Thank you, Jim, for that with a capital P. All right, Jim, let's see. So switching from the roads to the trails, it's an adjustment for sure. I would say, first of all, finding the right shoe that works for you is a good start. But think about, Jim, the type of trails that you're going to be running on consistently, because there's a lot of different types of trails. You know, there's buffed out trails that don't really have too many rocks. There's up and down trails like in parts of California that I ran that like the Lake Sonoma 50 that I ran last year. I couldn't believe how hilly it was. Then you have rocky trails here in Colorado like on the 14ers. And Jim, I'm not sure where you're from. I feel like maybe you're from Minnesota. I'm not sure, though, and which I could believe would be a little muddier than here in Colorado. So find the right shoe that works for you and the type of trails that you're going to be running most often. Second point, Jim, I would say is strength. You're going to need more strength. And I don't mean like muscle, go to the gym, get buff strength, although I do think going to the gym is good. But you're going to be firing different muscle groups below your torso, especially and your upper body to a certain extent, but below your torso, especially that aren't fired as much as in road racing. So trail racing, I would say you need to work on your quads. You need to work on your calves, your Achilles. And so doing like just even just at your house, just doing heel raises. And one last point, Jim, I would recommend going out a little slower at the beginning of trail races, like the first, let's say, 10 to 15% of the race. So if it's a 10 mile trail race, take the first two to three miles just a little slower because it'll come back to bite you a lot harder, especially if it's a hillier course with rocks and roots and mud and dirt. And it'll come back to bite you a lot harder than in a road race. So that would be a tip as far as racing, like just rain it in just a teeny tiny bit. All right, Jim, that we could talk about that all night. I hope that gives you a few ideas, ask more questions, email them to me. Oh gosh, thank you for the question. And the third question is coming in from Denmark from Matthias. Thank you, Matthias. He asked this. Hey, Seth, and I think this question came in through Strava. I'm running my first marathon in Copenhagen on the 19th of May, 2019. I'm currently struggling with, I don't know how to pronounce this, peer reformist syndrome. And starting my marathon program next week, do you think I should take any caution while running towards my marathon in May? Kind regards, Matthias. Matthias, got to go see a doctor, right? I'm not a doctor. Based on the research I've done, you can train through this peer reformist syndrome. But again, go see your doctor. And it's basically, yeah, it's something to do with a sciatic nerve for everybody out there that doesn't know what that is. But Matthias, listen to this, you still have, if you were asking me that question in a month from now, so late February, I'd be a little more concerned about getting ready for a marathon in May. You have plenty of time. You're going to be just fine. Be patient. I think you could take, I think you could be patient for at least the next three weeks and make sure you get this thing under control before you start training for that marathon. So as far as your timeline, you're still good to go. You're still good to go. This next question is from Patrick. He asks, does the mud build up on your shoes? What is the best shoe you have run in for sticky muddy trail racing? Patrick, I actually don't have like a ton of experience racing in like really horrible muddy conditions. I do run like in the spring as you know here in Colorado, the trails can get very muddy. They were actually pretty muddy today. I think Solomon is a pretty good option because it's a little bit more of a narrow platform compared to like an ultra or a hoca or a topo where the platform is a little wider and the Solomon overall is a narrower platform for landing. Now listen, I haven't raced in an ultra. I haven't raced in topo so don't quote me on that but it's a really good question. Again, I'm hoping to try to innovate mud claws soon but anyway Patrick, I would, gosh, I mean I like yes you can see mud has built up here today but it wasn't like sticking to the point where it was adding like a ton of weight but there I know exactly Patrick the type of conditions you're talking about where like literally every step the mud continues to build up and get heavier and heavier until it falls off. Gosh, I mean is there a perfect shoe to alleviate that? I don't know. If anybody has advice or tips on that like I know people on the east coast like in Vermont and New Hampshire and it just is like a mud bog in the late spring early summer just like a mud bog out there so if you are from that area like let us know like what do you do to get through the mud. Patrick, good question. Sorry I don't have like a perfect answer for you but anyway keep them coming and one more question for the night from Ronan. Thank you Ronan for this. He asks do you run every day? I always see your videos where you run on concrete sidewalks. Does it hurt your feet? I always try to run on the trail or the asphalt and Ronan that's a really good point just so everybody knows asphalt is softer than concrete. Did you know that? Like especially in the summertime when the asphalt heats up it has a little bit of give to it compared to concrete which is a lot more dense so try to run on roads versus like concrete sidewalks especially if you're struggling with shinsplants or you know stress fractures that those types of injuries but Ronan to answer your question I do run every day. I don't I try to stay off the sidewalks but sorry if you are seeing clips of me running on sidewalks I definitely try to stay on the roads and dirt if possible. Yeah I would recommend it but I would say Ronan that if you're getting ready for a road race it's a good idea to practice fast speeds on the surface that you're going to be racing on. So I personally love the trails but I know for a fact in the next three months I need to do a little bit of practice on that feeling of running on pavement again at high speeds just to get that turnover going. So anyway Ronan good question and thank you everybody again keep them coming email them to me ask them down below ask them on Instagram however you want. All right thank you Ronan for that question I appreciate it and yes the keyword QD down in the comment because the question of the day what questions you have for me what questions you have for me or my brother so we're gonna attempt to get him on to the live stream on Wednesday however you know it's it's new territory as far as live streaming and who knows what could happen but send us your questions that you have I will of course add them to the box add them to the box and save them for future videos because I just I'm running out of time to type out all of my answers for you. So anyway thank you for asking questions and I'll do my best to field them for you whoo good day solid day and again come back at 3 p.m. today if you're watching this when it publishes for my full review of the Solomon speedcross 5. Sleep beauty work hard and love each other. See you tomorrow.