 So excellent, they'll definitely do. It's four engine, blue seven. Pretty chilly out there for Denver in the... I think it's low 20s compared to some other folks I followed on Strava. This is nothing but a good run, sore and tired from yesterday. So three miles in the books. Alright, going home, finish off the work day. Tonight I'm going to give you... Give you some insight into how I'm choosing running races in 2018. My strategy, my tips and tricks for you. So today's vlog and story is all about creating a racing schedule for running specifically. But it could probably be applied to other sports as well. But for me, it's all about running, how to do that, resources, tips and tricks. Here we go. Five things to consider. The calendar, there's 365 days in a year. Actually now when I'm recording this, there's only 350 left in 2018. We got to get going people. Number one, the calendar. Number two, why this race? Number three, peak races. Peak races. Number four, this is applicable to me and I bet a lot of you, you know. Budget and awards, budget and awards. Number five, know your strengths. Know your strengths. Alright, so as we move along here, I am a visual learner. That's why I do daily vlogs. I love creating visuals for the intrawebs to watch. And so I'm going to write out on this big long piece of paper here on my kitchen table a calendar, goals and ideas for what's going to work and what's not going to work in the 2018 calendar year, although this can be applied to any calendar year. So the points that you use to choose your running race is going to, they're going to be different than mine. It's just that's the fact of being a human being. We think differently, but this is what I look to when I'm thinking about races and planning my entire racing schedule, okay? Number one, even though I listed it last, is know your strengths. Perhaps you're a fast marathoner or a fast 5k runner on the streets. For me, I'm fairly fast, but I'm not ridiculously fast. And so I have found that actually my strengths lie in trail racing, specifically at altitude, specifically uphill. All right? Because if you know your strengths, you're probably going to have more fun when you're racing, which isn't that part of the goal is to have fun when we're out there running. So know your strengths, you know, think about it, really take a moment and think about what am I good at when it comes to running? All right? Number two, ask yourself why this race, specifically each race, why this race, maybe it's for the beauty of the landscape. Maybe it's for the award money. Maybe it's for the beer afterward. I don't know. Or maybe it's to run it with a family member or friend. I don't know. So ask your why, because your why is going to drive you through those dark winter months when you're just like, oh, I don't want to go out in the freezing cold temperatures, okay? So make sure you understand your why really clearly for each race. Peak races. Especially for, let's say, the more competitive athletes, you cannot race every month or even every other month at a high level. Maybe you can pull it off for a little while, but eventually your body is going to say, stop, you are pushing too hard. So it doesn't mean you can't do a lot of races throughout a calendar year, but you need to hone in on some really peak races, meaning the races that you're peaking for in your training schedule. So you are fit. You are ready to rock and roll. You are well rested. You are all the variables that go into being ready to toe the line. I believe three to four peak races a year is pretty darn good. That means one every quarter. I'm this year probably going to lean toward three peak races. Three, okay? Number four, budget and awards. I remember paying $10, $15 to run a 10K. This is when I was in middle school to run a half marathon, maybe $20, maybe $25. Races have gotten really expensive. And race directors, if you're watching, I don't mind them being a little more expensive, and I know whatever if you want to talk about inflation, but make sure the quality is there. If you're charging $90 for a half marathon, $90, or you know, one of the races I have my eye on this year is over $200. So budget, think about your budget. How much can you afford? Thankfully this year, true love and I have budgeted a certain amount of money for my races. And then if you're really competitive, think about the award money. Hey, I'm not afraid to admit it. I'm looking for races that have a little bit of award money. All right, so I'm going to talk about that more in a second. And then lastly, the calendar. Okay, and I know this is really broadly speaking, but especially for running, I'm sure other endurance sports as well, but your calendar, it's so critical that you make sure you have a training plan ahead of time and that your peak races are on that calendar marked out so that you can basically reverse engineer your training to get you ready to tow that line and you're in your peak condition. So look back, zoom out and look at the big overall 12 month calendar, whatever year you're planning your racing schedule. So those are my five points. Know your strengths. Ask why this race, peak races, budget and awards and calendar overall vision. Okay? Capiche? All right. Now we're going to plan it out. Oh, lastly. Okay, one more thing. There's a ton of races in this world, specifically running races. Trail races, road races. You could run almost every day of the year if you wanted to in a race. I have found ultrasoundup.com to be a very valuable website for finding good, long trail races. Okay? It's definitely the biggest, most popular website for trail races. The other one that I like is running in the USA.com. So if you're in the United States, this is for you. And basically you can search by distances, month of the year, all that good stuff. Now I'm going to mark out my calendar and then tell you a little bit about which races I'm going to be choosing for 2018. All right. I know this is kind of an unusual vlog slash story, but thanks for coming along the journey of deciding, discerning races for 2018. You know I love running. So let me walk you through what I'm doing here. Maybe I'm not going to tell you everything now. All right. Here we go. Nothing in January. Nothing in January. First race, Rust Buster in February. The 24th, a 20K. Dirty 30. Second of June, Black Hawk, Colorado. It's a 50K. $115 to register. $2,000 to the winner. $2,000 to the winner. That ain't bad. Second peak race. Here we go. It's getting serious. If you want to be the best, you got to beat the best. You got to go to where the big dogs are. The Speed Goat 50K. Google it if you're interested. It's where the big dogs go. We're talking people from Europe. It's a big race out in Utah. So Speed Goat 50K. It's an Alta. It's a 50K. $100 to register. $2,500 to the winner. That ain't bad. All right. I am going to a wedding this year for Pikes Peak. I can't run Pikes Peak because I'll be at a wedding. So no Pikes Peak this year. Sad day, but this is life. So the mystery race for me in 2018, I'm only going to give you the date. I'm only going to give you the date. I'm not going to tell you yet because I am still discerning just a little bit. That's it, folks. All right. Final tip of the day. Don't choose all your races in one sitting. Give it some time. Don't rush it. I'm glad I got a start. I'm not quite done, but I'm feeling real good about what I've chosen so far. But I'll probably add like two or three more, maybe two more simple races and then one more the peak race in September. All right. So kind of spread it out so you don't rush yourself, but you got to get it down on paper. So beauty, work hard, run hard. Love each other.