 The game has changed and you have to have, in my opinion, kind of that entrepreneurial spirit in order to survive as a professional runner. Publishing two blogs today. Welcome to number one. Number two is going to be all about the Western States 100 Elite Field Preview for men and women. And actually, when it publishes 5 p.m. mountain time, I'm literally going to be hopping on a plane to fly to Reno to begin the coverage. Oh, it's going to be, it's going down. It's going to be amazing this weekend. So the fields are stacked on both sides, absolutely stacked. So I can't wait to break that down for you. But this blog is all about, yes, I know we're going to get into a topic that people don't usually like to talk about. That's money and connecting it to running and connecting it. Like I just am not afraid to talk about money, especially when it has to do with putting a roof over your head. You know what I mean as a runner. So we'll dive into that after the run, lacing up in the peg 36 trails back to nice grass field. Look at this out here. Look at this. And one last point before we get going. I am not an agent. I've actually never dealt with an agent with respect to run. Well, ever, but with respect to running. So all that I'm going to share today is just based on observation, talking to professional runners that I know. And so anyway, I just want to make that very clear, not an agent. I'm not an agent, but I've never dealt with a professional running agent. All right, let's get going here. Going to do four miles, four miles on soft grass, rock and roll time. All right, so time is tight today. So I didn't film any of the four miles, but I did get it in. And here we are back in the studio. All right, if you can hear a background noise, you might not be able to because of the mic quality, but it's hot now in Denver. Finally, it was freezing last weekend when we were camping, but now it's in the 90s and so it's hot. So I had the door open to the studio and we have a swamp cooler at our house, which is kind of loud. It's basically like an air conditioner. So anyway, if you hear a background noise, I just want to let you know what that is. And here's the Peg 36 trails. Decided to take these guys out today on the grass. Nice, nice. In fact, I'm getting quite a few questions about these shoes. Just a lot of good cushion in this Peg 36 trail lineup, which is why I ran in them today. Foot felt great. Went four miles again tomorrow. I'll drop back down in mileage. So, you know, you don't just you can't just go full bore after a bone injury. You've got to increase and then decrease and then increase and then decrease. It's like two steps forward, one step back, three steps forward, two steps back type of deal with respect to mileage. So I'll go two or three miles tomorrow. And OK, as I already mentioned, I am not an agent. I've never I've never dealt with an agent. I've never been approached by a running shoe company to run for them. They're lost. They're lost. No, just kidding. Just kidding. I love what I do. I love the fact that I can run in any shoe that I want for all of you. It's just amazing. So therefore, the tears that I have come up with in my own mind after knowing many professional runners, some Olympians, and then just reading a ton, whether it's marathon running, ultra running track and field. By the way, the Diamond League is happening right now over in Europe. I think a race is about to happen in the Czech Republic. So just a lot of good racing happening by elite runners right now all around the world. So this is an oversimplified system. And I only came up with basically three categories. I have them listed here on my computer and we'll just dive into number one. And again, this is oversimplified. If you are an agent, a running of runner of ultra runners, elite runners, let us know, I would be fascinated to pick the brain of an agent who serves professional runners. So here we go. First tier, kind of the bottom tier. We're going to go with a runner who is sponsored by a company and basically is provided a kit or merchandise to wear from that company. So if you run for Nike Trail, you would get a Nike Trail singlet every year. And in addition to that bottom tier, there's quite a few runners here in Denver. And again, this is like oversimplified. But runners who run who race and wear a singlet for a running shoe store. In fact, if you are one of those runners around the world, across the United States, who represents a running shoe store, and that means you wear their singlet like there's a lot of runners roost runners here in here in Denver. Fleet Feet has a large presence, bolder running company. Um, I guess I've never really seen road runner sports and I've never seen like running warehouse. So even just some local really niche running shoe shops like Berkeley Park here in Denver, it's like a really small niche trail running, mostly running shoe shop here in Denver. So that would be another that would be in that would be part of that tier one category of kind of sponsored runners, but not necessarily you're not making a full time living in the tier one. Okay. Okay. In tier two, I actually messed up tier one. Tier two actually is all free kit, free travel and free entry fees. So to go race around the world, you are covered like the airplane tickets, hotels. And so that means tier one does not include that. Sorry. Tier one is just free kit and you're representing a brand or a running shoe store and you get free gear, which is awesome. And it's like that's a it's, you know, it can add up over time. So you're, you know, you're making money by not having to purchase running shoes. So that's tier two, free kit, free travel, free stipends, maybe for food. And then free your entry fees are covered. Okay. And then tier three would be the top level. And again, there's there's huge, huge variations within this tier. But this tier, all there are the full time professional runners, meaning that's all they do. They're on salary. They probably get medical insurance or no, sorry, they absolutely get medical insurance through the running. And it's most likely a running shoe brand. So Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Reebok, what have you there? The list goes on and on and on. And then you also, you might have access to a retirement plan. So a 401k, I would be, I don't know, but that would be my guess. At that top tier, you not only have medical insurance covered, but you also have access to retirement planning investments. So those are my three tiers oversimplified. I get it. And this is not the question of the day, but if you have more tiers that you would add in and maybe you're a professional runner or a runner that's aspiring to become a professional runner, let me know like where I'm off base, what I could add to these different tiers. And you know what? I'm going to throw in the question of the day right now. What is your overall thought and opinion on runners making a living off of running, like by running, whether it's winning races, whether it's you're on salary, whatever the case may be, what is just your over? And maybe you've never thought about this and hit pause on the video. Go down and comment because I'm about to give my opinion on it. And I don't want my opinion to skew your opinion. So go share your thoughts. And anyway, I'd just be curious to see if you've ever even processed this before and the fact that there are actually people in the world that do this full time, that's all they do is train and race. Kind of crazy. All right, hit on pause. There we go. We're back. All right, here is my quick opinion on becoming an old professional runner, not an ultra runner, professional runner, where that's what you do. That's your full time job. First of all, it's very difficult. Just know that upfront. Some of my teammates who were basically not quite, but like almost NCAA champions, they were professional runners for two or three years. And then it kind of fizzles out because if you're not winning at the next level, at the professional level, it's very difficult to maintain that lifestyle and take care of yourself and potentially a family pay the mortgage. So it's very difficult. I'll just say, like I just know quite a few elite professional runners who have had to transition away from it because, you know, at the end of the day, you've got to pay bills. You've got to keep the lights on, as we say. Also, you've got to walk a line with respect to burnout to a certain extent because it's such a physical exertion as an elite runner, a professional runner. You're on like, if you're not running, you're probably stretching or napping or, you know, just trying to recover to get ready for the next training session. So that can lead to a little bit of an unbalanced lifestyle. But like Tim Tollefson, a professional ultra runner who runs for Hoka, very successful. I believe he is still a physical therapist on the side, at least part time. I'm not, you know, don't quote me on that, but I believe he's still a part-time physical therapist just to keep that balance in his life between running and physical and, you know, kind of quote unquote, a real job out in the real world. So I kind of, oh, there goes the light. Hold on. And one last point on professional running. I love it. The fact that, OK, I love the team component of cross country and track in high school and college, but after college, you're kind of flying solo. I know you can qualify for Olympic teams and national teams and USA team. But like at the end of the day, it's a very personal, individual sports, which I personally love. It's because I love entrepreneurship. I love putting your best foot forward, trying to strike out into the world and blaze your own trail, and that frankly does comprise, in my opinion, a large piece of being a professional runner. You're kind of your own brand and you're an entrepreneur, whether you know it or not, especially this day and age with social media. And it's like it's just the ball game has completely changed compared to even, let's say, just 15 years ago when I was in college and I guess I was leaving college 10 years ago. But anyway, the game has changed and you have to have, in my opinion, kind of that entrepreneurial spirit in order to survive as a professional runner. So thanks for hitting that question of the day. And yes, professional is going to be the key word. I already asked the question of the day. Just give us your overall thoughts. And I know this was a kind of an outlier topic for today's daily running vlog. But I think it's exciting, especially like, listen, there's some really, really, really fast high school runners who watch this vlog. I know who you are because you messaged me on Instagram and all over the place. You tell me your PRs. You've got a shot. Your time's out there. Oh, man, I won't throw out any names right now. But you know who you are. Keep believing. Stay patient. If you're 18, 19, 17, whatever you're at, you have all the time in the world. Just imagine where you could be when you're 24, 25, I guess 23, 24, transitioning out of college, there's just like, there's just upside for you. So I encourage you to just remain patient and good things will come to you. You're going to be fast. Like if you're running those times now, you're just going to be fast. So I'm excited for you. All right. That's it for today. This is video vlog number one, video number one, video two. We'll publish at 5 p.m. mountain time, breaking down the elite field for Western States 100. I'll be hopping on a plane to Nevada. It's just going to be a fun weekend here on YouTube. Make sure you keep it here. This is going to be fun. Seek beauty, work hard, love each other. Actually, see you at 5 p.m.