 And, even if you're raising your heart rate from, let's say your resting heart rate is, I don't know, 65 or 70, here we go. It's Saturday. You know what time it is. Q&A time. Let's see. I'm only going to take questions this week from Twitter and from Facebook. About 40 came in through Twitter this week and about 70 through Facebook. That's plenty to work with and I have not even looked at them ahead of time. I'm just reading them as they come in. Okay. This first one is from Twitter. Shout out to Michael. Thank you, Michael. He asks, and I cannot get to all the questions, so if I don't get to yours, I apologize, but we'll just do our best. Here we go. During your personal training blocks, do you take a weekly rest day? Why or why not? So, Michael, from a mental standpoint, I do not like to take a rest day, like once a week because I love running. But a day off of running for me is a day that feels not unfulfilled, but something's missing. I just love it that much, getting out there and getting the legs moving. It's a nice mental break to just disconnect. That's the mental side, Michael. On the physical side, Arthur Liddyard always talked about a day off is a day where your aerobic metabolism is not being pushed forward. This connects to the notion about junk miles. I don't believe in junk miles unless you're training and putting yourself, like, digging a hole over training syndrome, but as far as junk miles like running for me, like let's say if I'm going out and running 10-minute pace, which is pretty slow pace for me, those are not junk miles. In fact, I think it's great because it's getting my legs moving, meaning my blood is pumping more, and then I can come back home and stretch and get a nice good stretch and foam rolling session in so that hopefully the next day, my legs feel even better because sometimes if I take a day off, my legs actually feel more stiff the next day. And even if you're raising your heart rate from, let's say your resting heart rate is, I don't know, 65 or 70, even if you're raising it just like for me up to 110, that's still a little aerobic benefit that you're getting that day. And I know it's small, but it's still a teeny, tiny benefit. So anyway, Michael, great question. I hope that helps. I don't take days off while I'm training unless, Michael, I'm feeling really, really beat up. If I'm feeling really beat up, I'm really tired or now I do love taking time off after peak races. You all probably know that at this point. Okay, moving on. Oh my goodness. Eden asked, looking back, is there anything you would have done differently when you first started running? Eden, that's a good question. I would say, Eden, I probably would have researched the sport more. Just learn the history of the sports and it's not as popular as baseball or football or soccer or whatever the case may be. There is a nice, long, great, beautiful history of running that is really great to know about because it just gives you a sense of belonging to something bigger than yourself and whether it's the history of the Olympics or history of ultramarathon racing or the history of, yeah, anyway. So I would have done that. More research into our sport on the history side and then on the actual training side, Eden, I would have, you know, I probably would have been a little more patient with my volume growth. So in college, I did make a big jump up and I probably would have gone at it maybe a little more gradually. So instead of jumping up, you know, 30 miles in a 12 month period, I probably would have jumped up 10 to 15 miles over a 12 month period as far as my total volume per week or per month. So good, sorry, per week. So good question, Eden. I hope that helps a little bit. All right, moving on here. Scott asks, have you considered training and pacing with Sage for Houston? You are both going for OTQ. That's from Scott on Twitter. A lot of people are asking about Sage and I. Listen, Sage is busy. He's a coach. He's training full time. He's got his YouTube channel. I got my family. So I don't think we'll really, I don't know, maybe we'll train some day together, but we're both really busy. However, Scott, I do think and I haven't reached out to Sage yet, but I've reached out to some other guys who are planning to run that 518 pace and in Houston. So there's a group developing is how I'll put it. And I haven't contacted Sage directly yet, but I will. So good question from Scott. And I would love to be able to train with him, you know, but even though we only live like an hour apart, it's still, we're still really busy. So anyway, good times here. Okay. Moving on one second. Rocky asks, since you are a Broncos fan, John Elway or Peyton Manning? Rocky, is that even a question? Is that even a question? If you live in Denver, you know, John Elway is basically, is basically God and John Elway right below God. So no, John Elway all the way. Love you Peyton, but nah, John Elway all the way. Okay. Moving on. Let's see. Let's see, see, see. Sorry. One second. Bunny's fiftieth trip asks, how do you get out the door? Matt takes forever to get his mindset correct. I don't know what he's at, what you're referencing. How do I get out the door? I get out the door. Oh, because I know a mile into the run, it's going to feel so, so good. I ache a little bit. I'm tired. I'm sore. It's cold out that first mile. But after that first mile, it's like, huh, it's freedom out there. It's just freedom. Whether you're listening to music, listening to audio books or just nothing. It's just so nice to disconnect for a little bit and get, get away from this. Right. If you're working full time or whatever, like, you know, this can be a little overwhelming at times right here. So, all right. Moving on. Let's see. Let's see. Oh my goodness. There's a lot. Okay. We're going to jump over to Facebook, actually. Here we go. Um, let's see. What do you think is the best cross training? Cycling, swimming, et cetera. What do you do? Oh gosh. Best cross training. I think for overall body workout, it would definitely have to be swimming. Swimming is really, really hard. Um, I think biking is good, but at the same time, I've heard some runners have actually knee issues. If they jump into biking too quickly or cycling in a gym, because it is like you are putting some good. It's just a different motion. Different muscle groups are being fired. Um, yeah. So anyway, I would probably lean towards, uh, swimming if I had to pick one. That's what we were assigned in college. If we were injured, we were assigned to go to the pool, not to go to, not to go to the bike. Good question. Uh, who was that from? Let's see. Uh, John on Facebook. Okay. Moving on here. Uh, let's see. David asks, I live and train in a hot tropical climate, uh, and we'll be running Tokyo marathon at very cold temperatures. What should I expect? Do you have any preparation advice or advice for the run in general? You should expect to be cold. I Tokyo, like, um, definitely pack arm sleeves, gloves, hat, um, a plastic bag or one of those, uh, um, oh, what do they call those, those space blankets that you can put over you and then just throw away. You probably get one though in your, uh, welcome packets. Um, get a good warm up in, you know, good two miles and, uh, but you don't want to get your clothes too sweaty. So don't go too fast on your warrant. Like you don't want to start the race with a lot of sweaty clothes on cause then you might really get cold. Um, so you might want to save your singlet and save your blood. Like if you can have someone there in the starting area to help you like, okay, go do your warm up and then just warm the body up and then do a quick change of clothes. Anyway, that's how I would approach it. I know Tokyo last year. Remember the rain? It was kind of crazy. So good luck to you, David. Uh, you got this and yeah, it's on my bucket list as well. Tokyo, that'd be a good one. Okay. Moving on here to, um, let's see. Rick asks, I believe Rick is over in Amsterdam. Right, Rick? What's your favorite 2019 shoe? Hmm. Hmm. Rick, you're putting me on the spot. I got, I must say, Rick, I did get some pretty solid training out of the Carbon X getting ready for Amsterdam, getting ready for, uh, for, for, uh, not Houston for New York. I put some pretty good miles into this shoe and it was, it was basically my long run shoe. Um, it's not quite, um, it's not quite a tempo shoe for me. It's maybe a little bulky, not necessarily heavy. It's just a little bulky. And, but I, anyway, this would be, oh man, I don't know if it's my number one for 2019, but it would definitely be, I'd say a top three. Oh, that's a tough one, Rick. I will make a vlog before 2019 is done for my favorite running shoes. Okay. Moving on here. Um, Brian asked, do you ever run a marathon just for fun? Uh, I have, I've only done two marathons. Yeah, when, when I'm, you know, past the age of 50, I'll probably do a marathon for fun. Right now it's just, if I show up at a starting line, like the competitive juices just get going. There's no way I'm just going to hang back, but good question, Brian. I've never done a marathon just for fun. Um, Aaron asks, how do you find motivation when you're feeling down? Ooh, Aaron, I mean, life is hard. There's stressful situations. Um, whether it's money, whether it's your job, whether it's finals for school. And when I'm feeling like a little overwhelmed motivation, I mean, I always think longterm that helps me a lot rather than like stay in the moments. So thinking longterm about the, the health benefits of getting out the door that day, the health benefits mentally getting out the door that day, I just think like, okay, this is going to help me be a better person if I get out for two miles, three miles. No matter how short it might be. And you're all, look, I mean, from a scientific level, endorphins. When we go run, endorphins are released into our body and we always usually feel better at the end of the run. Like it's, if you want to just boil it down to science, um, it's a good thing. It's a good little benefit that we get as runners. And, um, yeah. So that's a tough one. That's a big one. That's a big topic, Aaron, but I hope you, um, can keep getting out the door, even through those tough situations. Keep coming back to this channel. We'll keep you motivated, keep you rolling forward. So good question. A lot of people on the group run today were telling me stories about their challenges and, um, how like the Demor global running community is inspiring them to get out the door and run. So at the end of the day, that is what it's all about here on YouTube. Okay. Lee asks, do you people, do people often overcomplicate running? Should people just go and feel it? Uh, Lee, I would say, um, and then he says too many layers of clothing, too much tech and too much time thinking about it. Just go and run. Lee, I would honestly say, yes, I love simplify. Like why I run is cause it's simple. It doesn't, you, I say it every day almost like you don't have to go to a gym. You don't need a basketball. You don't need hockey pucks. You don't need climbing rope. You don't need a bicycle. You just go run and, um, you know, even this stride foot pod is giving me some trouble. It's not, it's not pairing with my polar watch. It just doesn't want to pair and that's okay. And I'm not going to fight it. Now I'll keep trying, but it's probably going to be another two, three, four days before I have a chance. So Lee, I would say at the end of the day, just go run and let the, let the wind hit you and enjoy the moment. Enjoy once again, getting away from technology, even if it's just for 20 or 30 minutes, cause oh, it can be overwhelming sometimes. So Lee, I love that. I love that notion. Moving on here. Oh my goodness. There's a lot here. Um, let's see. Matthew asks, how do I hydrate during my training sessions? So I'll have a handheld water bottle. A lot of times Matthew, if it's under 15 miles, I usually don't carry anything because I just in the, in the summer, in the summer, the cutoff is usually like 13 to 14 in the winter. It's usually like 16 to 17. If it's over 16 miles, I'll carry like a handheld water bottle or I will wear a hydration vest. Um, yeah, sometimes I'll go out and I'll hide water bottles. If it's a, if it's a loop that is, um, I don't want to carry anything. I'll hide water bottles ahead of time. So anyway, good question from Matthew. Moving on here. Um, Robert asks, how do you deal with nagging pains? They can really be disheartening. Oh, it depends how long they're nagging. Robert, um, if it's, if it's getting worse, you know, maybe go see a doctor or go see a physical therapist. You know, I would say if it's nagging for more than, uh, it depends on the pain level, zero to 10. That's a good scale to work with. Is it a, is it a three? If it's below like a three or four, I usually don't pay attention to it for two. Like it's not going to stop me from running. If it's over, okay, my pain tolerance, I've actually run races before with stress fractures. Now they were really, really, really important races. I won't get into those stories right now. And I wouldn't recommend doing that, but over time, I have learned, even like plantar fasciitis, I've learned the different levels of pain tolerance that I can handle. And I also, like as long as I'm not doing long term damage, okay, that's, you know, you just got to, you got to, you got to know yourself. I'm trying to be a competitive runner. So I am pushing myself. Like I have a few little niggles right now, uh, Robert, right now, like literally standing here right now. Um, I, I have to be just monitoring like two to five on the pain scale, some little things happening throughout the body, but I know that I can handle it as long as it doesn't get up to like a eight and a half, nine or 10. Um, so anyway, Robert, good question. And I know they can be disheartening. Again, we're here for you. DeMord Global running on Facebook. There's a lot of questions being asked about running injuries. If you want to put out some feelers out there about how to deal with running injuries onward and upward. Here we go. Uh, on Drace asks, can you share your daily training so that we can adapt it to our level on Drace? Um, first of all, so I post my daily training on the blog down in the description. You have to go look for it below every single blog. It's down there. I list the mileage and the pace, but on Drace, I run by feel. If I'm feeling tired, I might run slower. If I'm feeling good, I'll run a little faster. So everything you see in the description below the vlogs is not set in stone. And that's where I, that's how I train. So, but on Drace, I would recommend don't, um, yeah, you can adapt it, but, uh, you got to be careful mimicking other runners training styles because they might be, they may have been running for 20 years or 15 years, and maybe you've only been running for two years. So it's all, everybody's at different stages of their endurance training careers. Like our endurance abilities and our, and our, um, our muscles, our bones, like my bones feel, I feel like my bones are pretty solid right now after so long of running, even though I had a stress reaction this past year. Uh, whereas if you just started running six months ago, you do, you know, you just have to be careful that you don't put too much pounding into the body because your bones are not as, um, as used to it. So anyway, on Drace, good question. Here we go. Moving on, uh, Cindy asks, when is the beard coming back? I used to have a beard, everybody. I, it wasn't exactly a full beard. Good question. I, it's probably not coming back for a long time, Cindy. Maybe if I attempt Nolan's 14 again. Okay. Let me just grab a couple more. Let me grab one more off of Twitter here. Let's see. Um, okay, this is a good one. Okay. Well, there was one. Where is it? Shoot. Hold on. Well, let me find it. Okay. Andrew asks on Twitter. This is a little bit of a controversy. He says, I'll say it. What are your thoughts on the current shoe war potential, uh, impact at the upcoming trials, the marathon trials, uh, for the Olympics are in Atlanta. And so yes, uh, what, what are your thoughts on the current shoe wars, potential impact at the upcoming, upcoming trials in Atlanta, Atlanta, based on the current rules and regulations about shoe technology? Should the, uh, anyway, he goes on to ask about the Alpha fly, the Nike Alpha fly. So if you didn't know, so we got the Nike vapor fly 4% flying it. You've got the Nike next percent. You've got the Hoka Carbon X. So all of these companies are coming out with these, uh, carbon fiber plate running shoes. I'm just going to say it, Andrew. It makes me a little concerned that rumor has it that the Alpha fly has three carbon fiber plates. I don't know if I buy it, but I don't know if I love that. I think there needs to be a balance. Obviously, both of these shoes have, as we figured out together, have one carbon fiber plates. All right, the scientific experiment here, um, and the Alpha fly supposedly has three. And so one of the rules, Andrew, as you probably know, is that the shoe needs to be available to the general public for IAAF regulations and rules, meaning it needs to be easily accessible. I think is how they phrase it. So therefore, as far as I know, the Alpha fly is not going to be available by the Olympic trials, which in my opinion means it shouldn't be used at the Olympic trials. Um, so that would be my opinion, Andrew, and I think it's a great question, um, whereas the next percent, anybody can buy that. Anybody can buy the Carbon X. Same Andrew, the same's go with the, the new Soccany shoe coming out the endorphin. Same goes for that. I don't know when it's being released. So good question. Holy smokes. Big topic. Those are my thoughts. Okay. One, I'll take just a couple more. Um, let's see, uh, let's see. This one is Adidas, Adios, Boston or Nike next percent. Uh, he has a marathon in two weeks and still undecided. So at the end of the day, the runner is doing the work. Never forget that. Like, oh, um, what was, like, I think we can get a little to, um, invested in running shoes. Uh, uh, uh, um, now I did enjoy wearing the next percent in the New York City marathon. Um, I haven't raced a marathon in the Boston, but just keep in mind that yes, I think it was the New York City marathon. The winner in the elite race wore an Adidas shoe. I forget the, I don't know what shoe it was. It wasn't the Boston. I don't remember, but it's not the shoe that is winning the race. That is my point. It's the runner. It's the talent. It's the hard work. And at the end of the day, like, I think if you put too much mental energy into the shoe, um, we can kind of think that this is the miracle drug. And it's not. It's you out there, your spirit, your work. Uh, so anyway, that would be my message for you. Um, where the shoe that feels most comfortable and where the shoe that you've used in training, that would be my message, uh, for that, uh, for that question. I hope that helps. Okay. One more from Twitter. How much elevation gain is too much when searching for a half marathon PR course? That is from Abe. I think that's a great question. I would say a hundred feet, maybe 120 feet, because really, really fast marathon courses are about 200 feet of elevation gain and loss. Um, and sometimes there's more loss than gain. So Abe, if you could find a course that's around a hundred feet of elevation gain for half marathon, that's a fast, fast course. So boy, I don't even know. I still need to do more research about half marathon courses because I'm hoping, in fact, um, well, this is not the question of the day, but do you have any recommendations for a half marathon for me? I want to chase down a faster than 106 half marathon in 2020. I've got my eyes on a Brooklyn half marathon in May. But if you have any other ideas, let me know. That'd be amazing. Okay. Hopping over to Facebook for two more, two more. Oh my goodness. Here we go. Um, let's see. Da, da, da, da. Oh man. There's just so many. Let's see. Steve, no, okay. Would you consider shaving your legs for Houston? Listen, some of my old teammates at the University of Colorado used to shave their legs. I've never been a shave my legs kind of guy, even though I get massages to help with my just my training and my massage therapist. I asked her, like, is it easier to massage without hair? And she said, no, it doesn't it doesn't matter to her. So after that, I was like, okay, we're just going to keep the hair on my legs. Uh, so moving on here. Okay. Nuno asks, are you already thinking about the strategy in the Olympic marathon trials in Atlanta? Any gold time? Nuno, I'm not got to get through Houston first. Good question. But I got to focus on Houston. I guess, you know, what is my strategy for Houston? I would say, um, so New York was good. It is 900 feet of vertical gain. It's it's actually a lot more than I realized as far as it's just like New York is tough. It's a tough one. And, um, you know, we're just we're going to pack up. There's going to be a group of guys we're going to pack up. We're going to work together. And I think we will stick to that pace, you know, not 505 a mile, not in New York. It was we were closer to like 522 to 525 a mile in the first half marathon. I was definitely like holding back, but it was probably holding back just like it's really difficult to negative split. So Nuno, my answer would be I don't want to have to I do not want to have to. I don't want to negative split Houston. I want to run faster the first half and then just hold it because it's for me like I know the last three to four miles is going to hurt and to pick up the pace is going to be really difficult. So anyway, I hope that helps. OK, one more, one more. Here we go. Let me just find one. Benji asks if I have done all my long runs on trails this year. Can I translate straight onto road at the same distance in effort or should I cut it down? Benji Dean, I would cut down just a little bit. I would. I think it's very smart to just back it off a little bit for a month, two to four two to four weeks. Just see how the body reacts to the pavement and the concrete. I think it's really smart just to make sure you don't you don't get an injury and especially with all the snow and ice in the northern hemisphere, it's harder to find trails right now, at least in Denver. So I think it's really, really smart. OK, thank you all. That's the Q&A. How many did I answer? I hope that was enough. Oh my goodness, there's a lot. Question of the day. What questions do you have for me for next Saturday's Q&A? OK, ask me anything. I'll come back to this video and I'll pull. I'll try to pull at least 10 questions. It's just a lot. And I try to get to as many as possible. Amazing, amazing. I think that's it. All right, we'll toss it back to a couple other Q&A videos from the last three weeks on the right and the left. There you have it. And I love you guys. As always, hope I'm bringing some value to you through these Q&A videos. See beauty, work hard and love each other. See you tomorrow.