 I made it to the base of Pike's Peak and gonna be sharing some tips and tricks along the way for training and just the course in general. So yeah, anyway, as we go along, but first gotta pay attention to the little details before I get going. Gonna do some massaging, some rolling out, just making sure the legs are feeling real good before we go get this baby done. So, and previewing the course, of course it goes without saying, but it gives you so much confidence if you can get up the mountain once, at least once, but try to do just once in your training block leading up to the Pike's Peak Ascent. I'm telling you, the mental game will be so much better on race day. Even if it's, seriously, even if it's just a hike, that's okay. It doesn't have to be a run. It can be a hike. And again, just to familiarize yourself with the terrain and the altitude of course, but it's all here between the ears. All right, so that's what we're doing today. All right, here we go. We just passed the four and a half mile mark and just some advice. I would chill out the first four and a half miles because it's pretty steep. But then after this, of course the entire race is uphill, but after four and a half miles and especially the five mile mark, it does start to level off just a little bit and you can actually make up some time and actually run. So all right, here we go. This is what the trail looks like at four and a half miles. All right, real quick, what you need to think about for your footwear is that there are some sections on the ascent course that have kind of this loose gravel. Actually, I'm gonna pick some up right now. Hold on. Kind of this stuff, you see that there? It's just kind of loose. Now it's not horrible, but it is there. And so just think about maybe some shoes that have a little more lug depth, maybe four to five millimeters approximately rather than a more tame or an outsole on a running shoe that is not as aggressive as some others. I'm gonna be running in, I'll just tell you now. I'm gonna be running in the Solomon S-Lab Sense 7 SG. But keep in mind, it's a very aggressive, lightweight fast shoe, but that's what I'm gonna be racing in for the Pikespeak Ascent. All right, see if we can't get up to the halfway point. Let's go. Halfway, we made it. So this spot is a rock outcropping that you see on your screen right now. And so this is halfway, six and a half miles. And almost more importantly, we're gonna talk about this as well at the three quarter mark. And just so you know how I break up races is that I, you guys come on, just updating the GoPro. Yeah. It's up. Here comes the rain. And just so you know how I break up my races, some people do it into thirds. I do it into quarters. And that's definitely my track background speaking out there. So I do 25%, 25, 25, 25. So this is the halfway point. And the nice, exciting part about this, this point right here is you can see the top. And then you dive back into the trees here on a little downhill and you just, and you can't see the top again until, well, until the three quarter mark. And we'll talk about that once we get there. All right, let's go. Oh, here we go. Basically we are at mile 10. So we're three quarters of the way to the top. And I have found that from mile eight to 10 are very difficult mentally on the Pikes Peak Ascent course because it's pretty steep. You're not quite a tree line. We're a tree line right here, which basically above here, you can start to see the top. In fact, I can see the top right there. So mentally at mile 10 is, for me, is much, much easier because I tell myself mentally, okay, I have a 5K to go. I can run a 5K. And the bonus is you can see, you can see the top. You can see the finish. So, but from basically, yeah, basically mile eight to 10 to here, it's just hard mentally because you're climbing and switch back and climbing and switch back and you're in the trees. And so it's just hard because you can't see the top. All right, continue on. Well, this is the end of the road for me. You can see behind me there. The clouds do not look good. And trust me, I checked the weather forecast last night and they said it was gonna be perfect today. No thunderstorms, no clouds, no nothing, but that's Colorado for you. You just can't predict the weather up here. So I think I'm probably at about 12,000 feet right now. So didn't quite get to the top, but that's okay. 10 and a half miles up here. Looks like we're at about two hours and 13 minutes. So we will take it. It's a good solid session, but tip of the day, pike speak training. If I hear thunder twice above tree line, I turn around. That's just my rule of thumb. So I'm piecing out, going back down. Oh man, you do what you do. You do what you can. I should say, all right, let's go. The GoPro died as I was filming there in the creek. And yes, you were correct everyone at my leg. It wasn't, first of all, that creek wasn't quite as cold as a couple of days ago, but the legs are feeling much, much better after spending a good five to 10 minutes in that creek. So, and yes, enjoying a little post, 20 mile snack, 20 miles, 32 kilometers, 6,200 feet of vertical gain or 1,900 meters of vertical gain and loss. And so we will take it. Hold on. Oh, nothing like watermelon on a hot day after a long run. Okay, Zebulon. You know what that is. Good luck spelling it, Zebulon. I'll let you do the research to figure out what that is all about. I'm just gonna leave it there. Okay, the Pikes Peak Ascent in Summary. Here we go. Basically, you start out on pavement in Manitou Springs. The first mile and a quarter is on pavement. So keep that in mind as well for your shoes. It shouldn't impact your shoes that much. Just know that you're gonna be on pavement for a mile and a quarter. And it's pretty steep at the end, really steep as far as on the pavement. And then you get onto the bar trail and you start doing the switchbacks. And the switchbacks up the mountain until you get to mile basically three to three and a half. And that's the 25%, right? The quarter mark of the race, 3.3 miles. And then from 3.3 to mile five, hold on. This is from 3.3 to mile five, the course starts to level off a little bit. But then at mile five, that is when you can really, four and a half to five, you can really start to roll a little bit. The trail mellows out real nice. So enjoy that. If you wanna start to pick up your pace, get those legs moving a little bit quicker, that is the time to do it. But I would recommend chilling out the first, really the first four miles basically. And then once you hit a bar camp, which is basically, okay, basically seven to seven and a half miles approximately, then know that right after bar camp, and there's a big eight station at bar camp, you start going up on some more big switchbacks. And that's when it starts to get tough for me mentally, for mile basically, I'm gonna call it mile eight to mile 10, okay, on the course. You do these big, long switchbacks, just huge switchbacks that go on and on forever. And mentally tough, you start to feel the altitude a little bit. I think right there, you're probably at about 10,000 feet basically. Maybe a little higher than 10,000 feet. And then once you get through that section that from, let's say from bar camp to tree line, then you can see the peak, you can see the top, you can see the finish. And that is when, so that's mile 10, when you saw me there, where you break out of the trees and there it is. And that is when for me, now I'm excited, like I wanna race. I'm ready to rock and roll. I don't have my racing shoes out here right now. I would show them to you, shoot. I'll do that another day, but basically I know mentally that I can run a 5K. Now it's a hard 5K, but I just honestly, that's my mental trick. I tell myself, okay, I've run plenty of 5Ks in my life, probably hundreds in actual races. I can do a 5K and I start to push. And I start to push. Now keep in mind, you're at altitude, you're starting to top out. At that point, you're at basically 11,500 feet is considered tree line. And the trail, once again, is switchback. And you can see it on your screen there. It just switchbacks up the mountain all the way. So I know you can do this. I know. And in fact, all right, let's do it. Question of the day, who has raced the Pikes Peak Ascent? What was your experience like? And or who's racing this year? And or who has aspirations to race in the future? Okay, so that's the question of the day because I know you can do this. I hope if you're, there's a lot. You wouldn't believe everybody, how many people come and do this race who live at sea level? And I'm just in awe of you. I'm in awe because I don't know if I could do that, but I know you can. So, and okay, I'm just gonna say now, if you have access to elevation or access to get above tree line, I would recommend getting above tree line three times, at least three times before the Pikes Peak Ascent, okay? Again, all about that adaptation, recruiting red blood cells so that your breathing is a little, so basically more oxygen can be delivered to your muscles during the breathing when you start getting up there when the oxygen is getting thinner and thinner, all right? And one more tip before we wrap it up is I would definitely spend 30 seconds to 60 seconds at the aid stations. Try not to stay too long. All right, but at the aid stations and get fluid in you, especially if it's a hot day. If there's no cloud cover, it can get really toasty up there. So just get the fluids in you. Don't just do all water, do a little bit of sports mix as well because you can actually dilute yourself too much if you just drink too much water. So, but it's really critical, especially above tree line. You start to get very thirsty when you're up in the heat, up in the sun is just beating down at you sometimes when you're above tree line up there on the peak. So all right, everyone, I hope you enjoyed. I hope that gives you a little insight as far as what shoes I'm gonna be wearing. Once again, it's the Solomon S-Lab Sense 7SG. They're down below. And then as far as the course, just kinda walking you through parts of the course and we're gonna wrap it there. Second video, publishing today, 5 p.m. mountain time, talking about not the full review. We're getting closer to that 50 mile mark. We're not there yet, but talking about how the Pegasus 36 trails performed today, specifically on a big mountain, climbing lots of vertical. So I'll be excited to talk with all of you about that later on. Seek beauty, work hard, and love each other. I am thirsty. I gotta drink all this right now. All right, see you tomorrow. Cheers.