 It's that cohesive bond that you build with other runners through sacrifice and through training hard together that I think the coaches. Okay, heel taps in the doorway. That was the last PT work I did. Oh, it's progressing. We are moving forward. Uh, the pain scale is feeling really good. I would say a one right now for all of the work I just did, like the lateral stuff. I barely felt it at all in my knee. So I think the trend line is moving in the right direction. Okay, let's dive into the University of Colorado running with the buffaloes, walking on to a cross country or track team at a school that you're interested in. Okay, so I'm going to break it down by different steps and be specific to high schoolers, but also I'm going to broaden it as much as possible for everybody else watching as well as far as chasing down goals in the running space. Okay, so here we go. Step number one, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge. It's so critical. I had no clue that cross country and track frankly even existed in college. That's how much everyone in high school. I loved running, but guess what? I loved basketball. I love football. I enjoyed baseball, but frankly, I was not plugged into the running space while I was in high school. Keep in mind, this is 2000 to 2004. So what did not exist? Imagine this. All right, all you high schoolers out there, think of this. Flow track did not exist. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, none of that existed. So the amount of information available to us runners back in the early 2000s and late 90s was like very, like what did we have? We had dyestat and dyestat and runner's world and like we had very, very, what was the other running times? Oh, there was another one. Anyway, all I'm saying is knowledge is king. Get to know the sports, get to know the programs, the collegiate programs out there that actually have a cross country program, but if you're also interested in running track, not all programs have cross country and track. Okay? Some just have track. Some just have cross country. So anyway, keep that in mind as you're doing your research, knowledge is king. I frankly had no clue that the University of Colorado even had a cross country team, my junior sophomore and freshman year. And then I was given running with the Buffalo's. Many of you have read this book. It's all about the University of Colorado cross country team following them for a collegiate cross country season. What year was it? Was it 97? Oh gosh, sorry. I should know that, but it's a great book and this is where I gained my knowledge. A friend in high school gave this to me as a senior graduating, my graduation gift for my senior year going to, so I was already accepted to the University of Colorado. Somebody gave me this book, A Friend in High School, and I read it and I was like, wait a minute. So what is the like the second or third chapter? It's about tryouts. So that is where I learned that, wow, you could actually try out and walk on to a collegiate cross country team. I had no clue. I frankly thought you had to be recruited out of high school in order to run in college. No, no, no, no. You can be, you can have the the inner drive and walk on to a program. But before I get further into the book, I want to make sure I drive home the point, step two, know your why. Like I said inside, if you are not passionate about running and about sacrifice and about pain and about the greater good of the team, you probably aren't going to survive. In fact, I'll just say a lot of runners at the University of Colorado, when I was there, came and went, meaning they made it on the team, they were recruited out of high school, and then they left like they were gone. And whether it was too hard, whether it was not, it just didn't, it didn't meet their expectations for what they wanted out of their collegiate experience. Okay. So keep that in mind. Step two, know your why. Why do you want to walk on to any collegiate program out there? Okay. And step number three, really critical as you're discerning your walk on process. Okay. Know your talent level. Not everyone is going to run for a division one program. Not everyone's going to run for a division three program. Okay. Stanford, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, Oregon, University of Colorado, Iona, NAU, BYU. Oh my good. Like there's some really amazing division one programs out there. Division two, you got Adam state, you got Western state, you got school of minds, you've got Chico state. There's so many great programs out there that listen, the expectations for those athletes are very high and they are building. You can't, you can't blame the coaches for reaching out to athletes that they think will meet, will match the training style of that particular program. So know your talent level and discern hopefully with somebody in your corner in high school, a parent, a coach, a school counselor who knows the running space. Okay. And can help you go down the path of, okay, I've run 1605 for my 5K PR in high school. I think that time will get me into a X, Y or Z program. All right. It's a process. It's a process. All I'm saying is step three, know your talent level. And step number four, okay, understand that running is a supplement to your academic life. Okay. Academics come first and I really mean that. Like they are really a stickler in college for you hitting your grades and hitting them well, not just slouching and skating by. Like at least that's how it was at the University of Colorado running for Mark Wetmore. Like grades were really important and I appreciated that because it pushed me to not only train hard, but to study hard. Okay. And frankly, you can lose your eligibility if your grades start to slip too much. Like you won't go, you won't travel with a team if your, if your grades are slipping. So just understand that academics are a supplement to the running. All right. That's, I just can't stress that enough. So that's step number four. Step number five is understand the training philosophy of the coach before you start to reach out to these programs, which we're going to talk about in a minute. So like I loved, I loved running for Mark Wetmore, his training philosophy matched who the type of training that I enjoy running higher volume. Okay. Just going to say it. We ran a lot of miles at CU and I loved, I loved that type of training. Long runs, middle distance runs. Frankly, I'm not as big a fan of like getting on the track and hammering the track twice a week. That's just not my style. And I'm sure there are programs out there that emphasize interval work and track work more than let's say longer distance long runs. So just understand step number five, the training philosophy of your coach. And hopefully the coach is transparent enough with you in the process. And frankly, even at this point in modern day technology, even has a page on the school website where the coach is listed in the background of the coach. And it gives, you know, basic details of the types of training that the coach likes to emphasize. All right. So that's step number five, training philosophy of the coach. Step number six, here we go. This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where it gets exciting. Research the tryout process and introduce yourself to the coach. Okay. Let's take that first part right now. Research the tryout process. There's division three, division two, division one, and then even junior college. Okay. If you want to run in college and you're passionate about it, there's endless opportunities, but you got to do the research to figure out what the tryout process is like. Okay. Meaning how are you actually going to get onto the team? If you are not recruited out of high school and you don't get a letter, if you don't get a phone call from a coach, you got to try. You got to, that was me. I was not called once in high school with a 16, 27, 5K PR, which it was a good time, but it was not fast enough to get phone calls from coaches. Okay. So therefore, I was like, Oh, wait a minute. I can walk on to the University of Colorado. Whoa. And then I was like, okay. So what's the process? How do I actually do that? Tryouts. A time trial. So it's to you. There's a time trial every August. All right. And probably the school that you're interested in probably has a tryout sometime in the summer. Maybe it's early summer. It's usually, it's probably going to be in August most likely, but that's where the research comes in. Okay. So that's step one of this step six. Step two of step six is introduce yourself to the coach. Everyone, coaches are busy. They're incredibly busy. They're managing all of these athletes. We're talking anywhere from 20 to 40. If they're, you know, it could be as many as 60 to 100 athletes they are in charge of. Keep that in mind. If you email you a coach or call the coach and they don't get back to you immediately, it's okay. Keep trying. I'm telling you, keep trying, but just keep in mind that they are incredibly busy. And don't hesitate to email or call the assistant coach or the secretary, anything you can do to get your foot in the door just. And if you email them, do not write your whole life story. Please. You got to keep it concise. I'm talking 10 sentences, maybe 20 sentences at the most. Keep your life story concise, because again, they are so, so busy, but it's critical to introduce yourself and get your foot in the door and just let them know who you are a little, a little background on your running. I'm telling you, it'll pay off down the road. Step number seven. Here we go. This is where it gets fun, everybody. Take a risk. Now a calculated risk, but it is a risk. So I was a 30 and I'm talking to everybody, not just talking to the high schoolers for PRs, for BQs, for whatever goal you might have, you've got to take a calculated risk to chase down those goals. So my goal was to walk on to the University of Colorado cross-country team. And after reading the book and after learning more, remember knowledge after I gained the knowledge that cross-country and track exist in college at the NCAA level, I was like, wow, this is amazing. So I went. So in high school, my senior year, I was a 30 to 40 mile a week runner. I wish it would have been higher, but that's water under the bridge. And then I went to see you. My freshman year, I tried to walk on. I didn't make it. I didn't hit the time that I needed to in the time trial. So what did I do? I trained for a year all alone, trained for a year. And what did I do? I bumped my mileage up. I believe it was 70 to 75 miles a week from 40 miles a week to 70 to 75 miles a week. Now it was a risk for injury, right? I think I stayed healthy actually, maybe a few aches and pains. But what happened then my sophomore year, I came back, I went off to a summer break and I trained like there was no tomorrow. And sure enough, I think I dropped my time for an 8k, okay, for an 8k by two minutes. All right. That was a pretty big drop. And it was enough to get Mark Wetmore's attention. I'd have to, I'll have to go back and check the times, but two minutes is a big deal. And it was enough to get an invitation from Mark to come join the University of Colorado Cross Country and Track Team. It was insane. It was a goal. It was a dream. And I chased it down and I met it. Oh, you guys are getting me going. You're getting me excited. Okay, last step. Here we go. Step number eight, team first. What do I mean? Communicate to the coach, to the assistant coach that you are there for the greater good. Like you want to help the team get better. And that's just like what cross country in my opinion is all about. Yes, it's an individual race. You're racing fast. Like you're not, there's no ball involved like football or basketball. But at the end of the day, if the coach knows that you are invested for the greater good of the team, it's just going to go so, so far. I just can't stress that enough. And I'll just say like I'm not bragging here, but just saying like I was voted. So from a walk on at the University of Colorado to my senior year, I was voted on team captain, my senior year. And I think Mark saw that in me. And he's like, even though I was not the fastest guy out there, training and I was not the fastest guy, but it's that cohesive bond that you build with other runners through sacrifice and through training hard together, that I think the coaches really can recognize and appreciate when they see it in the guys that are trying to walk on, the ladies that are trying to walk on. Okay, does that make sense? Oh, I could go on and on. That's it for now. Question of the day, what is one running goal that you have set for yourself at any point in your life that you actually chased down and you met that goal? Okay, that's the question of the day. I love it. Thank you for being here. Thanks for watching. I hope that outlines a little better what the process was like to run with the Buffaloes for me. But guess what? You got to know, know thyself, know your, know your talent level and know where you are going to fit best in a particular collegiate program because the programs are different. They're just different. That's all I can say. And but there is one out there for you if you really, really want it. All right. There you have it everyone. Thanks for watching. I'm going to throw it back to a couple old vlogs on the right and the left that connect to Boulder, Colorado, Magnolia Road, all that good stuff where I was up there training and just pounding ground with a Buffalo. All right, everyone. There you go. Seek beauty, work hard and love each other. See you tomorrow.