So Christmas Is Over...

I find Christmas to be very stressful and busy, and yet it is not even a holiday that we really celebrate. Mainly, I just enjoy the (much needed) time off from work.

Also, I haven't blogged in forever, so here is a quick recap of... well, whenever it was that I posted last.

I finally got my hair cut and colored. First time in at least a year.

It looks different, I promise

A left for Texas on Saturday morning. I didn't get the full story, but I guess she "got to talk into the microphone at church on Christmas Eve" but she 1). Can't remember what she said and 2). It was not scary.

A (left) with her cousin

I really didn't ask for anything for Christmas, but I did get two things I wanted:

And a gift card for Ink N' Burn, which I used to get my "joga" pants ("Jeans" that are athletic pants). FYI, I lived in these all weekend and they were FANTABULOUS.

Not MY butt, although I imagine I look that fabulous in these

Finalized (most of) our costume for Goofy:

(Rumor has it that capes may or may not be involved). It should be assumed/implied that I am RIDICULOUSLY excited for Disney/Goofy weekend. It is going to be the most fun ever.

Also:

• Frontier has been having the craziest fare sales.
• Bought airfare for Eugene marathon in April - round trip? $106
• Bought airfare for Albuquerque half (also in April) - round trip? $46
• I ran three times over the weekend, and none of them were awful. All of them were run in Brooks Pure Flows. I haven't worn those since my IT band injury, thinking they might have been the cause of my injury. After I determined my injury was likely from lack of training (duh), I decided to give them another chance.
• After my "confession" post, I have run over 6  miles I think 3 times. It was not the end of the world. However, I cannot seem to figure out HOW I used to run on the treadmill for hours and hours. These runs were pretty boring.
• It is really really really cold here in Denver. I might try to get one outdoor run in before A gets back. I just hate the cold so very much (12 degrees this morning, brrr).
• I have only picked out an outfit for ONE day of NY Double... which is next week. I leave on Friday, so really, I need my outfit picked by tomorrow. I *think* I'm supposed to wear a turquoise sparkle skirt one of those days... ?
• Lululemon has a bunch of crap in there "we made too much" section that I should probably just stop looking at.
• I know that I have reached my fundraising goal for AFSP/Tinker Bell half. However... our team is still short of its goal, so if you have a few bucks, the donation link is on my side bar, or you can donate here.

And.................. if you have made it this far.................. I am giving away a $15 gift card for Road ID. All you need to do is enter is comment that you would be interested in winning! (The gift card will not cover 100% of a Road ID, but for the basic ones, you will be only paying a couple bucks and shipping). Comment by 11:59 pm MST on January 1, I will announce the winner the next day.

Baker's Dozen Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Saturday, December 15
Hurricane, UT
Half Marathon #72
Utah Half #2
Weather - Upper 30's, Rainy/Windy

I was SO excited when I saw that Fast Cory was going to put on an OFFICIAL race this year. The Baker's Dozen was immediately added to my calendar. Combining sugar/eating and running? Um, hello. That's practically the dream. The race itself, SUPER cheap - $35!! In order to earn your AWESOME medal, you had to eat a sugary treat at the sugar shack at the end of each loop, so a minimum of three items. Sweet.

I lucked out finding a one way flight from Vegas for $60 and cashed out miles for the other flight. Rental car was crazy cheap, and so was hotel. The entire weekend pretty much cost what ONE Rock 'n' Roll entry would. Ahem.

Friday morning I took A to school, stopped at the store on my way to the airport, and still arrived with plenty of time to catch my flight. L had managed to book the earlier flight, so she was waiting a few hours for me in Vegas.

By the time we got the rental car, it was already about 1:30. We immediately went to In N' Out. I know, we normally do that AFTER we run. And then an hour after THAT, we stopped and got munchkins from Dunkin' Donuts. Does that count as a warm up for the race?

The drive was a few hours, and seemed MUCH longer. We arrived at packet pick up right at 5:00. Fast Cory recognized us, and seemed really happy that we came out. We grabbed Ruth's stuff too since she wasn't due in for hours. There is a story here. Maybe we accidentally got into the wrong car in the parking lot and didn't notice right away. Or maybe that didn't happen.

This is the race shirt. HILARIOUS

We decided to get dinner early and go to bed early. Bread bowl from Domino's (not the mac n' cheese, sadly that is discontinued) but Italian sausage marinara. Tasty. L was in bed by 8, I was asleep by 9.

Race Day

Slept GREAT. Woke up at 6:30, got ready, and headed down to get breakfast. Sadly, there was nothing appetizing, so we had to head back upstairs for our bagels. Heading outside and it was raining. Sigh. I'm a bit tired of running in the rain.

We had a hard time getting GPS to work. On our way to the start, there was a BIZARRE procession of police cars and other emergency vehicles. 7 am, and they all had their sirens on. It was like there was a parade or something going on. Only there wasn't. Turns out our directions were NOT right. We got a bit turned around but luckily Cory had included some landmarks in his list of directions and we found the start.

Quick trip to the bathroom, and then we just sat around in the car until the start. Cory had a cool idea for a mandatory pre-race picture (courtesy of Alex Santiago, photographer extraordinaire):

The race just sort of started, and off we went. In addition to our goal to win the title of "Sugar Slayer" (she who eats the most baked goods), I also was running with a 20 oz diet coke. Sounded like the most appealing thing to drink with all that sugar. Yum

Loop 1 - It's pretty chilly, so I am wearing my arm sleeves and gloves. We had started in the back, and since my running has been so awful lately, we obviously were not pushing the pace. The first part of the loop felt uphill for sure. I had to walk early - tight calves AGAIN. So tired of this. We enter a dirt/gravel path and I start to feel a little warm so I take off my gloves. The aid station on the far side of the course is water only - I take a cup and we walk a bit.

Turn the corner, and we run. I am ecstatic that the back half of the course is flat/downhill. Excellent. Bathroom first and then we arrive at the sugar shack for our first treats. We eat. And eat. And eat. See the big plate in the middle? We each devour 7 of those bad boys. Our goal was to eat as much of the non-frosted goods as possible. Favorite snack this round was the snicker doodles. Yum.

While at the aid station, we meet up with the previous years winner. Since there is a separate men/women's division, we feel confident in discussing our strategy.

Loop 2 - The diet coke is FANTASTIC. As soon as we leave, we are wondering if we should have done more. We both feel "fine." I have to walk a bit again on the gradual uphill. Not too keen on the dirt section, the ground is really soft. We are running behind a big group of runners that sounds like they are having the time of their lives. It's fun :D Quick walk through the aid station and then again, run the entire back half.

Molly's Nipple

By the time we get to the sugar shack at the end of our first half of the race, there is nothing left that isn't frosted or huge. We try to eat a half a donut. I vaguely recall donuts just sort of dissolving in my mouth. NO. THIS WAS NOT THE CASE. I swear it was like chewing dough. Wasted so much time on ONE item. Had a total of 5 items the second time around, for a total of 12. The volunteers look horrified as we keep stuffing our faces. Favorite of this round? The red velvet cookies with cream cheese frosting.

Loop 3 - It has "warmed up" now to 40 degrees. However, it is now raining. Brrr. I was actually not really complaining, at least it was not windy! Heading into the dirt section and the volunteer offers us a beanie. How nice! I have to stop and use the bathroom at the water station. Overall, I still am feeling fine. Run the back section, and pass the big group right as we are heading into the sugar shack for the last time. We ask the volunteers if we are still in the lead. WE ARE NOT. What????? I had eaten a couple more treats, bringing me to 15. Only to find out the lead female was at 21. 21??? I don't think I want to stand there in the cold rain for another few minutes and eat frosting covered THICK cookies or powdered donuts. We have failed. I slam the rest of my diet coke, give L my gloves, pull down the arm sleeves over my hands and head out for the last loop.

Loop 4 - 41 degrees. It does not FEEL like it is 41 degrees. L says, "I am not complaining, but this might be the coldest I have ever been." It WAS pretty cold. The rain is turning into snow, and the gutters are filling up. Having flashbacks of CIM. Quick cup of water, but we really just want to be done. SO COLD! We are trying to catch up to the big group, but it appears they also just want to be done. We are probably less than a quarter of a mile from the finish and the rain/snow stops and the sun starts to come out. Ha. Figures.

Bib #39
Official Time - 2:56:32
Gender Place - 48/50 (lol)
Division Place - 27/28
MapMyRun Time - 2:56:43
MapMyRun Distance - 13.34 miles
MapMyRun Pace - 13:15
Fastest Mile - 10:42 pace (mile 13!)
Slowest Mile - 27:10 (Mile 4 - LOL!!!)

Can you tell where the sugar shack miles were?? lol!!

We get our AWESOME MEDALS. Cory thanks us for coming to visit, hooks us up with some awesome water bottles and gift cards for Road ID, we took some pictures, then we had to (of course) head out so that we could shower before heading back to Vegas to catch our flight.

Maybe my favorite medal yet

15 marks for 15 baked goods

Ruth, L, Me Post Race

L and Me

We arrived at the hotel with plenty of time to take scalding hot showers to warm up, pack, and headed out right at noon. We stopped twice on the drive back to Vegas to get gas and to eat lunch. Yes. We shared a medium all meat pizza from Godfather's. Clearly, my stomach is broken.

Arrive in Vegas with about 3 hours before our flight, so we walked around the outlet mall for a bit, then headed to the airport. Played the penny slots until I lost my $8, then I got MORE food. (WTF, me). The mac n' cheese proved to be too much, and I actually couldn't finish. Phew. Maybe I *am* human after all.

Flight back to Denver, uneventful.

Thoughts:

• Small races are the BEST.
• Fast Cory puts on one hell of a race. The shirt was awesome. The medal was awesome. The four loop course was actually really great. (Yes, even though we got lapped. Frequently).
• I will likely run this one again. Only next time, I will do better. I can't believe I was out eaten. I'm ashamed.
• The sugar shack miles took roughly 73 MINUTES. That's insane. Even assuming we would have run 12-13 minute miles, taking 35ish minutes off my time would have been a GREAT time for me. So I'm pleased, especially since my last mile was sub 11.
• I think I will run with diet coke again. That was pretty amazing.
• Theme races are super fun. Some of the costumes were REALLY creative.
• I ran in the Glycerins for the first time. They felt a bit heavy at the end, but for the first time in ages, my feet did not hurt after a race. So that was good.
• My IT band was a bit wonky, but it held up.
• Did I mention this was pretty much the most fun race ever?

Time to Come Clean

In earlier posts, I hinted at just how little I have been training.

CONFESSION

It is even WORSE than I imagined. So, my training for Moab went into taper towards the end of February, maybe the very beginning of March. Moab was on March 25. I went back through Dailymile (and I absolutely DO log all my runs). The verdict is... depressing.

My only training runs over 6 miles:

April
4/8 - 11.88 miles (outside)
4/10 - 6.25 miles (outside)
4/30 - 6.38 miles (treadmill)
May
5/16 - 6.32 miles (treadmill)
5/23 - 6.00 miles (treadmill)
September
9/15 - 7.20 miles (outside)
October
10/6 - 6.66 miles (outside)

So in EIGHT months, I have only run over 6 miles SEVEN times. And in the last 5.5 months? Only twice.

And, if you noticed, only ONE double digit run, and that was over 8 months ago. That's ridiculous!!

Basically, the point of this is:

WTF. NO WONDER WHY RUNNING MARATHONS REALLY SUCKS LATELY.

Oh, hey. Maybe I should run more.

November Recap

Miles Run - 77.60 - That's now 3 months this year I've run less than 100. Thanks to ultra training in the first part of the year, I will still likely run more than last year.
Races "Run" - 3 (1 10k, 1 half marathon, 1 marathon)
Current Ailments - Nothing substantial, I guess. My ankles have been hurting, my IT band is on/off, but nowhere NEAR as bad as it was over the summer. Calves still tight. Still tired.
Obsession - Coffee. Lisa sent me a sampler of K-cups and I am in heaven. So far, the golden french toast, gingerbread and white chocolate mint are my favorites. (Thank you, LJ, this has made me super happy all week!)
Looking forward to - The Baker's Dozen half marathon!!!! I haven't been this excited about a race in a while! Even if my running sucks, the thought of overdosing on sugar has me PUMPED.

Thanks, everyone, for the kind comments regarding my last whiny post about losing my mojo. All of you are right... I likely need a "break" of some kind and I also just need to suck it up and TRAIN if I don't want to be miserable during long runs/races. As for the suggestions of "something new" - I have for the last few months been participating in something called Monday Night Chaos - essentially random circuit training, which is different every single week. It is FREAKING HARD. Every class I finish, it feels like I've never worked out in my life. I LOVE IT! Unfortunately, it is only one day a week.

There was one comment in particular about the "surprising lack of fanfare" after completing my 50 state quest. LOL! I agree. I mean, that was a BIG goal, and that is why I started this blog. But... I guess maybe I figured people would get tired of hearing about it, etc., and... it WAS sort of a letdown. I met my goal... and there was nothing really at the end. I don't even know if that makes sense. Anyway, maybe L and I need to have a party or something.

But you know what DID help my running funk a bit??? Getting this GIGANTIC PIECE OF AWESOME in the mail last night!!

Running Mojo

Remember that one time I lost my running mojo? Yeah, it has happened more than once. But this time? It has been MONTHS.

As is the norm for me, I'm typically signed up for billions of races. I have only signed up for 2 or 3 in the last 5 months.

Running has NOT been fun. Not in training. Not in racing. Not to say that I have not had fun AT a race. I just have not had fun with the whole running part.

I don't know what to do. It's weird to me to think that I have to "force" running. I mean, I only started running years ago to lose weight. At some point I've begun to tolerate it, if not actually like it. There is no liking right now. I dread training. I dread racing. And I am fairly certain that my negativity is affecting my running and making it just as bad (if not worse) than I've imagined.

• I've obviously had an actual for real injury.
• IT band isn't 100% cured, but is tolerable.
• After CIM, my ankles HURT. They feel either sprained or bruised.
• My training is down about 50% from where it's consistently been for the last 3 years.
• I have done ZERO double digit training runs since Moab. So... since February?
• Related - I bet I've done less than 10 runs that were longer than 5 or 6 miles since that same time.
• Most of my training runs are 4 miles or less. And even those 4 miles are rarely (if ever) completed without walking at some point.
• My pace is off SIGNIFICANTLY (think in the region of 2-3ish minutes per mile)
• I'm TIRED. Like all the time. It doesn't matter if I take days off from "running" or the gym. It doesn't matter if I get 8 hours of sleep. I feel like I am exhausted all the time.
• I probably AM drinking more coffee
• My diet has NOT changed in any significant way
• I have put on about 10 pounds since I was training full force for Moab. Even running more to lose those 10 pounds hasn't been a motivator.
• Skirts that didn't chafe are now chafing
• Arm sleeves that didn't chafe are now chafing
•  I feel like I really want to run trails... but don't know who to run with, as I'm not very comfortable navigating them alone.
• I've thought about going back to running with that run group, but I was having a hard time keeping up BEFORE I was in this funk. I can't think of anything more depressing than driving for a half hour to be DFL in a "group" run where I'm by myself and don't really know anyone.
• Related: Same run group has a race team. I thought maybe it would be fun to apply for that. Then I saw the VERY FIRST REQUIREMENT - "Be a top performer in the sport both at the age group and overall level" So..... NEVERMIND ON THAT
• And... to add insult to injury. My running coach just sorta dropped me after Palo Duro. Just never heard from him again.

Well. I could go on and on and on and on. I have excuse after excuse. The long of the short of it is... the CONCEPT or running and racing still sounds fun. But I have lost ALL motivation to actually train to do anything. I do not WANT to get on the treadmill. I do not WANT to get bundled up to go for a run in 20 degree weather by myself. I do not WANT to suffer miserably through YET ANOTHER marathon because I am stupidly under-trained.

All of us have been in a funk at one time or another.... however, it's been over four months now, and I'm ready to get out. Or stop running altogether.

Suggestions? Comments? Criticism?

Closest I've come to not hating running? A brief mile or so during that trail half marathon I did last month:

California International Marathon (Race Recap)

Sunday, December 2
Marathon #16 (Wow. I had no idea I'd done this many)
California Marathon #2
Sacramento, CA
Weather - Monsoon/Windy

The Monsoon California International Marathon (CIM) was on my radar as soon as I saw the results of all the people who ran last year and qualified for the Olympic trials. It is supposed to be a fast and pretty course. And usually, the weather is fantastic. I registered for this back in July, before the beginning of the end of my running injury free and enjoying myself (SFM). I roped my BFF Heather into joining me.

Starting about a week before the race, I start seeing panicky tweets about the weather. It's supposed to rain like crazy, flood watches, etc. I mean, I've had pretty good luck with no truly terrible weather during a race, so I headed to Sacramento assuming everything would work itself out.

Saturday

My flight out of Denver was not delayed. I flew Frontier and paid the $6 to watch tv, watching the newest Batman movie. Which, unfortunately, was longer than the flight, so I have no idea how it ended. Landed on time. Sacramento's airport is GREAT. Outlets EVERYWHERE. I found Heather's gate, and only had to wait about 45 minutes for her to land. Grabbed a salted caramel latte from Sbux, then headed outside. Apparently, Heather had booked the BEST HOTEL EVER. We paid practically nothing, and we were able to get picked up and shuttled to the hotel. They also shuttled us downtown for the expo. WHAT?? (A++ to the Hawthorn Suites).

We checked in and sat around until 1, when we were taken to the convention center. EASIEST EXPO EVER. No lines for ANYTHING. Nothing too exciting at the expo, and we were STARVING, so we walked a few block to the Firestone Pub and got something to eat. And by something, I mean, the giantest pretzel ever in the universe.

In addition to being giant, it was the best tasting thing ever. While we were eating, it started raining. I'm not sure if I can call it a "downpour" yet, but it was substantial. We had some time to kill and didn't think heading back to the hotel was worth the time, so we braved the elements and wandered around Sacramento:

This water is mid/upper calf deep

Hrm. And it had not even been raining that long. Heather had actually looked at the course profile and said that the puddle I was standing in was pretty much mile 26 on the course. EXCELLENT. Also, my boots were fairly "water resistant" as my feet weren't saturated after this.

We found a weird "mall" and wandered in and out of stores trying to find festive holiday knee socks for Heather. I'm guessing California has boycotted these, as we checked a dozen or so stores and found NOTHING. Well, except for Nutcracker socks, but Heather finds them DISTURBING and refused to get them.

Random Sacramento Alley Art

We discovered there was a Lululemon nearby and walked there in hopes of seeing the new "Chase Me" print. Turns out it was the smallest store ever and there was practically no product to even look at. Thankfully, we got the message that people were already at the bloggy meet up at a pizza place and we headed over. I finally FINALLY got to meet Average A - the very FIRST running blog I ever started reading. And there were some of my friends from Colorado there, and Reneigh, one of my favorite runner friends ever.

Heather, Reneigh, Me

The girls of the bloggy meet up (Pic from cisforcourtney)

The pizza was DELICIOUS, and I had a couple of beers. I swear, it felt like the middle of the night when we left. In actuality, I think it was 6:45? We got picked back up by our awesome shuttle service (after FAILING MISERABLY TO FIND DONUT HOLES). TV, outfits ready, in bed by... 9:30?

Race Day

Turns out the forecast was NO JOKE. First thing I did after my alarm went off (at 4:26) was to look out the window. I believe the adjective I used was "marshy" to describe the parking lot.

It wasn't raining THAT badly when we headed to the lobby to catch the shuttle. Grabbed a cheese danish and got on the bus at 5:15. We got about halfway to Folsom when the monsoon began. And the howling winds picked up. Thankfully, we were allowed to stay on the bus as long as we wanted. Which, turned out to be... about 10 minutes before the gun went off. I'll admit that there was some talk about maybe NOT getting off the bus. It did NOT look pleasant outside.

Obviously, we are not quitters and eventually got off the bus. Pretty sure my feet were soaked within 60 seconds. Since it was about 6 minutes before the race started, there was no line at the bathrooms. (Which, by the way, there were a JILLION of). Bag drop was easy, and we followed the herd. I vaguely remember hearing the Star Spangled Banner, but did not hear a gun.

Start

And then we go...

Neither of us was wearing a watch, but I started mapmyrun on my phone (in it's Ziploc bag) and off we went. Um. It was rainy. And windy. The raindrops felt like bullets and HURT. Within about a minute, one got in my eye and I swear it knocked my contact lens RIGHT OUT OF MY EYE (Related: 24+ hours later, I still have no idea if my contact is in my brain or not). Solution to the rain bullets in the eye? Not looking up.

Rainiest/Windiest EVER

First mile was fine, and the fastest of the day, 10:47. Pretty psyched, no calf issues off the bat. A mile or two in and we saw the 4:45 pacer. I certainly have no business running that fast. We decided to just go with it. The rain sucked, but it wasn't THAT BAD. It really wasn't. I mean, it was unpleasant, but since it wasn't that cold, it was not the worst ever.

Mile 3, the insoles of my Newtons start scrunching up. I have to keep stopping them to flatten so they don't bunch up under my feet. Finally, after a few miles, I just take them out altogether. Um. Something happened, we ran, and then, early on, my brain broke.

Around the first relay checkpoint (mile 5.9), the rain kicks into high gear. I have never experienced anything like it. It was the rainiest rain ever. The end. The intersections were flooded:

Heather's Famous Picture

I wish I could say I was exaggerating when I say the water was probably 6 inches deep. I'm sure I wasn't. It was crazy. Even more crazy, was there were SPECTATORS out in this. Yes, even in the above picture, there were people out CHEERING FOR US. Spectators are the best.

So. More "running" happened. But also, lots of complaining. My feet hurt. So I put the insoles back in around the halfway point. Heather stopped to use the bathroom, and since I was going slower than slow, I told her to catch up to me. The second half went on FOREVER. We had a 24 mile split around mile 18. That might have been when I stopped to use the bathroom and the line was the slowest moving EVER.

Then, something funny happened around mile 20. THE SUN CAME OUT. I didn't feel like taking any pictures, but Heather got some good ones off a bridge if you want to check out her recap here. When we finally got to LOOK at the course, it was really pretty. I took this around mile 23(?).

I'll spare everyone the whining and complaining. I'll just say my feet hurt. A lot. And there was a lot of walking.

We were going slow enough that we had to worry about sweepers. WTF :(

Anyway, we finished, and the medal is pretty glorious:

Bib #8802
Official Time - 5:57:52 (yes, slower than MCM)
Pace - 13:48 (ouch)
Overall - 5886/6496
Division - 452/502

Phone died before we finished, so I guess course measured long for me

Get our pictures done at the finish line, and then we grab a pancake (tasty) and cookies (even better) and then get our drop bags. Sadly, the monsoon didn't miss our drop bags and our nice dry clothes were no longer dry.

We were hoping to eat downtown, but since it took us SO long to finish, everywhere was packed. Instead, we got a Sbux and got picked up by our shuttle. Changed in the bathroom of the hotel lobby, where I discovered that I did, indeed, get crotch chafing again. Owie.

Lunch at Denny's on the corner, and then shuttle to the airport. I had a beer and Heather and I split the tastiest Nutella cheesecake:

We managed to run into Faster Bunny while we were people watching, then I had to catch my flight. Thankfully, it was on time. Landed EARLY, and got home at 10:45.

Yet another crazy race weekend, complete.

Thoughts:

• We were pretty apprehensive about the logistics of the race. Turns out, no big deal. Everything was really well organized and smooth. (I heard later that because of the rain/wind some tree branches downed some power lines and some of the busses had to be re-routed, causing some people to miss the start.
• Running in the rain, while not the most fun ever, was also not nearly as traumatic as I expected. Even with all my dumb shoe issues and inches and inches of standing water and bullet rain, I got ZERO blisters on my feet. Hurrah! However, my jacket is NOT waterproof/water resistant. It is, however, absorbent. It weighed about 8 pounds when I took it off when the sun came out.
• Related: My phone and camera were both fine. Even in a monsoon, apparently a Ziploc bag will keep them dry and secure.
• My ankles HURT. Like REALLY hurt. Bad. I am concerned I really injured myself by running insole-less. It felt "ok" at the time, but this morning it hurts to even touch. Inside, both ankles, below the bone, both feet. Ouchie. 
• Our costumes were the best. I have never HAD so many comments about them. Maybe there is a picture of us on the Internet Machine, neither of us thought to get a picture.
• Running with Heather is fun.
• Related: Heather is the best. I feel like the crappiest friend ever for jacking up this race. She really didn't need to stick with me, but I'm glad she did. I'm a bit sad she wasted her awesome marathon training.
• My mental game is gone. My IT Band injury July/August caused me to become a more cautious runner. I've been running WAY less and WAY slower, and it shows. My training is suffering, and I haven't been enjoying racing. ESPECIALLY not the marathon distance.
• I have ZERO plans to register for another marathon. (Of course, I'm currently registered for a few, and I'll give them a go).