Running in NJ

I did not go for a run or any sort of workout tonight. UB comes on at 8pm and I was trying to do laundry, dishes, etc... And I found I was just too distracted... The sad thing is the time out would probably have done me some good.
I am continually amazed at this blog I read - http://www.shoreturtle.com/blog/
He is always carrying a camera. I think that is so cool.
I also like it because it reminds me of home. OK - the pics might not be as "shore" oriented as I would hope but hey when you are living 4 hours inland - these are considered close.
Of course they don't motivate me to go run or work out or anything.
Instead I think I will be going out to dinner tomorrow night to avoid handing out candy. The little guy gets all wierded out by everyone ringing the doorbell. Me too...

Well this was creative

I wish I could have pulled a few pics from here to highlight some of the event.
But since I am techy challenged... here you go with the whole thing
http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?T=1718424&prt=10003

Interval training

Walk/run/anxiety...
There are so many great ways to get your heart rate up. As of recently I have been taking the exercise approach. The swimming and biking seemed to do the best. And they seemed to have helped my endurance as I have found myself able to run a bit further each time.
TONIGHT I was pleasantly reminded of one of my mom's favourite approaches to getting the heart rate up - anxiety and freaking out...
So it wa 7:10 and I had lots of layers on - sports tank top, long underwear, tshirt, hooded sweatshirt, sweatpants (OH and they don't match) and orange gloves (and they don't go with anything either)... I decided it wasn't completely dark so if I were to get the full objective in perhaps I should leave the neighborhood. So I donned my MP3 player - Kylie singing along which pre-empted fast forwarding to Keane - and headed up the street and out of the neighborhood. At the top of the hill it is always wise to get the first jog in across the street - more for traffic than for warm up. I jogged across the street and headed left... following that sidewalk to the end and back is a mile... Then headed towards town towards the post office... that and back is a mile... And I found myself running in the midst of the miles and longer than usual. I was proud of myself. I actually have been quite proud of myself in the area of exercise recently. And I headed into the neighborhood to do the final mile... I was feeling good... even felt I could rival SG in the jog around the neighborhood (OK - momentary lapse of reason on that one). And I headed home. Reached in my pocket - NO KEYS! no, i am not kidding... somewhere in the lengthy drawn out 3 mile walk/run i dropped my keys... anxiety kicks in!
I did the 3 miles again in hopes of finding the keys... I knew I should have asked for help but I figured well let me just give it a look see... Nothing.... How's that heart rate now?
I finally ended up at my friends' home to ask for help - Perhaps that was my lesson for the evening - remember to ask for help when needed.
KF donned her many layers and armed we flashlights we headed out.
You know where the keys fell out? That very first jog across the street. Thankfully we didn't have to do the 3 miles again.
So I am clocking that as 6 miles tonight and the time was a little over 1 1/2 hours... I was outside a total of 2+ hours with a little break inside at KF's home.
Thanks for the help! I will be sore tomorrow.

P90X x 2

NAH! I think I will leave that to the men in my life. That sounds funny... it's just that it seems to be the infomercial that sucks the men in. You know me if I am getting sucked into an infomercial it is going to be ZUMBA!

As for the pull ups - I think I am sticking with push ups for now.
Nasty pull up memory.... As a child I did lots of gymnastics. And when I wasn't taking a class I was making up stuff on the jungle gym in my back yard. Swinging like a monkey all day - I had rings, a trapeze, and just the normal cross bar thingy that official name escapes me now. I had some killer upper body strength... I could climb this rope in the back yard up the willow tree. I would climb the swing set hand over hand without legs and then go hand over hand across the top and down the other side... probably freaked my mom out... So whe it came to pull up time at school I did ok. It's just not something you find yourelf doing as you get older. Funny how all that rushed through my head the other day when I tried the single pull up at the park. I was also reminded of the nasty callouses... That's the nasty part of the memory. But let me tell you about tonight's walk...

Tuesday Too Tired

When I woke up at 3am last night I thought I will be fine. I shouldn't have too much difficulty falling back to sleep. Then in the distance I heard it - the gas coming on in the attic and moments later... the heat started to pump through the vents. YUP - it finally got that cold. YUCK - it sure smells bad that first time for the season. It ended up being an hour of me lying there thinking about it. Being sad that the goal of making it to November was not attained. And realising summer was all over.
When the alarm went off at 6am I thought I could do this. But then the darned heat kicked in again and I pulled the covers up over my head.
I am getting ready to head out now....
Downloading Snow Patrol and Keane albums on to my MP3 player... then I am out of here.

Monday Morning Walk Run

Well I was pretty darned tired on Sunday night. So after hours of posting I decided I best just go to bed. The cool thing about that is I woke up all set to go on Monday. And I found myself out there on the road for about a mile. No, not much running in the mix but I was there!

P90X

So the pull ups reminded me that my friend told me last night he got sucked into the P90X infomercial. I don't recall if he has received his copy yet or not. I will be curious to see the results.
I know someone else ordered it in the beginning of the summer. And I had totally forgotten to follow up on how it is going. I'll have to get on that....
I think I will stick with the swim,bike, run bit.
Sure a pull up would be a nice accomplishment as well. I will have to keep that in mind.
And the other one I found on-line onehundredpushups.com
I was actually thinking of trying that one. I could use some upper body strength.
Well getting to the gym would help too.

Cane Creek Park

So the original plan was to go to Crowder Mountain yesterday and hike on up. I got my hair cut in the morning so it was to be an afternoon trip. Well it turned out to be a rainy overcast day. So the plans were cancelled. Instead today we went to Cane Creek to go hiking. A slightly flatter excursion than up a mountain. But a good walk none the less. We were out there for almost two hours. Now the path we were trying to follow claimed to only be 3 miles long. However my orienteering isn't that good and I think we doubled back a few times. OK - we got distracted when 4 people on horses approached us on the path and missed out red trail indicator to turn; we walked all the way to edge of the park and had to turn around; and when we turned around we found an old red path marker; followed that to only find we doubled back even further and had to turn around yet again... Hence I think it had to have been longer than 2 hours.
I need to go back and double check the map online.
At the end of the walk we came across this fitness area and climbing wall. Hello - pull ups are hard! Shoot I remember being able to do all sorts of pull ups. I just struggled today. And the climbing wall... I haven't been on a wall in some time now. And let's just say my body type is still not condusive to rock climbing.

Another Bad Week

If the previous week was bad then this one is even worse. We will blame it on the birthday. Sunday there was cake. Monday there was mexican food and margaritas. Tuesday and Wednesday the market just decided to toy with you and prompted late nights at the office. Thursday we went to USNWC to sit outside and listen to live music. BBRRRR --- chilly. Friday I tried to rest but it didn't really happen. And Saturday I went out again to celebrate my birthday (well at least that's what I will use as an excuse in retrospect).
And really I hate the way I feel because of it all. Just down in the dumps blah. OK that could be from staying up too late last night. I have always been the grumpy tired person. I get weepy too without enough sleep. But overll I feel like I have fallen short on the workout objective. Even if I did pull a muscle while I was out last night. Getting up funny and pulling a muscle does not count as a workout. Silly comfy couch at the dessert venue... eerr....
This week has got to be different. Just not sure how to accomplish that. I guess I need to look at the calendar and work something out. Even if it's 30 minutes in the middle of the day.
OH and bugger I want to work in early voting this week too! See I am just whining!
OK - as the "one of the most positive people I know" friend I need to yuck myself out of this mood - for sure... Let me see what I can do with my next rambling...

Bad week

I had this whole game plan of what to do this week in preparation for that Turkey Trot. It didn't happen. I went out that one night and got to see Baby Claire. I brought my stuff to go to the gym after that road trip on Wednesday. But their was a fire drill at the client location and I didn't get out of there until late. So at 9:30pm the Y wasn't open.
Thursday I have no excuse except I guess I bought my ticket to Cancun instead of going to the gym. And last night I hung out with friends.
So this morning I went to the weight watchers location... We are still doing that at work and yesterday's road trip precluded me from being weighed there. I wasn't happy with the reading... BUT taking into consideration no workouts because of roadtrips and poor eating because of road trips... I should probably shut up about the half pound.
I then dropped the car off at the garage to get the oil changed. And from there I went for a walk. I zigged and zagged throughout town working my way back to the house. Which prompted me to log on to MMR (I haven't been there in a while - I forgot how much I lik that site) and realised I did 3 miles. Wooo Hooo.... In 45 minutes!!! Which means that even without the treadmill I have picked up the pace on a consistent basis. Cool....

Going to Cancun!!!

need to brush up on my spanish and my margaritas...

Ran Tonight

So I got up early this morning. Well I woke up before my alarm. And amazingly I employed the positive self talk to get my self dressed and out on the road for a walk in no time flat. The cold air is about when the positive self talk dissipated. Instead of the around the neighborhood journey... I made it to the top of the hill of the neighborhood and back. Good thing - I did run up and down the hill. An accomplishment for me.

So this evening I was going to go swimming. And here is the lamest excuse ever. Laptop in my car. Given today's economy I will not lock the laptop in my turnk in hopes that it is safe. And it doesn't necessarily fit in the locker all that well. So no swimming. Bummer because what I did instead - sat in traffic. YEP - if you leave early/on-time you end up sitting in rush hour traffic with everyone else.

After dinner I decided I would walk/run for a good hour. I had until 9pm for Fringe to come on. I made it about 10 minutes when I ended up by a friend's house. And I went inside to see their new baby girl. This is the first time I have seen her. What a cutie she is. She has her mom's eyes and these adorable dimples. And she is still pretty petite. So I got to hold her for a bit.

I did run bits and pieces around the rest of the neighborhood. And I do notice the distance of my non-run is getting longer.

Tomorrow is a road trip to see a client. I will try to remember to bring my change of clothes so I can stop at the gym on my way home. Again I would like to try the hour/4mile game plan. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

The End

My mom and Andrea were at the finish line when we crossed.
After the volunteers cut our chips off our ankles, my mom gave me a big hug. Yuck I wouldn't want to touch me all wet and sweaty. But that's what parents do.
I don't know if I felt a sense of relief or accomplishment at the end of it all.
Maybe a sense of shock and pride for having done something I hadn't ever dreamt of doing....
Like the cave tubing, zip-lining and swimming with the sharks? Yeah - maybe a little like that.
And I think that KP and I would do it again. It is definitely a great way to keep yourself motivated and focused to get out and be active.

I still don't run!

Wow getting off the bike felt much different in this setting than in any of my training. I am thinking the hills were steeper and the time was faster. Oh and those nerves.
All these people are cheering you on right when you hit the run area. And I just wanted to tell them all to leave me alone - I am not running. I don't run. Please stop looking at me.
CF caught up to me early on. I ran a little with her. But just wasn't into it. Just couldn't do it. She said to just shuffle along. But I dont' shuffle along when I run. I either run or I walk. I don't really like the shuffle bit.
KP caught up to me not long after that. We walked to the top of the hill and ran most of the way down. We walked for a bit. Saw her family and started running again. We slowed to a walk again and then saved the last bit of run for the end.

Cycle Time

I took some time in the transition... Gatorade (I had forgotten how much I really love that stuff). Ear drops. Dry off. Dry off some more. Tshirt. Shorts. Socks. Sneakers. What side of this damned bike rack am I supposed to be on to get my bike out? Oh here we go... And finally walk the bike to orange line before you can get on. (I have never been able to master that step down on the peddle with the one leg and swing the far leg over the bike as you move down the road... I have tried and tired but never figured it out...)
Out of the parking lot and down the hill I went. There were 2 women in front of me. And there were cops holding traffic at the intersection we were quickly approaching down that hill. BRRRRR - I could feel the cold air in my ears and it made me nervous (they can be sensitive to the cold air like that). But then I turned the corner and forgot all about my ears. I passed one of the women in front of me. I didn't want to get stuck behind her on this hill. And beagn the slow ride up the hill.... Working out at the gym with a headset and music is so much different than this. Your mind can wander some but you really have nothing but the task at hand to focus on. Just keep peddling. People passed me. Lots of people passed me. But I kept going. I thought of the ride up Lakewood to Route 34 on the way to the beach. I thought of the ride up Lakewood to Route 35 and Route 34 on the way back from the beach. I thought about how many times the light changes even when in a car on that road. And I just kept peddling.
I don't know how long the hill took - I should check it out on MMR.
I got to the top. Made the turn and headed over the highway. That's about the first time my dream popped back in my head... Maybe someone was cheering me on from above? Would he be proud? SHIT - don't think about this here you have 8 more miles of riding to do. And on I cycled.
CF passed me at some point. She was trying to get me to peddle faster but I just wanted to finish. I didn't need to break any records doing it.
I passed a young girl and her mom along the way. The little girl seemed very scared on the bike. KP passed them later on and the girl had taken a header off the bike.
There was a hill down that I could have peddled and made up some time. Instead I just took pleasure in the bike coasting down the hill.
I turned into the office park section of the ride. I learned by mistake that the coned off section was not for the cyclists. It was for a soap box derby. Thankfully it was clearing the field not a soap box headed for me. THIS was the second time I thought of the dream. My dad used to catch the kids at the end of the race when I was a kid.
Again - needing to keep my wits together - the exit of the business park? CRAZY short steep hill! OMG... I could have been standing still I was cycling so slow. I didn't realise how steep it was and I didn't down shift fast enough. Ooopppss....
Not much more now. Just that hill we came down right at the beginning and into the transition area.
That transition time wasn't as long. But darn I wish I had more Gatorade!

Hit the water

So the pool is bigger than the one at the Y I had been training in. And I was to start in the far pool. I joked that it had a prime James Bond let the sharks out into the water set up. And then I noticed the far pool was a diving pool - perfect - deep enough for sharks too. I find the extreme and far fetched helps to keep one's mind off the reality of the situation...

Anyways, I started at my slated start time. It was just too confusing to stick behind. Plus KP did eventually catch up with me. I had a woman in front of me that had LOTS to share about the ins and outs pros and cons of the triathlon... how to line up my towel, sneaks etc for the transition area and where was my swim cap (just not something I have embraced yet). The woman behind me - this was her first triathlon. She has been doing some sort of group training however - group runs group cycles group swims... Again something not quite my thing. I wasn't intimidated by it. I think I just still wasn't in the mood to be chatty at that hour.
So I get in the water and in the first lane I realise I am catching up to the woman in front of me. I then notice she is catching up to the woman in front of her. And not too long after I notice the woman behind me in my peripheral vision. And somewhere in there we hit a log jam and I started treading. Sure maybe not the most competitive approach to take but when you are in over your head (the depth of the pool not the event) I will hang back. I am not playing water polo. So I lost some time in the water. Kind of pissed me off and bummed me out all at the same time. The middle of the pack helped with me speed but the obvious log jam was just annoying.
OH and let's not forget the woman choking on pool water and hanging ropes that I swam by. That created at least one lengths worth of swim wondering - do they have life guards here? is she OK? will someone else jump in to save her? should I have stopped? Losing one's cool and composure in the water is not all that good.
I eventually switched over to breast stroke to keep my eye on all that was going on around me.
I did not run from the ladder to the outside. HELLO?!?!? How many times as a kid were we told not to run around the pool? And I did see a few women take a spill on the wet cement. And running from the warm inside to that bitter cold outside???
CF did come up from behind and egg me on to run a little but I just ran a little.

Check In

I am always one to worry about logistics. First day of school, I wasn't worried about my classes, I was always worried about the bus ride and where my locker would be. The task of school was a non-issue. It has always been the logistics. But perhaps it pays off in the end.
I would say we arrived middle of the pack. We parked in the first parking lot so that worked out well. And we went to check in. We got our numbers. We got our chips. We got our bodies marked - they write your age on the back of your leg (nice...) and your number on both your thighs and your arms. My mom took a picture but no one is seeing that one. We found our transition areas. And we went back to the car to warm up and eat some breakfast.
We passed so many others that were lugging their bikes and transition materials around with them while doing all that. This is why I am glad that I worry about logistics. We had until 7:45am to get situated with the bikes etc. so why lug them all about.
There was some confusion as to what we could or could not leave at the transition area and when we could or could not go to the transition area. Remember the first swimmers went in the water at 8am and we weren't scheduled until an hour later. AND it was freezing cold outside. My plan was to leave all my race gear at the bike but walk around with my long pants and jacket on until we went in the water. Somehow my plan got turned around by what others told me. And KP and I found ourselves standing around in just bathing suits for a bit.
THANK HEAVENS for my mom and Andrea. They showed up in time to run to my car and get us some extra clothes - I had brought a bit of extra clothing with me in the car. And we hung in those until we got in the water....

Waking Up to the Big Day...

It was suggested we be at the site around 6:30am.
It is an hour drive from my house.
I have to pick up KP on the way - add 15 minutes.
So my alarm went off at 4:45am.
And as mentioned previously - the hill had me tossing and turning and my nerves were a little unsettled as to what had I gotten myself into.
Right before waking I had this very vivid dream...
In the dream my mom decided that she was not going to come watch me race. Instead she and my dad had decided that they were going to ride out to the beach. They don't get to see the beach that often and it would be a nice day to take a drive. Of course they live at the beach so I was livid! I was so mad in my dream. When my alarm went off - I awoke with clenching teeth. And I was still kind of pissy when I heard my mom upstairs moving about making her way down stairs to wish me luck. And somewhere in there I realised - bitch your dad was there in your dream and that is the only place you ever get to see him any more so chill.
I was still grumpy by the time my mom made it to the kitchen but that had everything to do with the overall lack of sleep. And the dream - it came back to haunt me at least twice on that lone bike ride...
I made coffee - probably not a good hydrating choice but at that hour I just needed som caffeine.
I made some scrambled eggs for KP and I. And loaded the cooler with other breakfast items (thanks JC on the food ideas - I think the yogurt suggestion worked well).
And off I went down the dark road to KP's house. And man was it dark and COLD!
Nothing like riding down the highway at 5:30am in the dark and cold with 2 bikes strapped to the back of my car... Who has possessed my body beacuse surely this is not the norm for me.

Race for the Cure

I may have mentioned that my mom and Andrea were coming down again this year for the Race for the Cure. Yes - it is the Saturday before the triathlon. I did OK with that.
So they arrived Friday mid-day and we just kind of hung out watching bad tv on Friday night.
We got up early on Saturday morning - 6ish I think - and headed to town for the race.
We made it in good time. Found good parking. Watched the road race start. And had just enough time to hit the port-a-potty before we started off down the road. We never seem to check out all the vendors. I think because it is too early and too cold and too crowded to want to deal with it all. The route was similar to last years but not exact. There are a few hills in the mix that weren't fun to deal with. There was a large dead animal flattened in the middle of the road too. That wasn't fun either. We finished in a little over an hour.
From there we went to South Park and had breakfast at Panera. I am kinda partial to their bacon egg and cheese sanwich after a little AM workout. And heck I think it probably has less fat than the cinamon crunch bagel with cream cheese. But who really knows.
We drove from there to the race site. I hadn't been yet. And I wanted to make sure we all knew where we were going bright and early the next day. It was good to find the facility. It was probably not the right time to check out the bike route. The one hill right at the beginning undermined my peace of mind from that moment until I rode my butt up that hill the next day. Seriously - I lost sleep over that hill. But in turn I would have lost sleep for fear of not knowing where I was headed had we not taken that ride.
We drove the long way home down WT Harris Blvd. WOW!!! Did that bring up old memories. One of my friends when I first moved to Charlotte lived up that way and we spent some time up there. I used to think it was so far away. I think I still do.
Ultimately we made it home, showered and headed back out to the 5 year old birthday party. It was nice to hang out and keep my mind off the day ahead.
We watched more bad tv and finally went to bed in preparation for the big day ahead.

Football

I think the Cats must have gone to Oktoberfest as well.
They sure didn't play today...
Let's hope tomorrow night's game is better. If only I had ESPN... Silly Disney monopoly and cheap cable...

Oktoberfest and Blisters

Let's just say that this week's market conditions prompted some bier garten festvities after work on Friday. Probably a good way to blow off steam but ouch did I feel it at 8:15 Saturday morning when the call came to go walking...

I did my best to pull myself together and headed out to the park for 9am. It was a rough walk. My pace was miserable but at least I was out there. And we did manage to do the every quarter mile run bit on the 2 1/2 mile trek back to the car.

Of course not being properly hydrated and all that did result in a nice blister on my toe. I thought after last week I would be free of new blisters... Not so much. It seems a perpetual blister worked itself free during the epsom soak last Sunday. And the new skin -- well you get the point.... And in compensating for that blister I developed 2 more.

I think I will hit the pool and Carvel this week should the market decide to not want to play nice.

To the gym...

So tonight was the first night back to the gym.
Monday my mom and Andrea were still in town. Instead of swinging by the gym that night I swung by the pizza palor.... YUMMY!!! PIZZA!!!
Last night I packed up everything to swim - except my contacts. Now I know once I get in the water it really doesn't matter. But remember Tuesdays are the nights when all those kids are there and parents and crowds and I feel awkward enought walking around the pool area - heaven forbid I couldn't see what I was doing...
Instead I cleaned the house - dishes, change sheets, things like that...
Oh and surfed the internet for other races and triathlons....
So tonight I knew I needed to get back in that saddle so to speak.
And hey - check this out - I BEAT my run time from Sunday... Remember I don't run...
So I thought if I am going to persue this some more then I need to put some focus on the run.
In 8 weeks there is a Turkey Trot - 8k around South Park. That's 5 miles. And with the triathlon I know I can walk 5 miles... SO I think I will be signing up.
In the interim I figured it would help me focus on some running...
Now at the park on the trails I focus on every quarter mile. On the treadmill I decided I would focus on every 5 minutes.
So I did a 5 minute warm up then set the pace between 3.8 and 4.0 miles per hour. And every 5 minutes I would ramp it up to 5.8 to 6.0. I can't seem to run on the treadmill at a slower pace than that.
So in 28:58 (note 37 second faster than Sunday) I completed 2 miles.
For the total 35 minutes I did 2.36miles.
I feel pretty good about that.

thanks again to everyone for their support...

RAM

on a different note - yeah... i am getting more RAM for my really old computer on Thursday....
hopefully that will speed things up...

Rest

I am still working on that. I definitely am feeling the effects of it. The mental exhaustion from the night before... thoughts of that first hill on the bike had me tossing and turning...
Physical exhaustion from the day itself. Thanks for the reminder on the epsom salts - that and plenty of water worked like a charm.
The sleep deprivation of it all - the night before, the rush of it the night after, the fear of waiting to wake up unable to move...
Add to that the general state of things - what is up with that Dow... it should be renamed the Down Jones...
I definitely need some rest... My mom aptly pointed that out to me this evening. And I have been trying for about an hour now to just put my head down on the pillow...
I am not watching the debate - it would just add to the stress of it all...
I have some pics to post.
And I promise to add more of the stories of it all soon.

Well that one's done

I have lots more to say on the whole subject but just too tired...
Here are the results...
I started 587 and my overall placing was 548
Funny - as I didn't realise what the impact of the transition times would be - but I think it did impact that placing...
As for the breakouts...
Swim #433; time 7:23
T1 6:24 (yes - I took quite some time making sure I was dry enough etc...)
Cycle #544; time 43:59 (you could just round up and call that 44 minutes)
T2 2:58 (not as much prep time between the 2 events)
Run #539; time 29:35 (keep in mind I still don't run... I did run 4 times throughout the course thanks to friends)
OVERALL 1:30:17
I ampretty impressed that I was on target with my estimated time...
I was also impressed that all my individual times were in fact shorter than from when I trained...
But I will ramble on about that some other day...
http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_results&id=1097

Need some help

Now this is the biggest concern running through my mind -
all my workouts have been toward the end of the day and I have had sufficient calories and hydration throughout the day...
i don't get hungry and very littel dehydration during the workout
i know that will not be the case at 7am
so what do i do?

and i need to stay away from the processed stuff - goo etc... generally stuff like that - especially early in the day - makes me nauseus within 5 minutes of eating it - and it lasts about 30 minutes ....

do i go with peanut butter? bananas?
help....

Drama with the triathlon!

The online enrollment (I am sure they use different verbiage - creature of habit) messed up and KP was mistakenly dual enrolled. They confirmed her for a race date that was Chapel Hill and a location that was Charlotte. They haven't worked her into the swim time mix so we will be starting towards the back. I told her I would start wherever they put her.
HECK - with my crazy swim time that I posted when I signed up they may already have me at the back....
I don't really care where we start - I was more concerned that I would be out there by myself...

Technology challenged...

I have no idea how in the world I would even link anything to track my progress...
My mom will be there at some point and I am sure she will have a camera...
Maybe I'll bring my dreaded Blackberry to post after the finish line...
I think I like the swimming the best so I am not too concerned with that... I think I was a mermaid in a previous life. Of course mermaids don't really overexert themselves all that often.
I hope the biking is more interesting on the road.
And the run.... Well...