1:55:13

That, my friends, is my personal best for a half marathon (well, the better of the two that I've done)...did it today at the Grand Rapids Half Marathon in Michigan. I went into the race with two goals--the major goal being that I ran my race, meaning that I paced myself according to what I can do, not what the pack of runners around me was doing, and the secondary goal of breaking the 2 hour mark. I did both--and feel great (albeit a little stiff this evening). The crazier thing is that I actually even did a mile warm-up and a mile cool-down (with the cool-down taking about 3 minutes longer than the warm-up--go figure) so I could get my 15 miles in today per my marathon training schedule as well. The race is a good one--would definitely recommend it, as the race director's emails alone are well worth the registration fee in entertainment value. The course was pretty--a lot of it was on a bike path that ran through a wooded area, and the Michigan leaves are absolutely gorgeous now. Met some very cool people along the run as well--started running with a guy who was trying to break the 4 hour marathon mark in honor of his 40th birthday. This was his second marathon--his only comment about his first race was that he knew he could handle the "wall" at mile 20, but that no one told him the wall was backed up by a Mack truck. After asking some others around me for advice on dealing with the wall, I think the best advice came from a guy who said simply, "Just keep putting one foot in front of the other." So much for a deeply insightful piece of hugely helpful wisdom, but it makes sense...

It was a great weekend, all in all--got stuck in some pretty brutal Chicago traffic due to a bad accident just across the border in Indiana, but once I made it through that, the weekend perked up. I met some friends in St. Joe, MI for lunch, then picked up my race packet, etc. in Grand Rapids and headed back down towards Battle Creek to stay with some friends of mine. They were hosting a party for some of Kathy's co-workers...sad thing is that I bailed early from the party and actually went to bed at the same time as their 5- and 8-year old children, and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep well before them. Guess I'm getting the hang of this sleeping thing, after all. After the race today, I drove back down and hung out with them--I miss having them around (they used to live in Chicagoland as well), but it was great spending time with them. Nothing fancy--had lunch with Kathy, Steve, and the kids (who had just carved their pumpkins), went on a walk with Kathy and the puppy, then went to an orchard to buy yummy apples, good cider (unpasteurized--the best kind of all), and apple butter. Low-key, but pretty much a perfect way to spend a beautiful fall day.

On the drive home, I started thinking about my race today and about how different things are now for me. Six months ago, I ran my first 5K with a whopping 10:40 pace...today I ran a half marathon with a pace of 8:48. Pretty wild to think about all that's transpired since my first road race...and even crazier to think that was just 6 months ago. On a day-to-day basis, I don't really stop to think of my progress, other than just to consider that I'm able to run a little longer and usually a little faster each week, but I guess it's probably a good sanity check to take a step back and look at the bigger picture every now and then, too. Definitely a good thing for a detail-minded person like me to keep in mind over the next year...

Given that it's 8:30 and I'm wiped, I'll do my weekly wrap-up tomorrow...but I'll keep smiling about my PR today!!

88 years in the making...and I slept through it!!

Well, the Sox have done it--the World Series championship is back in the Windy City after an 88-year hiatus. While it isn't necessarily the Chicago team I would've preferred to bring baseball glory back to town, it's nonetheless an exciting time to be a baseball fan. That is, unless, the baseball fan has recommitted herself to getting more sleep and, therefore, didn't make it past the 7th inning of any of the four WS games. Had my neighbor the diehard Sox fan not started launching fireworks last night, I wouldn't have even known to celebrate until this morning...

While I'm a bit disappointed in having missed all of the excitement, I do have to admit that I'm feeling much better now that I've actually had some sleep. My heart rate has been back down in the normal range during my runs this week, and my knee/IT band (and everything else) feels great. Michele, Jeremy, and Vardo have all shown me some IT band stretches over the past few days...I feel awkward as hell doing them, but they seem to be doing the trick as I've been blissfully pain free all week.

A couple of quick musings...on Tuesday, we discussed the impact of positive self-talk during our WW meeting--not sure if I just have a one-track mind these days, but I immediately thought of IM while we were talking. The mental stamina required to make it through IM still intimidates me a little...and yet at the same time, I'm confident I'll get through it. I'm glad I'm doing the Disney marathon first, though...I think that will be a great way to ease my brain into working with me (instead of against me) in the upcoming year. Another WW tidbit...Sue attempted to strangle me (just joking...or so she said)--turns out I had a 0.6 lb loss this week, even with the "processed meat and brownie day" that I had after my 14-miler on Saturday...she wasn't amused (she had a slightly opposite result and was apparently much more disciplined than I was...hence the supposed angst).

So far, the week is going well--feeling great, getting sleep, and hitting the mileage with no issue. I even did a 30-minute session on my trainer last night while watching part of the Sox game, making this week the first in a long time where I've actually done all three disciplines. Another 7-miler tomorrow--should be nice and chilly--then a rest day Saturday before the Grand Rapids Half Marathon on Sunday...

Now back to your regularly scheduled lives.........

Of Cyclones, Sox, and Celebrations...

This weekend was the latest in a long string of road trips and weekends spent away from home...not all that different from any other weekend away from home, and yet this one about pushed me over the edge of sanity. Can't really explain it, other than the fact that I'm the type of person who, frankly, needs some down time every now and then and, even though I just got back from an awesome and relaxing vacation, I just haven't felt like I've had a moment to myself for a long time. So, by the time I hit Friday afternoon rush hour out of the Chicagoland area AGAIN and hit the fine construction areas on I-88 AGAIN and dealt with yet another late Friday night arrival into Ames AGAIN, I was ready to scream.

At least I had a fun stop to make before I got to my parents' house...turns out my good buddy Vardo turned 30 on Friday and was celebrating at a local watering hole. I stopped by, offered to buy her a beer (which she declined due to the quantity she was working through already), bought Sparkle a beer instead, and picked up my 14-mile route that the birthday girl had so thoughtfully prepared for me. The only bummer--I got to my parents' at midnight and knew I had to get up at 6 am...after a week of not so much sleep.

I rolled out of bed not-so-bright but early Saturday morning and took off for my little jaunt--it was dark for about the first half hour or so and was cold--about 35F or so. The route Vardo put together was actually great--mostly bike paths with a few sidewalks and streets thrown in for good measure. It's funny, though...I lived in Ames for 5 years as a student and my parents have now lived there for about 5 years...yet I had no idea of the vast network of bike paths the city has. Per Vardo, there are about 20 miles of paths...who knew!!?? The run was, for the most part, really good--my IT band is feeling much better, and it didn't bug me at all on Saturday. Vardo conveniently planned a water stop at her house at about mile 8--stopped in expecting to see no one but the psychotic, spawn-of-Satan cats, but turns out Vardo had just woken up, so we chatted for a couple of minutes before I took off again. It was a pretty awesome feeling to pass the 13.1 mile mark, marking the longest I've run to date...got to 14.1 miles with a smile on my face and walked the rest of the way back to my parents' house. It was really pretty cool watching the sun rise over the eastern part of campus and around town...not so cool wishing I could be one of the early-morning tailgaters, but I worked through that.

I met the tailgating gang for a great tailgate, caught up with some friends I haven't seen for a while, found out Murray and Amy are expecting #2 in April, and, in general, was living large on Chicago-style dogs (in honor of the Sox), Polish sausage, and Janine's amazing brownies--not so good from a WW standpoint, but I justified it with the 2200 calories I had burned that morning. Then, we watched the Cyclones trounce Oklahoma State...finally getting a decent win under our belts after the past three weeks of disappointment.

I was hoping to get in a nap later in the afternoon--not so much in the cards, though, so by the time we met for dinner, I was pretty out of it. The first World Series game perked me right up, though...go go White Sox!!! After dinner, I trekked over to Vardo's 30th birthday party to continue the celebrations. I talked with her mom for the first time since college--found out she reads both Vardo's and my blogs, which is pretty cool. We also played a rousing game of "tippy cup"--one of those random drinking games you think you're done with when you graduate, and yet comes back to haunt you later in life. At one point, Vardo's dad and both were going head to head in the tippy cup competition...with Vardo looking on in disbelief. Had a great time--saw some other friends, Steve, Sondra, and Gretta, along with Sparkle and her parents.

I finally made it back to my parents' house around 11:30...only to have to get up at 7 am to get stuff ready to go for the baby shower we had for Glen and Janine. Again, great time, but by the time everyone left, I was ready to crash. Conveniently (or really, not so much), my friend Jen grabbed my car keys by accident and was about an hour into her trip to Mpls by the time I realized it...which gave me time to take a power nap while my wonderful dad hopped in his pickup and drove to meet her and retrieve my keys. I made it back to Chicago about 7:30 and was in bed by 9:30 Sunday night...but still--wicked long weekend.

I guess the main thing I learned was that, while I'll certainly miss out on things in the coming year, I can't continue to do everything I want to do and expect to not pay the price. To that end, I've made the command decision that I'm done going back for football games for the year--the two November games just aren't worth the impact to my sanity they would cause. I'll miss my friends and hanging out with my parents, Sparkle, and Vardo, but I just can't do it. The long training runs make it tough to tailgate, which, frankly, is the main reason I have season tickets...and seriously, if I have to deal with Friday afternoon rush hour to get out of town again, I'll have a melt-down.

But, as insane as this weekend was, I wouldn't have missed it for the world...good stuff, just a little too much of a good thing for my current mental state. One more weekend away from home, though (and actually only Saturday and Sunday), and I'll be in town until Thanksgiving...

Hopefully by the next update, the World Series championship will be back in Chicago...not exactly with my team, but I'm cheering hard for the Sox regardless!!!!

Weeks 48 and 47 wrap-up...better late than never

Life, as it often does, seems to have inserted itself into my little blogging schedule and has put me a bit behind my normal updates--could just be my fault by taking vacations and road-tripping back to Iowa too often, but I prefer to blame it on the insanity that is the real world. At this point, though, it seems I'm doing a decent job of balancing real life with training..although truth be told, this past weekend about pushed me over the edge (more to come on that in a following blog entry). So far, I've only missed about 6 miles in my marathon training program...which I justified by the fact that I hiked about 19.5 miles instead--seemed like a fair trade.

I need to get back into a cross-training habit--sort of let that slide over the past couple of weeks. I'm hoping I can start working back into a cycling mode at least once or twice a week and continue to hit my swim sessions at least once a week--cross-training seems to be the first thing to fall off in my training (which is probably OK, I guess). Also, need to hit the weights again--hoping perhaps to kick start that this week with at least one strength session and then get back into a routine next week. The only kicker...the longer the runs get, the more time they take--funny how that works...

Here's the roll-up for Week 48...

Run: 4:02:41 / 20.43 miles
Bike: Big fat 0 again
Swim: Ditto with the bike
Strength: Make it three goose eggs...
Other (Hiking): ~9:30:00 / ~19.5 miles / ~3000 ft total elevation change

And for Week 47...

Run: 5:57:28 / 36.54 miles
Bike: Still nada
Swim: Still nada
Strength: 0:20:00 (all core)

Goals for Week 46:
1. Work in a cross-training session (since I swam Monday morning and it's now Tuesday night, seems like I can check that one off)
2. Maintain my HR at 142 or less during non-pace runs
3. Get at least 7 hours sleep each night
4. Complete the Grand Rapids Half Marathon on Sunday and have fun doing it
5. Daily stretching of both IT bands

As always, bring it on...

Rocky Mountain High

Well, it's been four days since I returned from Colorado, and I'm just now finding some time (albeit past my bedtime) to write a quick blog on the trip--hands down, the worst part about vacation is the prep work and recovery work that has to be done...it almost defeats the purpose of the vacation in the first place. But, I digress...

All in all, the trip was awesome--it was great hanging out with Vardo (and, more importantly, we discovered that we could successfully travel together without killing each other--that's not always the case with good friends, but thankfully, it worked out well). We arrived in Denver, met up at the airport, and walked outside to view the snow...it had snowed about 10" in Denver the Sunday and Monday before we arrived. We drove to Vail to stay with Vardo's brother and sister-in-law Tuesday night, but before we actually stopped in Vail, we went to a bike shop in Minturn--guess it says something about our priorities that we made that our first stop in Colorado. After staying with her brother and sister-in-law, we took off Wednesday morning for Estes Park...only to get sidelined at an outlet mall (we both stocked up at the Nike outlet) and Vardo's Mecca (aka the Coors Brewery). So...my visions of a quick little acclimation hike in the Rockies were soon drowning in barley and hops--but it's all good (and the tour was awesome, even for a dark beer drinker like me).

We made it to Estes early that evening--just in time to light a fire, have some ice cream, and read IM training programs. It was actually sort of comical--for probably the first time in either of our lives, the TV was off, there wasn't a radio to be found, and we were just reading our respective books, plans, etc.--didn't really even pause that much to talk. Still seemed like a great way to spend the evening though...

Thursday morning, we set off hiking after being greeted by elk right outside our deck--we did two hikes (Deer Mountain and Bear Lake-Dream Lake-Lake Haiyaha-Glacier Gorge-Bear Lake) for a total of ~13 miles, 2500 ft elevation change, and about 2700 calories burned (we were both uber-geeks and wore our heart rate monitors...go figure). Awesome scenery--the aspens were at the tail end of turning colors, so I got some great pics of the aspens along with my traditional mountain scenery-type pictures. The second hike was more technical than the first...which was all good until my left IT band starting acting up when we were about 4 miles and 1000 ft up from the car. Such is life...but I'm still sort of paying the price for that, so hopefully that settles out soon.

The best part of the day, though, happened when we were headed out of the park. We had seen several elk through the course of the day, but as we rounded the corner to leave the park, we came upon a bunch of cars and about 150 elk in the meadow. We got out to take pictures and just watch them for a while--we could hear them bugling and even saw two bucks in head-to-head combat. It was elk mating season--gotta admit it's a great time to visit the Rockies.

We were both pretty wiped after hiking, so we went to a Roehr family favorite restaurant for dinner and ate way too much...personally, I was drowning my guilt in food and drink--tragically, I hit a raccoon in our lovely rental Hyundai Accent on the way to dinner and I think it is now living in raccoon heaven--a fact Vardo has taken upon herself to remind me of frequently.

Friday, we went for another hike--this one to Fern Falls and back by Cub Lake--much easier, but still about 7 miles. After changing into shorts (keep in mind there was still snow on the ground in some spots), we headed off to Colorado Springs. We met up with a former tri club teammate of Vardo's for dinner--he now works for Carmichael Training Systems and is a level one tri coach, so we spent the better part of the evening questioning him on things like bike equipment, IM training, IM WI tips (he's done it twice), etc. Great evening...plus they had Fat Tire on tap at the restaurant, which, in my world, is a little bit of heaven in a glass.

Saturday, I dropped Vardo off at her conference (on endurance training, of all things) and set off for a 6-mile run at the aptly-named Garden of the Gods. I'm sure I've been there as a kid, but I certainly don't remember the incredible beauty of the sandstone rock formations or of the view of Pikes Peak from the park. I ran primarily through the central gardens on Saturday--did a little trail running, but not too much...the elevation and the elevation change on the trails were enough to make my heart rate very tough to control, so I took it pretty easy. Absolutely gorgeous run, though--funny how being in a breath-taking setting can make everything feel better.

I met up with a wonderful woman and a friend of Sue and Michele that afternoon--she's done IM Hawaii twice (ona 10-speed both times) and has run more than 20 marathons and happens to live in CO Springs, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to pick yet another brain on the topic of endurance sports. She gave me some great advice, like viewing each IM event as its own thing, rather than the whole day as one event, and we had a great talk over an awesome cup of coffee. She's a fascinating woman, and I'm very glad I had the chance to meet her and learn from her.

Sunday morning, I again dropped Vardo off at NSCA and went to the Garden of the Gods again, this time for a 9-mile run. I ran the trails the whole time--probably not the best thing for my IT band, which started screaming about 6 miles in--but it was fun--sort of reminded me of the first time (and actually only time) I went mountain biking and the drastically different mindset that requires from road biking. It took forever--my average pace was something like 12:48--but it was fun.

I was wiped after the run, sleeping in hotels, eating random food, etc., etc., so I opted to forgo any additional sightseeing Sunday and camped out at a coffee shop then at Borders for the afternoon--got through several different IM training programs and a good chunk of several other IM and tri books. It actually was pretty much a great way to spend the day, so no complaints....

We trekked to Denver Sunday night, had another Fat Tire with dinner, watched the White Sox clinch the ALCS (Go Go Sox), and crashed...I think at that point we were both ready to get back to our normal routines and non-hotel beds. We both flew out Monday morning and returned to our respective realities.

This week has flown by--lots of catching up at work, among other things. It's also a fairly aggressive marathon training week--the mid-week stuff got stepped up, plus I have a 14-miler Saturday--that'll be the longest I've done yet. My left IT band is still bugging me, so I've been icing it and trying to take it as easy as possible...I've still been able to get in my mileage, but I have a feeling my pace run tomorrow will be another long, slow training run instead...but more to come.

Off to Iowa again this weekend...here's hoping the 'Clones can beat Oklahoma State...

Week 49 wrap-up and Tales from the Road

This week was nuts...in the past 9 days, I've spent somewhere between 32-34 hours in a car on a road trip of some sort--first to Minneapolis last weekend, then to Medford, WI for work this week, then to Ames this weekend. Frankly, my butt, back, legs, and brain need a break from the road...ugh. It's been a long week, and I'm tired--and I can tell from my training and how I felt during my runs this week. Note to self--sleep is a good thing...no longer an optional thing.

The Medford trip messed up my training a little--we were at the plant for a solid 16 hours on Wednesday and actually on the floor working for all but maybe 1/2 hour of that...my feet, knees and everything else were screaming at me by the time we were done. Add to that the time in the car Tuesday and Thursday and the general lack of sleep surrounding the trial and you'll understand why I skipped my 3-miler on Thursday...the first training run I've missed since starting the marathon training program. I just couldn't do it--I was exhausted and had work to do to catch up from the trip. I was back at it Friday, though--got in my 6-miler, but my heart rate reflected my tired state--it was brutal trying to keep it low.

This weekend, I was back in Ames for the football game--the 'Clones blew it against Baylor, of all teams, but at least the majority of our tailgating crew was back for the game. I met Vardo, Sparkle, and some of their running group buddies for a run Saturday morning pre-tailgate--it was fairly chilly (35-ish), but a good run. Vardo ran 8 miles with me--we pretty much talked the whole time, so while my heart rate was higher than I wanted it to be, I figure the fact that we were both able to talk is probably a decent sign that neither of us was pushing it too hard. Vardo's hamstring has been giving her fits lately, but it's apparently doing better--it was awesome having someone to run with, so I'm glad she was up to the task. I ran the last 4 miles of my 12-miler on my own while she perused the IM WI 05 participants' guide that I had stashed in my car (actually, it was at the bottom of the pile of crap I haven't cleaned out yet).

I also spent time with my parents (who, conveniently, retired to Ames a few years ago)--finally told them I was doing IM WI 06 Friday night. It's not that I wanted to keep it from them, but it's hard to explain why I want to do this to the two people who have known me the longest and are probably still trying to adjust to the fact that I'm no longer the person I was. They seemed to take it OK, though...they've always been extremely supportive of me and my endeavors and so far, this whole triathlon/marathon obsession is no exception. My mom's excited that my Christmas and birthday wishlist this year will be very specific (wetsuit--just have to figure out the brand/size thing)--should take the guess work out of what I want...

As for the training wrap-up, here's the story...not sure how to count the 16-hour plant trial, but I'm pretty sure that qualifies as cross-training somehow...

Run: 4:27:14, 27.21 miles (3 miles short of the program...oops)
Bike: 0
Swim: 0
Strength: 0:10:00 (all core--Kellie worked obliques HARD on Tuesday)

Tuesday, I leave for vacation, so this coming week could also be an interesting one from a training standpoint. Vardo and I are meeting up at the Denver airport, then headed to Vail to visit her brother and sister-in-law, then to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park to hike our cares away, and finally to Colorado Springs for the weekend where Vardo will be attending a conference on, fittingly enough, endurance training. I'm also going to meet up with a friend of Sue's in Colorado Springs who has done several marathons and has done Kona twice--we're hopefully meeting for coffee at some point next weekend so I can pick her brain about the world of endurance sports.

The crazy thing about this trip is that Vardo and I have had this trip in the works for about 6 months...I took a week last year and went hiking in the White Mountains in NH by myself, which was awesome, but had decided to hike in the Rockies this year. I made mention of that to the whole Clique (the group of friends that includes Vardo, Cara, Sondra, Robin, Danielle, Betsy, Sparkle (aka Crystal) and me) at some point this spring, and Vardo mentioned she had a conference she wanted to attend in mid-October, so we figured we'd combine my vacation and her conference and do some hiking together as well. It's funny how life works--we've had this thing in the works for a long time...before I even did my first tri and certainly well before the thought of IM had ever crossed my mind...and now we're using it as our planning retreat for IM WI 06. Plus, the fact that she'll be at a conference on endurance training is crazy...darn near perfect for getting all of our random questions answered. It's funny how life works sometimes...just one more example of the fact that the master plan is most definitely in effect.

My goals for the week--1) relax; 2) hike and take lots of pics of the Rockies; 3) get in at least 3 of my runs without keeling over from the altitude (thankfully, it's a step-back week); 4) figure out the basics of my training plan; 5) compare those basics to Vardo's basics; and 6) have a fantastic time away from the office, home, and real life with one of my best friends.

Week 48, here I come...

Week 50 wrap-up and albino squirrels

I spent the weekend in Minneapolis visiting some friends--stayed with Cara Friday night and Sondra and Steve Saturday night. I went up primarily to spend some time with them and to attend a benefit being held for Cara's brother Robbie, who lost his leg in very very ugly accident this summer. The benefit was really cool--some of his high school friends did a fantastic job organizing it--and it was great to see Robbie (he looks great and seems to be doing well under the circumstances) and Cara's family, most of whom I haven't seen for a couple of years. Plus, it was a perfect excuse for me to make the trek up north and hang out with Cara and Sondra (and Steve, too). Cara has been fighting a bulging disc in her back among other things, but she continues to amaze me with her strength, fortitude, and amazing outlook on life. As for Sondra and Steve...they are about the best-matched couple I've ever met, and it's always a treat to spend time with them. Anytime I visit either Cara or Sondra, it seems I come back to my little slice of reality more grounded and more settled than when I left...they both have that effect on me, and for that and many other reasons, I'm thankful for their friendship.

Saturday morning, I took off from Cara's and went for my 11-miler in a park reserve near her home (she helped scope out route options for me ahead of my arrival, for which I'm grateful). On my way to the running path, I walked by an albino squirrel--I've never seen an albino anything before, and I have to say it was a little freaky. It was pretty much all white with little red beady eyes...I sort of expected it to have fangs and lunge at me, but it just hung upside down on the tree trunk and ate a nut that it had. Cara is the naturalist for her school district and has always been the resident nature/animal/all things creepy-crawly expert in our group of friends, so I called her to let her know about the squirrel--apparently there are a couple in the neighborhood that she has also seen on occasion. Weird...but kind of cool in a B-grade horror movie kind of way.

The run itself was very pretty--the park reserve was extremely well kept, and many of the plants (apparently some sumac, according to Cara) were starting to turn colors. I had a tough time keeping my heartrate down, though--I think subconsciously I didn't want to slow down enough to drop my heartrate as I wanted to get back and hang out with Cara some more, plus I hadn't really slept well last week. Those factors notwithstanding, though, it was a nice run. This was the first time, though, that I really regretted having to go do a training run--I much rather would have spent the 2 hours hanging out with Cara. I have a feeling that isn't the last time that will happen...

Continuing to expand on why I love fall, the drive home today was beautiful--the trees are about 50% turned in the northern part of Wisconsin along I-94, and it was a gorgeous explosion of color for most of the drive between Minneapolis and Madison. Down in the Chicagoland area, though, it seems as though we'll be stuck with some pretty dismal color this fall...bummer, but at least I've seen some good stuff today.

My training this week was largely running again--that'll be a recurring theme through Disney. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how things are going--the long, slow runs really seem to be helping with my endurance and stamina, and even on the pace runs, I can tell a marked improvement. I set a PR this week on my 6-mile pace run--ended up with an average pace of 8:04/mile, which is way faster than what I've done in the past. So, I'm definitely going to continue the long, slow runs and work to control my heartrate below 140 bpm--that seems to be the magic number for me in my training. Here's the wrap-up...

Run: 4:40:41, 29.43 miles
Bike: 0:35:00 (on trainer)
Swim: 0:43:00, 1650 m
Strength: 1:05:00

I'm headed to Medford, WI for work this week and then to Ames this weekend for a football game--lots of time in a car, and it'll be tough to squeeze in my mileage...but I'll do it, for sure. One more week until my trip to Colorado with Vardo...hiking in the day, IM training planning at night...can't wait!!

Bring on week 49...