boogie in the rain

My run last night concluded this morning at 2:50am. Tired, soaked, and sore, I was happy to have arrived at the finish line of the 14th Annual Bethel Hill Moonlight Boogie 50 miler.

The race description from the event website:

MARATHONERS BEWARE:
This is not your normal marathon. This is all rural, not a city marathon. The course is not certified. You will be in the middle of nowhere all the time with no porta-potties, no splits, no mile markers, no spectators, and late in the run possibly even no other runners. There are only 6 houses on the course and they have dogs. Aid stops are over 5 miles apart, so you will need to carry a water bottle. If you decide to quit, there are no pick-up vans, so you will either have to walk to the aid station or hitch a ride with somebody. The race will start at 6 pm and the temperature will probably be about 85 degrees with little shade. Darkness comes about 9 pm and there are no street lights. You will need a light for the reasons cited in the waiver. If you need to be catered to every couple of miles along the course or worry running in the dark, perhaps you should not come. We really have seen everything listed in the waiver
except the polecats and they are there too. The drop out rate among veteran 50-milers is usually 40% or so. Think long and hard before you enter this event. If Lao-tzu were to give advice about this event he would say, "Come with no expectations and you will not be disappointed."

So with that, here's my report...

5:00pm: Arrived at the race start at Bethel Baptist Church in Ellerbe, NC (120 miles SW of Durham). I quickly picked up my race packet and changed into my running clothes. Shortly after I parked my car, the entertaining Ray K., whom I met at the NC Fat Ass 50k in January, parked beside me. Now in his 50s, he told me he's ramping up his training to 120-150 miles per week as an experiment to see if he can beat his best running times from his 20s and 30s (in 1981, he ran a 100k in 7:05:52). Good luck Ray!
Parked beside Ray was Mauricio Moncada, who traveled from Cali, Colombia for the race. I'm not a coffee drinker, but when he offered me a bag of fresh Columbian coffee beans, I snapped up the offer. I knew Adrienne would enjoy it, and she'll never be able to say she never got anything out of my running hobby.


After my coffee score, I ran into Bill Johncock, whom I also met at the Fat Ass 50, and he gave me some tips for the course. Bill failed to finish the previous two years, but his insight was no less valuable. Including myself, 5 of the 9 starters in this year's Fat Ass event were entered in the Boogie; in the starting area, I couldn't help myself from staring at one of them, Bill Keane. He's in his early 60s, has the upper body of man in his 50s, and has the legs of a 20 year old Olympian. Nothing but muscle. I wish I had a picture because it just looked so darn strange. And the guy is a machine; he runs one ultra after another. Update: I found a picture...


5:30pm: If seeing guys like Bill Keane isn't inspiration enough, the oldest competitor in the race at 78 years young came strolling by as he completed his first 10 mile loop (he started early so he would be able to finish).


5:50pm: I caught up with my friend Teddy from a local running group here in Durham. He had run the 50 miler before, but yesterday he opted for the marathon distance. Like me, he also has a young daughter, so we talked about the wonders of a good jogging stroller- truly one of the best investments I've ever made. We only spoke briefly, however, because the pre-race meeting and prayer were soon held, and before I knew it, we were ready to start.

6:00pm Mile 0: Sunny and 90 degrees. Fifty-three runners started the 50 miler and 65 were registered for the marathon (I'm not sure how many actually started). The course consisted of a six mile loop back to the church, and a four mile out-and-back, repeated five times. The church had a full aid-station, and some generous volunteers added a bonus station at the halfway point of the six mile loop; so for each 10 mile loop, there were effectively aid stations at miles three, six, and ten. It's worth noting that I would be passing my car nine times before reaching the finish; talk about temptation...


Mile 2-4: I've learned that if you meet someone from Charlotte, there's a good chance they work for Bank of America. Sure enough, this was the case with Tom, whom I met early in the race. We talked trading and triathlons, which made a few miles pass quickly.

Miles 5-9: I was running for several miles near a lady with a terrific coif. A true show of hair feathering mastery. Part mullet, part horse mane, all magic.

Mile 10: First lap completed in 1:37. Probably faster than I should have run during the hottest part of the race, but I felt good and my heart-rate stayed low. For fuel, I was drinking Cytomax along with ample electrolyte supplement pills; at most of the aid-station stops, I ate bananas, drank water, and had the occasional Ritz cracker with peanut butter.


Miles 10-20: The race really started to spread out at this point. In reality, I pretty much ran the rest of the race on my own from mile 15 onward. I felt good during this second lap and finished it in 1:42. The hills on this course, whether going up or down, were extremely long. Not exceptionally high and certainly not excessively steep, but some climbs were close to two miles in length. By mile 20, it was time to grab my headlamp from my car. I only turned on my headlamp when a vehicle was approaching, which was a rare occurrence, so I probably had the light on for a total three minutes the entire night. There was just enough light out to see the trees and the white stripe on the road that I was following.

Mile 22: Started to feel not so great. Although the temperature was finally starting to fall, the fact that I had 28 miles remaining was a bit daunting. I think this is probably the most difficult point in an ultra because you know you've already run a really long distance, but you also know you have even further to go. I didn't feel terrible by any stretch, but I certainly could have felt better.

Mile 26: Felt a little better because I knew I was past half-way. Unfortunately, it started to rain a bit during this portion.

Mile 28: Near the midway point of the four mile out-and-back was a group of trees next to a river. These trees were full of lightning bugs. I've never seen anything like it. It was beautiful.

Mile 30: The rain stopped without getting me all that wet. I finished the third lap in a slower 1:53. At the aid station, I changed out of my Injiji socks and into my standard dual-layer socks. Injiji socks have individual toes, just like the ones worn by hippies, less the rainbow colors and patchouli scent. Many an ultra runner swear by them to prevent blisters, and they did just that for me. Unfortunately, they also pull a bit between my toes, so I can only wear them for so long before they actually start to hurt. I just knew you were interested in my sock choices.

Mile 30.5: It started to rain. It was raining pretty darn good, too. Everything was soaked.

Mile 32: I got passed the only time all night. I assume it was the eventual winner because he was flying. And in case you didn't notice, this means he was at mile 42. I wonder what it's like to run that fast.

Mile 34: The rain stopped and I started looking forward to changing into a dry shirt, shoes, and socks at the mile 36 aid station.

Mile 34.5: It started to pour. And I mean pour. Absolutely saturated me to my core. Fortunately for me, I really enjoy running in the rain. I could have done without the full monsoon, but I just considered it part of the adventure. There was a lot of heat lighting and thunder in the distance, which didn't bother me except for repeatedly ruining my night vision; it took me a few seconds before I could see where I was going.

Mile 36: All the people at the aid-station were in the back of a box truck singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat as the downpour worsened.

Mile 40: Finished the fourth lap in 1:53. With only one lap to go, I was feeling good. At the aid-station, I decided to have a hamburger. Not the best burger in the world, or even a decent burger for that matter, but what a difference it made for me. Within a mile I was thinking much more clearly and my mood was lifted considerably.

Mile 43: I sailed past the aid-station and thanked them for being out there all night. Talk about endurance.

Mile 46: I sailed past the church because I knew I just had the out-and-back to go. At that point, I knew I could break nine hours, so I just wanted to keep my momentum.

Miles 47.25-50: An agonizingly long uphill. I just kept on running and knew the finish line was near.

Mile 50: Finished in 7th place with a time of 8:50:19 - nearly 40 minutes better than my first 50 mile run. Turns out that only 30 of the 53 that started the race reached the finish line. I managed to complete the last lap in 1:43. It's amazing that, despite being able to run for that long, as soon as I stopped, my calves, which had been tight for the latter portion of the race, totally tightened up and I was reduced to stumbling. At the finish line the race director congratulated me and handed me my finisher's award, a hand-thrown mug.

Along with the mug, I also got this technical training shirt...

(front)
(back)

After the race, I moved at a snail's pace, but I eventually made it inside one of the church buildings for some food. Ascending the three steps that led up to the door was torture. All I felt like eating were some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. There were a few other runners in the room and I overheard them mention that the aforementioned coif from miles five through nine did not fare too well in the rain. I was sorry to hear that. At that point, it was getting close to 3:30 am, and I still had to drive two hours home to Durham. I said my goodbyes, thanked the race director, and headed on my way.

The drive home was an endurance event in its own right. I thought I might have to pull over for a nap, but the Ipod saved the day. A steady mix of Social Distortion, Doug E. Fresh, The Beastie Boys, Franz Ferdinand, and the like played at a very high volume kept me going to the finish line in Durham. I arrived at 5:30am, took a shower, and crawled into bed. Four hours later I got up to enjoy what turned out to be a great Father's Day. A report on that from Adrienne or me should be coming shortly.

For the geeks that care, here's the altitude and heart rate data from the race...

Lord have mercy

We're spoiled no more. Our mild spring came to abrupt end this week. Today we hit 99. Tomorrow's forecast says 101. Although I don't miss the Michigan winters in the least, I do miss the gradual change from one season to the next that's typical in the Midwest. Here in North Carolina we generally have two seasons: not-so-cold and ridiculously hot. We've clearly jumped into the latter.

And what could be better on a hot day than fresh watermelon? Here's Junie with her first slices of the season...

lookin' sharp

June isn't especially fond of barrettes. Without them she looked a bit disheveled (if you need evidence of this, just take a look at the recent Locopops post), so Adrienne and I agreed it was time for her first hair cut. We considered taking her to the toddler salon, or wherever the stylish 19-month-old set get their hair cut, but we decided it was a necessary parental rite of passage for us to give her her first hack job. I tried to contribute by googling "cutting curly toddler hair," but that was of little help because most every website said, "take your child to a professional." We simply weren't having it.

Adrienne was all business and pulled out all the stops to ensure success. She gave June a balloon, some frozen Mango to enjoy, and even a cartoon to watch. After dampening Junie's hair, she began her artistry using a $7.99 pair of Conair hair cutting scissors from Target. And artistry it was. She truly did a bang-up job. June doesn't look demented in the least. Nice work A.

Here are some action shots and the satisfied customer several minutes later...

boston run to remember race report: my turn

I guess I'm qualified to write a race report now, right? Here goes:

So, I was just telling Lloyd last night, I think I have a case of post-race let-down. He nodded so knowingly, no other words needed to pass between us for me to know I was completely understood. It's just that so much mental and physical energy went into preparing for the race, and then the race came and, inevitably, in a few short hours, ended. But my goodness, it sure was wonderful and has already become a source of dewy-eyed nostalgia and a memory to savor, not even quite a week later.

Here's a shot of Emilie and me on Saturday, day before the race, on the waterfront in Boston. In this case, the waterfront isn't so much the feature as our happy, smiley heads. And happy and smiley we were. (For those of you who don't know, Emilie and I are great friends from undergrad days, but much more than that, too; as Emilie pointed out this weekend, we've had incredible adventures together before: NELP, Ecuador, San Francisco, counselors for a summer at Camp Runoia in Maine, and now, half-marathon).


So, let me set the scene for you a bit: cloudless, breezy, cool/warm, excitement in the air, and also loud, blaring music in the air. I can't remember what we heard in the morning, but I do know I crossed the finish line to the blaring sounds of Boston (the band). Fitting, right?

Anyways, here we stand, fit, fidgety, well-trained and keyed up as jackrabbits. So fun. I must say, don't we look pretty great? Between the 2 of us we have lost over 60 pounds since the last time we saw each other last August (she had her second baby February '07). We spent a few minutes at the airport checking each other out and telling each other how hot we look. Aren't we entitled?!

Still milling around at the starting line. She just looks like a badass, right? And she is. Take my word.


The airhorn sounds and we're off--here we go, crossing the bridge to downtown like a bunch of happy sheep.

My face here may say it all--I had the tremendous good fortune of feeling great on race day. My legs felt frisky and coltish and itchy to run after months of training and a few much-needed rest days before race day. Unfortunately, Emilie was still in the throes of a gnarly chest cold and not feeling as frisky as me. More on that in while...


That photo above is the last one we took before we dug in and got serious about the race (that picture was taken just minutes into it). I carried Emilie's little camera in the secret pocket compartment of my shorts (the next day I noticed a little stellate pattern of small abrasions and broken blood vessels on my leg that could only have come from carrying the camera, though I had no idea it was happening at the time. I consider it another souvenir, along with my medal and t-shirt).

Anyways, what happened in the next 13 or so miles is really the crux of the matter--Emilie and I ran most of the first 6 miles of the race together. Emilie's chest felt crummy and she just wasn't at one hundred percent so she encouraged me to go on and run my own pace. At about mile 6 I did just that and we vowed to meet up at the finish line.

And I felt great the whole race--when I let my legs run, they just ran and ran. I ran splits I never did when I was training and passed runners all the way to the finish line (which was a great psychological lift for me, but perhaps demoralizing for the runners I left in the dust? I asked Lloyd about this; he tells me I'm too solicitious, and that that's a great way to have a good race. Hmmmm.) The miles just clicked by and I felt bolder and stronger with each one . My innate competitiveness asserted itself every time I gained on another group of runners. I got one "go, girl" from a gentleman I passed. Thank you, anonymous gentleman.

Also, must say that the weather couldn't have been better--breezy, sunny, temp rising up to probably near 70 at the end of the race (I heard lots of people complain about the heat; are they for real? They should have done 4 miles in 90 degrees like I did this evening. I felt about as peppy as day-old oatmeal. Humidity only 56%. 56%? I don't know what can prepare a person for a North Carolina summer, but I'm sure I'm not ready).

The course itself was also incredible--beautiful, grand Boston. Brick streets, bridges, gardens, college campuses, sailboats afloat on water dazzling in the brilliant sun, even some rowers on the river. Come on, do they do that just for the tourists or are they for real?

So, I finished in about 2:16 (Boston blaring:"when the lights go down in the city....and the sun shines on the bayeeyay....."), which pleased me very much. Collected my medal, got some snacks, and shook off the numbness and achiness of the hips and hamstrings. By then, I calculated Emilie should be approaching the finish line. I saw her coming and fumbled for the camera and managed to turn it on in time to catch this, with the lump already rising in my throat:


Doesn't she look leggy, elegant, and powerful? And she really is, all 3. I felt so proud of my friend, who is quite an athlete, a triathlete, and a very accomplished swimmer, but who does not think of herself as a runner. A year ago she wouldn't have believed she could complete a half-marathon. At several points during our training I know she felt very discouraged. When she crossed the finish line we just hugged a little sweaty hug and enjoyed the teary emotion of it for a minute. She felt very tired and her legs hurt, but she did it, chest cold and all. To read her account of the race, go to her blog. Here we are with our medals.


After that, it's all gravy; we had a swell dockside meal, featuring the fries and beer I'd been fantasizing about as a post-race indulgence. Okay, so I have fries and beer not after races, too, but those felt so very earned.


The time came to say goodbye to my friend even as we were already dreaming about our next event--next summer in Maine? Triathlon? Or relay race? Lloyd found one that would be good for a 4-person team. I told Emilie I think I'm addicted to training for and completing races together.

I spent Memorial Day with another very close college girlfriend, one whom I hadn't seen in over 3 years, my dear friend Susan and her husband and little girl. They live in beautiful Hingham, near Boston. But drats! I don't have a single photo to prove it. Our camera was home with Lloyd and Junie, and I didn't think to buy a disposable. So just believe me when I say we had a beautiful time. How fortunate I am to have spent time with two such very good friends in one long-weekend.

We had an incredible girls' dinner on the waterfront, spent a day at the beach, had a Memorial day cookout feast with their family and friends (it was great catching up with Sue's parents and her brother, whom I hadn't seen since Susie and Tim's wedding 6 years ago), and spent a city day lunching and going to a movie.

Susan and Tim are incredible hosts, and meeting Maggie, their 3-year old, for the first time was a special treat. I like to think Maggie and I bonded over a little tickling and some pretty in-depth discussions about Sadie and Natalie, her most beloved dolls. I feel so thankful for friends like these, with whom I can reconnect like no time has passed at all even after years and many changes of circumstance. Such a relief to find all the wit and frankness still perfectly intact and only sharper. We had laughs and we had serious chats and when it was over, it made me teary all over again to say goodbye, though I did manage to extract a promise to visit us here in NC, making it a little easier to part. And that will be 3 visitors, I hope, next spring; Susie and Tim are expecting their second child in July.

That's my tale--that's what I was doing while Lloyd and June kept busy feeding ducks, swimming, and playing. When I got home late Tuesday evening I gave Lloyd a kiss and a hug and snuck right in to Junie's room to stroke her sweet, sweat-dampened curls. I felt such gladness to be back in my spot in the world. So good to go off to an adventure, so good to come home.

above .500

June just went off to bed, so my four days of solo dad duty have essentially come to an end; Adrienne will be home in about two hours. If I had to rate these past four days in terms of wins and losses, I'd say we finished with two wins, one loss, and one tie.

On Saturday, June was simply at her worst. She woke up in an awful mood, and unfortunately, things didn't improve much as the day wore on.

Sunday was a 180 degree turn from Saturday. I don't think a single tear was shed the entire day.

Memorial Day was somewhere in the middle. One moment she was laughing, the next moment she was crying... such is the life of a toddler.

And today we managed a very good day with a run, a trip to the Museum of Life and Science, lunch at Guajillos, and swimming at the Y.

I can't wait for Adrienne to get back, but I have to admit, I was more than a tiny bit sad putting June down in her crib tonight because it marked the end of our four day father-daughter adventure.

Here's Junie doing her Eddie the Eagle impersonation during our picnic at Duke Gardens on Sunday...


Duke Gardens recommends feeding the ducks cracked corn rather than bread, so we made a trip to the local feed store before our picnic. Smallest package of cracked corn: 25 lbs - a little bigger than June. Anybody need some cracked corn?

And here's a shot of her putting the feed into action...

On Memorial Day, our neighbors Gary, Kirstin, and their daughter Rachel had us over for a bbq. They're very generous and invite us over for nearly every holiday. Some other friends of ours, Jed, Kerry, and their daughter Lily, were also in attendance. The girls had a smashing time. Much to my satisfaction, June didn't succumb to the peer pressure from the older, more worldly girls (I think both are five or six months June's elder) and managed to keep her diaper and most of her clothes on. Here are June, Rachel, and Lily in the playhouse...

June and Rachel sitting in a pool of water...


June working on her bubble blowing...


Rachel and Lily on the keys, June on the saucers...


Today's trip to Life and Science. The indoor toddler play area is hard to beat, but is it really wise to have an activity station that helps toddlers hone their latch opening skills? June spent a solid twenty minutes mastering her craft...


And finally, here she is getting ready to take a dip this afternoon. Her bathing suit is too much , isn't it?

mom on the run

I'm not sure if Adrienne has mentioned it in a past post, but she will be running in Boston's Run to Remember half-marathon on Sunday. Today she finished her last training run before the big day. For the past few months she and her good friend Emilie, who lives in Maine, have been virtual training partners. They'll meet up in Boston on Saturday and run together on Sunday... a great way to spend the weekend indeed. Congrats to both of them for making it to the starting line healthy and injury free. Enjoy the run and have fun in Boston! Junie and I are looking forward to the race reports.

The astonishing disappearing locopop

What's a locopop? A locopop is a wonderful thing....just ask Junie.
We recently made a warm afternoon trip to the Locopop shop. June had her very own pop for only the second time ever (the first time was on my birthday in March). Strawberries and cream for her, cookies and cream for Lloyd, mango-chile for me. Watch that strawberries and cream get smaller....and smaller....and smaller....

rain delay

Yesterday, Lauren, Foster, Adrienne, June and I went to Tyler's (same place I had lunch with June on Saturday -- happens to be a minute walk from the baseball stadium) with the hopes that the rain would let up and the Durham Bulls would play. The rain kept falling, so we sat down for an early dinner. Turned out it was a little too early (5:30ish) for June. She had no interest in being confined to a high chair and she let it be known. She just had a lot of excess energy to burn. Adrienne walked her around inside the restaurant for a few minutes, but June wanted to go outside and that's exactly where she went. We all took turns watching her as she ran around blissfully in the rain. The Tobacco Campus has a large, beautiful lawn in its center and June made sure to test all of its puddles for depth and splashability. Watching her have so much fun certainly made up for the missed Bulls game. The game did eventually start two-and-a-half hours late, but by that time, June was at home getting her bath.

this and that

Quite a full day indeed. After I returned from my early morning run (it was beautiful, by the way: 50's, blue skies, and birds singing), Adrienne took off for Charlotte to attend the Nascar Sprint All-Star Challenge with her sister, Lauren, and her husband, Foster; this should definitely gain Adrienne some street cred in these parts (the South)-- something I have none of.

June and I stayed behind and headed to the Little Gym for 45 minutes of jumping and somersaulting. We're both becoming quite proficient at both. After class, we quickly stopped by the farmer's market and snagged the strawberries and eggs Adrienne asked us to procure. Junie barely had a chance to get her hands sandy in the sandbox (there's a small sandbox next to the market pavilion) before we cruised over to Duke's football stadium for the "Walk for the Animals." June was in doggie heaven. There were dogs everywhere. We spent most of our time watching the flyball competition. Here's June checking out some of the action...


The animal walk festivities were winding down and our appetites were ramping up, so we got back in the car and made our way to Tyler's for lunch. Nothing really significant to note beyond sunny, 70 degree weather and outdoor eating with Junie... doesn't get much better than that now does it? Here she is with her crayons and some of the wonderful water features of the American Tobacco Campus in the background...


After lunch we both enjoyed lengthy naps. Recharged from our respective slumbers, we made a late afternoon dash to the Bimbé Festival at the Historic Durham Bulls Athletic Park (the one in the movie). Unfortunately, the festival, at least while we were there, suffered from a trio of problems that seems to affect far too many festivals: excessively muddy grass, less than entertaining musical entertainment, and far too many booths selling candles, body lotions, or both (who's buying this stuff?). Nevertheless, I snapped these photos to prove we were there...



We returned home and read books and June played with her toys until the beginning of the Preakness Stakes. June must think we're horse fanatics because the last time we had the TV on for her was to watch the Kentucky Derby. She just points at the screen and says "neigh, neigh" repeatedly (actually sounds more like "knee, knee"). Maybe she's waiting to see if he wins the Belmont Stakes, but June didn't seem too impressed with Big Brown's victory today: by the time he crossed the finish, she was already building something new with her blocks.

As usual, dinner, bath, a few books, and a couple of songs soon followed before she slipped off into dreamland.

Adrienne returns tomorrow and Lauren and Foster will be spending at least one night here. Assuming the weather holds, we'll be attending a late afternoon Bulls game tomorrow. We'll keep you posted.

up and down

Yesterday I ran the Buncombe Trail 34 Mile Run in South Carolina's Sumter National Forest. The race director's description of the course read, "there aren't a lot of hills on the course." Given that the race director, Terri Hayes, has completed over 200 ultramarathons, it should have dawned on me that her definition of a "hill" might be a little different than mine. I actually expressed concern to Adrienne on Saturday that the course might be too flat. Well, the total ascent turned out to be just shy of 2300 feet. 2300 vertical feet spread out across 34 miles is very runnable, but it's still a good amount of climbing-- the Grandfather Mountain Marathon that I ran in 2004 had less.

Anyways, the course was beautiful and in great shape.

(a few of the horses I saw along the way)

It wasn't especially well marked in places, so I was lucky to have had other runners nearby to let me know when I missed a turn. My worst navigation blunder cost me no more than a half mile. The finisher immediately ahead of me ran at least an extra mile and a half; some runners had unplanned 45 minute detours due to missed turns. The weather, low 80s and sunny, was a bit warmer than I would have preferred, but fortunately, the vast majority of the course was well covered single track trail; we've had a cool spring here in NC, so I'm not especially well acclimated to warmer temperatures. Despite no entry fee, this race was really well supported. Along the course, I had bananas, watermelon, S!Caps (electrolyte replacement capsules), a lot of fluid, and my favorite mid-race fuel: boiled potatoes. I've been a bit under the weather, so I felt a bit lethargic out on the course. By mile 27, I was truly in "get there" mode. I just put one foot in front of the other and continued my way to the finish. Despite not feeling my best, I ran a good race and finished in 3rd place with a time of 5:53:46 (note: if you'd also like to finish high up in the standings, do like I do and enter races, like this one, with only 21 competitors).


In the finishing area I had a few hot dogs and some macaroni and cheese. Terri hand-made the finishers "medals" and wrote my time on the back. It certainly ranks as one of my favorite prizes for finishing a race.

I didn't stick around very long at the finish. I hopped in the car and headed back towards Durham (note: spending three and half hours in the car immediately after running for six hours is not necessarily the best medicine for tight legs). Back in Durham, Adrienne, June, and I went out for barbecue. We're not sure who taught her this, but June said "puppies" when she picked up a hushpuppy from my plate. After dinner, June had her bath and went to sleep, and then Adrienne and I sunk into the couch and enjoyed episodes of What Not to Wear and Cheap Seats. Not a bad way to end the day.