How do you go about finishing off a season which has included the following schedule:

1. Triple Challenge
2. WP Triathlon Trials
3. Double Century
4. Epic Unsupported 7 day event
5. Totalsports Challenge
6. Xterra
7. Lighthouse to Lighthouse 2 day event
8. WP Triathlon Champs
9. Sani2c 3 day event
10. Cape Epic 8 day event

Well, you go race a 3.8km swim, 180km bike ride and a 42.2km run, commonly known, not as “insanity” but as “Ironman”. Its no wonder that song “Infitiny” rings so popular with the Ironman crew. The training is infinity, the day goes quickly, like the song. The entire day feels like 4 minutes, so for me to write it into an essay of sorts is tough but it forces me to go back to be there.

I was having a conversation with a particular gentleman this morning about how I go about my day at Ironman. He was amazed to hear that I don’t take lap splits on the bike, that I don’t take a speedometer on the bike and that I don’t take kilometer splits on the run.

The day for me is lived totally in the moment, zen’d out in hopefully a fast way where my body goes into an autopilot mode.

Yes, I push the entire day (witnessed in reflection by seeing my average heart rate was around 155 beats a minute for 9 hours) in a very controlled way. I have taken 3 years to teach my body to blow out energy like a slow puncture in a tube inflated too much. I tight and strong at the start of the day, even the entire bike. I lose air pretty quickly on the run and there is always a chance that I might slash the tube completely along the way somewhere.

We never know entirely how our bodies will react to the stress we place them under. That, my friends, is part of the excitement.

So when I tentatively stood at my bike at around 5:30am on race morning inflating my tires, I told myself to hold back all day, to make sure I left something for the last lap of the run. I was overcome with the sensations of love and joy and respect for all the nervous faces around me ready to partake in their own battles out there. I knew I was going to hurt. No long runs in the last 8 weeks before the race meant I was one bullet short of a full clip. I had to either go hard until I fell apart or play the waiting game. Being myself, I took the proactive approach, hating waiting, and went in with the following plan:

1. Swim smart
2. Bike steady
3. Run till you blow

I knew I was going to blow. I was prepared to hurt like I had never hurt before.

The morning was great. I stood at the gates with my fretten, smiling about the amazing year of racing we had done so far. We were both excited that we had made it to the last day. By now we are so finely tuned to race starts I can’t tell you what music played, what the sand felt like, or what the air smelt like. I can merely tell you that when I stepped on the beach, my heart rate rose 10 beats and I settled into a calm. It was only 10 minutes to go and then…

BANG! the gunshot went off and there were arms and legs everywhere. The pace at which people set off was stupid. Nerves, it seems, know no boundaries when it comes to throwing common sense out the window.

Thrashing through the uber choppy water to the first buoy I found a nice set of feet on an easily recognizable body without sleeves on the wetsuit. Nice. Pace was perfect and I was able to bilateral breathe and watch those around me. I missed the front pack, but was happy with that. I had not swum enough to justify a swim in their pack anyway. I tried to keep my stomach empty of sea water and was rolled around 360 degrees in one wave, which was fun.

Out the water lap 1 and it said 25:12 which I was pretty happy with. I wanted 54min in total so could chill on lap 2 I thought. I found the exact same feet again at the first buoy again (woo hoo!) and just held comfy back to dry land, uneventful and stretching the arms in as easy a stroke as possible.

51:25 was hands and feet on land, with a big smile. The swim was more successful than I thought. Proof that my Orca Alpha suit is the bizniz. Seriously…

Into T1 giving the Aloha to everyone. Smiling, waving. It was time to get on the bike in my new kit, and take pieces of everyone with me. I wanted to take pieces of the important people along with me, and it all kinda fell into place in the week leading into the race.

Collin’s helmet, James’s eye wear, Andy’s running visor were all with me. I wore the Trion:z as a reminder of my mother who is a force of nature, 2 Puma stick-on tattoos for my sister and my dad. The green bar tape for my housemate, who puts up with my extremities with a smile. The “zen” sticker on my top tube to remind me to breathe. I rode with the purpose of the Austrian Iceberg and was reminded often of all these people along the day.

I decided to make hay whilst the sun was shining on the bike ride. I wanted to bike evenly, smoothly, within a pack of a few boys to make things a bit easier. The first 15km of every 60km are an uphill drag. My specialty and I made the most of it, passing some guys on the way up and holding back on water and Whasp until I got up there. From there on out it was steady until 15km to go when the wind was head on and quite powerful. I had by now been riding on my own since the top of the first hill and this would remain the story of the day, riding between 2 packs of 4-6 guys.

The ride was super steady. As the heat increased the wind dropped. I rode 1:38, 1:39, 1:39 for the 3 laps by the results (I had no idea) and this is testament to spending years honing the ability to reading my body well. I had no idea, I just rode by Suunto + Internal feeling.

Our new kit was amazing on the ride and I was excited to see how it would be received on the run as its quite out there in terms of design. It was well received, as was my foot pod, keeping me in check on lap 1. I was floating for the first few kilometers, but I knew this would be short lived. I was at some point, going to hurt like I had never hurt before. 20th off the bike meant I was in the hunt for a top 15. I thought to myself that this was already an amazing day, so I pushed a little harder to hold a steady pace at the back of the university (known as the dead zone due to lack of spectators out there) into the wind out there. By the end of lap 1 I was in 18th. I could see a few guys on the 4km out and back and thought why the hell not…

I held the pace. The support was amazing and I was taking it in for the Dead Zone where I knew things were going to get messy. I came around the bottom corner of the university to see my mate and hopeful winner of the day, James, walking, his stomach bug ending his day. I was gutted for him.

By the end of lap 2 I was told I was in 12th and had to chase, so I pushed to 11th by the 2km turn, 12km to go.

I realized about 500m later that chasing was done, that it was time to hold or walk. I was looking up a the clouds, head back, mouth open. Not ideal. My toes, feet, ankles, soleus, calves, knees, quads, hammies, glutes, shoulders, arms and hands were all pretty knocked out by this point, and I had to really focus to keep my jaw loose. My pace had dropped by a minute per kilometer almost immediately and I knew if I went any slower I was going to get caught.

I was at this point, first in my age group, but there was someone chasing hard.

That last trip through the Dead Zone. Wow. Immense toughness to get through there. I was broken into a million little pieces, barely hanging onto my pedestrian pace. I put one foot in front of the other, trying to keep my heart rate up. It was all falling apart in front of me and I had to control it with the precision of a Swiss timekeeper working frantically with a gun pointed to his head.

Coming around the bottom corner of the back of the varsity has to be one of the happiest moments of my life. 3km to go. the last 7 had been hellishly painful, more than I knew I could endure. I kept the poker face on and got the job done. I was, after all, not here for a haircut and some ice cream. This is the freaking Ironman boys and girls. We come here for this, to learn about our limits. To be taught lessons we will never forget.

Its awesome. Time to get the job done. 2km to go that autopilot kicked in and the first tear rolled down my cheek. I had to fight it hard. I was high fiving people from 2km out. I wanted this to last a while. I felt, for the first time, like I really deserved it, having worked incredibly hard for the last 6 months for these last 10min.

I got onto the blue mat and just stopped.

There was no pain.

There were tears.

There was jumping. Elation. Shouting.

Screaming.

I had goosebumps everywhere, I was in a state of elation that could only be described as Nirvana.

I walked over the finish line.

It was over.

There was a sunset, and a sunrise, and a few beers were had before 15 of us did the honorable thing to skinny dip at 3am after the afterparty, where we danced till our shoes came off.

Ironman is not about me. Its about you. Its about every other finisher. This is merely a small story. My story. About taking risks. About rewards.

I hope the story inspires you to take the chance, to make the leap.

Thank you.

A special thanks to all my sponsors is in order. I had the best out there, from Whasp Nutrition, Sport-X tabs, Luma Kit, Puma Shoes, Suunto Heart Rate Monitor, Rockets Compression gear and our amazing title sponsor, Fairbairn Private Bank, who made it all possible.

To Biosport and Line for working her magic with our tired legs all season.

To my fretten, who went 9:58 and a pb with a knee injury. You rock, bra.

To everyone who I came in contact with during the race. You lifted me on every occasion. You. Are. An. Ironman.

The story continues next week…

We are anything but done.

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source.

Born, bred and built in South Africa, Morewood Bikes have grown from a small garage concern into an internationally recognised force in mountain biking. Their frames are famous for their combination of a dialled ride, strength and pin-sharp handling.

Until now, the most cross-country-orientated frame Morewood made was the 5in-travel Shova ST – a great trail bike, but not a racer. That’s all changed with the introduction of their new marathon machine, the Zula, which has a simple purpose: to climb and descend mountains at a fair lick without any hysterics.

Lycra up and race it; add baggies and a GPS and ride off-piste; or even run it in a four-cross race – the Zula will have a go at any of these, ticking so many boxes that our biro has run dry. We’re looking forward to racing it this year at the What Mountain Bike Dirt Crit Champs at BikeRadar Live.

Ride & handling: Great marathon race rig that also knows how to rumble

On one hand, the Zula’s stiff chassis makes it a natural born mile eater. It does everything it can out on the trail to only give you the pedalling to think about; perfect if you’ve got 24 hours of riding in front of you. On the other hand, Morewood were keen for the bike to retain something of the brand’s bad boy gravity bike feel, so they didn’t make the frame as long as many pure cross-country bikes.

If you want to manual every dip in the trail, boost the bumps for air time or rail the turns four-cross style, the Zula has retained enough DNA from its gravity siblings to know how to have fun. We ran our Zula fairly soft, because the 165mm rear shock stays supple in the mid-stroke, gobbling up bumps big and small without wanting to pack down and bog at the three-quarter travel mark. It’s a common trait that can cause bikes to feel responsive early in the initial hit but dead on successive ones.

Not so the Zula; the slight falling rate of the design also keeps the shock moving freely deep in the travel. The travel indicator O-ring was always off the end of the shaft, but we rarely felt it bottom out. Plus, if we felt like we wanted it firmer, we only had to reach down and flick the blue lever on the shock. All bumps were dealt with absolute efficiency, so much so that we got to wonder why, when a single pivot can feel this good, we bother with linkages at all.

We built the Zula up with SRAM X.0 transmission, Avid Elixir CR Mag brakes and a FSA 386 K-Force carbon 2×9 (42×29) ring crankset, then paired it with a 2010 110mm Cannondale Lefty DLR fork using the new ‘Lefty for All’ fitting kit – we figured the frame could cope with 10mm more travel up front, and we were right. The slightly higher than normal bar position that the twin-crown Lefty fork provided aided the Zula’s long-distance ride abilities, since you don’t want to be too stretched out with your nose on the front tyre all day.

It also makes it better for fun time, because the front end is easy to pop or pump even with a flat bar fitted. The Lefty can be locked out with the ProPedal platform damping switch, and you’re suddenly on a firmly sprung bike that can burn up smooth trail or road sections – just the job for marathon racers and long ride adventurer/explorer types.

So does ‘Made in Africa’ translate into a bike that’s good for wetter weather? Mud room is massive – 2.3in tyres fitting in with plenty of space for gloop. We’ve got a local 10-mile loop of technical trail that takes in ‘a bit of everything’, and the Zula just wanted to ride lap after lap of it. The more we rode it, the more we learned about what it seems to do well: a list that’s only getting longer.

Frame: Why bother with complex linkages when a single pivot can be this good?

Morewood could have bought and branded an off-the-peg carbon frame as many brands do, but they didn’t. They’re also big believers in aluminium – their entire range is made from the stuff and while many riders are clamouring for more and more carbon, Morewood have stuck to their guns and 6069 T6 alloy. The weight of a medium semi-integrated head tube frame is 2,450g (including shock) – neither heavy nor especially light, although we think the built bike rides lighter than the weight suggests.

Traditionally, Morewood have used lots of square-section tubes, giving the longer travel and gravity-orientated bikes a distinctive and attractive look. However, Morewood invested heavily in a new purpose-made tubeset for the Zula; tubes with the kind of swoops, swells and delicate curves that give their new cross-country offerings sex appeal and set cycling forums alight when they were first shown at last year’s trade shows. The verdict is unanimous: the Zula looks the business from every angle.

The single-pivot layout places the sealed Enduro Max pivot pretty much bang on the middle chainring position (if you’re using a standard triple-ring crankset; it sits somewhere between the big and inner ring on a compact double). This gives the bike a fairly neutral pedalling style with a slight tendency for the rear wheel to ‘dig’ in on steep pitches – no bad thing if you’re scrabbling for traction.

The frame comes fitted with a new 2010 spec Fox RP23 Boost Valve rear shock, a ‘platform’ (the tuning setting available on RP23s that reduces pedal-induced suspension actuation) unit with a great reputation for consistent quality, but also for its ability to polish the rough edges out of suspension systems. Thankfully, the Morewood Zula doesn’t need much platform. The net result is a ride that feels deeper, plusher, more controlled and more active than any other single-pivot bike we’ve tested.

The closest comparison would be a Cannondale Rush, but the Zula’s action feels more slick, more like a linkage bike. This is down to the designer, Patrick Morewood, who spent time prior to the Zula’s birth studying the benefits of other linkage systems, and came to the conclusion that he could achieve his performance goals with the traditional Morewood single-pivot design.

Designer says

We spoke to Patrick Morewood about the Zula…

BikeRadar: Morewood are traditionally more closely associated with the gravity side of the sport. What was the reason for taking a crack at the cross-country scene?

PM: We were receiving a huge number of requests locally for a cross-country range, as well as some interest abroad for more than just gravity bikes. So about two years ago, I began designing a full-suspension 100mm-travel cross-country/marathon frame.

The Zula has a much smoother aesthetic than any other Morewood. Why is this?

With the new swingarm design being more organic, we were forced to move in that direction with the rest of the tubing. This has opened new doors for us to explore the style on future models. I found that by using the organic shape of a bone, which is an inherently strong structure, along with the rest of the swingarm’s construction, I was able to exceed my expectations! We needed to get the tube weight down, but remain strong, so the only way was to go butted and change to 6069 aluminium.

The Zula has stuck with the single-pivot layout; did you consider moving away from it when you were dreaming up the initial concept?

Yes I did, but I felt that if any bike could remain ‘pure’ single pivot, it would be the Zula, since it is made for long stage races such as the Cape Epic and Sani2c, which always end up muddy. One of the criteria was to have as much mud clearance as possible as well as minimal maintenance.

Tester says

Justin Loretz: “We saw the Morewood Zula at a bike show last autumn and had an instant feeling that this bike could be a ‘new’ classic – the reality of the ride has only served to confirm our suspicions. The Zula is a real find. Why do we say that? Well, not many bikes make us get up before dawn just so we can nail a few extra miles – and that’s become something of a habit since we’ve got the Zula.”

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Wow. There is no way this is an official race report. Still have to get through my mind in the next few days to make sure I grasp all the events that unfolded on an amazing day. The overall elation though, could best be described in this finishers photo…

9H11min later, this was what was left. I had walked down that finish line, tears and high fives, screaming out of pure joy, left only with the face you see there. I was 2nd South African overall, beating all but 9 professionals. 12th overall is better than I expected and I was on course for top 10 at one point, but faltered late in the run, a sure sign of too much mountainbiking and not enough long runs this year. Still, no problems…

There is a great song which comes to mind right now:

Just something about that song which reflects what I was possibly feeling out there.

Expect a full report soon. Seems I am off to Hawaii again for the month of October.

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This week I am all about doing, and being, right there, in the moment. Work wise, training wise, rest wise. Its all about doing it, and doing it well. This post reminded me about the zen part of doing. There has been mass chaos around me for the weeks leading into this week, so this is my time to just be doing before a mild training day on Sunday…

“Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.” ~Zen proverb

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on twitter or identica.

In the chaos of the modern world, there is a beauty in simply doing.

We’re buffeted wildly by whatever emails, conversations, news, events, demands, that are going on around us. Our minds become a constant deluge of thoughts dwelling in the past, worries of the future, distractions pulling us in every direction.

But all of that melts away when we focus on just doing.

It doesn’t matter what the doing is: sitting, walking, writing, reading, eating, washing, talking, snuggling, playing. By focusing on the doing, we drop our worries and anxieties, jealousies and anger, grieving and distraction.

There is something profound in that simplicity. Something ultimately heart-rendingly breath-takingly gorgeous.

“When walking, walk. When eating, eat.” ~Zen proverb

You are in the middle of your day today, and you’re caught up in the sandstorm of thoughts, feelings, to-dos, meetings, readings, and communications of this day.

Pause. Breathe. Let all of that fade.

Now focus on doing one thing, right now. Just choose one thing, and clear away all other distractions. Seriously, clear it all away. Turn off your Internet. Stop reading this article (OK, read a couple more sentences, then close your browser!).

Let all thoughts about anything other than the doing also fade away. They’ll come up, but gently make note of them, and then let them go. And return to the doing.

If you’re washing a dish, do it slowly, and feel every sensation. If you’re eating a fruit, taste it, feel the textures, be mindful of your hunger or lack of it. If you’re writing something, pour your heart into that writing, become the writing, inhabit the words.

Just do.

The rest of the world becomes meaningless distraction. It’s just you, and your doing.

And you realize: this is all that matters. In this, there is everything.

“Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.” ~Shunryu Suzuki

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As you know, I am a lover of coffee. A big lover. Almost as big as Rob used to be, before he shed the kilo’s and changed his life on Way of the Warrior.

There are a couple of things Port Elizabeth does well.

1. Host Ironman – sterling job done by Triangle Sports.
2. French Crepes – post race Nutella/Banana/Coconut/Peanut Butter crepes in the Boardwalk are legendary.

One of the things it does very poorly, in my opinion, is coffee.

I was so concerned about this, I actually went out and did something about it. Whilst being hosted so nicely by James I thought it would only be orderly if I was able to make the best coffee for morning consumption. This means unburnt, Ethiopias best, with steamed milk, not Mugg-and-Bean froth so big it looks like a Lady Gaga hairdo.

So I went out and got a Bialetti gift set. Looks like so…

Frother. Check. Coffee pot. Check. Next was the beans. Oh the beans. The flavors, the aroma, the taste of a fresh espresso on the back of the throat as it warms your soul. I wanted the best beans.

We are spoilt in Cape Town with coffee. Deluxe, Truth, Espresso Works are all here. I love all their coffee, but I wanted to try something different. I called on the head coffee snob, herd bull and otherwise known as my Dad. He has a habit of sniffing out these tiny little artisans who make fantastic product.

Dad: “Oojah.”

Son: “Kom weer?”

Dad: “Oojah.”

The conversation was going nowhere. I asked for a contact, and it came. I had a bit of a conversation with Louis from Oojah about why I should be buying coffee from him. Turns out they fresh roast it as you need it after having a mule cart it down through Africa to remain carbon neutral.

True story.

Not.

Oojah get only the best beans from only the best suppliers in the world. Louis was passionate and knew more about coffee beans than I know about, well… I should really pick up new skills after Ironman. Can’t seem to think of any right now.

So I ordered some beans to try, to combine with my Bialetti obsession. I was so excited that I made the first cup straight away, ignoring the fact that it was far too late in the day for more caffeine.

My Harrar was smooth and laced with a trace of chocolate. Ethiopian Harrar coffee beans are grown on small farms in the eastern part of the country. They are dry-processed and are labeled as longberry (large), shortberry (smaller), or Mocha (peaberry). Ethiopian Harrar coffee can have a strong dry edge, winy to fruit like acidity, rich aroma, and a heavy body. In the best Harrar coffees, one can observe an intense aroma of blueberries or blackberries. Ethiopian Harrar coffee is often used in espresso blends to capture the fine aromatics in the crema.

After the espresso I made one into a Flat White and that was magic. I didn’t have any of the tell-tale signs of caffeine overdose later and that dry, burnt taste (that is now commonplace in my ex favorite chain of coffee stores) was just not there. Fantastic.

I have no affiliation to Oojah, at all. I just think their product rocks, and its going to make my trip to PE this week that much easier. If you wanted to speak to them, they have a website, at Oojah.co.za and just click the contact page for some details.

So take that Port Elizabeth. Your lack of great coffee has been abolished. I urge all Ironman athletes to make sure they take their own coffee with them. Life is too short for bad coffee.

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…a collective clench from the athletes who just read that can only be hightened by watching the following:

Goosebumps. The actuality that anyone can do this, is exactly what has gripped the world, created opportunities for thousands of people around the world to scare themselves into becoming one of us. The fact that anybody can complete the Ironman is one of its biggest hook points.

It’s different from Cape Epic, in the sense that its a far more personal journey. No partners, no riding in groups chatting, no outside assistance.

You wake up, prepared as you can be, hoping for the best, carrying everything you need out there for the day with you.

I love this race. I love the concept. I get very emotional about Ironman because I am not a typical Ironman athlete. That may surprise you but I am not. The lot of us racing for slots are not what the race is about. I am passionate about the way this race changes your life. The middle to back of the packers experience the biggest life change. You are what the race is about, believe it or not. Pat yourself on the back.

Now watch this, cheesy house music overlay included…

lekka.

I only have a few tips for the guys out there doing Ironman this week. Many of you ARE going to make stupid mistakes this week, so here are a few common really stupid things you will do this week:

1. Change your position on the bike.
2. Change your race day nutrition strategy.
3. Change your carefully prepared taper by smashing out 2 hour bike time trials with 3 days to go.

Have some fun. You ARE going to finish. Make sure you finish well. With a smile and please, for the sake of your loved ones, at the last aid station, wash the 8-13 hours of gob, energy bars, coca cola and the last remnants of your soul off your face, zip up your top and high five some people in the finish chute.

Ironman is your daddy this week….

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In prep for Ironman I have spoilt myself a little with some new toys. Well, let’s be honest here for just a second, I am being spoilt by my sponsors with new toys for the last racing day of the season.

New kit:

Luma Sports have done up some amazing kit to race in.

New shoes:

Puma have just released the Complete Utopia II, a shoe I am very excited about. Never mind the color that matches…

New nutrition flavor:

Apart from the normal gels and bars I will be using, as well as loads of awesome little pills from Sport-X, I have a new flavor of energy drink I have been playing with.

Blueberry yes yes!

New Suunto:

After Elgin claimed my T6c during Cape Epic, Suunto have come to the party to make sure I don’t overcook the first lap of the bike, and the run…

There is something truly hot on the boil though, and this is all I can say until it arrives at my front door…

I got some new stickers for my wheels and there is rumor that I may actually ride an aero helmet for the race. All in all, I am going to arrive looking like a pro. Ironman athletes are all so aware of what other athletes look like and I may as well employ all scare tactics for the big day out. It’s waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar out there!

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I have to admit, there is some crazy good space going on round these parts lately. I have to thank Cape Epic for giving me the headspace I so love. I have since set myself some challenges, completely non-physical. Coming back from a week in the wild, where very little mattered but for food, my bike and my partner, I have realized that I have way to much stuff lying around. The Housemate will tell you the same. My cupboards are littered with stuff that I really do not need that badly.

Having loads of freaking awesome Puma footwear lying around also never hurt anyone, but it’s at the point where I need to make some controlled decisions on how much awesomeness I need and where I need to spread the love I get from some of the amazing companies who believe in me.

I came across an amazing challenge the other day and I am going to take it. It’s called 100 things:

The rules I’m following:

• Only personal things, that belong only to me. Doesn’t include household furniture, dishes, cleaning supplies, or other shared items such as our family digital camera and the TV.
• Books aren’t counted.
• I can get new things, but will try to keep them under 50 things.
• Underwear & socks are a group each.

The goal is to get my personal things list to 100. In fact, I need to get it down to about 90, because I have a few things I want to add to the list to get to 100.

Quite a challenge for me. If, by now, you haven’t worked it out, I like challenges, so this should be a great one. Will keep you posted.

The title from the post comes from the challenge. When I got back from Epic and looked in the mirror, I did see that there is too much stuff going on around me, that I needed to simplify. Surviving with so little for a week reminded me that I enjoy that. I love keeping it simple. Also reminded me that I love new people. We met quite a few new people during the race and I wanted to do something completely non-sporting to do the same.

Since I have been back I have been going out of my way to hang out and meet new people. I have a few rules:

1. Ask whatever I want – no reason to hold back.
2. Listen twice as much as I speak.
3. Make sure to thank them for their time.

So far, a great success and it has inspired me to potentially take it up for a month, traveling South Africa in my car with my bikes, working where I am (which I do anyway), seeing really out there places and riding some amazing landscapes. I want to stay with old mates, friends and strangers as I go. No plan, just be out there for a while.

Keep it simple, stupid. I have heard this alot in my life. I tend to over complicate things when I allow my mind to run. The mirror doesn’t lie and even if it’s tough to like what you see at times only you have the choices to make to fix that image.

Have a great week.

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