Real Men Wear Pink

Real men do wear pink.

It's what's in. Haven't you heard? Well, if you haven't gotten the memo, lavender is out and pink is in for men this, what season are we in?, oh yeah, fall.

You heard it here first.

I think if I say it enough, I'll be okay with wearing pink.

I'm actually not sure about wearing pink... well, let me rephrase that. Under normal circumstances, I would not wear pink. Period. I've never considered it as an option for any clothing apparel of mine, nor have I pondered purchasing a pink clothing item.

But when I joined the Loma Linda Lopers, I was given a pink t-shirt upon registering. Pink, you see, is the Lopers' color of choice. Not black, not white but pink. Not blue, not green, not aquamarine. Pink.

Wearing the shirt is, of course, not mandatory. In fact, a lot of runners on our Sunday runs typically don't wear the shirt, and some wear white Lopers shirts, which I might do as well once I get my hands on one. But I wear the shirt during our Sunday runs. The only time I didn't was my first run back after the Ragnar Relay when I wore my white Ragnar shirt, and I might wear it again soon and ditch the pink once again.

I wore the pink shirt during Sunday's Mission Inn Run, for a few reasons. One, the Loper people recommended wearing it beacuse one of our own was going to take pictures and have them for sale at a much cheaper price than the regular race photographers. Two, I've worn it most every Sunday for the last three months so why stop now? And thirdly, I'm part of a club and these are our colors. There were a lot of Lopers out there, and many of them wore the pink shirts.

And I'm proud of being a Loper; thus I wear the colors. I've learned so much from my fellow Lopers since July that I feel obligated to wear the colors and support the group. I can't imagine being where I am now, training for a marathon, logging all these miles in on Sundays, improving on my midweek runs, and doing all that I've done without the Lopers. I did well to get to where I was over the summer, to have completed a half marathon and the like, on my own. Now, I'm not saying that I couldn't have done Ragnar or this 10K or even a marathon on my own, but it would have been a lot more difficult, a lot more challenging and a lot more discouraging.

On Nov. 22 I'm going to be in Seattle and we have an 18-mile run scheduled for that morning. I am not sure how I'm going to tackle that, if I'll run the distance by myself or if I'll tack on three miles to this week's 15-miler and run 10 or 12 miles on the 22nd alone. Just the thought of running 18 miles on my own frightens me, but the thought of running 18 miles with the Lopers is less scary. Sure, it's daunting but in my mind it's doable. Running 18 miles by myself scares me. But if that's what I have to do, then that's what I'll have to do. The Lopers, though, are encouraging in that sense.

What's great too is that there are many people like me. My awesome rockin' blog buddy Angie joined the Lopers in August or September of 2008 and has already run three marathons. My fellow 11-min group runner Meriel kicked ass in her first 10K, finishing in under 50 minutes on Sunday. And she'd never even run more than four miles before joining the Lopers. I dare say she's one of the stronger runners in our group. I use her as motivation to get through the last miles of our long runs because she finishes so strongly. And there are several others in our group who are just starting, hadn't run double-digit miles before September, have the same worries and fears as the other first-timers, about finishing the marathon in one piece, about closing out or 13-, 14- or 15-mile runs out well and the like.

Combine that with the knowledge and experience our pace leaders have and it's no wonder why I feel so good about my chances at Surf City. As I mentioned earlier, one of pace leaders has run more than 50 marathons and ran 33 miles just this last weekend. Another veteran helped us during our recent 15-miler as he was a fill-in, and he'd hiked 20 miles the day before.

So while I'm going to have to run Surf City on my own two feet, I know that the Lopers will have helped carry me and will continue to carry me there. Will I wear pink that day? Well, so far 272 Lopers have signed up for Surf City, and I wouldn't want to get lost in the crowd.

So pink it is.

Real men wear it, right? Maybe? Oh well. At least the girls like it. Of all my shirts, it's their favorite, and they've told me so many times.

Mud Run Calendar Is Set

Camp Pendleton Races announced their 2010 race calendar last week, about five weeks earlier than they did a year ago. I remember last year waiting, wondering, hoping to hear about the 2009 race calendar. I suppose I was a bit eager since I ran my first Mud Run in Oct. 2008 and was quite anxious about signing up for another Mud Run.

There are three Mud Runs on the schedule for 2010: June 5, 6 and 12.

There is also one slight problem. The San Diego Marathon is scheduled for June 6.

San Diego Marathon? Where the hell did that come from?

Oh, well, I just haven't blogged about it but I've been thinking about running another marathon in 2010, well, more exact, thinking if I should run another marathon in 2010. It's a long year and I might get bored. And the San Diego Marathon would be great because I'd have enough time after Surf City to relax, rest up and then train for San Diego.

But if I did that, I could probably say farewell to the Mud Run. I obviously couldn't do it on June 5 or 6, so that would be out. Could I run the marathon one weekend and then the Mud Run six days later? Maybe a more experienced runner would be able to challenge that task, and that might be something that I'd be up for in 2011 or beyond, but right now, several months before my first marathon, is not the time to think like that. So unfortunately that would be out too.

The Mud Run is an awesome event. I enjoy it quite a bit, have enjoyed it since I did my first one, and it's becoming a bit of a tradition for all of us involved. I'm not sure if I'm willing to give that up.

I suppose one thing that would help would be to find another marathon in May that I could run, or at least, that I could potentially run should I decide to go for another 26.2.

I'm still not convinced that I will want to run another marathon so soon but I do think that I will need something to train for. I've thought about running another half marathon sometime in the spring, and that one is pretty much a lock at this point. Might do the Run Through Redlands again. Not sure.

I guess I have a couple of months to figure out whether or not I want to run San Diego or if running the Mud Run is and should still be the focal point of the early part of my summer.

And then there's this: some of the Tortoises might want to get together for the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay June 18-19 in Utah.

What??? Where did that one come from??

Aw, well, I guess I have a lot to consider for 2010.

Don't even mention South Africa.

Mission Inn Musings

Some tidbits left over from the Mission Inn Run...

Where Are The Pictures?

I didn't actually take any pictures myself at the run. Sadly, Mrs. LB and the girls had a prior commitment and weren't able to attend, so nobody greeted me at the finish except volunteers. As I went to the race myself, I couldn't really take a camera.

Funny thing is, I ran into Yvie's teacher at the race. I volunteer in her class a lot so she knew me and we exchanged a brief hello as her husband had just finished the 10K himself (I don't know yet if I beat his time or not). I suppose I could have asked her to take a picture of me.

But there is one picture floating around of me in my awesome pink Loper shirt. You'll have to click here to see it. Angie of Angie Eats Peace had her camera and her husband took this picture.

The other person in that picture is Art, one of my Loper pace leaders. He had run the half marathon with a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes. Funny thing is Art had run 20 miles in 3 hours 40 minutes the day before the half marathon. He's run a total of 52 marathons, and will run number 53 next month in Las Vegas. He's 58 years old.

Yes, I am in awe.

Picking The Pics

Now, there will be some pictures of me I believe. There were photographers along the course and it was a real strange coincidence that when I came upon them I was right in their way, like weird. I was running and the photographer was in front of me and there wasn't anybody or anything between me and the photographer.

Strange how that worked out.

Anyway, hopefully there will be some action pictures of me. And hopefully I won't look like I was suffering too much.

Claim Your Medal, LB

One of my readers (JM) commented on my Mission Inn Run race recap about the medal and wanted to know how much faster would I have needed to run in order to have gotten a medal. It was actually a great question and really got me thinking.

To answer her question, I would have needed to run about six seconds faster as the 100th male finished in 50:19. My time officially was 50:24. It was attainable and will be attainable for me the next time I run it.

I started thinking about this, about earning a medal. I've received medals before. Actually, my first race, my 5K back in '08, I got a medal for and I figured that every race would be like that, that you'd get participation medals in all races no matter what. Of course, it's not like that.

The longer races seem to have participation medals as I got one for the Run Through Redlands Half-Marathon and the Ragnar Relay, and will get one for Surf City.

But while those medals are great and treasured, I didn't really earn them. Now, you could say that by signing up and running the race I earned them and while I won't argue that, I will say that I haven't earned one by finishing in a certain time or place. Again, I'm not so concerned with time and competing against others, but I suppose in some ways it would be nice to earn a medal this way, to finish in the top whatever of a race and get a medal that others didn't.

Still, I'm not going to fret over that but it is something that I hadn't thought about before. We'll see if it comes back into mind the next time I run a 10K.

Pace Yourself

I wound up running the 10K with an overall pace of 8:06, which is pretty good for me. I had run the 10K a year ago at about 8:30. Shaving seven seconds and finishing the 10K with a pace of 7:59 would translate into finishing in 49:53, which would be fantastic, but it's a challenge.

Still, I think I can get there. I just need to run more tempo runs and more intervals as I hadn't been running many of these lately, well, not as many as I would have liked.

Motivational Mondays (Nov. 9)

The overall winner of the Mission Inn Run 10K finished in a time of 29 minutes, 10 seconds. His pace was 4:41, and the 25-year-old beat the second-place finisher by more than two minutes. He also beat my time by more than 21 minutes.

Should that discourage me? Should I be disappointed that I finished so far back of the winner? Realistically, the race was over for me after a few steps for once the eventual winner took his first few steps it would have been obvious that I wouldn't have been able to catch up.

But to say that I am disappointed in my time would be way off the mark. I am still happy... however... the official race results came out and this is what it reads...

So turns out what I'd originally seen when I crossed the line was indeed my finish time, which is fine. It changes nothing to be honest.

I'm still excited about having run my best-ever time for a 10K and excited about the potential I showed that I have for future races. 49:59 or below is within sights and that's encouraging. Motivating.

I suppose that's why I like running. Well, there are many reasons why I like to run - staying healthy, meeting challenges, looking halfway decent - but races in particular are enjoyable. Even though I am not as physically talented as the ones who can run 10Ks in under 30 minutes, half-marathons in under 1 hour, 10 minutes or marathons in under 2 hours, 30 minutes, we are on level footing. They have their challenges and I have mine, and we both try and meet them however we can.

It's encouraging to know that if you were to pick up running and try to run a few miles here or there and then enter a 5K as a newbie with only a few months of running under your belt, you will liely enjoy the experience, and you won't be humbled by others who are better/faster/stronger.

Unless you can run five-minute miles, the only person you compete against when you run is yourself.

So even if the winner of a given race can finish, shower, dress and start eating a sandwich while you are still on the course, it's not exactly discouraging.

Mission Inn Run 2009: Raising The Bar

For the last month or so, I'd switched my focus from the Ragnar Relay to the Surf City Marathon, but part of my training included the Mission Inn Run 10K. I'd ran the race before, as it was my first regular, non-obstacle 10K run and I'd set a pretty good time of 52:55.

But over the last two weeks or so, I'd wanted to beat that time and had set my sights solely on this race. I had two goals: 1) beat my time from last year, and 2) finish in 49:59 or better. Goal 1 was a must, Goal 2 would have been icing on the cake.

Although I'd ran the Ragnar Relay and the Mud Run in the last five months, this was my first regular street race since the Run Through Redlands in April. As I went to check in and grab my bib - I got number 88 - I felt the excitement of the pre-race atmosphere.

There must be a hundred runners out here already.

I had about 20 minutes to go before the race started when I walked up to the start line, but I wasn't ready to get a spot in the start. I warmed up by jogging very lightly, walking, then jogging faster and increasing the pace little by little. I ran a total of about .8 miles and got my pace up to the pace I thought I would feel comfortable at the start.

When the 10K runners started to gather at the start, I tried to grab a spot up near the top, and I met up with a pair of my Loper pace group buddies. One of them, Meriel, was worried about time and wondered how she should run it, as it was her first 10K. I had faith in her, as even though she is a first-year Loper like myself, she is one of the stronger runners in our 11-minute pace group.

I wound up running with Angie of Angie Eats Peace, who wanted to beat her 2008 time of 56 minutes, for a good portion of the start. We sort of pushed each other for the first two miles, and we flew. We finished the first two miles in about 15 minutes, 20 seconds.

Holy crap! Man, those tempo runs worked!

I knew we wouldn't be able to hold that pace for the entire race but it felt very good to know that I was even running that pace and not feeling the effects.

Early in the third mile, though, we got to a hill. It wasn't the steepest hill ever but it was steep enough. Our early speedburners were shut off, and Angie fell behind a bit. I pushed forward, got up to the main street (Market Street) and swung a right. The half-marathoners were running alongside us at that point.

I'm so running that next year.

I had to maintain my focus and I sort of lost it during this stretch. After the turnaround point, which was the end of mile 3, I was at about 22 minutes, a little more. I felt good knowing that if I were to run a 5K I know I could beat my 5K time of 25:05. Perhaps it was this that made me lose my focus, or maybe I just got a bit fatigued, but by the time I got to the end of Mile 4 I was at about 32 minutes, and that was about the same time I had been at a year ago.

Stupid Garmin! What the hell?!?

Thinking back now, The Garmin was not working properly. It kept giving me "Weak GPS Signal" readings, so I think my times may have been off at a certain point. Regardless, I felt that if I didn't push myself, I wasn't going to beat my PR and would definitely not come close to finishing in under 50 minutes.

Time to push yourself.

Angie had caught me sometime during Mile 4 but I sped up and left her and a group of other runners behind, probably not too far behind but I couldn't see them in my peripheral vision. I was worried though that I wouldn't be able to maintain that pace for much longer and while I know I slowed down (The Garmin was unreliable by this point) I could feel myself going at a good pace regardless.

The 5-mile marker came up and..

"40 minutes, 41 seconds"

I had a shot. I had 1.2 miles left and I was going to do whatever I could to finish in under 50 minutes. But the realities of running sunk in quickly. My muscles ached, my feet were taking a pounding and I could feel my heart working overtime. The hill approached yet again, and it slowed me down once more. I came up out of it, made a left on a street where the hill wasn't much of a factor but it took some time coming out of it.

Still, I kept pushing. I could see Market Street up ahead, and once I turned onto it I knew that there would be no holding back. But Mission Inn Boulevard was a ways down, and I wasn't sure if I could sprint that far.

This is what you do intervals for.

I heard people on the sidewalks cheering, and that sort of gave me a lift. I steadily improved my pace, got faster and by the time I was approaching Mission Inn, I was running as fast as I could.

No holding back now. You got this.

I wanted to leave nothing in reserve. My legs churned, my chest heaved, sweat dripped down my sunglesses and drenched my shirt. I remembered to look at the clock as I approached the finish line, but I couldn't really tell where the exact finish line was. Still, I shot a look at the clock as I slowed down.

50:24

I felt a mix of emotions. First, I was tired. I was breathing heavily and I wanted to jog a little longer but I was funneled into a the finish line and had no choice but to walk. Secondly, I could feel my leg muscles relaxing for the first time in about 50 minutes. They breathed sighs of relief. And since I hadn't taken my fuel belt or Gu, I was feeling the need to get some fluids and fuel inside of me. After I was able to get past my physical shortcomings, I was able to think about my time.

New PR!! Kick ass!!

As I made my way over to get some water, someone who I'd beaten told me that I needed to get my medal. Apparently, the top 100 male and female runners get a medal, and since I'd finished before that guy and he'd gotten one, I needed to get one. I went back to the finish and asked for one but didn't get it. I didn't care, but as I waited with Angie (who had her medal swung around her neck) I started to feel as if I got ripped off. Angie destroyed her PR, finishing in 51:24, while Meriel beat us both, finishing in under 50 minutes.

Once the official results were posted, I went over to see if I'd finished in the top 100 and then would go track down a medal.

I scanned the list, saw my name and...

103___7__M__34__50:19___88

Oh no! I didn't finish in the top 100 as I finished 103 in the overall male category, and apparently seventh in my age group.

I actually feel good about this. For one, I love my time. 50:19 is an awesome time! Much better than 50:24, and way better than 52:55. Secondly, I know I can run a better 10K race. I could stand to shed a few pounds, not talking 20 or 120 by any means but I know I can get leaner. And I know I can train better. I'm still in my early running stage as I've not ran a marathon before, have ran only one half-marathon and one 5K along with my three regular 10Ks, two Mud Runs and the Ragnar Relay. That's not a ton of races. I think the longer I run, the more races I run, the better my training will be. Plus, I haven't done hardly any resistance training this year so there's that element as well.

I like this bar that I've set for myself, and I know that the next 10K I participate in, I'll have an awesome chance of finishing in 49:59 or under so long as I remain true to myself in the run-up to the race.

Until then, I'm going to relax and enjoy the moment.

Eve Of Mission Inn

It's a day away from the Mission Inn Run and I feel good about my chances of finishing the race in under 52:55. That's the time I posted last year and is my 10K PR, so I'm hopeful that I will be able to beat that time.

I had a fantastic workout on Friday as I did The Interval. For the low parts, I ran at a 6.5 and for the high parts I ran an even 8.0, so that's at a 9:12 and 7:30 pace, respectively. I actually felt great running the faster pace, didn't feel like it was blazing fast or anything so that was very encouraging for my race. I finished off with a two-minute sprint at 9.0, which is about 6:40 pace. Yeah, that's way too fast for me to maintain it for more than a couple of minutes but to be able to run that fast after having run/walked for nearly 3.5 miles at that point was also encouraging.

I'm not saying I'm going to go into a full-on blazing sprint the last half-mile or longer, but I do have hope that I'll be able to pick up the pace on the stretch run. Whether that's a 6:40 pace or not remains to be seen but I could maintain a faster pace this time around than I did last year. I remember last year trying to go into my sprint a bit early and being humbled right away by not being able to maintain it for 20 steps.

Whatever happens on Sunday, I am going to remain positive about it. I know that I can train better and eat better and be in a better frame of mind leading up to a 10K. I'll just have to try my hardest to move the bar higher for the next time. And if that doesn't happen, then I'll have another chance to beat my 10K time soon enough.

One other thing...

I wanted to re-print my Mission Inn Run experience from 2008. I've come a long way both in my running and my blog since then. To wit: I had no comments on this original post!

**Re-printed from Nov. 9, 2008**

Sunday was going to be a good day no matter what. I felt as much when I got up this morning. It was going to be good for several reasons:

- The Mission Inn Run was today and I was going to participate in it.
- The race would cap off a year that saw me run in three races, and actually I ran those in a span of six months.
- It would also mark the end of my running... for now. By no means am I stopping but I need a break from running.

I was running the race with my two younger brothers, Danny (27) and Jesse (19). The older one of the two is an experienced runner, and all-around athlete, while the younger is in his running infancy. So I had others to help keep me company.

We got there early, pre-registered and made our way around the beginning of the route. My wife and girls were there too from the start and helped cheer me on.

At 8:30, we stood on the start line with a daunting six miles standing between myself and personal glory.

Gee, that seems really long right about now.

The horn sounded off and hundreds of shoes hit the street. I was near the front at the start but I settled well back of the leaders. If there was anyone to avoid in helping me keep pace, it was the speed burners up front. I wanted to save some of my energy for the end.

We ran down the main street of the race and made our way toward a park on the edge of the city. The scenery was actually things we'd see again as the 10K route called for us to run the 5K route twice. Near the end of the street, we sloped downhill and ran into a path that cut through the park.

It was pretty even terrain at that point and I guessed we were at around the mile mark.

See? Just five miles more.

I hadn't been in the best conditions during the week to train so I did not enter the race with much confidence. I knew I could finish it but I was worried I'd struggle. But early on, there were no negative effects from my setbacks this week.


The path was actually quite scenic. It took us near the edge of the lake and several people were there fishing.

I wish I would have gone fishing instead.

I looked far ahead to see if I could make out the curvature of the path and sure enough I saw dozens of runners around the bend and through the trees. Pretty soon, we were running around the last vestiges of the lake and the park in general as a neighborhood - and cups of water - awaited us.

Wait. Is that an uphill run?

Sure enough, the water was a small positive to what was a major negative. A hill greeted us. Now, it wasn't a very steep hill. But I feared that in my less-than-stellar condition I would have problems with the hill. Still, I tried to keep my pace and did well to reach the top. A bend followed and we were headed down toward the main street, which is actually Market Street.

I made a right on Market and saw other runners headed toward me. We had to run about three blocks to the turnaround point before starting the second portion of the run.

Okay, you did the first half fine. Just do that again and you'll be good.

Still, I didn't feel good. I felt just okay. My heart rate had straddled the 180s for most of the second part of the run up to that point and that only meant it was going to climb for the remainder of the race. For me, 180 is manageable but the closer I get to 185 the more I have to conserve my strength. I'd love to run between 170-180 but I was past the point of keeping it in the 170s unless I wanted to slow down.

No slowing down. I've got to finish this as quick as possible.

I went back down Market towards Fairmount Park. There weren't as many people as there had been the first time I ran that way but there were still quite a few runners around me. I got back into the park, ran back the same path and was prepared to see the lake once again when I ran past a sign that said Mile 4.

"32 minutes and 32 seconds," a voice shouted as I ran by. That was encouraging. If I'd already ran four miles, that meant I only had two to go.

Actually, 2.2.

And the time was also encouraging. Four miles in 32 minutes was a good pace for me.

Wait a minute. Did the sign mean I had already ran four miles or that I was starting my fourth mile? Big difference.

For the sake of my confidence and my mental state, I decided that I'd ran four miles already. Besides, if that was the three-mile mark, that wouldn't have made much sense for the 5K.

Buoyed by a surge of confidence, I tried to pick up my pace. I had been going to a rather easy pace, perhaps a bit slower than I could have ran otherwise but now was the time to move quicker. My legs responded though at first extending my legs further was a bit more difficult than I'd anticipated.

Finally, the park was at an end. The water station awaited, as did the hill. But I felt strong.

Time to make a move.

A group of runners slowed on the hill. I glanced at my watch and saw 184. I had some in reserve and I wanted to use it. I took some large strides up the hill and passed by several people. When the street flattened out, so too did my pace. My watch now read 191.

You've gotta slow down.

I nearly used up most of my reserves and I still had - what a mile? - left before the finish. I slowed but even if I hadn't my body would have forced me to. My heart rate was still in the high 180s and I felt it.

Up came Market Street and the final stretch run. I wanted to wait until I was close enough to the finish to use up the rest of my reserves. In the distance I saw my wife and girls cheering me on. That, coupled with the the motivating messages I'd received from some friends earlier in the morning, helped me get through the finale.

I sprinted. I had just one block left and I wanted to run hard and finish hard. I was so focused on the finish line and finishing strong that I failed to notice the big clock situated near the finish line.

Come on! One last push!

And with that, I crossed the line. I had nothing left in me. Every muscle in my leg was wide awake and yelling, probably swear words, at me. My left foot throbbed and my hamstrings felt like they were a good lunge from ripping off the bone. I wanted to sit but more than that I wanted to walk. I needed to cool down and get a semblance of my former self back. Danny had finished about three minutes before me while Jesse ran about a minute behind me, maybe less.

When I finally met up with my wife and girls, she asked me how I felt and I filled her in on my aching muscles. She then asked me if I was glad I'd run the race.

Hell yes.

****

Friday Leftovers (Nov. 6)

Another edition of my weekly leftovers.

Word Association

Remember to play along here.

1. Hairbrush :: Where?
2. Sneak :: attack
3. Hole :: head
4. Horror :: show
5. Standard :: equation
6. Mailbox :: letters
7. Attachment :: PDF
8. Type :: writer
9. Nails :: hammer
10. Storage :: shed

Notes: Hairbrush and Where? are in reference to The Hairbrush Song by the Veggie Tales. I don't watch that show and never really have but that song is played on the children's music channel on Sirius and Kennedy is especially fond of it. It's a pretty funny song. And has anyone under the age of 30 ever used a typewriter? I'm pretty sure you could ask some random high school students about a typewriter and they'd probably never even heard of or seen one. Yeah, aging myself here...

Dad Update

My dad's in the hospital and will remain there for several days as they run some tests. We're still not sure what he's got but the consensus seems to be some sort of aspriation pneumonia. But it appears as if it's mild if that's what it is and he seems like he always does, save for a little shortness of breath. Some tests Friday morning could determine the extent of the illness.

Mud Run Dates

I'm going to post about this in much greater detail but Camp Pendleton Races announced their calendar for 2010. The Camp Pendleton Mud Run 2010 dates are June 5, 6 and 12. We may go for the 5th. There's usually another one in October but that one's not up yet. We might go for that too (we meaning the usual crew that I've run the last two with).

LB's Song of the Week

My weekly nod to children's music...

You are either going to like this or really dislike it. There seems to be no in-between. Three of us here like it and one of us really dislikes it, Mrs. LB being the lone dissenting vote.

It's a song called Highway 40 by Brak. I'm not sure what Brak's history is or what show he's on - well, I did some research and found out he was on a show called Space Ghost back in the day, like, back before my day, in the late 60s - but still I'm not familiar with him.

But I heard this song on Sirius 116, the kid's music channel, and immediately thought it was great. The girls and I love to sing the song together.