June 2005
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January 30, 2004

My New Goal

In my last post, I gave a hint that I have a new goal, but decided it would be better suited as a whole post instead of just a mention.

So here you go: My new goal is to a run a marathon. Specifically, this marathon.

While, this may not be a big deal for some of you, it is a HUGE deal for me. Just to get a grip on the lifestyle changes I'm making, let me explain them to you.

First, I wake up everyday and take a health drink called Super Greens that restores the Ph Balance to my blood system. For the competitive runner, and actually all humans, the level is integral for peak performance. I take my multi-vitamins formulated specifically for extremely active males. I take my flax seed pill, fish oil pill and my borax oil pill to help keep my immune system strong and thriving while I push my body to its limit. I've ditched all forms of caffeine; man made sugars i.e. candy, soda, ice cream; highly starchy carbohydrates such as pasta (my favorite food), almost all breads and baked goods; anything coming from the cow, including milk, beef, almost all kinds of cheese (except mozzarella), but excluding yogurt. My new regime maintains that the best fuel source for a body is fat rather than sugar. Thus, my goal is to not take in any sugar. I eat a lot of salads, which will provide my body with the essential vitamins and nutrients required to keep my body healthy while I push my body to its extremity. Lacing the salads are a variety of cold-water fish, such as salmon, tuna, mackeral, halibut and the like. Again these are the best kinds of meats that all men benefit from. I snack throughout the day on dried fruit, sliced fresh veggies, and nuts, typically almonds.

My training regimen goes this way: four days a week I run easy, comfortable pace runs increasing a mile in distance every week until the week before the marathon. Right now, for example, I run four miles. Next week, will be five. One day on the weekend, I do a longer run at an increased pace than on the weekdays. This weekend it will be six miles. The following weekend, eight miles. Every week, I increase my mileage and endurance and in time, my speed. This leads up to the week before the marathon, where I run about 20 miles on the Saturday before the event.

This is a normal training leading up to a marathon. What is not normal, however, is the amount of time I have to prepare. Most runners train for 25 to 30 weeks for a marathon. I will have had about 14 weeks. This is rather dangerous for a couple of reasons. First, the timeline leaves no room for error. Get off pace or miss a training or two and it might not happen, at least in April. Second, pushing my body with this schedule can cause injuries. I hope to avoid that because it could set me back indefinitely. Puff Daddy had nine weeks to prepare, I have 14. The way I see it, if P. Diddy can do it, so can I.

Now that you know everything I'm doing, try to imagine putting these changes into place for yourself. Sure some of you may be on a diet, so the food thing isn't that big of a deal. Some of you may jog or ride a stationary bicycle a couple of times a week while at the gym. But to change your food intake as drastically as I am and adding a bone-jarring, joint-burning injury such as running several times a week requires a huge committment and dedication. For me, at least.

Since I've never run one before and its already January 30th, I'm a little tentative mentally in saying I want to run a marathon April 24th. But I know I can do it if my training goes well and unfettered. If it doesn't work out in April, I'll always have July 24th.

Expect to see lots of posts here about my daily running totals and what not. By the way, any words of encouragement are thoroughly appreciated.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 4 Comments

January 28, 2004

The King of Icicles Is My Neighbor

icicle1_TH.jpg

I've been watching this giant bastard grow more and more everyday since the "Great Power Outage of 2003" as I'm calling it now. Look at that sucker! Its girth is probably eight inches at its girthiest. My guess is that it is somewhere between 5.5 and 6 feet in length. For those of you not from the snowy regions I call "Hell on Earth," that is one freakin' huge icicle! I'm hoping it reaches the ground and we have a full-fledged ice pillar. Right now its less than two feet from the ground.

His kingdom is on the back eve(?) of the 4-plex that I live in. In more than one occasion my inner five-year-old wanted to go break it off in its initial princely stages and use it as a giant ice light-sabre. But for some reason, I held back.

I became one of the Ice King Paparazzi, basking in His Icy Liege's radiant glow. Thus here's two more pictures for those of you who, like me, are starstruck by ice. I think I'll call him Larry.

P.S. Sorry for my lack of posting recently. My life has been drip, drip, dripping away like water down Larry in the afternoon. The only bright spot I have to report is my new goal, which I will explain in my next post.

Category: Funny Ha Ha | Permalink | 1 Comments

January 21, 2004

Mud Monster

Neil, the Mud Monster

That's me, on the right. I don't know how old I was in this picture, but I ran across it at my mom's house last weekend and brought it to work to scan it. It's pretty funny, huh?

I think this one is going on my about page.

Category: Funny Ha Ha, My Life | Permalink | 1 Comments

January 20, 2004

Slow Burn

Last week, I was speaking to a friend of mine who is an avid runner looking to compete in his first New York Marathon this year. He was explaining to me his love of running and how great he feels after a good long run. I was completely blown away by his statements. I absolutely hate running. More than that, I've never heard any person say they LOVE running. In my experience, running is one of those things that you hate to actually do. You may love how you feel after the run, but during you are in aghony and absolutely abhor. Which is what I told him.

He went on to explain to me that he was the same way many years ago. But he read a book called Slow Burn by Stu Mittleman. In it, Stu explains his secrets to enjoying running, which is what I was supremely interested in. But he goes on to explain the health factors that contribute to his theories.

Continue reading "Slow Burn"
Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

January 20, 2004

Note To Self #229

You're behind on your accomplishments. By this time in life, Joseph Smith had already been "contacted" by the angel Moroni, translated the golden tablets into the Book of Mormon and started his own cult . . . I mean, religion.

Get to task Neil, you lazy bastard!

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

January 16, 2004

Last Night's Sleep

I woke up at about four o'clock this morning to a rather disturbing dream. What happened in the dream isn't important. But what strikes me as interesing was my state upon awakening. I was wide awake from the moment I opened my eyes. I looked around my bedroom, visibly shaken. After several minutes of lying there, heart pounding, I got up, used the restroom, got a drink of juice and attempted to return to my slumber.

The reason I bring it up is because I was amazed that a dream could affect me in such a way. I was so disturbed I almost decided to stay awake and not go back to sleep (which is a big deal, for me.) Has this ever happened to you?

Once I returned to my bed, I was still quite disturbed. I thought, "I should blog this." I decided it was too cold to get out of bed to grab my PowerBook, opting instead to wait 'til this morning. Typing this now, I'm sure it would have been a much more emotionaly genuine post at four. However, my grammar would have suffered. I think next time I'll force myself to stay awake and make a fresh post instead of "sleeping on it."

Just for fun, does anyone want to take a guess at my dream? or nightmare rather?

Category: My Life | Permalink | 2 Comments

January 14, 2004

Geek Riddles and Jokes

If you don't get these jokes, then you aren't a geek, which is not a good thing.

I.E "SELECT * FROM readers WHERE clue > 0"

  1. There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.
  2. There's no place like 127.0.0.1
  3. Shakespeare: "/(bb|[^b]{2})/"
  4. How many people can read hex if only you and dead hex readers can read hex?

If you don't understand any of these, highlight just below this line and drag down.

Category: Geek | Permalink | 3 Comments

January 13, 2004

Et Cetera On A Tuesday

I will have a better post up later. But for now, I figured I'd give you a few little nuggets of information to tide you over.

  • » First, I've tried cleaning up the site a bit. By that I mean I played with the sidebars. I've added a Made On A Mac button. I've changed my Typepad Logo. I've also added a Curb Your Enthusiasm button to the Watching Category. The new season started a couple of weeks ago, and I know it was going to be a permanent thing on there. (If you've never seen Curb Your Enthusiasm, its simply the best thing on TV since Seinfeld. The plot essentially follows Larry David, who was the creator of Seinfeld, in his life after the award-winning series ended. The character of George Costanza was based on his life and experiences. In short, just imagine a series that revolves around George's buffoonery, but because language is not a factor on HBO, people don't refrain from "going off" on the guy.)
  • » For the last couple of weeks, I've plateaued above the 200 person/day hit count, which is pretty cool.
  • » At work, I've been given a huge online survey that needs to be done by next week. It will involve some heavy database programming, PHP, MySQL, et cetera, et cetera.
  • » Also, I've finished the initial draft for the layout of a recruitment/PR folder for the district. The layout was approved, but I will be making a few minor adjustments before it goes to print. Its a fun change of pace designing for print.
Category: The Man, Weblogs | Permalink | 0 Comments

January 12, 2004

To: Anonymous

It has come to my attention that I know more and more of you readers than I thought I did. And of all the readers I know that visit my site on a daily basis, only a handful of you leave comments regularly.

You know who you are. I know who you are.

I implore you, dear reader, to leave a comment. Let me know you exist metaphysically, because I know who you are physically.

Category: Weblogs | Permalink | 5 Comments

January 09, 2004

Look In My Sack

Deb over at smitten has listed what she carries in her bag and asked that everyone reading list theirs. So here's what I carry in my Jansport messenger bag:

  • » A book. Currently PHP and MySQL Web Development
  • » My iPod
  • » My digital camera
  • » Three paystubs
  • » A notepad full of notes for my freelance web design work
  • » A journal
  • » A blank CD
  • » A book called Examining the Scriptures Daily
  • » Gum
  • » My office ID
  • » Two pens and pencils
  • » A stack of business cards (both mine and other people's)

On my person, I always carry:

What about you? Indulge me and comment what you carry in your bag.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 2 Comments

January 09, 2004

Beauty

I am unlike anyone you've ever met. I do not mean this in a boastful way though.

I try to surround myself with beautiful things. When I say beautiful, I don't mean that everyone or even you will find them beautiful. I mean that I find them beautiful.

I try to create and find beauty, balance, elegance, etc. in all that I do. Whether its in my professional life, creating websites and designing computer graphics. Or in my personal life, with the design of my home, my amatuer photography, or my even more amatuer musicianship.

My eyes are always looking for beauty and balance in everything and everywhere I go.

One remark every girl, and I mean every single one of them, I've ever been romantically involved with has said is that I make them feel beautiful. I have been told that several times. The fact is, I find them all beautiful. I'm not just saying that. I honestly find all women beautiful. Not just minutely, but extremely so. I look at every woman and see beauty. I am very passionate about women. I treat them with utmost respect and, dare I say it, love.

Why do I bring this up? Because I have recently been introduced, or rather, reintroduced to an extremely beautiful woman. The best part about meeting a new person, and especially a beautiful woman, for me is that I can't get her beauty out of my head.

Most of the time, I don't want to. This is one of those times.

Typically, I end up using them as inspiration. I draw their face. I write poems about them. Most of the time, she never reads or sees them. Many times, I never see her again.

Most of the time, I don't want to. This is NOT one of those times.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

January 07, 2004

The Only Word In My Dictionary Today

Work: noun. the labor, task, or duty that is one's accustomed means of livelihood.

I'm trying to get some breathing room to post something meaningful. I promise.

Category: The Man | Permalink | 1 Comments

January 05, 2004

Welcome To 2004

Well, after ten days off, I have returned to work at the school district. It was very nice, but to be perfectly honest, unless I plan a trip, its pretty pointless to have all of that time off. I'm grateful for the time off, don't get me wrong. But it makes it very hard to return to work after all that time off.

So far, I'm on a record-setting pace of drinking coffee. As of today, regular posting will continue. I did have a good break, here's the rundown on some things.

  • » I went with a lot of people skiing on Christmas day.
  • » Salt Lake City had a monstrous, record-setting snow storm.
  • » My power was out for 2 days forcing me to inconvenience a friend by sleeping at his house.
  • » I spent a couple days with my three best-friends/roommates from college. This is completely unbelievable because the other three live all over the country, whereas, I live here in the same state where we went to college.
  • » I didn't work on any freelance websites, nor did I crack my PHP book.
  • » I did a lot of staying up late/sleeping late.
  • » I played a lot of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on PS2.

As I have a horrible short-term memory, I reserve the right to add to this list as I remember the details.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

January 01, 2004

Weird Searches

I decided to record all the searches that brought people to my site. This wasn't anything scientific, I just tried looking at my logs as often as I could and record what was searched for. I set it to automatically publish ten days from the day I started it. Of course, I didn't record multiples, otherwise this would be an endless list of Scarlett Johannson searches (which, by the way, is reaching anywhere from 30-50 hits per day, as I am ranked #3 on Google now, right behind the Internet Movie Database and Women.com). So here ya go, peruse some of my old stuff if you'd like. And when I say old, I mean October.