Errr. 2013?

Is it worth changing my blog title because the year changed? I may have avoided that pitfall if I were a better blogger. Wow! A lot has changed and or taken place since I last blogged... like a ton! Too bad I am too tired right now to blog about it. I took a sleep aid pill and I am now feeling the fog come over me that will quickly take me off to sleepy sleepy time. Like Super sleepy time! SO this will be a super short post... I promise digital world... more is coming. I am going to be a better blogger in 2013, I am not going to rename my blog. I am going to continue to be myself and not apologize for who I am, and who I am becoming. Life has taught me some CRAZY lessons this past year. Maybe 2013 is the year that things actually change for me for the better.. maybe?

All in all..... I am tired and thirsty. Lesson learned for the week.. Do NOT ever go out for Mexican food for lunch on Valentines Day... if the best part of Valentines day happens at night, and the worst part of eating Mexican food happens at night, well.... there is not much more that needs to said- Fireflight is probably one of the best bands I have found recently// Clean, Heavy, Tight, good message, and all that Jazz... Good Stuff! PEACE!

Summer fun-

So..... the time came for me to go camping with a few dude friends... We went up American Fork Canyon and did some 4x4ing.... It was quite amazing. Way short trip considering we were not even gone for 24 full hours... So above is a picture of me and Brad in front of an abandoned mine at probably 7800 FT - What is amazing is that people used to mine this area way before the invention of the car. It took us 2 hours to drive up to this mine in a jeep equipped with 4x4 capabilities and some wicked suspension- Below is another shot of Brad and I looking at the top of the mountains we were exploring- The point we were looking at was the VERY top of the mountain...so SUPER cool!  Enjoy.... I do need to take my little family camping at some point.. Nature is too cool to go un-explored.

The Race I didn't Run :(

Yes...Most of you know I did not get to participate in the good old fashioned Ragnar Race last weekend. I decided it was not worth risking long term injury, so I sat it out. It sounds like the team had a decently good time as they are very close to signing up for next year. The crazy thing is they have to sign up on Monday or there will be no "next year." I think I have a spot on the team next year and it sounds like the team will be expanded to 2 teams... I believe the Otter Pops will have 2 teams. I am very hopeful that I have a spot and starting today.... I will begin training for reals. I now know what not to do in order to stay healthy and not over-train too close to the fact. I have less than 1 year to get into Ragnar shape- Along the way I hope to get in half Marathon shape as well.. since I intend to run a half marathon as well.... It all starts with the Neff Family Run for fun run of fun runnning just for the fun of it 10 K 2012 July @ Wolf Creek...!!!

On a completely different and totally unrelated note - I also lived out one of my dreams this morning. Have you ever seen a movie where the main character is locked out of a room? Usually there are 2 ways to deal with the problem. 1) Take the gun and shoot the door open. 2) Kick the door open by kicking right where the door knob is... So I don't have a gun and this seems a bit overkill. I do however have legs of steel and Raw power...so I did what any rational sleep deprived man would... I kicked the freaking door open >:) I am sure my wife will not be super pleased to hear this news...and I am sure there will be some sort of backlash. Oh well! There is a lesson to be learned here - If one doesn't respond to a text stating that the bathroom door is locked there is a good chance that a door might become a victim of sleep deprived and tired..RAGE!

I am in trouble...I think-

So, as many of you know I am preparing to run this insane race thingy called Ragnar. I have been training and Saturday (yesterday) was a big test for me. I decided to run UP Millcreek Canyon for 4.5 miles and then attempt to run back down the same distance- This I did attempt, but not without some heartache. I got up the canyon just fine... slowly, but I made it up without too much trouble. Midway down (around Mile 6.5) I felt this sudden SHARP pain in the left (outer) side of my knee.. not on top..the outside. I stopped running and decided to see if I could stretch it out (maybe I pulled a muscle in my knee? I don't know I'm not a Doctor) As I was stretching a couple of runners stopped and asked me if I was OK.. I told them about the pain and they suggested I messed up my IT band? They recommended a few stretches and a few minutes to cool down and then to try running again..
I did as they suggested, and to my surprise it seemed to go away after 10 minutes of stretching...so I started back down the canyon.. around mile 7.75 it came back WITH A VENGEANCE!!!!! This time I couldn't stretch it out, or rest it out...I couldn't hardly walk. I then decided to call it quits and have Eva come and pick me up.
I got home and took some pain killers... this helped a little bit and I decided it might be a good idea to go for a bike ride to work those IT band muscles. This I also did with little to no trouble. We rode about 10 miles on the Jordan Parkway. And everything was good, still soar and mild pain...but good.
Last night I went to bed with mild pain in the Iliotibial band area of my knee - I slept until about 6:00 am and then woke up to the most dull / achy pain I have ever felt.. I decided to try something... Just answer a simple question- Can I run? The answer....^&%(*&^& no :( I really can't , it HURTS like the dickens! I have 2 weeks until Ragnar? Will I be able to recover from Iliotibial band syndrome? Or should I bail out of the race?? Maybe I should see a medical professional??? 


...To be continued

Long Time....Sad times (ish)

Dear Blog - I used to think that the world of Sports talk radio was a safe Haven from unnecessary change and childish selfishness and 0 Loyalty to the "listeners." Well.....I was WRONG...dead wrong! Tuesday was one of the WORST days I have had to deal with as a fan of OBJECTIVE sports talk radio. My favorite station 1280 the zone (97.5thezone FM) announced that they were essentially ending their reign as Utah's only independent and objective radio programming. 1320 KFan (the subjective home of the Utah Jazz) as directed by LHM media group bought out the only voice of independence and has turned them in to Utah's ONLY voice for local sports radio. [no offense to ESPN700 home of the Utes and RSL #soccerissuperlame] - but they are barely local programming. 1280 the zone was all day from 6:00 am - 6:00 pm local independent sports talk. Nobody @ the old 1280 was paid by any sports team. Now the new 1280 #weareallJazzhomers is being paid by the LHM media group which is part of LHM which owns the Jazz. Here is my list of why this all sucks!

1) No more Kyle Gunther...he was the best Sports Talk Radio Host in the state hands down - not only that but he is Hilarious and really makes Sports talk entertainment-
2) I CANNOT STAND DJ AND PK... now I will try to be more precise- Hans Olsen and Sean O'Connell were 100% better in the morning than DJ/PK --PK has got to be one of the biggest TOOLS on this earth. I would rather listen to silence than hear him talk about how great he is...he is not great PK is THE SUCK!!!!
3) Gordon Monson is the EPIC creeper behind this whole thing. I used to be able to tolerate Gordon because Jake Scott made the show fun. Gordon is a MASSIVE Hypocrite!! He sold out his independent voice to be part of the Machine. A machine that I will rage against every time I get in my car. I guess I need to start learning Spanish in the car as opposed to staying informed in the Sports world now that there is no objective voice in Sports...this includes you Mr Gordon! It is a very simple equation -> you are now paid by the Jazz you are the voice of the Jazz...subjective...PERIOD!

I could go on...but I won't. I just want the record to state that a part of me died when 1280 the zone was laid to rest and then resurrected and the 1280 the zone the sports leader was created from it's ashes only without the TRUE talent that they had before this murder was committed. AAAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHHHHH!

I never thought I would see the day..

1999

 Two words....but first a story -> So as many of you know I am a fan of a very few television programs. One of which is NBC's The Voice, so I am watching this show and they announce a guest appearance from a group called The Wanted.. They sang a song that sounded familiar. I suppose I had heard them on the radio at some point. But it wasn't the song as much as it was the sound and even more than that it was what I saw. The Wanted a group of 5 dudes...singing a song together, each with their own mic. What was happening????? Has it really been that long that the powers that be have decided to bring back "the boy band." I had to consult with the interwebs.. Sure enough according to the wikipedia and I quote "The Wanted are a British-Irish boy band. " There was one last thing that I had to see to prove my theory...a music video. So I fired up youtube and searched for the wanted. Within about 5 seconds of watching the video for a song called Heart Vacancy.. I knew that my fear had been confirmed- 2012 is the year that we DIG so deep into the bag of old redos that we are back to boy bands?? One word- REALLY????? REALLY?????? It's bad enough that Hollywood can only muster sequels and crappy re-makes of 80s movies. Now music is running backwards? How long before disco pops back up on us? I am a fan of Glee but their disco episode still just...sucked! I hate disco and disco...SUCKS! Ok- I am going to hop off my soap box, but be warned...boy bands are not sustainable music- one day we will hear these songs at the local supermarket Or in an elevator. The proof is in the pictures...

1999

 

2012

10K Plan Update!

Hello there all of you all-- Last week I was up @ Wolf Creek staying in my parents time share (many thanks to my parents), and I wanted to see if I could find a good route for a Neff Family Summer Fun Run for Fun 2012 Family Vacation Run for Fun (NFSFR4F2k12FVR4F) <- Sweet Acronym... and as it turns out the great city of Ogden has provided the perfect trail for us. It starts at the bottom of Ogden Canyon (Rainbow Gardens Area) and goes to downtown Ogden- 3.2 miles in 3.2 miles back = 6.4 miles total! Which is a little more than a 10K! So...Eva and I are going to make some shirts for all of you who want to participate (if you can't come because you are in PT Grad school...have no fear - we will still make you a shirt). What I need from you is a shirt size preference so we can get rolling on this :) And PS-- running 6.4 miles is a long run, if you haven't run for a while it may be time to start training and preparing to run a 10K.. and if you don't think you can do it- you can run the 5K and go one way-> I am sure we can make it work :) Ok! Looking forward to this- End of July is the go date..which means you all have plenty of time to prepare-- Take a look at the countdown above :)