Needle Running

Dang commenters

2010-07-08T14:15:00.001-07:00

Some pesky folks have been commenting on this pathetic blog and have one again shamed me into actually writing something. I have no idea why you have been reading this crap, but if you really want to read about my boring ass life, I guess I can oblige.

First off, training. Last Monday, I started a new training program. The program is from the New Balance website and I found it when I got one of their emails. It is the beginner 10K plan. So far, I really like it. I tend to fail on most training plans because one rest day becomes two becomes three, etc. This plan has running or walking everyday of the week and keeps me going.

If your body can handle 5 days of running per week with 3 of them back to back, then I would recommend these training plans.

Wildlife:

On two of my runs this week I have seen a skunk. I believe it is the same one since I saw it in about the same place both times. Needless to say, I am very cautious when I am running through there.

There is also a family of rabbits that I see on the road most morning. Generally, when I come running they scatter into the fields.

Nothing much else going on, however I will put up a post tomorrow on a potential change.

A lot going on

2010-06-07T13:16:00.001-07:00

I apologize for being such a slack-ass blogger lately. Life has been super busy and I suck at blogging.

Right now, I am sitting in my sweltering office because they are replacing the AC unit…oh, and it is about 90 outside. Fun, fun.

Just a quick update and I hope to blog more later.

I spent Wednesday through Friday of last week as a chaperone for the 4-H camp teh Daughter was attending. The Wife and I had a blast and I plan on telling everyone more about it later. When we got back on Friday, we took a quick nap and then headed out for the start of a soccer tournament. This took up almost the entire weekend. The girls played really well on Friday and Saturday, but I think they were tired yesterday. I am still very proud of them. We ended the weekend 1-3, but we are definitely getting better.

I have been running regularly lately. The 4-H camp thing killed my mileage last week, but I plan on hitting it hard this week.

Last I weighed myself, I was down 5 pounds from where I started and I know that I can do better than what I have been.

Also want to give a shout out to Brian Flash for finishing the Comrades 56 mile run. That is just freakin awesome. By some freak of nature, I won a prize from his site. Cool.

Later.

Jorts

2010-05-05T07:05:00.001-07:00

Last night was the monthly soccer board meeting, which is held at the park. At the park, there are some running paths that are usually pretty busy. I don't run there because it is a 15 minute drive from my house, but I have run there a couple of times before.

As I was entering the park, I saw a lady who appeared to be in her early 30's. She was running the paths. I immediately noticed that she was not wearing normal running shorts…she was wearing jorts…with a belt.

All I could think was WTF?? It is 85 degrees outside and she is running in jorts.

Took a rest day today after running both Monday and Tuesday.

Total Miles: 88

Workouts: 42

Quick Post – Think the Mojo is back

2010-05-03T12:14:00.001-07:00

I know that it has been quite a while since my last blog post and I apologize. Life and work have been very busy and I have been negligent in posting. I have been reading all of your blogs and I have tried to comment occasionally.

First of all, I think that my running mojo is back. It left me and it has taken me a long time to find it. I think I found it by just getting out there and running. I am planning to continue ramping up my running and see what happens. I have increased by pace by almost 2 minutes per mile on average. The first mile on most of my runs lately have been in the 11-11:30 range, which is great for me.

The scale is showing a 5 pound loss so far. I want to keep this momentum up and keep the pounds coming off.

I will try to post more often, I promise.

Gotta get back to work now.

Miles logged: 86

Workouts: 41

Pounds lost: 5

Dang, when was the last time I posted?

2010-04-15T04:42:00.000-07:00

I realize that it has been quite awhile since I posted last. I think that I have started this blog entry a couple hundred times in my head. First off, a little running info: I have been running. Not a lot, but I have been out there. I have only been getting 8-10 miles per week (sometimes less….okay, normally less).

Last week, my wife and I accompanied my son's class to their field trip. Actually, we didn't get to go along for the whole trip. The class first went to the Golden Flake factory to watch them make chips, but parents were not allowed to go. We were kind of sad about that. We met up with them at Chuck E Cheese. Anyway, the point of this story is that before we met up with them we went to Target. Since there is not a Target in our pathetic, crap ass town, we try to stop by this one whenever we are in the area. As we were wandering through the store, we found a clearance rack near the sports gear. On the rack was Barry's Bootcamp workout kit. Came with two DVD's, stretchy bands and big inflatable pill shaped ball. All for $25. Since both of us really need to get in better shape, we got it.

I started Barry's Bootcamp on Sunday. Damn I am soo freaking out of shape (more on that in a minute). The workout routine is lower body one day, upper body the next, repeat. You take one off day per week. Since I don't want to stop running, I have started doing double workouts. Running 2 miles, then coming in the house and doing the bootcamp. I have done the double twice this week (Tuesday and this morning). I really think I like doing this. The bootcamp part is only 21 minutes… 21 minutes of hell. This means I can run and do the bootcamp before I have to get ready for work. I just get up about 5 minutes earlier.

A brief history of Needle:

Growing up, I was the fat kid. Until I was 14 or so, I was always big. Never grossly big, but definitely fat. The end of my freshman year of high school I was 5 ft tall and weighed 190-200. During the summer before my sophomore year, I discovered a love for playing basketball. By the start of my sophomore year, I was 5 ft 9 in and weighed 145 pounds. Not only had I grown taller, I had lost 50 pounds. I stayed at this weight or right around it all through college and for a few years after. I swore to myself that I would never allow myself to be the fat man again. Whenever I started to see the pounds come, I would play some basketball (college days) or start running (after college, married life). 10 years ago, when my daughter was born, I weighed about 190. This was actually a good weight for me. I looked too thin at the 140-170 range for my bone structure.

Before she was born, I ran pretty regularly. Soon after, I stopped running altogether. I was more concerned with being a new dad and all the other stuff that it just dropped from the radar. I started running again 4 years ago and it has been very off and on. Usually more off than on.

Yes, I have completed numerous 5K's, 2 half marathons and 1 failed marathon attempt. My last serious training was done for the 1^st half marathon 3 ½ years ago. In the last couple of years, I have continued to pack on the pounds because I don't eat right (very bad diet) and I don't exercise enough. Those of you that have read this blog know that I have only logged 70 or so miles this year. Not going to get back in shape with that kind of effort.

Right now, I am the fat kid again.

Right now, I am taking back charge of my weight.

Right now, I am no longer accepting any of my excuses for not exercising.

Right now.

So far this week, I have completed 5 workouts including 2 doubles (run plus bootcamp). Yesterday morning, I had a kid sleeping in the living room and didn't get my bootcamp workout in (pathetic excuse, should have gone for a run).

This blog is now going to also include my weight loss. I wish I knew how to pull the info directly from daily mile, but here is what I will do until then.

Miles logged: 73

Total workouts: 34

Pounds lost: I will only do this once a week or so when I weigh myself.

Right now I feel like this:

Strange Weather

2010-03-26T03:24:00.000-07:00

This week has been really strange on the weather front. Monday morning was a mix of rain and snow. Temps were in the mid 30's most of the day. Obviously I skipped my run on Monday. Tuesday the high was 67. Wednesday had a high of 72. I got a good run in on Tuesday morning. However, when I got up Wednesday I was just not feeling it. Just had that "rest day" feel to it.

I should have gone out for a slow run or something. Regretted it all day long.

Wednesday night I went on weather.com to see what the forecast was for Thursday morning. Supposed to be nice with little chance of rain. Liars. It was pouring down rain when I got up. The rain continued most of the day and last night there were severe storms with some nice little tornados mixed in.

Temps this morning were great, right about 50. Problem was the wind. Stiff 15-20 mph winds. I still went out for my run and I am glad I did.

I have a long run planned tomorrow. Not sure yet of the distance, but I am thinking in the 7-8 mile range. Really planning on running a better pace than last weekend and I am planning on having Teh Daughter run part of it with me.

Another busy weekend coming up, but I am used to it now.

Total miles: 56

Math Runtarded

2010-03-22T03:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I did get out for my long run this weekend. My plan was for 6 miles and when I mapped it, the total was 5.75. Teh Daughter wanted to run with me, so the plan was for me to run the 3 mile loop around the house. Then I was going to go in and wake her, get some hydration and the two of us would run another 3. Brilliant.

So, I am out of the house at 5:30 am to run the first loop. I was taking it really slow since I have no idea how fast I can run 6 miles and I really wanted to run 6. At the end of 3 miles, I knew that I have run it way, way too slow.

I head in the house and teh Daughter is awake. While she gets dressed, I get me some hydration and out the house we go. At the end of the driveway, I ask her which way she wants to go. We normally run counter-clockwise around the 'hood. She wants to try going the other direction.

Biggest problem going that way, is that you start off with a pretty decent sized hill. We attack that sucker, but by the time we hit the top she is ready to walk. We walk for few and then continue running. For the rest of the run, we run the flats and downhills and walk the uphills.

Since I run this route allot, when we get to 1 mile I ask her if she wants to just run 2 or run 3. She is struggling since this is only her 3^rd run recently. She makes the decision to run only 2. Now, normally logic would tell you that since you have run 1 mile from home, you should turn around and go back to complete two total miles. Not is this brain.

According to my runtarded math skillz, we need to run another ½ mile and then turn around and come back. Two miles. Easy.

It was not until we were at the turnaround point that it dawns on me that after we run the ½ mile out and back, that we still have another mile to go. D'oh!

Running + Math = FAIL

After cleaning up and doing some errands in town, I spent from 12-4 on my feet outside helping with Upward soccer evaluations. In a way, I think that it helped keep some of the soreness at bay from the long run. However, I crashed pretty early on Saturday night. I am pretty sure I feel asleep on the couch by 9:30 watching basketball.

Total miles: 52

Off the injured reserve

2010-03-19T02:31:00.000-07:00

No, it was not a running injury. Not likely that any of you remember my post about getting and splitting firewood, however this was the cause of my recent injury. I was sore for a couple of days after and in the middle of the night Thursday, my back went out. I could not stand up without it screaming at me. Out went the run on Friday and Saturday and Sunday, etc…

By the time I finally got to feeling better, it was almost a week later. It was another week until I started running again. Yup, two weeks off and I was planning on running a ½ marathon with only 6 weeks of training anyway. That half-marry is now 15 days away.

I have a long run of 4 miles
I have barely run in the last 3 weeks

So what do I do? My plan is to run 6+ miles tomorrow. If I can successfully run 6 tomorrow, do I go ahead and sign up? I have no clue about the route of this ½ marry. They do not have a posted map of the route, so I have no idea if it is hilly or flat or is a big circle that you have to run 20 times.

Please help of wise runners of the interwebs! Sad puppy dog eyes

Now, per LooMoo's instructions or at least my understanding of her instructions:

Anal, anal, anal. LooMoo luvs her some anal! X100

Total miles: 46

The Con-body-cavity

2010-03-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

(Ed. note: I wish I was a good enough writer to properly put my theory on the blog. I know it was allot funnier in my head in the middle of my long run. Enjoy and mock away in the comments)

I was planning on writing my theory of the blogosphere disappearance of one Glaven Q. Heisenberg. Realizing that G is a sensative soul, I have instead decided to write a story about a completely fictional blogger name Gloven. Plus I don't want to get sued for libel, he might get my fortune of approximately $2.35, $1.85 (got thirsty).

Now Gloven, aka G-love, is a humble librarian in the great northeast, possibly even in Jersey somewhere. G-love is a runner and enjoys a hearty banter on teh interwebs. He also has some weird obsession with his own n*ts@ck and an@l love.

See, doesn't sound like anyone I know.

Every year G-love and the Misses would go on their an@l annual vacation to Teh Great Concavity. This also meant this was G-love's time to try to get into Teh Great Body Cavity that he so desires.

On the first night of vacation:

G-love: Hey baby, you know what big daddy G-love needs?

Misses: No

G-love: But I read that MooLoo lets Mr Moo do it!

Misses: No

G-love: I can be like Needle! You won't feel a thing!

Misses: No

G-love: I bet ToyBum would let me...

Misses: Oh hell no!

As usual, G-love is denied what he desires.

The next day, G-love devises a plan...

After a nice dinner, G-love and the Misses retire to hotel. G-love surprises the Misses with a bottle of wine. While G-love pours up a couple glasses of wine, he slips a roufie he picked up from the dealer at the softball game that day.

Unfortunately, G-love isn't that bright and gives the Misses the wrong glass. As they are drinking, G-love starts to fell weird all over and the room starts spinning.

The next morning, G-love wakes up without a clue of what happened the night before. The last thing he can remember is slipping the roufie into the Misses drink.

Misses: G-love, last night was sooo amazing!

G-love: Yeah....yeah, it was.

Misses: I can't believe that you would give up contact with all your friends to finally fulfill your dreams.

G-love: Um...yeah...it was totally worth it

G-love is franticly trying to remember last night, but nothing is coming back. He also realizes that his only friends are on-line and now he has to give them up. What will MooLoo, ToyBum, Dr Ric, Steve R and all his other blogger friends think?

G-love: Honey, do I really have to give up all my friends?

Misses: Well, you got what you wanted, now I get what I wanted.

The Misses, knowing full well that G-love passed out at 8:15 the night before, is finally getting her revenge for his an@l pestering ways.

Now, G-love has learned the truth and has returned to teh interwebs to spread his pervertedness with the masses.

Quick update

2010-03-03T06:47:00.000-08:00

The pouring rain prevented me for my scheduled run yesterday, but I was able to get out for a nice 2.5 mile run this morning. Really pushed the pace for the first 1.5 miles.

Teh Grand Theory of Teh Glaven Disappearance is in the works1!

Total miles: 42

First long run done

2010-03-01T04:31:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning I completed my first "long" run in my super-non-scientific 1/2 marathon training plan. As a matter of fact, I don't even have anything written down in this training plan...I wonder if that is going to be a problem??

During this run, my brain did some serious wandering. I do believe that I came up with teh real reason why Glaven went missing. I can't remember all of it, but trust me it was odd (just like him). Expect more on this topic later.

After my run, teh Son had his Pack Pinewood Derby. His car won 1st in speed and show. Very cool. Unfortunately, I missed it all because I had to leave to go coach his basketball team. Once we got done with the derby, I had to go pick up some firewood.

Mrs Needle's grandfather had a tree cut down Friday and had them leave some firewood sized pieces for me. Loaded a full size truck and 8 foot trailer with wood. Some of the pieces are a good 2 foot around (that's what she said!1!). Unloaded the trailer when I got home and then headed to teh Daughters basketball game.

Crashed early Saturday night.

Sunday was teh Son's birthday. I celebrated by getting up and going outside to split and stack firewood for 2 hours. Fun, fun. After dealing with the firewood, I loaded the truck and trailer up with stuff we are donating to a local yard sale that is raising money for the Susan G Komen foundation.

Did some Girl Scout stuff with teh Daughter and family where she got her badges she has earned. Finally, crashed at home.

This morning...every. muscle. hurts. All. of. them. Even my pinkie finger hurts.

run+firewood+yard sale stuff=very sore and tired Needle

Needed to go to work just to rest up for a day or so.

Total Miles: 40

Gonna run that Half Mary

2010-02-26T06:48:00.000-08:00

Alright, since I got all of 2 votes to do the half, I am going to do it. Didn't take much to push to into wanting to run it. And really, I posted it here because I just wanted someone to agree with me that it would be a good idea.

In order to train, my plan is to run at least 4 miles tomorrow.

As I was getting dressed for my run this morning, I was looking for a pair of shorts. I have this "area" in our half bath/utility room when I put all my running clothes (complete and total disaster area). When I grabbed what I thought was a pair of running shorts, I pulled out a running jacket I had forgot about. WIN! It still had the tag on it. I bought it at Dicks this past summer on super clearance and forgot all about it.

Of course, I wore it this morning and absolutely loved it. For some reason, I get really hot around my forearms when I run with a jacket on. Normally, I just wear a zip-up vest and short-sleeve tech shirt. This jacket was VERY breathable and was super comfortable. It will be in heavy rotation when it is cold outside.

Total miles: 36

Conundrum

2010-02-24T08:16:00.000-08:00

Alright, here's the deal. Just found out this morning that the local running club and the local community college are hosting a 1/2 mary / 5K. The run is April 3rd. So, this is a possible half mary within 10 minutes of the house AND it only costs $40.

Should I run it?

My longest run this year is 3 miles. That gives me 5 weekends to ramp up the long run to at least 10 miles??

Am I crazy? Help!

Also, there is this rumor that a certain, pervert, um...blogger may have returned. If so, where is my freakin comment1!1!

Nothing to see...move along

2010-02-18T06:55:00.000-08:00

I keep expecting that the more I run and then blog about said running that eventually I might learn to write worth a damn. Unfortunately for you, I don't think it is going to happen. I finally came to the conclusion, that I am just a dull, boring man. My life revolves around being at work (no actual work gets done) and doing stuff with the kids.

Sounds exciting...

I have discovered my workday crosstraining....ping pong. Here at work, in the warehouse, is a ping pong table. I started playing about a month ago. It was the first time in 15 years that I picked up a paddle. It was ugly to start. Really ugly. I have slowly gotten better, nowhere near that good, but I am out there to have some fun.

See, I told you I was boring.

Total miles: 33

Is it spring yet?

2010-02-17T02:11:00.000-08:00

I am really, really, really ready for this arctic blast to return to the arctic. I live in Alabama and I expect my mild winters. I deal with the 90+ degrees (in the mornings) in the summer so that I can have a nice mild winter with lows in the 30's and highs in the 50's.

This southern boy does not like 15-20 degrees outside with a wind chill even lower.

/end bitching about weather

The old Needle reared his ugly head the past two weeks. Only 5 runs during that time. Plan is to get 5-6 runs per week and hope to actually get 4-5. Just need to refocus and get the consistency back.

Giveaway link (you don't expect my cheap ass to give something away did you?)

It just looks like slow motion is hosting a giveaway for Yurbuds. Click over and read her. You really don't need to enter since that will just decrease my slim chance of winning.

Total Miles: 29

Cold, windy and freezing

2010-02-10T08:18:00.000-08:00

Got up this morning for my run. Looked at the temp gauge, which showed a balmy 29 F. First of all, wtf? I live in the south for a reason. Don't like this cold shit. Not. One. Bit.

Got all my running stuff on (long sleeve tech shirt, shorts, sweatshirt, socks and shoes). As an aside, I was trying the sweatshirt instead of my running jackets because I seem to get too hot once I have been running awhile, but only on my arms. Weird, I know.

While I was prepared for the cold, I was not ready for the wind. The wind was from the west, blowing around 15 mph with gusts up to 20-25. Damn, that is some serious wind-chill. By the time I got to the home stretch, Needle's Needle was not liking this run. Maybe I should have worn some running pants because that part of my body was revolting by the time I was done.

Needless to say, I was booking it for the last 1/2 mile or so trying to get done.

Total miles: 25

Enter creative title here

2010-02-04T07:17:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the blog silence, been having to do actual work at work. Dang companies and their expectations. Don't they know I have to publish a blog post?

Anyway, I have run the last 3 days straight. All of the run have been around 2 miles and I ran the last two days without any walk breaks! I am pretty excited about that and hope to continue to build on that.

According to the fine folks at weather.com, tomorrow's run does not look good. Supposed to rain, rain and then rain some more. I will get up in the morning and check the radar and see if I can get out and get it done.

As usual, nothing exciting going on in Needleland.

Total miles: 23

Run...dog...pain

2010-02-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

First of all, let me apologize for the last post being such a downer. Both grandparents are doing ok.

Now back to your regularly scheduled bad blogging.

Completed a 3 mile "long" run on Saturday...in the rain. I know. I am as shocked as you that I went out in the rain to run.

I ran again this morning after not running Sunday or Monday. Sergent Sh*tcramps decided to pay me a visit on Monday. That bastard is mean. Did a nice 2 miles this morning. Nothing great, but still decent. I am slowly feeling better.

After my run, I gathered all my stuff to feel my two dogs. I have 2 Siberian Huskies that we recently moved into the fence together. The dogs are polar opposites of each other. Koda, our male, is laid back. Doesn't bother you. Just wants his food and some petting. Kylie, our female, on the other hand, is spastic. She doesn't know how to settle down. Drives me insane. As I am trying to get in the fence to give them food and water, Kylie is just jumping all around and over me. I swing out my right foot (hands are full) to push her out-of-the-way. Well, I swung a wee bit harder than I had planned and hit the top of my foot on some bone of hers.

Ouch. Like, I feel like I broke my foot, ouch. I am hoping that it is just a bruise. I guess I will find out in the morning if I can still run.

LooMoo, you are correct. Dogs are evil.

At least this time they didn't bite me.

Total miles: 19 miles

Stuff

2010-01-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

First, a quick running update. Ran again this morning. A little over 2 miles in 30 min. I felt good and I ran the entire 1st mile without walking. Very happy about that one. It is very slow getting back into running shape, but I know that if I keep at it I will get better.

Second, both my Nana (maternal grandmother) and Paw-Paw in-law (MIL grandfather) are in congestive heart failure. My Nana is 94, will be 95 in March. My Paw-paw in-law is 86. Unfortunately, I am not really that close to my Nana. She lives in Topeka, KS and I really have not seen her that much in the last 20 years. They are giving her some drugs to help relieve the fluid buildup and I am hoping that she can recover as much as possible. We are planning on going to Kansas in March to celebrate her 95th birthday.

My wife's Paw-paw on the other hand is not doing so well. He is in the hospital again now and will be in there for a few days. He is the closest thing I have ever had to a grandfather. Both of mine died before I graduated from high school.

I apologize for being a downer. Just remember to tell your parents and grandparents you love them today.

Total miles: 14

Still on that wagon

2010-01-27T06:52:00.000-08:00

Didn't run yesterday. Regretted that decision as soon as I walked outside to go to work. Really have no idea why in heck I didn't go. I do consider it a success that I did get pissed at myself for missing it. In the past...no regret, didn't give a crap if I missed it.

Nice 2 miler this morning. Finally had some moments of being "in the groove" while running. You know, when it feel effortless and everything is just flowing. Loved. It.

Absolutely nothing interesting going on in Needleland.

Total miles: 12

Craptastic and fantastic

2010-01-25T06:58:00.000-08:00

I actually got off my lazy butt and completed my "long" run. It was on 2.7 miles, but considering that I really have not run much for the last 5 or 6 months...I'll take it.

No run on Sunday due to this little thing called lightning in the area. Just felt it was prudent to lay around on the couch and watch Sportscenter rather than get electrocuted. Poor excuse, but I will take it.

Craptastic 30 minute run this morning. Everything sucked. My pace, my effort...you name it. And you know what? It was fantastic to be out there having a craptastic run. In the past 7 days I have run 5 times. I do not believe that I have ever run 5 times in a week before. Ever.

There are no "grand" or "big" plans. As I wrote the other day, this is about me. Me going back to running because I love it. Not because I want to run a marathon before I turned 35. Not to live up to other expectations of my running. Just for me. Damn, all this talk about me and you would think I am this guy, or this guy or this guy or that n*t@ack loving guy who left blogland.

Total miles: 10

3 runs in 4 days?!?!

2010-01-22T04:33:00.000-08:00

I have now run 3 of the last 4 days. I missed my run yesterday morning due to the weather. While I don't mind running the rain, it was absolutely pouring here when I got up.

Finally starting to feel a little bit of the running groove again. It is still a struggle and I had to take too many walk breaks the last 1/2 mile. It is hard for me to fathom that at this time last year I ran 19 miles of a marathon and now I cannot even run two miles. Only person to blame is me.

I will do everything I can to get this mojo going. Wish me luck. I am planning on running both days this weekend unless the rain messes up my Sunday long run.

Total miles: 5 (all this week)

Back on the wagon

2010-01-20T06:11:00.000-08:00

Since I figure that everyone has deleted this retarded blog from their reader, I guess I am just writing this for me. I am finally back on the running wagon. For the last month, I have used every excuse in the book to skip my runs. Every. Single. One. I finally ran out of excuses.

I decided that a year of moping about my marathon FAIL was enough. It was time to start fresh. New online tracking, gone is BIMActive, now going to use DailyMile. Going to just get up in the morning and go.

I have now been officially back "on the wagon" for two days. Both runs were shortish and I sucked, but I now remember why I started. This time, the running is about me. No far-flung goals to run this race or that race. I am running for me.

My plan is to post most every day to at least say, hey I did a run today. Maybe if I write enough I might actually become a competent writer (not likely, but still).

I would say that I am going to write about all the interesting stuff that happens to me, but as I have discovered I just can't seem to write it. Oh well.

A whole bunch of random crap

2009-11-11T04:50:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to post for a couple of days now. For today's bit of random BS, I am going to the blogger favorite...bullet points.

I spent a good deal of time and energy this weekend loading and unloading 2 truckloads of firewood.

By Monday, EVERYTHING from the waist up hurt. When I got up Monday morning to run, I could barely walk due to lower back pain. Does this count as cross-training?

While perusing Facebook the other day, I noticed this back and forth between one of my college buddies and his wife. First of all, neither one of them is what you would call healthy. Both quite large persons. They were making fun of a group of runners wearing Will Run for Beer shirts while eating at a place called Chunkys. WTF, at least the runners will burn off all those calories they are consuming. I know these people are not runners, but you are eating at the same place (most likely eating more than the runners) and you think it is ironic that the runners think they can pig out because they run!?

Running while windy outside: tailwind = good; headwind = bad.

Dang, for some reason I had allot more in my head the other day to write and now I am drawing a blank.

A big thank you to all our service men and women and veterans today. Because of you, I can write the crappy blog without worrying about the gov'ment spying on me.

Someone needs to work on their algorithm

2009-11-06T08:10:00.000-08:00

I have been reading allot of blogs talking about going to the gym. Having never been a gym person, I really have never thought about joining one.

Today I decided to look online at some of the gyms in town. I pulled up the profile of one of the gyms on Merchantcircle.com. It gave very little information, but it listed some recommended businesses.
-2 STD testing clinics
-2 local motels

Well, I guess fit folks get their groove on a little more often and might need these services.

Soccer Coaching Fail

2009-10-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

As you can probably guess from the title, the soccer team has concluded the season winning a grand total of ZERO games. Let me tell you about the game before I get into the coaching fail.

The game, in a word, awesome. The girls played their butts off. We failed to capitalize on some really good scoring opportunities, but they really played great. Actually, both teams really played great. At the end of regulation, we were tied 0-0. The score had more to do with the awesome defense played by both teams. Both teams have really gotten much better during the season (even though we missed tons of games and practices due to the rain).

Since this was part of the Regional Tournament, we had to decide a winner. The normal process for this is called "Kicking from the mark." If you have ever seen any soccer, the mark is the penalty spot on the field. The coach, me, picks 5 players (that were on the field at the end of regulation) and gives the ref the order in which they will kick. It is basically the kickers versus the goal keeper. Most goals win. If we are tied after 5 kicks, you repeat.

1st round: weak kick by them, but our keeper bobbled it and it goes it. Miss kick by our girl, misses the goal. (1-0 them)

2nd round: good kick by them, goal. Teh Daughter makes an AWESOME kick (not just saying this as her Dad, it was the best kick of the night), goal (2-1 them)

3rd round: miss kick by them, missed the goal. Our girl make a great kick, but the goal keeper made an even better save. It was really spectacular. (2-1 them)

4th round: good kick by them, goal. Miss kick by our girl, missed the goal. (3-1 them) End of game.

It was really a great experience and the girls played so well. A couple of these girls could be very good if they keep on playing (they just need a better coach then me, as you shall see).

Coaching FAIL:

Right before the start of the last period started, my best defender decided that she wanted to sit out. In her defense, she has played every single minute of every game except for the 1st game. She has been awesome and was playing great last night. So she sat. The girl (H) that was rotating with teh Daughter at goal keeper didn't want to play keeper the last period (she is also a good mid-fielder/striker). I put my #4 keeper in hoping that we would score with teh Daughter and H playing offensive positions. FAIL and FAIL.

The #4 keeper was really struggling during the kicks at the end and we would have been much better off with either teh Daughter or H playing there. I learned today that I could have switched out the keeper during the kicks. FAIL

Oh yeah, I ran 2.08 miles this morning. Sorry BMI active will not let me go past 2 decimal places when I map my run, but I am pretty sure it was 2.082112544 miles. (No, I will not list times because they are pathetic)

Running happens

2009-10-28T09:24:00.000-07:00

I know that you are all waiting eagerly to find out if I got off my lazy, pathetic ass to go running since my last post.

Surprise! I actually did. I went out for a nice 2+ mile run this morning and it felt pretty good.

Amazing how this "running" always makes me feel better, but I don't do it enough. (Yes G, I am talking about running)

Tomorrow night, is the start of teh Daughter's Regional soccer tournament. Since our team is 0 for the season, we get to play a "play-in" game with the other non-winning team. We played them this past Saturday and tied. At least someone will get a win on the season. It may take overtime or penalty kicks, but one team is finally going to get a win.

If we win tomorrow, we play again on Saturday morning. Our chances of winning that game are around 0.0000012%. This team beat us 7-0 earlier in the season and it was not that close.

Death of a blog

2009-10-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

No, not this one, yet.

Since I am such a loser, I was listening the NPR on the way to work yesterday. (I commute with another employee at work and NPR is a much safer station that trying to find music we both like) NPR ran a story that the web service geocities was being shut down. Geocities was the site of my 1st lame-ass blog.

This was back in the late 90's and I remember playing around on yahoo one day and seeing where I could create my own webpage with a blog. I am pretty sure that I had even less people read it than this one (if that is even possible).

I cannot even remember what kinda crap I put on it, but I think that it was back when I was running some and I posted a bit about it. There are some similarities between these two "blogs."

Crappy writing Check

Boring topics Check

Very few readers Check

Running infrequently Check

Wow, after all these years and still the greatness shines.

Back to running:

Need someone to kick my ass into gear. I am becoming teh Excuse Master every morning and have not been running very much. I even have a plan to follow and my lazy ass still doesn't go. Please help by making fun of me until I get off my duff and get some running done.

Back from my hiatus

2009-10-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

I know that absolutely no one has missed me and I cannot blame you at all. I have been too lazy to get off my butt and write a post.

Well, since no one saw my last post due to the fucktardary of wordpress (go ahead, read it), obviously no feedback on teh daughter running with me. Today was our first run together and it was awesome.

We were planning on running Monday, but the downpour outside gave me the perfect excuse to just go back to sleep for another hour instead of running.

The weather Tuesday was great, but I was lazy again (go figure, and you will see this trend rather prominent in my posts). Wednesday morning was misty rain and temps in the lower 60's. I tried for about 5 minutes to get teh daughter up, but she refused. I did go running, just with out her.

Yesterday was a rest day for me (the schedule I am using said to walk for 30 mins, but as you know by now I am just lazy). This morning she got up and went out with me. It was a PERFECT 56 degrees outside. I put a reflective vest on teh daughter and out we went. Since she is starting, we are doing a run-walk program together. I have run 2 half-marathons and attempted on full, but I have always been super slow. My thought is that I will do this program with her running at a much faster pace. I want to improve my snailish 13-14 min/mile pace to around 10 min/mile. I think this program is my way to do it. We ran 2 minutes and then walked 2 minutes. We went out from the house for 11 minutes and then back. We covered 1.9 miles in 21 minutes. Damn good running pace.

The schedule call for another run tomorrow morning and we are planning on doing it. However, since I found out that teh daughter will be playing soccer tomorrow, I may just do it by myself.

Also, please think warm thoughts for me this weekend. The whole family is doing a cub scout camping trip and it is supposed to drop into the 30's Saturday night. Brr.

Have a great weekend.

No, Mrs Needle didn't kill me in my sleep

2009-10-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

Ed note: I actually wrote this thing 10 days ago and for some reason it didn't publish. Damn wordpress. So today you will get a two-fer. Sorry.

Greetings! I have been thinking about posting for a couple of days, but every time I think about starting I realize that I have nothing interesting to say. Life has been pretty boring lately. It has primarily consisted of soccer, football, work and a little family time. Do you notice what is missing? Yeah, running.

Last weekend we had a soccer game at 9 am (we lost, as usual). For the season we are 0-5-1. Not sure why that one team stunk so bad and let us tie that one game. S, teh daughter, finally got to play this past weekend. She is doing ok, but you can tell she has missed allot and is kinda out of shape (being in a cast will do that to you). C, teh son, also played Saturday and he is doing pretty well. However, the poor guy got kicked in teh n*ts@ck during the game. REALLY felt bad for him. He kept saying he got kicked in teh weenie!

Anyway, after soccer, we headed to Mississippi to watch the old college team lose, again. See a theme here? My teams and losing? Geez. We had a good time tailgating before and after the game. We stayed in Mississippi Saturday night and went back to campus to watch the women's soccer team play. It started raining about the time we left the hotel and didn't stop the rest of the day. We only watch about 30 minutes of the soccer game and about 20 minutes of the women's volleyball game before we decided to head on back home.

See, really, really boring.

I do need some advice though. Teh daughter really wants to start running with me in the mornings. Which I think is great. Problem though is that I go running on the roads around the house while it is pitch black outside. I have no problem with ME running at dark thirty in the morning on these roads, but I really don't like the idea of HER running at dark thirty on these same roads.

Should we drive the 10-15 minutes each way to the nearest town and run in the park? Run an altered route around the house that does not include so much time on the busy road (there is almost no traffic on the side roads)? Needs me some help here.

I have found Glaven's house

2009-09-29T06:21:00.000-07:00

see more Fail Blog
The Heisenberg Household

Hopefully, this will work right.

After weeks of searching, I have found the Heisenberg abode.

Rain, rain and more rain

2009-09-24T05:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of blogging for almost two weeks. As I have pointed out previously, I am a slacker. What did you expect? Daily blogging? Interesting stuff? Yeah, right.

There really has not been much to write about lately. In my neck of the woods, it has rained ALOT. None of the rain has interfered with my running (that slacker part did that just fine).

This morning, on the way to work, I heard the news lady warn that there was fog close to my place of employment. Gut reaction: F*ck! Damn! Sh!t!

The morons that make a similar to commute to myself have a hard enough time driving like they have any sense when it is sunny and the roads are dry. Now these same morons have to drive through fog?! F*ck!

Fog = Needle late for work because people don't know how to drive (not that it matters if Needle is late because he is salaried and nobody give a sh*t except him that he is late - I am anal like that) (and no, Glaven, NOT like that).

Oh yeah, running.....hmm....yeah, I have done just a little of it. Need. to. get. more. consistent! Why, of why, will I not get off my lazy a$$ and go running when I know I should be?? I wish I knew.

Have a great day and I promise to post a little more often, I swear!

Surprise! I am a MORON!!!

2009-09-12T01:07:00.000-07:00

Hi. My name is Needle and I am a dumba$$.*

I went for a run this morning and after taking a shower and getting some coffee, I went to bimactive.com to add the run. I use the hybrid map because I know the landmarks. As I was looking at the map, it dawned on me that I have been using the wrong house as my start point.

Now, to those of you that live in a neighborhood, you are thinking "Pfffft, it is only like, what, 20 feet! What kinda loser writes a blog post about 4o feet during a run?!"

First off, I don't live in a neighborhood and secondly, I am that kinda loser. My neighbor is almost 0.1 of a mile into my run. So I have been shorting myself, almost 0.2 of a mile on a 2+ mile run for a couple of weeks. How could I not notice that I was using the wrong house as my starting point?!?

Time for a day of soccer and football. (For my non-existent Euro-trash readers, that would be football and American football).

Hare a great weekend everyone!

*I have heard that admitting your problem is the first step. The first step to what, I am not sure of.

Hu-fuckin'-midity

2009-09-10T01:28:00.000-07:00

I went for a run this morning and by the time I was done I was just pouring sweat. I knew that I had run at a decent pace for me (about 3 minutes faster than yesterday for a 2 mile run).

Well, I get to work and I add my run to bimactive.com. It has a nice feature where it records what the actual weather conditions were during the run. The temp was a nice 66 degrees, but the humidity was 100%. I am not making that up. 100% hu-fuckin'-midity. No wonder my balls were a sweatin'.

Knee Pain:

About a month ago, I was taking part in a soccer coaching class for U10. As part of the training, all of the coaches went out to the field and did some drills and then played a game of soccer. The idea was for us to get a clue as to what the players are going thru. Being the competitor that I am, I went all out during the game. The next day, I could barely walk and my left knee was in pain. This same knee is still hurting, but only during side to side movements. It does not bother me at all during my runs and the only time I notice it is when I am stretching and I put force to one side or the other.

Should I be worried about this? After my run, the pain in the knee is very small.

Running update:

2 day streak going (impressive, I know)

Was thinking I needed a new title

2009-09-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

I believe Needle SHOULD be Running would be a better name right now. Let me go ahead and let you in on a secret......I am a slacker. I have no will power. And I am not much to look at either (but that has nothing to do with running).

Anyway, I am finally back on the running wagon. I only ran twice last week for a total of 4.3 miles. Pathetic. I am back to trying my FFBS plan that I have talked about numerous times and will keep you updated. Occasionally.

So, what did the Needle Clan do over the holiday weekend? We went to watch some college football, of course. Mrs. Needle and I are both alumni of Mississippi State University. Also, Mrs. Needle is very fond of going to football games (what can I say, I got it good).

We spent ALL day Saturday in Starkville and had a blast. We tailgate with some friends that I went to college with. Drank many beers and had a great time. Poor S had to walk all the way across campus in her cast. I am more than a little pissed at all the university golf carts that drove past us and none of them offered to pick her up.

Needle and Dicks

2009-08-31T07:15:00.000-07:00

Sporting Goods, that is. I was really surprised to read Nitmos' post today about his return from vacation and the fact that I won the $100 gift card to Dicks.

I would like everyone to know that I am the person that NEVER wins drawings. EVER. Until this contest, my grand total for winnings is one (1) Mississippi State Baseball can holder that I won in 1994. That basically sums it up. I did win a knife about 6 years ago in a work drawing and only because they had enough stuff so that EVERYONE got something.

I am also taking this as a cosmic hint to get off my ass and do some more running. I am modifying the FFBS plan, effective tomorrow. The new FFBS plan is going to try to incorporate a form of STREAKING! Yep, in order for me to do anything run related, I have to really simplify it. So if the day ends in "y," I will get my butt up and run. Now, I will not do anything too stupid, like run when I am hurt or it is pouring rain.

Am I crazy? Am i stoopid? Possibly and yeah.

Why Needle?

2009-08-26T04:10:00.000-07:00

People who know me in real life don't have to work hard to figure out why my nickname has been Needle for many, many years. So to those in blogland may wonder, where does the name Needle come from?

It is quite simple actually. First of all, Needle is short for Needled*ck. Now, I know that everyone is thinking bad things about my manhood at this point, but I can ASSURE you that is has nothing to do with my actual anatomy. Really, it doesn't. I swear it doesn't. NO, REALLY! Ok, maybe a little....

Basically, my last name can easily be turned into Needled*ck. As a matter of fact, even a slow middle-school kid could come up with the nickname. Over the years, it has just been shortened to Needle (even my wife calls me Needle half the time).

How it became an officially official nickname:

When I was in college I marched in the drum line. Since we had allot of material to learn, we always started a couple of days before the rest of the band. At that time, all of the members of the band were listed on a huge board in the Band Hall. As I walked into the Band Hall, on my first day on campus, with all my stuff still in my car, I introduced myself to the drum captain and the other returning drummers. Immediately, BC yells across the room "Hey! Your Needled*ck! As soon as I saw your name on the board, I knew this was going to be your nickname."

It was custom for everyone on the drumline to have a nickname and I was the first of the new drummers to get one. Even before I had showed up.

Needless to say, this nickname has stuck with all of college drum line buddies and most of my college friends.

So there you go, a little synopsis of the name.

Weekend of FAIL

2009-08-25T03:55:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the first game for teh daughter's soccer team. It was not an official game, just a "friendly" to help out another region. We had to travel about 30 minutes to play. First of all, the soccer complex is ok. I am kinda spoiled with the awesome fields we have, so not much can compare. The field we played on was WAY too small. I don't think they go the memo about proper field size. They also don't believe in calling all those pesky "rules" that everyone else follows (such as offside, tripping in the penalty area, etc).

Anyway, the poor girls were kinda lost out there. We really have not worked allot on positions and what to do when in a certain position. We tended to get out of position on defense and gave up 4 easy goals. The girls played hard, but you could tell the other team had a couple more weeks of practice than us. Also, we really miss not have teh daughter out there playing.

Running FAIL x 2:

Even though the weather was absolutely PERFECT all weekend long, I did not get in a single run. We are talking low to mid 60's in the morning and I stayed my lazy ass on the couch. I have got to start getting at least one run in on the weekend because Monday is always a rest day for me (it just can't get going on Monday mornings).

Today was 2.24 miles in 30 min for a 13:25 pace. About 15 seconds slower per mile, but I know that I did the first mile too slow and kicked ass on the second.

Running like Usain Bolt

2009-08-21T01:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, not really but today I did the second run of my new far-fetched bullsh*t plan. And teh results are:

2.22 miles in 29:15 for a pace of 13:11

Back to Usain Bolt, it is absolutely amazing what he has done the last year. Every 100 and 200 meter race has been a world record. Just amazing.

Ok folks (hey I can say folks, plural, now that more than just LooMoo came to visit yesterday. Thanks again for the link love) I gotta get to work now.

You gotta love politicians

2009-08-20T06:27:00.000-07:00

First of all, greetings to the couple of peeps that followed Teh LooMoo's link to my page. I hope that you didn't run screaming at all my crappy writing. Maybe one day, I can actually learn to create coherent sentences and paragraphs.

This morning on the way to work I was listening the NPR (because I am a geek) and they had a story about Massachusetts politics. As most everyone knows, Sen Ted Kennedy is battling brain cancer right now and he is planning on stepping down in the near future. The problem is with the laws of succession in Mass. According to the story, in 2004 Mass had a Republican governor. This is when John Kerry (I hope that is right) was running for President. In order to make sure that no republican would be appointed prior to a special election, the Mass legislature changed the law so that no one would be in office from the point of resignation until a special election is held 5 months later.

Now, they have a democratic govoner, and Sen Kennedy does not want their seat to be emplty for 5 months. You just gotta love politics!

Anyway, since I am probably the only one that finds that funny, I will move on.

I am desperately seeking a fresh start to my running and this is my plan. For the last 2 months, I have been "running" around 2.8-3.0 miles at a 14:30 pace. I am such a speed demon. I have been obsessed with getting in the distance and then eventually working on getting faster. Well folk(s), I ain't working.

My new idea/plan/far-fetched bullshit is to cut the idea of mileage, pace etc completely out of my head. I will run 15 minutes out and then back. Pace will be as fast as I can go without reaching the puke threshold. I am allowing myself walk breaks as needed. My goal is to be running the entire 30 minutes in 30 days at a 12:00/mile pace.

Yesterday I ran 2:08 miles in 30:00. Today, nada.

(Full disclosure: I am really neither a democrat nor a republican since I think they are all crooks)

Eva Bank Midnight Run

2009-08-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

Finally getting around to writing this race report to be read by my one reader. I apologize for the delay, but I was traveling for work yesterday and in general I am just lazy.

This run was last Friday night and started at 11:59 pm. Before the run, I also had soccer practice for my daughter's team. This started at 7 and ended around 8:15. After practice, I headed home to eat some supper and try to take a nap. I was able to rest for about an hour before I had to get up to go to the race.

No issues pre-race. I ran into one of my old bosses and a couple of friends from the area. I could not belive how much this race has grown. There were almost 700 runners.

Overall craptastic race. I ran the first mile way too fast for my slow ass. I ran like a race rookie, but I did finish and that was my only goal for the race. I was very surprised at the number of runners that were wearing cotton shirts. That had to suck in that weather. When I added the run to bimactive, it told me that the actual humidity during the run was 96%. WTF!! 96%! No wonder I was sweating so much. So my offical excuse for sucking ass in the race is the humidity. Hey, I will take what I can get.

Going to try to post a picture now and see what happens.

[caption id="attachment_20" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Teh daughter with a new fashion accessory"][/caption]

She has what is believed to be a stress fracture in her ankle. She will miss the first 4 or 5 games of the soccer season and she is bummed.

A new PW........WOO HOO

2009-08-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

I will write up a full race report later of the Eva Bank Midnight Run. Before I forget, here are my mile times:

Mile 1: 12:45 (WAY, WAY too fast....wait for the crash and burn)

Mile 2: 28:45

Mile 3: 42:11

0.1: 44.10

Times not great, but I will take them. This is the first 5K that I have run in over 2 years. I spent all of last year on marathon training and slowing my speed to do these long runs (I am a moron for not using a training plan).

Hope you have a great weekend o' 1 reader of mine!

I got ice cream....I got ice cream....

2009-08-12T04:38:00.000-07:00

Last nite I had to cancel my daughter's soccer practice due to heavy rain and impending storms. Of course, after I cancel it the weather clears up and no more rain until later in the night. Oh well.

Since we were planning on being at the soccer fields last night, my wife didn't lay out anything for supper. We decided to go to Chick-fil-a (chicken crack) and get some food. Tuesday nights our Chick-fil-a has a kids eat free and I love me some free. We decided to just go thru the drive-thru and go home to eat. When I pulled up to pay, the cashier asked if I wanted to try a peach milkshake, for FREE! I, of course, said HELL YES! (actually just said sure).

So my craptastic day at worked ended with free ice cream and it was good. Maybe this running isn't soo bad for my mental health.

No run today because I am a slaker.

Running is bad for my mental health

2009-08-11T05:09:00.000-07:00

The days of my last two runs have sucked ass.
Last Wednesay: Got Cujo'd
Today: IT did something wrong and lost all of my work for the past year. All. of. it. Hundreds of documents, lists, surveys, etc on a SharePoint server.

I will be spending the next forever working on trying to restore it.

Am finally going to go run again

2009-08-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

Spent the weekend in Chattanooga with the family. Took the kids to Ruby Falls and Rock City. We had a good time, but alas, I did no running. Mrs Needle told me I needed to wait until this week to start running again after the Cujo attack.

I am planning on running the Eva Bank Midnight Run 5K this Friday night. The run starts at 11:59pm. I have been wanting to run this ever since I moved back from Mississippi 8 years ago and this is the first time I have been able. Last year I SEVERELY sprained my ankle in July and didn't train for almost a month. Prior years my work schedule always fucked it up. I have no goal for this race but to finish and not die. Think I can handle that.

To my one reader (LM), I apologize for somehow deleting your comment. That is what I get for trying to do it on my Blackberry. I somehow made the blog eated your comment. Sorry. Maybe one day I will have another reader so that I can eated his/her comments.

I got Cujo'd

2009-08-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

I first posted a summary of this story in the comments section of The Loose Moose. She graciously replied and I finally decided to create my own running blog. So here goes my first real post, hope it doesn't bore you....

This past Wednesday, which is actually my anniversary to my better half (MBH), I went for my early morning run around the neighborhood. I have a nice 3 mile loop, with a couple of pretty hard hills, that I like to run. Within the 3 mile loop, there are about a dozen dogs. None of them in a fence or on a chain, just running around. I have been running this loop off and on for the last 4 years. Most of the dogs barely even acknowledge my existence anymore, execpt 3.

Dog #1, aka fucking retard dog, ALWAYS comes running out at me barking like I am trying to steal his food. A very aggressive dog that I fucking hate

Dog #2, aka pretty sweet pit bull, an older dog that usually comes out to say hi, occasionally trying to get me to pet her

Dog #3, now known as Cujo, usually barks like the dickens but generally doesn't come within 10 feet of me

So, I am doing my run thing and at about the 1.5 mile mark (where Dog #2 and Cujo live across the street from each other) I hear Dog #2 and Cujo to my right. Cujo comes running out like he is going back to his house (like he has done numerous times before). Unlike his normal routine, this time Cujo decides to BITE MY LEG. He bit me just below the left knee and then runs off.

My first reaction is WTF???? The next sequence of events went as follows:

I stop my watch. I am not going to let Cujo attacking me mess up my time.

Have the following conversation with Cujo:
1. Me: You fucking bit me you god forsacken mutt!!!
2. Cujo: Bark
3. Me: What in the ever living crap are you doing? If you hadn't just bitten my leg I would chase down your sorry ass and beat it!!!
4. Cujo: Bark
5. Me: Fuck you!
6. Cujo: Bark

Neighbor from across the street comes out to see what I am yelling about and to see if it was Dog #2 that bit me. He helped me get cleaned up since I had blood running down my leg.

Finished run

I ended up bleeding thru 4 bandaides before I finally went to see a Doctor that morning. Doc gave me some anti-biotics and bandaged me up.

I found out yesterday that the dog was a "drop off" dog that my wife's uncle's brother-in-law had taken in. Finding dogs in your yard is one of the things that happens when you live in BFE (bum fuck egypt).

The doctor recommended that I not run for a few days, so I have been a good boy and listened to him. I will be running tomorrow morning, but I am probably going to try a new route that does not include so many dogs.