No Soda April

Before March started I had thought that I wanted to go a month with no soda. Before I knew it, it was March 2nd and then it felt too late to start. I know that sounds ridiculous but there is something mental about it being a full complete month. You may remember that last year I did a French Fry Free February. This year's "No Soda April" seem much more daunting since soda is a daily routine with me. I start most work days with a nice big 44oz Diet Dr Pepper with a fresh lime from my local Holiday. Then there is usually a soda associated with lunch and maybe one after work.

So why would I do this? Well for one just to show myself that I have the power to do whatever I set my mind to accomplish. But secondly, I'm hoping that being soda free will assist my running and maybe breathing abilities. Thirdly, if it allows me to drop some more weight, that would definitely be a bonus!

So why say it here? Well I've found that when I make public commitments, I am much more likely to keep them. I've casually mentioned it to a few people but that can easily be dismissed. So here it is: I declare April a soda free month!

NOTE: I write this while sipping on my icy cold soda! :)

You're Invited!

Friday night I got my first text from a person who entered the wrong number. I decided that it would be more fun to play along. It could have made for a fun evening.  Tim, if you are reading this, sorry I didn't make it. Hope that it went well and that you weren't missing my dessert.

One of the Hazards of Running

So in case you didn't know, I'm a runner now. I've been running a lot lately. Last night I went running for an hour. During my time on the treadmill I could tell that I was having some nipple chafing but I was surprised at what I found when I was finished. After I went into the locker room to change I realized that I was actually bleeding! I have had the chafing before on shorter runs but I thought it had to do with one particular synthetic shirt that I had been wearing. I have stopped wearing that shirt and went back to just wearing cotton t-shirts for my runs.

After doing some online research I found out that this is relatively common for men when running long distances. The common suggestions are to use Band-Aids or a lubricant like Body Glide. These sites also recommend to not wearing cotton and to wear tight fitting shirts. I can just see me getting ready for a run in the locker room applying Band-Aids or lubing up and then squeezing into a tight shirt. :)

Oh, and if you see me squeezing my chest, its that I'm feeling myself up but it helps take away some of the pain.

NOTE: I'm not going to apologize for saying "nipples" or for talking about this. Seriously people!

OMD: 80's Revisted

Last night I joined my long time friends, Brad and Dan, for an evening of OMD (Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark) at The Depot in Salt Lake City.

I rode with Dan up and we met Brad at Red Rock Brewery for some dinner. I love Red Rock! After a quick stop at the Apple store in The Gateway we headed over to The Depot. It's probably one of my favorite venues in SLC to see a show. It small enough to still feel pretty intimate but holds a lot a people too. They also keep it pretty clean which is rare for a venue!

The warm up band was Joy & Eric. I think they did all covers. Joy could definitely sing.

OMD came on stage shortly after 10pm. I had seen "OMD" once before in the 90's but actually it was just Paul Humphreys. This time the band actually had both original members: Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys. This is great because Andy is the main vocalist on the majority of their songs. It was especially fun to have Andy there because he was full of energy. He had all his 80's dance moves still intact. At first I thought it was goofy because he is 51! But over time I started to really appreciate that he was giving it his all and that he had the stamina to last the entire show.

Dan and I had a good time mocking some "mean girls." They kept on trying to take these sneaky photos of on of the girls with this rather large guy without him knowing it. And when I say the kept on doing it, I mean they must have taken over 10 photos. Then they would preview them and laugh at the guy. So I told Dan that I wanted one of him doing the same thing to the "mean girls." It was great! I think they figured out what we were doing. :) There was a row of people sitting that were applauding our mocking. We thought it was hilarious! Here's our best shot!

Also after the show Dan got his car rear ended by a girl that was just a bit high! Fortunately there was little damage. The girl had no idea that it even happened. There was a cop right beside us and she ended up getting a DUI. Just a little more excitement for the night!  

Below are the two videos that I took at the show.

Rex Lee Run 2011

This morning I completed my second 5K. I didn't do as well as I had hoped but I am glad that I had a better time than my first time (Santa Run). This time I finished in 30:40 minutes. That is 19.7 seconds faster! ;) In my defense the first 5K was all level ground. This route circled BYU starting at the track and going up hill. Initially I was feeling a lot of adrenaline and it got me up the hill pretty quick but then I started to struggle. I did eventually do some walking by the time I got south end of the campus. I probably needed to start out slower and then just keep going at that pace. I ran "with" some of the friends that will also be running on the Red Rock Relay race. In fact one of the guys (Bryant) took 2nd in his division and medaled. I took 10th out of 19 in my division (40-44 males) and 489th out of 1,356 overall.

Next up: Red Rock Relay!

Brian, Ty, Paul, and Bryant

Brian & Matt

My Results

Groupon

So if you have not heard about Groupon, let me tell you about it. Groupon features a daily deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in more than 500 markets and 44 countries. Some days they don't have much that I'm interested in but on other days they have great deals. Here are some of the Groupons that I have bought in the past six months:

• $50 Gap Gift Certificates  for $25
• $20 Barnes & Noble Gift Certificates for $10
• 3 Redbox Movie Rentals for $1
• $50 Nordstrom Rack Gift Certificates for $25

You are typically only allowed one purchase per person. That is why I have two separate accounts with two different emails. Some of these deals as so good that I need them twice! If you were to join Groupon and make a purchase I would get a referral fee if you use this link:

Groupon

A Prime Opportunity for Photos

Having taken lots of portraits lately, I've been considering getting a 50mm prime lens. Well this last weekend it happened. I knew that I was going to be taking engagement photos on Monday. So last Saturday I went out and purchased the lens. Then my friend and photography enthusiast, Chris, went out for a little impromptu photo shoot. We got some great photos even in the cold, snowy weather.

So why did I "need" another lens? After all my camera came with two lenses: one wide angle and one telephoto. For me the main reason was to get a faster lens. The lens I bought will work better with existing light sources and it produces more professional results. I could go into the details but basically the lens just takes better photos to begin with.

Here's my favorite shot of Chris taken with the new lens.

Where the Buffalo Roam

Over President's Day weekend my friends, Matt & Chris, headed down to Three Lakes near Kanab to visit my friend, Steven, who is working near Zions at Zions Mountain Ranch as their horse wrangler. We'd had the trip planned for weeks and were all excited about the activities (horseback ridding, hiking, etc...) that we could do while there. 

The weather for the trip down was nice but our first night there it started to rain. I was pleased when I awoke the next morning because I couldn't hear the rain. That was short-lived as I looked out the window to see a few inches of snow. So many of our fun activities will have to happen on my next visit. Nevertheless we had a great time hanging out with Steven, visiting the color caves, making sand bottles, almost crashing on slick roads in Zions, meeting Faith, making a trip to St George, playing Bang!, feeding the buffalo, riding motorcycles, taking photos, hanging upside down, drowning mice, getting McDonald's happy meal toys, eating snicker-doodles, listening to Steven play the violin and the guitar, and watching Matt almost skinny dip on a freezing day.