Take Seven

I just remembered that I, Mikee Gee, have a blog and have neglected it for over a year! It seems like I should give it the time and day that it deserves. Maybe the whole "blog" thing is over with now that everyone face books and writes in 140 characters or less. Oh well, I am gonna do this until I get tired of doing it again.

So, a few things to update all of you trusty blog followers on. Since my last post I completed that Triathlon that I was working hard towards and soon after I decided to quit my Architecture job and move to Colorado. I arrived in Telluride, Colorado in November of '09 and started out working for the Telluride Ski Resort as a lift operator. That job only lasted the winter season and was a really good way to get settled into the town. I met a lot of great people that winter and learned all the nitty gritty aspects of the ski mountain. After the season ended I started work at a local gear store; Jagged Edge; and have been working there since.

I spent the summer of '10 in Telluride and got to enjoy lots of festivals (what Telluride summers are known for): Mountain Film Festival, Bluegrass Festival, Jazz Festival, Nothing Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Blues and Brews Festival and I am sure there were many others that were awesome. This past summer I also trained fairly hard for the Imogene Pass Run which is a 17.1 mile run from Ouray, Co to Telluride, CO over a 13,000' pass called Imogene Pass. I did really well and hit my goal of completing the run sub 3 hours (2 hours 51 minutes). I was 28th overall and 10th in my age group which is now 25-29. I did some other smaller races; two of which I placed 1st in and my first 100+ mile bike ride (Mountains to the Desert). This past winter was a fun one but the skiing wasn't quite as good as last year. I had some awesome powder days and memorable ones with friends, but only put in 40 or so ski days. I did get to explore a few other resorts which was a goal of mine. I hit up Crested Butte twice and a few in Utah: Alta, Snowbird, Deer Valley and Canyons.

Currently I am on off-season and traveling around the USoA. I hit up the Desert and did some camping, hiking, biking and sight-seeing in the Desert of Moab (Canyonlands, Arches, Goblin Valley, Dead Horse Point State Park and a few other things), skiied in Utah and spent some quality time with friends in Denver. I even ran a 5k on a whim and came in 4th (20:08 / 6:29 pace). Right now I am back in NJ with the parents and will head into NYC this weekend and then down to New Orleans. I plan on seeing the RRT in New Orleans and spending some time there exploring and eating all the delicacies. That will be my last stop before returning to Denver and driving back to Telluride for the rest of off-season and the re-opening of Jagged Edge. Things don't  get started back up for good in Telluride for good until Memorial Day weekend.

I have a half-marathon planned May 15th; The Colfax Half; which I have started training for and am feeling pretty confident about. This past winter I did a little bit of running - one/twice a week and a decent amount of stationary biking which I feel kept me in decent shape. I also bussed tables at a local sushi place, and surprising as it sounds I think that helped keep me in some climbing shape! Anyways, I am back on the training train and getting Tempo and long distance runs in. Once I am back in Telluride I will start up hill training.

Well, there it is...my last year + of time in a large nutshell. I think I will continue to use this blog as what it has been - a post of my physical accomplishments, training and some other tidbits of my life. I will try to be better about posting and try to put up weekly blogs of my work-outs and progression.

Wow...it's been quite some time again...hasn't it. But I warned you about that.

I might have some big news in the next one - two weeks...some real earth shattering, you should take a seat before reading it...news. But we won't get ahead of ourselves.

Give or take two months ago...I was very unfortunate...I ran into (no pun intended) my first snag in my work-out regiment. I did a very hard weekend of riding...72 miles followed by 60 miles and then a day of light running to "loosen" up. I did not do much stretching; but what the hell...I barely ever stretch. The next night came and I "felt" it...something was weird in my achilles...I ran my 5 miles and then it wasn't just a feeling...it was PAIN. The rest of the week was tough walking and I took the entire week off. That was a mistake in itself as you should never go from full sprint to dead stop...even though it was necessary, I should have done something to get my body loose. I tightened up so much I thought my hamstrings were going to *POP* just standing upright.

Without going through the entire details of things...It took me about two weeks to get into Physical Therapy, to get an ultrasound, and start the recovery process...so what was it? First thoughts were Achilles Tendinitis...but after the ultrasound we got some good news - the Achilles was intact and looked very good actually. The muscle below though, was slightly torn...so it is still considered Tendenitis...but that prognosis is much better.

I was really bummed at first - why does this have to happen to me...why does this have to happen to me NOW?! So close to the Triathlon that I have been putting in hard hours for...but I saw the silver lining...It gave me reason to put in more biking and more swimming. I have done a lot more biking, the swimming...well the swimming is not so great. In other biking new - I have done a few more Time Trials and was planning on doing a Crit this weekend; but the rain looks like it will nix that one.

So now I have been consistent with PT (3 times a week) and have been seeing really positive results. I am running around three times a week and up to 2 1/2 miles...doesn't seem like much; but when you are feeling NO pain...none of the excruciating pain that you felt a month ago on an easy run...that is positive. I will be smart, build up my mileage and then bring my pace down...I don't feel like I have lost too much because of the biking. I have been doing a 7:00 minute pace for my runs lately, which is fine for me.

Other than that...I need to focus on STRETCHING...before and definetly after...more warming up and more dynamic stuff....so that's that.

Just a minor bump in my road...but well on my way to getting on track again.

I ran my first half marathon this past Saturday. Going into it I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I was surprised by the outcome for a few reasons. A little background: After graduating under-grad 1-1/2 years ago I took a six month hiatus from running...It has now been a year since I have been consistent, but this is the first year that I ran through the summer. I have had a very strong spring as far as my pace goes. That being said; in the past year I have not done many runs over 7-8 miles...I tend to get a little bored doing them on my own (yea it happens to everyone). I have been building a lot of base but have not done any proper training (in my opinion) for long distance events.

I was excited about the Brooklyn Half and thought it was a great route (this is prior to running it) and through the insistence of two friends I signed up. At which point I thought "I'm screwed, how am I gonna run 13.1 miles"... I received a lot of advice from my fellow runners and took it all in and knew what I had to do.

My goal was to run a 6:30 mile pace and hit negative splits on the second half of the course. Of course I had no idea how I would be feeling and if my body would hold up. The course was 7 miles in Prospect Park (Hilly) and then the remaining 6.1 miles was down Ocean Dr. to Coney Island (flat, flat, flat). In the end evertything worked out as planned...Mentally and physically I felt great - I was wondering if I could mentally push myself to complete that the distance, and physically if my legs would hold. I finished the race with a 6:29 mile pace (avg.) and a total time of 1:25:00 putting 24th in my age group. My Age Graded Percentage was a little lower than normal at 69%, but that's ok.

For my debut half-marathon I think it was very strong. Overall I am very happy, but deep inside I want another shot at it to prove I can run it faster... If you are wondering about Marathons...I have never run one and I don't plan on it anytime soon...Halfs sound nice as far as my "distance" events go.

I don't have another running race until 6/21 but have a Time Trial (cycling) next week @ Bear Mountain, NY. I have become more disciplined with my training and now I need to become more disciplined in the events I choose to race in. For instance, two weeks ago I ran three races in four days...Way too much "speed" in such a short amount of time. I am definitely going to scale it back a and start focusing more on my long term goal which is The Nations Triathlon. The event is September 13, 2009 and my swimming is poor poor poor. I need to get it up to a similar level of my running & biking. To do that I need to be consistent...I will let you all know how it goes.

I have a feeling I was a little all over the place with this post...feel free to comment and ask any q's...

Ok...

So it was something like two months ago that I started this blog...maybe it was a corny title, maybe it makes no sense...who cares?! The bottom line is that I am not much of a blogger...I always knew this and I thought "this time is different" - it's has not been.

I gave thought to a lot of blog ideas and I tried to rationalize what is people want to see/would be interesting...I have friends who are blogging all diff. topics and their interests...I share many of the same ideals and thoughts but don't think they are topics I can blog on...So digging deep it came to me that you have to "blog what you know" - I know that I love to train & have been focusing on my individual lifestyle for the better part of the last year...so maybe that's it...I don't know If i am up for offering advice at this point but maybe that will come soon...right now it is gonna be about me.

It might be boring and it might be egotistical to blog about myself, my running, biking and swimming...I hope that it is a topic that will become more that jut a blog but more of a chronicle of my rise/fall (hopefully not!) in the sports I am focusing on.

If you hate the idea...don't let me know!! haha...

define: cyclical ~ recurring in cycles or periods of time in which certain events or phenomena repeat themselves in the same order at the same interval.

define: cyclist ~ a person who rides a bicycle.

i will touch on this later, for now i just feel like going to sleep...good start right!