In 2010 I went from hating running to enjoying it.  From sitting on my couch to running over 530 miles.  I ran two half marathons.  I ran during the week in the mornings or evenings for fun.   From last summer through my injury, on the last day of January, I ran every Saturday morning (8-10 miles) with friends.

I loved it.  Loved how strong I felt.  Loved being able to run 10 miles at a nice pace, while talking with friends about their week.

I would discuss running at work, with friends, with anyone that would listen and even here on mevsMJ.com.

The pop in my calf muscle ended all of that.

I ran my first 2.5 miles last week in the past four months!

The Dilemma

MY GOAL:  Play Michael Jordan 1-on-1.

TRUTH:  Running long distances DOES NOT help me prepare for my goal.

I first realized this when I attended Impact Basketball training in November.  In a short period of time Matt Hiller had me gasping for air as I stood at the free throw line.  I had never been so short of breath in my life.  At the time I was running 18-20 miles per week and was able to run 5 miles at a 7:23 pace.

The realization hit home again later that month when I handed to ball to the #79^th ranked high school player in America, Robert Brown and played him 1-on-1.  Fourteen points in to game one, as I went to pick up the ball, I felt like I was going to pass out.  I was exhausted.  He wasn’t.

Finally, during the rehab of my injury it really hit home.  Speaking with numerous trainers and players, no trainer suggested running long distances and no player, and I’m talking even a former NBA All-Star, ran long distances as a way to prepare for basketball.

It made sense.

Basketball is about a series of explosive movements, not a steady speed for miles, even if that speed is considered fast.

Back to Hooping!

I’ve been back to hooping for just over two months and right now my game is feeling great!

Sure I got my butt kicked again by Robert Brown and then by NBDL draftee Garfield Blair when I first came back from injury, but since then I’m on a roll!

Over the past two weeks, of my last 12 games of one-on-one vs. “regular people” I’m 11-1.  I’m not just winning the games, I’m dominating!  My last four opponents I’ve outscored 60-12 combined (games are to 15 points).

I’m now less than two weeks from my match-up with Andy Gebru (played this past season professionally in Brazil) and besides a couple of nagging injuries (groin/ankle) I couldn’t be in a better place!

I’m ready to test myself again against the best and see the hard work I’ve been putting in turn into a better showing!

To Run…or Not To Run?

Due to understanding what is going to benefit me most in my preparation for Michael Jordan, I just haven’t been running.

Instead, I’ve been doing mostly everything on a basketball court and playing as much 1-on-1 as possible.  It seems to be working.

Still, last Wednesday evening I slipped on the Nikes, headed to the trail and ran.  I didn’t run very far, just 2.5 miles as I stated earlier, and it definitely wasn’t as easy as it was the last time I had run, though I did manage a 7:35 pace.

I didn’t run for conditioning.  I ran because I kind of missed it.

For me at this point right now, the answer to whether I should run or not comes down to what this journey is all about:  Doing something I’m passionate about!

While I can tell you I won’t be running 20 miles a week anytime soon, I may slip in a 5 mile run here and a 10 mile run there.

I’ll do it on days because I miss it, or for the comradery and most importantly because it brings me a little joy.

After all, a little joy is all we are ever really in search of isn’t it.

me vs. MJ…the journey continues!

Thank you for following along!

####

100 Facebook Fans/Likes!!! (Wahooooo!)

Special THANK YOU to my FIRST 100 mevsMJ.com Facebook Fans/Likes!! The 100 of you will always be the first!  Very special to me!  If you haven’t already LIKED the mevsMJ.com Facbook page, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? <—It’s a LINK!

After watching this year’s NBA Slam Dunk Contest, I came to the conclusion that I need a Hype Man! (submit resume here)

Hype Man Definition:  Someone who brings excitement and hype before and while an event is taking place.

Kenny Smith is a world class hype man!  Kenny, who was Blake Griffin’s coach at the NBA Dunk Contest, gave a great example of exactly what a hype man is and does.  He had me excited!  He had me anxious to see Blake’s next dunk!  He hyped Griffin up and if you’ve ever seen BG play, he doesn’t really need any help with that (watch here).

It got me thinking.  How great would it be if I had someone before I hit the publish button on every post telling the World, “YOU MUST READ mevsMJ.cooooom!   Kenny Eller is about to share with you Something you’ve Never read beforrrrrrrrre! Prepare to have you mind bloooooowwwwnnn!”

Then again….

The Ramifications of a Hype Man :-/

If you have a hype man, you actually need to be REALLY…REALLY GOOAT! (somewhere between good and great ;-))

If not, the person hyping you may do more damage than good.

Going back to Griffin’s dunks on Saturday.  They were good, but not as special as Kenny “The Jet” pumped them up to be.  For many that resulted in an adverse affect of what the actual goal was.

Example:  I went and saw (for free) the movie, The Green Hornet, before it came out and thought it was going to be the worst movie I had ever seen.  Instead, I LOVED IT!  During the weeks that followed, I hyped that movie to anyone that would listen.  While my expectation was low going in, what do you think the people I hyped the movie to expected?  They expected it to be great, right?

If Blake had just gone out there and dunked, I probably would have went to sleep that night highly impressed.  Instead, I felt a little let down.

But if you’re GREAT!

If you’re great at what you do though, a hype man can take you to the next level!

Mike had Nike and Spike.  That grew to include almost every person who had ever even seen the game of basketball.  We were all MJ’s hype men!

The thing is, Mike Jordan almost always performed well.  So when people heard of his greatness and tuned in or went to see him, they left on the majority of evenings concurring with the hype.

We are our own Hype Man!

If you have a Facebook Fan Page for your blog or company, or Tweet when a new post or product is released, you are your own hype man and rightly so!

If you don’t believe in what you do, who else will?

Friends + Family + Supporters = Hype Man

Who supports you?  Who helps you?  Who spreads the word on your new post or product?  Who cares?  Who hypes you?

These are your hype men/women!!  Make sure you appreciate them and let them know you do!

Be My Hype Man!

If you love what I’m doing here, HYPE ME!  Do so on Twitter, Facebook, through Email, pick up the phone and tell your friends and family!  Find me someone to play!  Tell Mike Jordan about me!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I’m gooat, but I am giving it my all here at mevsMJ.com.

To anyone who has ever passed along something from this site, THANK YOU!

For the rest of you…join the others and be my hype man!

(ps:  I was kind of kidding about the resume part above )