The Newbie Chronicles: Volume 2: Blogging

Why blog?

I started this blog some months ago to write, generally.  I didn’t have a whole lot of direction. Every other year or so I tell myself I’m going to write more. And I do, for like a day.

This “blog” floundered for a while. I wrote about um, nothing. And then I started running, and my running blog was born. It was something to write about that seemed worth recording. Plus, I’d been reading tons of other running blogs. So I had something to relate to.

Things I love about run-blogging.

• Accountability. I have readers, or at least I maintain the delusion that I do; therefore, by saying something on the internet to my “readers” (hehe) I raise my level of accountability to do what I said I would, or at least try. So that helps.
• Community. The run-blog community is awesome. There’s so much to learn from other bloggers, and their commenters, and their comments on my posts. Feed back is awesome, reassurance that you’re not the only one that sometimes finds running hard is seriously awesome, and encouragement is the bomb.
• History. Blogging my journey gives me the opportunity to record it and review it. It helps to go back and recall that, yes, this was hard before, it didn’t all of the sudden become difficult today. It’s good to read back and recall great runs when it’s getting difficult, and to see how much I’ve progressed over time.

What my run-blog is not

• Photos. Sorry photo lovers, but as you may’ve noticed pictures are few and far between on this blog. I have never been an obsessive picture-taker. Despite the fact my camera was in my purse for a month, I never took a single picture. whoops. Therefore, if you want to read my blog, you’re really going to have to read. Occasionally, I’ll throw some pictures in, but mostly, this is words.
• Enduring positivity. Running and training are hard. Yes, it’s important to remain positive through out the journey. However, sometimes it sucks, and those are the times that blogging helps the most. It allows you to write out the problem and work through it. Again – accountability, community, history.
• Money/Publicity. My goal in blogging is mostly personal. Record my journey, get some feed back, maybe make a few internet friends along the way. I’m not looking to massively increase my readership, or pass myself off as some sort of expert. Yes, I do post my links on twitter; however, my twitter is dominated by runners whom I don’t know at all – thus working toward my goal of feedback. Very few real-life friends know I even have a blog.

Running is exceptionally new to me. And the lifestyle change it’s forced, which I welcome wholeheartedly, does not match up with the person I’ve been, or have been perceived to have been, for most of my life/real life relationships. If 2011 was about anything, it was about recreating what it means to be ME. And so far it’s working out great.

As weird as it sounds, I’m very grateful to be able to document this transformation and share it with a bunch of strangers – and a select few real lifers. Thank you bloggy buddies!