I was looking at my stats recently, and I realized that for a blog that started only two and a half months ago, I’ve gotten a pretty decent following! Even before my interview was featured on Mile-Posts I had hundreds of readers each day. I remember joking to my husband when I first started this that I was just going to run really slow and then blog about it! Turns out, that’s not such a bad idea.
What started as a creative outlet for me has turned into something a little bigger, thanks to my readers. It’s now a place where people occasionally chat with each other in the comments section, send me questions that become full blown blog posts, and get me thinking about running in new ways by sharing their own experiences.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the comments I’ve gotten on posts, the e-mails I’ve gotten with questions, or people saying they like reading and they’ll be wishing me luck on my half marathon in September.
It’s awesome. I love writing about running. Every time I go for a run, it seems that these posts are writing themselves. Taking time when the kids are napping or in bed to write and reflect is one of my favorite things to do. But I’m also a mother trying to balance a running life with a parenting life, and I’m not sure I’d keep posting on days when time is tighter than usual if I didn’t know I had people reading. Which would be a real shame, because I love writing! I always feel better if I take that time for myself.
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| It’s amazing… but it’s a lot to handle! Writing is a much needed respite. |
I started college planning to major in creative writing. Poetry had me switching my major pretty quickly. Poetry is actually MATH disguised as a form of writing, and engineers make better poets than I do. In fact, my two year old is arguably a better poet. (Other little identity lessons from college include: I do not look good as a bleached blonde, I am not a good ballet dancer, and I am more New England than Georgia.)
Today, I am a runner, not a dancer. I’ve learned to stick with my natural hair color, and I’m back in New England where I can watch the leaves change each fall and walk outside without being vaporized in the summer. I’m writing, just not the novels I expected. Thanks to all of you who read and comment, I think it’s actually better. It’s definitely more fun.
Thanks for reading, sharing, commenting and e-mailing. Please, introduce yourself to other readers in the comments! Ask questions, brag about your most recent run, vent about the hill near your house. I love all of it. Keep it coming 🙂
In return, here’s what I can promise you:
Other posts you may enjoy:
I love the picture. That is exactly how I try to run my blog 🙂
Thanks! I remember seeing that spot in the road and thinking it’d be a great photo to edit for divided categories like that 🙂
Hi! My name is Sarah, and I’ve been reading your blog for awhile now. I honestly can’t remember how I came across it… are you on BBC?
But anyway, I am a new runner (as of March). I really enjoy reading your posts and following your journey.
I also wish you luck on your half marathon coming up. From what it sounds like, I’m sure you’ll do great!
I was also curious (obviously an optional answer, on your part, lol), where did you go to college in GA?
Anyway, thanks for sharing your story with the world. I will continue to read about your progress!
Hi Sarah! I went to Emory University for undergrad and got my B.A. & M.A. in History there 🙂 I loved Georgia for college, because when the summer got hot, I was back with my family in Maine! I can’t imagine living there year round, though!
Ah, that was the college I suspected it could be. My brother went there, too! He’s from Vermont. I went to Maine every summer growing up, so I have many fond memories of Maine.
I LOVE your blog. I look forward to reading it everyday. It is such an encouragement to me.
Love the previous post about running with your sister. 🙂
Thanks Amy! I’m excited to hear how your running goes this fall and winter – I bet you’ll stick with it despite the weather change, I did my first 5k at the end of summer also!
Your blog is a huge encouragement for me as well. I especially appreciate the fact that it is geared towards new runners!
Thanks Dana! I’ve enjoyed sharing things as I learn them! They’re so obvious to seasoned runners but we’ve got to hear about them from somewhere!
Yeah buddy! You know I was looking for running blogs, but everybody out there was so damn fast and it was discouraging! Then I came across your blog and I was like: “Yes, another beginner!” Love it, keep up the good work!
There are some pretty fast people out there – and it makes sense that people who are enthusiastic enough about running to write a blog about it are the people who love running so much that they’ve gotten really good at it! Perhaps, in five years, that’ll be me 😉
KC, I’m having trouble finding a running plan for a half marathon that is based on 3 days of running per week. I wonder if you’d share with me your plan? I think I can figure out the beginning but I’m curious about the tapering and which weeks I should ease up. as always, thanks so much for everything that you’re giving us 🙂
I’d be happy to! I didn’t follow it exactly, and I scheduled my recovery weeks around my vacation, and I did end up adding in a fourth day of running for the second half… but if you’d like to see my plan I can email it to you (it’s a word doc). Just shoot me an e-mail or use the contact form to send me your email address and I’ll send it over!
I’m another Sarah–and another new runner! I started the couch to 5k program at the end of April. I love your blog Kelly because it is for new runners. I always feel like kind of a poser when I read things written by seasoned runners. I was reading on another forum and a runner said that an 11 minute mile was as good as walking. Well by that standard I am just a glorified walker!
My sisters are all runners, but they’ve all been running since high school. So when it comes to starting out they are not always realistic on what a beginner can reasonably do! When you are 16 and starting out it is different from being 32 and overweight!
ohhh, I totally feel like a poser when I read things written by seasoned runners. That’s one of the reasons I started writing this blog! Being married to Greg, who runs marathons, made me really wish I could connect to other people who knew how hard it can be to run an 11 minute mile. This has been great!
I also know what you mean about starting out now vs. earlier. I didn’t start running until after I had kids, and I feel a little disconnected from some of the mother runners I know who ran all the time in high school and college and then picked it back up after they had kids. They’re so much faster, because they just took a break from it, rather than starting for the first time with little kids at home! They’re awesome, and fun, and supportive, and inspirational, but also way ahead of me 🙂
Great post! I love reading your blog; very fun. I am training for my first half marathon in December! Hopefully I’ll stick with it and be as prepared as possible, but this first week of law school sure is making me a bit tired in the evenings when I should be running!
Running at the end of the day when you’re tired is so tough… have you thought at all (I’m sure you have) about running mornings? I was so hesitant to run in the morning because it means getting up so early to be done by the time my husband has to get ready for work since we have kids… but I have found it better than going in the afternoon with a babysitter here when it’s a) hotter outside, and b) I’m just tired and unmotivated because I’ve been on my feet managing a household and taking care of two toddlers.
I actually have more energy going for my run at five a.m. than I do if I sleep in and then try to go in the afternoon… and then I’m not thinking about the run all day, trying not to eat too much based on when I’m going, etc.
Hope you find a schedule that works for you – I think half marathon training is compatible with law school since it’s such a great break from the intellectual side of things and will give you more energy overall. Best wishes and good luck!
Good for you! I very much enjoy your blog!
Hey thanks 🙂
Love your blog and always look forward to reading my feeds during lunch breaks- you update more often than most of my other feeds and I always read yours first!
I “graduated” from Couch to 5k last week and your blog has offered me lots of practical advice and encouragement along the way. Now I’m looking for my “runner identity.” I don’t always love running while I’m struggling through a tough part of my run, but I love the challange of it; the accomplishment of it; the feeling of my body becoming stronger and more capable.
I run my first 5k (also happens to be an obstacle course/ mud run) next Saturday, and am looking forward to the miles ahead of me!
Thanks Stephanie! I’m really glad to hear that! Good luck finding your runner identity… and don’t be surprised if it changes. In fact, that’s some of the best part, is getting into a groove as a runner and then switching it up next season… if you want to!
Have a GREAT 5k on Saturday! Um, good luck washing out your shoes!
Stephanie, how did you enjoy the mud run? They are such fun! I did a 6km one this past Saturday (my 4th), and although there are some obstacles I had to bypass, such as the monkey bars, the 3 wooden walls that increased in height, climbing the knotted rope to ring the bell at the top, and the half pipe at the end, I had as much fun doing it as the other 3 people I did it with, and they aced (most of!) those obstacles! Hubby and I just throw our shoes in the washing machine at the end after a good rinse off (take out the inners and the laces) and they turn out fine.
I totally hear you about not always loving running and trying to find your runner identity. One of the best pieces of advice I have been given is that consistency is key, to still go for a run even when you don’t feel like it (not that I have always followed it!), that feeling of accomplishment you get afterwards as you’re stretching is so worth it!