by Ryan McKeen
I’ve been really busy with everything but posting on this site. I’m still pounding out a review of Sprint’s EVO 4G for the ABA Journal. Who knew writing about cell phones could be so time consuming?
But lately my mind hasn’t been into it. I’ve come to find out the blogging is a lot like hitting a baseball. When your hot, you hit everything. When you’re cold, you can’t hit the broadside of a barn with a baseball bat. Right now, I’m cold.
There are reasons for this. I could go on about how busy things are and that would be true. Though truthfully things are always busy.
As I sat down and started staring at my WordPress Dashboard, I realized why I’m struggling to post. I’m not running enough.
In the time I’ve had this blog, I’ve been both a runner and a non-runner. Up until last June, I didn’t run. Then I started running. I went from hating it to being addicted to it.
Last summer and fall, I increased my mileage as I trained for the Hartford Half. There would be nothing but me and my thoughts for miles of pavement. After the half, my running decreased. I’d run but no longer would I go out for 2 plus hours. When this happened my posts became infrequent.
This January, I started training for a marathon and my blogging picked up. In my mind, it’s no coincidence that the Bysiewicz post happened at exactly the same time I started increasing my mileage for the marathon. It’s also no coincidence that some of my best posts were written between January and May as I began to run 40 miles a week.
On Memorial Day, I ran (alright slogged) the Vermont City Marathon. My MP3 player broke at the starting line. I had plenty of time to think (4 hours and 49 minutes to be exact). Then I crossed the finish line and my post race recovery began.
A marathon puts a tremendous amount of stress on a runner’s body. So much so that my training schedule only called for a short 2 mile run 4 days after the race. I won’t be cleared to run anything over 6 miles at a time for another 3 weeks.
The good news is that my mileage starts bumping up a little. Hopefully as I put one foot in front of the other, I’m able to refocus my mind, find some inspiration and start blogging with some passion again.
For tonight, I’ll settle for the realization that running is an important component to my blog. Tomorrow morning, I’ll settle for 4 strong miles.