Umstead '07 or die

Blogging Marathon: Day 17

I was just reading the very first blog post by Vibram Chris.
At the end he wonders if anyone will ever read it, but he says he posts because "the blog serves as motivation to record my efforts".

This caused a dusty old neuron of mine to fire off, reminding me of my first blog post ever. Unfortunately the poor neuron quickly drowned in the flood of my third Yuengling, but it did it's job...

It was 2006, and I had given up running due to some horrible knee pain.
I had assumed (incorrectly) that the increasing pain indicated I was doing permanent damage to my knees, and to continue would leave me crippled.

But I missed running so much. So in April 06, I created a blog called "Umstead '07 or die", and posted this:

Thursday, April 20, 2006

I will run the 2007 Umstead marathon...

... even if my knee caps finally crumble to dust
... even if my hamstrings snap like used dental floss
... i will run it.

Let the training begin.

I guess the idea was that if it was public, that would provide extra motivation to keep the vow. But that was the one and only post to that blog, so I guess it didn't work too well for me.

I wish I had kept posting to it, starting with my long and dumb journey through the sports medicine establishment, which I already reminisced about here. And then on to my first attempts at running again, and then finally to the 2007 Umstead Marathon.

I learned a lot from that experience:

1. "sports medicine" is about as scientific as vodoo
2. Some obstacles may not be as big as they seem
3. Have patience

But it would have been great to have a record of it, a reminder to myself.

So to any runners out there who are just starting out, or just coming back into it, go ahead and start that blog you are thinking about. Because at the very least you will have your future self as a reader.

Here are some good blogs of runners sharing their learning experiences:
Vibram Chris.
Because all the cool kids are doing it...
Barefoot Fresca