My 1st Blog-i-versary

I started blogging 1 year ago after reading an article in Runner’s World Magazine. The article intrigued me to research running blogs. I found the Running Blog Family (RBF), but after discovering that they didn’t act as a blog “host”, I was still lost. Shortly after that, I discovered Blogger, and nearly signed up for an account. When I got to the step of picking a name for my blog I was more stuck.

After my step-dad died, when I was struggling to write down what I would say at his memorial, I found the gift of writing as an outlet. Writing provided a means of healing, that was similar to what running has given me but in a non-physical way. There *is* a limit to the amount of cardio that one can do.

My blogging began on MSN Spaces, which I discovered after reacquainting with a long-lost friend. My friend had a blog, and through it, I could catch up on how her life was progressing since she moved far away. I read her blog. It was witty and oh so “Lisa.” Within the hour, I was inspired to “click” my way to my own blog.

Toddling:
On the 22nd of December 2005, I created my first post, entitled “The Starting Line.” My first steps of blogging were primitive. In the MSN days, I figured that I was probably the only one who actually read my posts. It was therapeutic to write, but after a while I wanted a writing audience. I ventured out to Blogger, posting both on MSN and Blogger, as well as on Hal Higdon’s Interactive Boards. I added my blog to the RBF directory.

Learning to run:
In my efforts to reach out to the RBF community, I began posting my comments on other RBF members’ blogs. I discovered that I also wanted the comments, but didn’t know how to get the readers to come my way. In my efforts to reach out, however timidly, to the blogging community I discovered some very fun blogs that I could identify with. The blogging addiction took hold of me; I’d lost control. I added a marathon countdown clock, and some of the other special touches that make a blog a little more personal. It was when I discovered other blogging tools such as the stat counters and site meters that I learned that my blog was actually getting traffic (from all over the world). Wow!

Up and running:
The blogging/running tools were not complete without the BTT script that I first discovered on the famed Running Chick’s blog. Shortly after signing up for a BTT account, I became interested in having my blog hosted on BTT. I liked that these blogs had a special spotlight on the login page of BTT. I liked their look, the categories, the way they were ALL fitness focused. I was also nervous, however, that I would lose my current readers by changing my blog location.

In addition to my fear of losing readers, who had become virtual “friends”, I also had apprehensions of starting over. I loved some of my old posts and didn’t want my blog to be more fragmented than it already was. My early posts, that had been on MSN, were now only on my computer as I had deleted my MSN blog (without thinking about the historical factor). Of course I took the leap, and the “amazing” hip assisted me in retaining all of my old entries. I even uploaded (and back dated) my early posts, and race reports from my pre-blogging days.

After a year of growth, I am here to stay at BTT. I am up and fully RUNNING (aside from injuries), and proud to call myself a “blogger”. Perhaps some day I will also call myself a triathlete, or ironman – time will tell.

Happy 1 year Blog-i-versary to me!

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