How To Get a Blog Started ?

Blogs dont really work of course if you dont have readers (and if you dont read other's blogs)....a few years ago i did a Rock Blog Rock Revival which went gangbusters and lead to all sorts of things, including writing work and lots of free stuff........here are my thoughts on how to get this started, anyone else got ideas ?

* read others blogs and comment,become part of the community
* link other blogs to you and hopefully vise versa
* pick a consistent focus of the blog so people come back
* post regualrly or readers get bored

any other tips ?

Nike Naked Running Camp

Peanut Butter / The Best Running Food ?

Just reading Run The Planet, came accross this great article which you can use to give yourself permission to eay as much peanut butter as you like !

Peanut butter is satiating and satisfying... perfect for dieters - Because you will never win the war against hunger, your best bet is to eat foods that keep you feeling fed. This means, foods with protein and fiber, like peanut butter (and nuts, in general). You will feel fuller for longer if you have half a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter, as compared to the same amount of calories of a plain white bagel. The protein and fiber in peanut butter "sticks to your ribs" and is not fattening, unless you overeat total calories that day. A Perdue University study reports subjects who ate peanuts every day did not overeat daily calories (Kirkmeyer, "International Journal of Obesity", 24:1167, 2000). Peanut eaters tend to naturally eat less at other times of the day (Alper, "International Journal of Obesity", 26:1129, 2002). Plus, if you enjoy what you are eating on your reducing diet, you will stay with the food plan and be able to keep the weight off. This is far better than yo-yo dieting!

What Are The Best Running Blogs ?

Love running blogs ? Head over to the great site The Virtual Runner for a pretty exhaustive list

Smokers: Plain Packageing in the Wind

Well its been 412 days since I had my last ciggy and about 2100kms...today the Goverment put the price up and announced plain packageing legislation for 2012.........sucked in ! I've become mean about smokers even though i was one for so long but i read somewhere its as hard to give up as cocaine............bring on the changes, it can only keep the message going !

Ice Bath - Eddie Izzard: Marathon Man - BBC Three

My hero Eddie Izzard, never ran before and then did 42 marathons in a row in 47 days......here's a great episode from the series about it, more on YouTube !

Sprint Training

Ah Friday, my favourite running day because we do sprint training, 5 400m sprints, 5 uphill, 3 100m, 3 50m, wall-sits and the horrible but essential plank.........we've been doing it for 4-5 months and my time has dropped from 5.6mins/km over 10k to about 5.2 or 5.3 mins/km so i think it works a treat.

Want to learn more ?

Lots of advice at Running Injury Free

Do Compression Tights really Work ? Here's the Science

As a recent wearer of compression tights ive wondered if it's a posers game or if they really like.....if you lok hard for the science however, it seems they work ! Here's a quote from Peak Performance Online which actually provides a nice summary of the research

"Too often modern athletic clothing is worn simply as a fashion garment. However, for those individuals involved in intense and/or competitive activity, the literature would suggest that compression clothing may provide both a performance and a recovery aid. The mechanisms that mediate any performance gains appear to be related to a considerable number of variables including enhanced proprioception, reduced muscle oscillation, enhanced lactate removal and/or psychological factors (ie subjects like the feel of the garments and perceive that they can improve performance)."

Why Do We Really Run ?

Wow, for the past 3 months we've been training for the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon, yes it's a race but I'm sure for all people who are doing this for the first time it's what it represents that counts...............

For me it represents so many things: Yes, a year and a bit since giving up smoking but most importantly doing something for myself after so long in the helping professions (Psychology). It's taken me 20 years to figure out that having a vocation to help others is not neccesarily the best thing for me. This race is like a ritual that says I've finally got some balance..............a mid-life celebration.........

Running is more than it seems, Im sure this is the case for most.......why do you run ?

Want Help With Running Playlists ?

There's alot of good sites that make it easy, including songs by your chosen BPM;
try running musicmix which connects right to itunes or the great Ministry of Sound Running CD

On the Runner's World site they also have celebroty runners playlists rangeing from Tibetan pray chants to techno and the Grateful Dead !

Welcome

My first ever post to celebrate one year of running ! My main aim of this blog is to keep a record of the fantastic journey of running, including all the tips and advice I get from reading widely, from training, etc......and ot share some of the beauty of running in Sydney Australia. Over the next few weeks i'll attempt to link up with other running blogs, welcome if your reading for the first time, I hope eventually to learn more about runninig from readers and other blogs so off we go !