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RA Bloggers (Read 300 times)

BeeRunB


    A lot of community members here at RA with running related blogs. I wanted to see if I could gather them all in one place.  You can post links, excerpts, full entries, whatever you want. Post away. As you post, I'll farm the links to your blog home pages and list them in the OP. If doing that gets to be too much of a job, I reserve the right to become a lollygagger.

     

    The List:

    Chuck Runs (chuckstone)

    Best Pace Scenario (RunJason Run)

    Running Down The Law (pcacarrier)

    The Logic Of Long Distance (jeff)

    Spareribs Running Blog @ Dallas Morning News (by Spareribs)

    The Straight Race (by Mattgalvin1)

    The Railfanning Runner (by JimR)

    BeeRunB


      ...

        Sounds alot like me, but without the racing. Making love under a comforter, on it, on the flannel sheets etc. I grab the boots, crampons and ice axe, axes in many cases, and head for the mountains. I do run alot, but never race.

        BeeRunB


          Sounds alot like me, but without the racing. Making love under a comforter, on it, on the flannel sheets etc. I grab the boots, crampons and ice axe, axes in many cases, and head for the mountains. I do run alot, but never race.

           

          You sound pretty balanced and sane, Man. 


          King of PhotoShop

            I write a weekly column on the Dallas Morning News running blog, generally once a week on Mondays.  Today I wrote about the phrase "getting chicked" and tied it to the story of the 1977 Boston Marathon.  I hope you like it.

             

            http://runningblog.dallasnews.com/2014/06/so-you-got-chicked-you-got-more-coming.html/

             

            Spareribs

            Mattgalvin11


              Great idea… if you want to check my blog out on running and faith it is thestraightrace.blogspot.com! I'm excited to check out the others

              JimR


                Lame, but it's mine.

                 

                The Railfanning Runner

                BeeRunB


                  Thanks for these URLs. Posted.

                    2010 thread with some good blogs.

                     

                    or 2012 thread

                     

                    My lame blog sputtered out.

                    Get off my porch


                    King of PhotoShop

                      I took the summer off from the Dallas Morning News site, just to recharge.  I've been writing it for 4 years and it occurred to me that I get stale in the attempt to post something when I haven't much to say.  That can be punishing for the reader.  The News gave me a professional media expert to work with, and by following his guidance (he now works for ESPN) and tweaking a few things, I learned a ton about how to get more page views, which the News really, really likes!

                       

                      Let me share with you some tips I picked up from the experts, as well as ones I've learned myself the hard way:

                       

                      1)  Talk about some subject other than you.  I know this is hard to do, but my most read posts where those in which I told an interesting story about someone or something else. I can promise you that if your blog posts always talk about how you felt on your run today, you will not have much readership. Honestly, no one cares.

                       

                      2)  Figure out what's hot.  New Balance came out with its new Fresh Foam shoe, gave me a pair to try and asked me to write a post about them. I told them if I don't like the shoe I'm going to say so.  They said they'd take their chances.  Well, I loved the shoe, but did mention I wouldn't recommend it for a heel striker, as it has a nice feel for the mid-foot strike.  New Balance loved the post.  It got a couple of thousand page views per week in the first few weeks after it went up, and has since leveled off to just a few. But it's always in my weekly report with a few PV's, which is gratifying.  Obviously, New Balance must be using this post to promote the shoe.  Toward the end of June I wrote a post about the thoroughbred horse Ruffian and how she didn't survive the match race at Belmont against Foolish Pleasure.  Based on how I tagged it, it must have aroused the horse racing crowd as it got over 12,000 page views in the first week!  Stories from history, literature, or just anecdotes about well-known runners have all been huge for page views.

                       

                      3)  Try to tell it in 600 words or less. Write tight. No matter how good you think your story is, you could write it shorter I bet.  When I have a long post, I go back and keep chopping. I think I wrote one post longer than 600 words and that was the one about Ruffian. But if you find your posts exceed that, remember that you may be tiring your audience.  Think Twitter and its 140 character rule.

                       

                      4)  Pictures rule.  I fail miserably at this most of the time, but the experts will tell you, add graphics.  People love pics, and when you post your link to the blog elsewhere, such as FB, the pic will post, and attract more viewers.

                       

                      5)  Write newspaper headlines, rather than what you think the subject is:  One of my most popular posts of all time on the News site was "What's the stupidest advice for running an ultra?  Here's my Cowtown story!"  I think people wanted to know what the stupidest advice was, as  a lot of people keep reading the post.

                       

                      Good luck in all your efforts.  Thank you for starting this thread.  Spareribs

                      DaBurger


                        ...

                        2)  Figure out what's hot. 

                        ...

                        3)  Try to tell it in 600 words or less. 

                        ...

                        4)  ...  People love pics, and when you post your link to the blog elsewhere, such as FB, the pic will post, and attract more viewers.

                         

                        5)  Write newspaper headlines,

                        ...

                         

                         

                         

                        This my friends is a how to guide to make the world dumber and waste everyone's time, brought to you by buzzfeed, upworthy, and vox et al.

                         

                        Ask Jeff how to write a blog that people will actually want to read.

                         

                        MTA:grammar

                        Know thyself.

                         

                        LedLincoln


                        not bad for mile 25

                          For better or worse, both of you are right.

                          BeeRunB


                            Thanks for the tips, SR.  It all depends what the purpose of the blog is, I think. If you're thinking like an artist, or perhaps like a philosopher (like in the excellent blog The Logic Of Long Distance), then the focus is usually staying true to an idea, rather than adjusting the work to be more attractive to the most amount of people. To me, it feels better to stay true to what my vision or impulse was, or the spine of the piece, than to mold it so it's like-able. This sometimes doesn't make for many views at first, or maybe forever, but I think if something is ever going to stand out, it has to be unique.

                             

                             

                            I took the summer off from the Dallas Morning News site, just to recharge.  I've been writing it for 4 years and it occurred to me that I get stale in the attempt to post something when I haven't much to say.  That can be punishing for the reader.  The News gave me a professional media expert to work with, and by following his guidance (he now works for ESPN) and tweaking a few things, I learned a ton about how to get more page views, which the News really, really likes!

                             

                            Let me share with you some tips I picked up from the experts, as well as ones I've learned myself the hard way:

                             

                            1)  Talk about some subject other than you.  I know this is hard to do, but my most read posts where those in which I told an interesting story about someone or something else. I can promise you that if your blog posts always talk about how you felt on your run today, you will not have much readership. Honestly, no one cares.

                             

                            2)  Figure out what's hot.  New Balance came out with its new Fresh Foam shoe, gave me a pair to try and asked me to write a post about them. I told them if I don't like the shoe I'm going to say so.  They said they'd take their chances.  Well, I loved the shoe, but did mention I wouldn't recommend it for a heel striker, as it has a nice feel for the mid-foot strike.  New Balance loved the post.  It got a couple of thousand page views per week in the first few weeks after it went up, and has since leveled off to just a few. But it's always in my weekly report with a few PV's, which is gratifying.  Obviously, New Balance must be using this post to promote the shoe.  Toward the end of June I wrote a post about the thoroughbred horse Ruffian and how she didn't survive the match race at Belmont against Foolish Pleasure.  Based on how I tagged it, it must have aroused the horse racing crowd as it got over 12,000 page views in the first week!  Stories from history, literature, or just anecdotes about well-known runners have all been huge for page views.

                             

                            3)  Try to tell it in 600 words or less. Write tight. No matter how good you think your story is, you could write it shorter I bet.  When I have a long post, I go back and keep chopping. I think I wrote one post longer than 600 words and that was the one about Ruffian. But if you find your posts exceed that, remember that you may be tiring your audience.  Think Twitter and its 140 character rule.

                             

                            4)  Pictures rule.  I fail miserably at this most of the time, but the experts will tell you, add graphics.  People love pics, and when you post your link to the blog elsewhere, such as FB, the pic will post, and attract more viewers.

                             

                            5)  Write newspaper headlines, rather than what you think the subject is:  One of my most popular posts of all time on the News site was "What's the stupidest advice for running an ultra?  Here's my Cowtown story!"  I think people wanted to know what the stupidest advice was, as  a lot of people keep reading the post.

                             

                            Good luck in all your efforts.  Thank you for starting this thread.  Spareribs


                            King of PhotoShop

                              Agreed jimmyb.  As I write mine for the newspaper, an important objective is page views, but I see your point also.  Have no idea what lit up DaBurger however, but all opinions welcome.  Spareribs

                              Mattgalvin11


                                thanks for sharing the URL's jimmyb! Thats cool you wrote/write for DMN's Spareribs, I'm originally from Dallas, so I know the area trained there for a majority of my life! I think y'all are both right. For views, you need to cater to an audience who is going to read it by something that is a hot topic and compelling. For others who take more of the philosophic point of view (my blog focuses more on that) I think it is ok to bring up stories about yourself.

                                 

                                Another thing that I want to try is start bringing in guest bloggers, that way more people will access the blog and there will be more appreciation for writing done outside of the author. It's a cool chance to branch out.

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