May 12, 2013 / Community Pool

Community Pool

Community Pool

The Community Pool is for those of you looking for input, whether on post ideas, writing, blog design and layout, or anything else. If you have a post, page, or idea you want to bounce off someone, leave a comment. Your fellow bloggers can then click through and offer input either on your site, or in the comments here (feel free to indicate which you’d prefer).

Read on for the ground rules and to leave a comment . . .

  • You’ll get the best feedback if you can be as specific as possible about what you’d like people to respond to or where you’re struggling.
  • Please keep all comments civil and constructive. We’re here to help and support one another, not to beat anyone down.
  • If you haven’t looked at our Commenting Guidelines in a while, now might be a good time.
  • To keep from losing your place in the comment thread while you visit others’ blogs, right-click on a link to open it in a new tab or window.
  • No running on the deck.

Photo by t_a_i_s.

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  1. Now this is a fact…I know if I were to say something like: all the interesting people have died and gone to Hell, and why has our species come to the decision where the mundane is acceptable and anyone truly interesting, like me, is out of style…this may be the beer talking, but who the hell cares anymore…there is an asteroid on a collision course with planet earth as we speak which will wipe all mundanities…yep…and I may be the only person who survives…present company is an exception of course…did I say that correctly? Who the hell cares…I’ll have another cold beer if you don’t mind.

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  2. Hi, I’ve been blogging about running for a little over a year now. I like to convey my experiences and try to encourage others to take up running or at least a more active lifestyle. I’ve written this article several times and it keeps changing.
    I’d be very happy if someone could take a look at this piece and tell me if it’s any good, or if I should try another revision. I hope this request is appropriate for this forum. Thank you.

    Many people run but not everyone who runs considers themselves a runner. Some people feel they are not “a runner” because they do not race, only run a few days a week or only jog occasionally. Am I a runner, are you a runner, and what makes us runners?
    We are all natural born runners; our bodies are designed to run. Everywhere you go, you will see able bodied children running around. They run on the playground, at the park and often in our homes. It is difficult to keep a child from running. To them it is natural and fun. There is nothing forced about it and children certainly do not “work” at it.
    Are they runners? Are they not runners because they don’t race or have any idea how long a 5K is? Of course they are runners! They embody the spirit of running as much as, if not more so, than any adult. To them running is freedom and joy; it is play and is as natural as breathing.
    My point is that our bodies and our spirit are made for running and this is manifested early in our lives. Even as adults, each of us has a runner inside of us. Some of us are natural athletes, and some of us barely possess the mechanical ability to put one foot in front of the other. But the ability to be a runner is there.
    You are not alone
    I know many people who have run multiple races and who run on a regular basis but do not consider themselves “runners”. It is as if the word had some exalted meaning that they feel unworthy of claiming for themselves. It is as if they felt saying “I am a runner” even to themselves would burden them with some rights, responsibility or duties that they did not feel worthy or capable of.
    When I first started running I did not consider myself a runner either. I was just a guy poking around blindly at this thing called running. Runners were different from me. They ran. They knew what they were doing and they ran races. I didn’t know anything and I only ran when I was lucky enough to get a Boston Marathon number.
    It’s funny the stories we tell our selves and what other people see and think about us. While I was training for the 2003 Boston Marathon I was fat, dumb and happy going along for the ride into something I knew nothing about. I wasn’t a runner; I was blithely running at lunch and training for one of the biggest running events in the world!
    The Thursday or Friday before Marathon Monday, Carol, one of my colleagues at HP, kept asking me when I was going out for my run. “You know you need to keep training”, “The Marathon is this Monday, isn’t it?” I finally finished what I was working on and went out for my run. It was probably 5 miles. Carol tended to be motherly and I thought it was nice of her to take an interest in my race preparations.
    When I got back to my work area I discovered that while I was out doing the run that Carol thought was so important for me to get in, my team had set up a party for me! They had some food and drinks and everyone had a small gift for me! I was totally surprised and deeply touched. I don’t remember all of the gifts but some of them were handmade and very creative.
    These people all saw me as a runner. They saw me go out running several days a week, they saw me hanging out with the other runners in the office and they knew I had a number for the 2003 Boston Marathon. I guess if I saw some guy doing all of these things I would start to think that they were a runner also.
    While I did not think that running three days a week made me a runner, everyone around me did. While I did not think that getting a number to run in The Boston Marathon meant I was a runner, to everyone else it did.
    My first foray into running was a bit crazy, and just happened out of sheer luck. I did not decide one day to become a runner; it just happened over time. My friends, colleagues and family thought of me as a runner way before I did.
    By nature you are a runner. Even if you have never run since high school gym class, you are a runner. If you have been trying to start running or thinking about starting running you can call yourself a runner. Do not concern yourself with how often you run or how far you run. You were born to run and it is part of your fiber.
    The call to Action
    I know that most people who read this blog lead active lifestyles. They probably consider themselves runners, cyclist, swimmers or triathletes. The fact that they participate in and train for an activity allows them to define themselves as a runner, swimmer, etc.
    If you are not one of these people I hope this message rings true to you. Just because you do not own a pair of running shoes today and have no idea how far a mile walk will take you, does not mean that you are not a runner. There is a runner inside of you waiting to be discovered.
    I encourage you to discover the runner inside of you. I also encourage you not to do what I did and take on a world class marathon as your first race.
    Being active is a joyful part of life. Do not miss one of the joys of life because you feel unworthy of calling yourself a runner. You are worthy and you deserve the joy that running can bring to your life.

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    1. I like the post. It’s a little long for my taste (and attention-span) but I like it!

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    1. Hi,

      I gave your site a quick look and read four posts. I like that the posts are short but are complete thoughts. The layout is clean and appealing. I tend to write long posts which probably get read less than shorter articles would.
      I don’t have a ton of blogging experience so I can’t really offer much more input than that. I hope it helps.
      Andy

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      1. Thanks for taking a look! I appreciate it. Does anyone have any other suggestions on how to get better traffic? (I have read and re-read the WP article on it and still can’t seem to get much traffic)

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      2. I’m not an SEO expert but I think these tips may help.
        You should create categories to group your posts under, i.e. food, family, religion etc. Then when you write your post about cooking brisket for your mother you would use the categories of food and family.
        For tags you should be more specific I.e. brisket instead of food. The way I understand it even though the word is in your article, the tag makes it easier for people to find your post when they do a word search.
        Can anyone else chime in and confirm that?

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  4. How do you guys write posts that draw a lot of traffic to the site? Suggestions?!?!? (and yes, I’ve already read the WP article on drawing more traffic to a blog).

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  5. Hey guys!

    Could you give me some feedback on my writing style please? I’m doing a 30 day blogging challenge to try and get myself to start writing every day and posting on a regular basis. So far all of the topics are opinion-based and I want to know if I’m making a good argument for what I’m trying to say.

    I also would like to know if the spacing is good. I tend to want to write in long paragraphs, almost like I’m writing an essay. I’m trying to break out of this habit so my posts don’t look like large chunks of text.

    Thanks!

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