Last night, all I really wanted to do was hang out with my family. They had all bought/boughten (ha! which one is it? Yes, it's the first. Now you know I was brought up in the midwest if I have the desire to say "boughten") birthday presents for me and we were going to sing "SLG har fødselsdag og det har hun jo og det er i dag..." and I sat down for a brief moment to check The Blog and, before I knew it, I had irreversibly changed the template and erased my old header picture and, oh, this just wouldn't do. And suddenly, looking at my unrecognizable blog on the screen, I had this strong desire to just erase the whole thing and never think about blogging again.
It was, after all, more fun playing at the beach an hour earlier.
And the water was warm enough for us all to swim! And one can swim without goggles and look through the crystal clear water, with only a few jelly fish to blur your vision.
If I scrapped the whole blog now, I would be an idiot. When I began blogging, it was just a diary. I didn't realize I would actually MEET a lot of the people who read and commented on my blog. And, if not actually meet, then receive emails and articles and really become friends with people because of it. I was overwhelmed by the number of people I received a Happy Birthday from on Facebook on Wednesday, who have, one way or another, gotten to know me through my blog. And many of them are actually Danes, who share a passion for running, and put up with reading a blog in English.
A number of years ago, I read the book, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner by Allan Sillitoe. And, when I was done, I found myself wishing I could read more stories of runners. There is something about being a long-distance runner; we have a need to hear and share running adventures and mundacities. And even if you don't enjoy this blog, at least I link to good ones.
Plus blogging is just fun. And I learn a lot from you guys: about running (of course) and my often-slightly-warped view of the world. And mankind has never experienced anything like blogging: a combination between journalism and an ongoing novel, which can be constantly revised and criticised by the author an the readers.
But I would be lying if I said it created peace and happiness in my family. And that is, of course, the rub. The big rub. Not in the sense of a massage, but in the Hamlet sense. I think everyone in my family has come to actually hate the existence of the computer because of the time I spend on it. And sometimes I hate it, too.
That is why I am blogging before everyone wakes up. In two days Natali leaves for the US. We won't see her for 3 weeks. My role as her step-mom weighs heavily on my mind. I don't think I'm doing the best I could. With kids, it's about making time for them.
Or ignoring them while they are trying to catch up to you on their bike.
Running Song of the Day: 20 Miles by Deer Tick
(oh, I just love music, well, especially good music like this, though there is room for improvement with the video)
Exciting running events this weekend:
1.Western States 100 miler in California (live updates)
2. Kaiser Sport/Asics Etapeløb along the Eastern Coast Denmark. 182 km in all, where one can hop in at out as they please.
10 comments:
i love the picture you are now using as your header (is that what it's called?). blogging is an addiction for sure (says the woman who is commenting on a blog rather than making baby food, cleaning the house, doing up a training plan for an athlete etc. etc.) but it can serve a key role in defining one's thought process and as you said it is a really cool way to meet people. i have scored a coach and an athlete through blogging as well as met some people whose stories matter to me. which is pretty amazing. but i guess i will not have arrived as a blogger until i get comments left in foreign languages that i have to delete :)
A lot of people are writing "I accidentally changed my template." Personally, I think Blogger made a mistake changing things.
I'm taking a break in posting. Sometimes I just need to step away from things and get perspective. Twice already I've thought of things that would be fun to post (my local library is being invaded by baby frogs today). I haven't quite gotten away from checking what others write (and "gotten" sounds Midwestern too).
My new favorite band for running songs is Hockey. "Song Away" and "Too Fake" (I think those are the titles) being best.
Catching up on blog reading as I sit on the couch (I will soon have a permanent dent in it) - I wanted to comment on EVERY SIGNLE ONE of your recent posts but just too many! I love wearing compression socks after a long runs/races I do think they help with recovery - I have a pair from Walgreens (flight anti-embolism ones) as oppossed to sports ones - I think they are tighter (and I know they are cheaper). I think you were not rested enough for that marathon - and probably ran out of fuel. But it did look pretty! I had many other things to say too but I need to get back to tracking WS100 :)
I like the new look. Its fresh and inviting. Not that I didn't like the old look either but change can be fun.
I love blogging and never thought I would say that. I have met so many wonderful people through blogging. Moderation in everything though.
I agree blogging is fun. And as PiccolaPineCone wrote couple weeks/months ago on her blog, it is also a way to let the world know that you are alive. I personally do not have many friends and sometimes spend days without saying a single word because there is noone to talk to and because I do not talk to people, I put in "on paper" at least, it does not matter that nobody really reads it as long as it is fun.
Chinese Bot,
I've started to think you bots don't actually care if I understand your little messages written in Chinese, so I'm erasing your comment.
Piccola, glad you like the "header" picture. Just wish I could figure out how to make it smaller! I have also noticed that it helps me "identify my thought process" to blog and I am better at expressing my opinion and stories of the past because they have already been formuated once. There are many ways to rationalize blogging, I guess. I'm just glad you like blogging, too, and hope you find time for it in your return to Canadian life.
Steve Q,
This is how it went down: I just was playing around with that new, flashy template designer tab they have, thinking I could get my old template back, but alas, you can't get it back once it's gone. Hockey, huh? That says something to me but I can't remember their songs. Thanks, I'll give em a try.
Helen,
It's great to hear from you and I'm glad you weren't bored to death with all of that reading. So you only wear the compressions after races? Interesting. And I meant to write that the Nature Marathon along the coast reminded me on the pictures I saw of Miwok, though, of course, it wasn't nearly as hard or long.
Mmmmonyka, yeah, I defintely think for people who move a lot or make long-distance moves that blogging is a great way to keep a network of friends. I certainly don't mind that we've gotten to know each other!
Angie,
I responded to the Chinese Bot and not to you! Well, that wasn't my intention. Yeah, I think it is awesome when people get so much out of blogging and the thing I think people really like about you and your blog is we can just sense how much you enjoy it :). But yeah, it is like everything else, and we can't allow it to negatively impact those around us. Otherwise it just eventually won't be fun anymore.
Hey, I love the new look of the blog, but obviously there's nothing wrong with stepping back from it when you want to give more energy to the rest of your life. Although, I would be really sad if you stopped with it completely.
Sorry for not commenting recently. I've been traveling, and I've been away from my computer a lot. What a liberating experience that has been.
I hear what you mean about blogging and computer time...it's hard, but I think the best thing is to enforce some rules on yourself so that the computer doesn't take you away from your family and your family doesn't resent your time on the computer. Hope you can find a happy medium.
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