Monday, December 30, 2013

Blog Superlatives 2013

(Carrying on from 2011 and 2012). AKA, time to see those Google search gems!

Most popular (viewed) post: Pain in the Rear: A Diagnosis

Bestest blog friends (most referrals): Angry Runner and the lovely Redhead. Third place goes to No Meat Athlete.

Most studious countries (most # of readers):
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Austrailia
Germany

Most involved (US states by # of readers):
California
South Carolina
Virginia
Florida
Texas

Most likely to succeed (top common searches):
chasingthekenyans
gu chomps review
obturator internus
glute muscles

Most clueless (randomest search hits):
salt shakers running club
fat girl eating cookie off shoulder (2nd year in a row!)
can i carry protein powder on an airplane
diarrhea my pants / stains on my running shorts (maybe you should consult discombobulated beth?)
faceplant in horse poop
how can i reunite with my ex wife / how can i reunite with my ex boyfriend
i got married in kenya is it legal here in michigan
i took the plunge went bleached blonde
my mom said to get a life
wearing butt plug tail

(I use Google Analytics to retrieve this information)

As usual, some random searches this year. The fat girl eating a cookie off her shoulder was back again, maybe I need to try this... To the souls searching for butt plugs and wanting to get back with their ex's, goodluck. What google treasures did your blog receive this year?

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

The Great Marathon Debate

November 2013
Run Stats:
- 18 days
- 70.6 miles
- 8:42 average pace
- 2 races (Ragnar & local Turkey trot)
- Longest run: 8 miles
- Trimmed another 1:44 off my 5k time from September!

CrossFit Notables:
- Power Clean 1RM: 130# (up 5# from September)
- Squat Clean: 95# (squat needs work... lots of work.)
- Isabel (not Rx): 2:51 (30 snatches for time, 65#)


So in my last post I admitted that I signed up for a half-marathon and though I'm not expecting a PR (hello rolling hills) I think it should go well. What I failed to admit was that I was still hemming and hawing over a full marathon too. I've been wanting to run the Mercedes marathon for years - solely because I think the medal is cool and unique - which is held in February. I was am afraid that I won't be in shape in time (even though I did survive 17+ miles of a Ragnar last month, for what that's worth).

The Mercedes marathon is now 9-10 weeks away, and my "long" runs have been a whopping 8 and 6 miles. I don't need another 4-hour marathon, I have plenty of those already. I want to train consistently for one and be able to run it well. I suppose this is me talking myself out of it...

I'm eyeing another full in late March, which seems much more feasible to get in shape for as long as I can be more diligent with those weekend long runs. With this in mind, my internal debate switches to considering running Mercedes easy to remind myself that I can still survive the distance, and then continue to train for a (hopefully) faster late-March marathon.

Overanalyzing, I know. Thoughts?