My most beautiful post: I think my series of posts from my travels to Italy are quite lovely, but it's hard not to create a beautiful post when all you have to do is upload a photo of Brunelleschi's Dome or San Marco. Looking back through these, though, I realized that I never posted about Rome or Siena. So many ideas, so little time to type them up.... My most popular post: I really am not sure why it's my most popular post, but my Race Report for the St. Peter Halloween Fun Run last October has received the most page views of any of my posts by far. It didn't get all that many comments, but apparently a lot of people read it.
My most controversial post: I have mostly shied away from controversial topics on this blog because until a few months ago it was largely just a space for me to reflect on my running, my writing, and my goals about running and writing. These goal-oriented kinds of themes don't lend themselves to generating a whole lot of debate. Maybe my future post in which I ponder why the blogging running community seems to be so white and so heteronormative (where are the other queer runners?!?!) or my future post about how running gives me wicked cases of crotch rot will be a tad more controversial.
My most helpful post: I think my most helpful post is the one in which I discussed my first session with a sports psychologist. While I could say that my recipe posts or the product review for my treadmill are also helpful, I think Sports Psychology and Mental Toughness has a lot to offer those who are runners and especially ones who think they might want to look into getting professional assistance with the mental component of our sport.
A post that's success surprised me: I was in awe of all the support I received from readers when I decided last year to downgrade from the full marathon to the half in San Antonio. Admitting how overwhelmed I was in Coming to Terms with Tough Decisions wasn't easy, but the blogging community was so kind and helped me to put things in perspective.
A post I didn't feel got the attention it deserved: My post Marvelous Bodies generated heated debate actually when I cross-posted it on a different site, but here it didn't receive many views or comments.
The post I'm most proud of: Hmmm. I'm not proud of posts the way I am articles or conference papers or chapters, but I will say that my Race Report: Team Ortho Minneapolis Marathon has a lot going for it.
Doing this has made me think of the posts that I have wanted to write or the ones that have remained half-finished because I ran out of time or my creative juices stopped flowing. I hope this blog can become a little bit more richly textured in the near future.
I'm also supposed to tag others to do this, but I think that this one has pretty much gone the rounds. If you haven't done a 7 links post yet, and want to consider yourself tagged. If you blog, tell me why you think some posts get lots of attention and others don't. For that matter, why you think some blogs are wildly successful, but others that seem to be just as beautifully written and full of good stuff don't get much recognition at all? I'd love to know what you think!
I'm impressed with anyone who can run a marathon, full or half.
ReplyDeleteYour pictures of Italy are stunning. That is one country I will not leave Europe without seeing.
ReplyDeleteYour sports psychology stuff has been helpful to me for sure. I was really struggling tonight and on my drive home I thought about how i should have incorporated the concepts you have mentioned here. I almost cried on the cool down becuase I was so frustrated with myself. We got back to the parking lot and the coach gently reprimanded me for getting down on myself so easily. Def need to work on the mental portion of running as I have a bad tendency to belittle myself or beat myself up during/after a workout that didn't go as well as I thougth it would.
ReplyDeleteIt was fun to read thorugh these links! It is interesting how homogenous the running community appears to be. At least in the midwest. I feel like I am full of quirks, though, and am learning that the people in my running group are as well! ;)
I've always wondered about how some blogs are more successful than others. I feel like TCC is in a good place in that we have a pretty regular readership, but we're not so popular that I don't have time to reply to comments or read blogs of people who comment on my posts. But I also maintain and food blog and a photography blog (okay, I've really slacked on the food blog), and neither of those get much action. The photography blog I can kind of see, since it's just pictures and not much more than captions. But I used to put a ton of energy into my food blog and it just never took off. I shared anecdotes, took really nice pictures, gave clear directions and, most importantly, made good food. I guess some bloggers work a little bit more to promote themselves. Or maybe it's easier for me to distinguish and express myself through my style than through my cooking, who knows.
ReplyDeleteseriously coming up with these links is hard! that's why I haven't done it yet! :)
ReplyDeleteahh italy so true you coudln't post anything less than amazing about that
I remember your italy post!!!! I was tagged to do this, I have to get on it! : )
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm happy you joined in on the seven links fun. About blogging and the heteronormative people who blog: I have had the same thought about food bloggers! I have often felt that I read too many food blogs written by white, straight women in (what appear to be) long-term, monogamous relationships. I actually wish I could find more blogs that fit the niches I enjoy (food, fitness, photography) written by people who aren't white and married.
ReplyDeleteNeither of my blogs is very popular, which is perhaps unfortunate, but I will say that there is a certain freedom in not having a huge audience. I feel more comfortable writing openly about stuff that might be more controversial, which, as a writer, is a huge opportunity. So I kinda like being unpopular ;-)
I enjoy the 7 links, shows 'variety' of a person's blog, and a glimpse of their style of blogging. An easy way to figure out if you want to read their blog or not :)
ReplyDeleteAs for the 'getting attention', i think its the posts that either make people feel good or that they can relate to that get a lot of attention -- or posts that are relevant to something they're interested in -- for me it was my race recap of the Nike Women's Marathon, which was found by lots of random folk searching for information about the race. But then again, my goal isn't to have 1000 readers a day, its to write when it makes me happy, and recount the parts of my life I think are interesting enough to share (I lead a boring, book-nerd life).
I haven't read most of these, so I'm excited to go check out all of your links!
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