Running
Goodbye Blogging Meetup...
It has been 5 years since the Blogging Meetup was started as it came about from a group of us that wanted to keep the conversation going after a Blogging Bootcamp that was put on by WordPress.com. Honestly, in thinking back I can not believe it has been 5 years but also, I know in the past 1.5 years the site has kind of remained the same and there hasn’t been the engagement as there was in the first couple of years.
Long story short it is time to say goodbye… As of March 1, 2021, it will just remain an archive of information with nothing new posted.
I should probably address some simple questions that you may or may not be asking at this point…
Why?
Mostly because I feel like it is time and I think in looking at the stats the Community believes it is time as well. I think most people who have joined over the years found that the WordPress Reader does a great job of keeping you up to date on current posts and makes it simple to quickly interact with one another. Not to mention there are Twitter and Facebook that allow people to easily ask questions and interact/follow others with similar interests.
That is not to say I don’t think a Community like this couldn’t work or isn’t valuable. I just think this specific community has run its course and it is time to close down.
Will this be temporary with a comeback at a later date?
No, this is not just temporary. The plan is permanent but I will never say never. If something would ever take the place with the same name it would have to take on a different form altogether in my opinion but at this point, I have no plans to have a comeback tour.
Won’t you miss this?
Of course, I will miss this, even though I haven’t used it much in the last year I believe the site provided a lot of great value over the years. Also, it is something that was created, time was spent dreaming up ideas and executing various actions to make it what it was. It was a passion project and I honestly enjoyed every minute I worked on it even when I was looming over my head to get another task or post published.
Closing
I could go on and on but in closing, I will miss the community we had as this was such a fun project over the past 5 years, and even though I am the one saying Goodbye I will still miss it. Thanks to EVERYONE who helped pioneer and champion, or those who joined, contributed, and followed along in the past. I wish each and every one of you more success in your blogging careers!
📷 Photoblogging: Day 20 - Weather
Finally blue sky’s and warmer weather to find some trails to run on 🏃
📷 Photoblogging: Day 17 - Still
Very calm and quiet morning running through the snow on the back roads in Indiana
avoided-the-snow
Avoided the snow falling today but with the warm temps I found a lot of slush and puddles on this run…🏃
It was an amazing 41°F today so how could I pass up the opportunity to run in shorts 🏃…
Not a bad view of the sun setting tonight. However, it got darker than I thought which I didn’t prefer as I was in a place I don’t frequent enough. Thankful for my running lights 🏃
Treadmill vs Exercise Bike
I have always liked the idea of an exercise bike. In fact, last December when my wife was talking about buying one over a treadmill I told her to go for it. I assumed since I run so much outside in all kinds of weather why would I choose to run inside and not really moving? I mean, I like to explore the outdoors in all seasons. Snow, Ice, Ran, wicked winds all of those don’t deter me if I am planning on running or want to run. Even in smog-filled cities or cities, I don’t even know where I am going I prefer to run outside than on the treadmill. So easy enough a bike for indoors makes sense then… Or does it…
Over the past year, I have used the exercise bike 4 times, yep only 4, and one of them was in the first couple of days trying it out and the most recent time was today 😁. Don’t get me wrong it isn’t like the bike is buried away somewhere in the house so it is out of sight out of mind. In fact quite the opposite, since I have been working from home since March, it is in the same room as me so I can’t really say I forgot about it 😁.
After some reflection and conversation with friends, I realized I would have been better off with a treadmill. It wouldn’t have taken the place of my running, well maybe once or twice but ultimately I could have been walking on it while on phone calls or watching TV. The times when I can’t leave the house for a run but could move at a moderate clip to get some exercise in.
Now you might be thinking you could do the same with an exercise bike Eric! And yes, that is true but the difference is the key…
You have to keep moving or you will fall on the treadmill vs exercise bike you can slow to a stop and not give the same movement or output.
That right there is my answer. On a treadmill, you have to just let your subconscious take over to keep your legs moving at the pace you set. If not well it might not end well…
On the bike, however, I have to monitor the pace and use brainpower to have my legs move at the speed I want because the bike will not keep moving and pushing me forward. That right there gives me too much room to fail.
It isn’t that I am not determined in my workouts or exercise routines. It is just I am smart about it, I know my body and sometimes I need to trick it or force its hand. A couple of weeks back I was thinking I should run further but wasn’t sure I really wanted to. So what did I do? I ran more or less a loop that requires me to run the whole thing in order to get back. No short cuts or stopping early. The distance was going to be the distance so I might as well run it.
So for me, Treadmills > Exercise Bikes when it comes to a mindless activity to get your body moving.
Found a new spot to run not far from my house actually while I was waiting to pick up dinner last night…🏃
Didn’t mind the view this evening running on the trails by our house. Kind of lost track of time and kept going… 🏃
On the way back I almost ran over a Turkey 😁🦃.
A little frosty run yesterday morning…🏃
Doing a little fitness challenge with some friends which motivated me to get outside and run today 🏃
Pretty sure this isn’t a “real” path to run on 😂… Oh well it will work… 🏃
