Friday, December 27, 2013

Marching To The Beat Of My Own Drum While Keeping Up With The Joneses

I'm always feeling torn about the reality of blogging and what it means to me. I'm equal parts March To The Beat Of My Own Drum and Keeping Up With The Joneses. And yes, I had to Google the proper form of Joneses. (I also originally wrote "marching to the tune of my own drummer". Good thing I Googled that, too, or we could add idiot to my list.)

My blog started off as a running blog, recapping all of my races. Then I started added other random things. Then it got more random. Then I tried to direct myself back to running and fitness. Then I got bored with myself. I mean, seriously. How many times can I tell you about the miles I've run or didn't run or what I ate for dinner, which isn't gourmet or photo worthy. But others do it and they do it successfully, so what do I know?

I suppose the point of a healthy living/fitness/running blog is to inspire others and/or chronicle one's journey to meeting some sort of goal, be it weight loss or marathon training or any number of things in between.

Here's some honest truths about myself that are lacking in the motivational department:



1. I like watching TV. I like watching TV more than I like running or exercising of any kind. Don't get me wrong, I don't sit around all day doing nothing. I'm a single woman that works to pay a mortgage and an expensive horse addiction. I ride almost every day before work and then I work a regular job like anyone else. When I leave my office, I do not want to run. I want to make a beeline for my couch and plant my ass there and guzzle down some wine. (I don't always guzzle wine, but I want to.) Besides, I just discovered The Blacklist, and seriously, if you are not watching that show, you should drop everything you are doing and watch all of the episodes thus far. You will thank me, I promise.

(Source)
Am I even allowed to post this image? Do I have to source it?
Someone help me before I get myself sued!

2. I keep losing the same 10 pounds over and over and over. I initially lost 20 pounds in my first year of running and have since gained and lost 10 of those like a zillion times. That's lame, I can admit it. And annoying. And here's where I have trouble calling myself a healthy living blogger. Mainly because I'm not all that healthy. I eat weird things and usually way too much of it. It would help if I ran more, but I don't really like running. Should we talk more about The Blacklist?



3. I have a really hard time censoring myself. I love Disney races and I love dropping the F bomb. These things do not mix well, right? I find myself constantly censoring what I want to say because Disney tends to bring out the wholesome bunch and my rD inspired posts and recaps tend to bring the most page hits (although I can name several run Disney besties with just as foul mouths as mine, right Team Freedom?) but shouldn't I just write what I want to write and say fuck it? Whew! That felt good. We'll see how that pans out.


4. I'm torn between my Keeping Up With The Joneses side and Marching To A Different Drum side. I see lots of bloggers getting sponsored for things and getting products to try and I immediately think, Hey! I wanna do that, too! But then what do you do when you hate a product? Is it worth it? Do I even want to do that? Do I want to start my blog entries stating it is a sponsored post? Also see number 3. Sponsors probably don't want you to review a post by using profanity. Unfortunately, that's my favorite way to communicate. Also, I'm good with conveying messages via a healthy dose of sarcasm.

Although, I would totally review this unicorn hat.
Because it is awesome.

So there you have it. I haven't given up on running or blogging or anything like that. I still like racing. And to race, you must run at least a little. (Although through an anecdotal personal experiment, I can confidently report that it is possible to finish half marathons on very little training.) I really don't want to be one of those bloggers that never improves, but I'm human and I already have an extremely time consuming sport. So it is what it is.

And just to be oppositional to all that I just wrote, I'm signing up for Janathon. I keep threatening saying I'm going to sign up every year, and then never do. At least it will give me something to write about and force me to exercise every single day in January. All of you dedicated runners should check it out. It's running and blogging! Who wants to join me?

Also, I decided to sign up for Rock 'n' Roll Arizona in 3 weeks. And I've only 3 run 39 miles in 2 months. That should go swimmingly! But the medal is pretty cool.

Headphones! And they finally did away with the plain neck ribbons.

More importantly, who else is watching The Blacklist? Let's discuss.

8 comments:

  1. Ok, I admit, I haven't started watching the Blacklist. I have a fear of feeling old watching James Spader...I mean, C'mon...Pretty In Pink?!? Let's not talk about how many years ago that was! I pretty much could have written this post. Great love for Disney but love to say fuck?!! Got it! When your 13 year old tells you that you cuss too much? Yep, it's bad. LOL. Love TV (movies are too short where a show goes on and on...), cuss, keep regaining and losing the same 10 pounds? You really are marching to a fantastic beat Jaime! It's a beat I like, for sure! :)

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    1. Oh man, The Blacklist is so good that I watched all of the eps in 2 nights and had some mild depression once it was done, lol!

      Thank you so much for your kind words, Karen. I really do appreciate it. I've been having a hard time finding my blogging voice these days and I think I'm going to just say whatever I want. Those are the blogs I like to read, so that's what I'm going to write. Thanks for the support!

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  2. We would be friends in real life, I'm sure of it! I love rD and being profane too! :)

    Blogging is funny...it's a weird "industry" of trying to be interesting and being yourself. I've ditched lots of blogs after seeing them endorse a new brand of shoes each week. I kind of loathe sponsored posts. But yes, I'd love it someone would pay me my current day job salary to do it. But that ain't happenin' anytime soon.

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    1. I'm relieved to hear that there's more bloggers like me than I thought. I'm sure we'd be friends in real life, too! I'm going to just keep doing what I'm doing until someone wants to pay me a shit ton to blog, lol!

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  3. I love this post and agree with you on so much!

    It is hard to come up with content. Sometimes I don't know whether to post random stuff or just stay silent. The product reviews get old. I've dumped a lot of blogs where people review product after product. I wouldn't even know how to set up the vendor relationships anyway, even if the free stuff sounds nice. I've also dumped blogs that tend to focus on people pushing their own businesses.

    I'm a TV addict too. I attribute it to my love of stories and blame it on being an English major and getting through college by reading novels!

    As far as trying to inspire others...this is something I've been thinking about lately because the internet is so full of self-nominated-inspirational-people. My philosophy is that you can't TRY to inspire others. You can't decide that your own life should motivate others, no matter how proud you are of your accomplishments. People who do that are setting themselves up as egotistical braggers. All you can do is share your struggles and if someone relates to what you're talking about, that's a win.

    Keep blogging, even if it's about nothing. I like reading your posts!

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  4. Very wise! I love your response- it's a good topic all on it's own! You're right- you can't force people to be inspired. I didn't really think about it the way you wrote it. Good thing to remember!

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  5. You should already know my thoughts on a lot of these, but seriously don't worry so much. You rock! Just as you are.

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    1. Thanks, Abby! I get way into my own head. Plus, I was having a really hard time coming up with things to write about. I seem to have found my blogging voice again. :)

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Thanks for reading!