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June 25, 2013 by Amy B

When one is training for a marathon and works 40 hours a week and has two small children (and a husband), one finds it difficult to carve out a chunk of the day for blogging about the running. It doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about it. In fact, I spend quite a bit of time thinking about blogging. So does that count for anything?

This blog was originally meant to serve merely as a record of runs completed and meals eaten. Exciting, right? I haven’t exactly kept up with it like I intended, but I sure do like keeping up with other runners and eaters on social media.

I thought I’d list the places I keep track of my running data in case one of my three readers are interested.

• If you are an Instagrammer, you can follow me there and get more run updates than you ever wanted. I’m amyupnorth.
• I have been a pretty faithful user of Map My Run. Before that, I kept my workout data on Training Peaks – when I trained for my first marathon in 2004, I used a Hal Higdon plan in conjunction with TP. (I still use Hal’s plans today, just a different level.) I have no idea if people “follow” people on MMR, but my profile is here. Hey, maybe we can be friends.
• I also started giving RunKeeper a try a few months ago and have been importing old workouts in as time permits (which is, never). You can check me out on RunKeeper as well.

I’m sure there are plenty of theories on whether social media hurts or helps your training. I think it’s helped mine. I find it inspiring to follow other runners and athletes and see what they’re doing to stay in shape. Recently, I’ve started learning more about the “Pro” side of my sport. It turns out I actually enjoy watching fast people run. While on one hand I think, how exactly in the hell do they do that, it makes me more conscious of my own form and speed when I’m out pounding the pavement.

And while many of my family and friends probably roll their eyes every time they see me post a photo of my Garmin after I’ve completed a run, for me it’s a personal recording of what I accomplished that day. And who knows? If it’s even remotely inspiring to another runner out there, then it’s totally worth it.