Social Media is a good thing.

I must admit, I was a late adopter to the use of social media.  As many of my peers, I couldn't understand the lure of sitting in front of my laptop all night chatting with whomever.  I eventually realized that social media can be much more than that. I have found that blogs, podcasts, forums and even Facebook are great tools to help me improve as a runner.

I first started reading forums on the Runners World website a couple of years ago to pick up tips on training tips and injury treatment/prevention.  Soon I was reading other running forums through retailers like the The Running Room and, more recently, app-specific forums like RunKeeper.  Contributors to these forums offer great tips and opinions on almost every question you could imagine.  And if you can't find what you're looking  for, just post a question!  Reading these posts gave me a great sense of how huge our running community really is.  I mean there are a LOT of runners out there!  And we really are a community.  It seems like every post has multiple responses...and from different runners.  It's not just a small group of respondents acting like experts.  As time went on, I realized that is important to remember that the information posted is almost never from an "expert" or a "professional" but rather, it is an opinion posted by someone just like you and I.  But I also found that I value these opinions because it is from someone who has been in my shoes.  So like with any subject from politics to football, I take these opinions with a grain of salt and accept them for what they are, which is usually a thought from someone who is trying to help.

Now, my busy schedule doesn't allow me to spend countless hours in front of the computer, combing forums for advice, motivation etc.  I am a salesman by day and a colleague introduced me to the idea of listening to podcasts as a way to fill the 3-4 hours of "windshield time" that I have every day.  Now I am hooked.  There are probably hundreds of running-specific podcasts, some better than others.  Some of my favourites are "The 20 Minute Runner", "Running from the Reaper" and "You don't have to run alone".   I find that these podcasts offer less "advice" but far more entertainment.  Listening to these guys talk while running took a little getting use to, especially because I am driving, not running with them. But now I don't notice their heavy breathing...traffic sounds etc.  Although I have been startled by the odd siren! For the most part, their podcasts are almost conversational.  The subjects are very light in nature. (except for a recent rant by Air Force Ted about our fast-food addictions :).  I  find myself looking forward to seeing a new podcast from Roland, Nigel or Ted.  Listening to these guys as I drive actually motivates me to get my run in after work.  While there are other podcasts that I listen to that offer advice, tips etc, I find the greatest value for me are the ones who motivate me to just get out there and run.

Now on to the grand-daddy of social media- Facebook.  Like most, I used to think that Facebook was a mindless exercise for teenagers to avoid doing homework...chores...practice...etc.  I have recently come to view it as a great communication tool. Earlier this year, we started a running club in the small town where I live.  The organizers decided that a Facebook page was the easiest way to communicate group runs.  I somewhat begrudgingly started to check in on a regular basis, if only to find out if anyone was running.  I soon became aware of 4 other running clubs in our area with similar pages.  Now, if I choose, there is at least one group run almost every day of the week that I could participate in.  One of our Race Series organizers has a page that sends me updates for upcoming events.  Now, several of my running mates are posting training logs through RunKeeper or other apps.  We always post a "Like" or "Comment" to each others runs.  This is a great motivator!

Last night was the first meeting for our Marathon Clinic.  They have combined the marathon/half marathon clinics and have approximately 70 members!  This is a lot bigger than clinics I have done in the past.  We received our training logs and a schedule of events over the next 18 weeks.  Every Tuesday night, we will all meet as a group for hill workouts or speed workouts but, other than that, we are pretty much on our own to schedule our other runs.  They have picked some interesting guest speakers on topics such as stretching, nutrition and injury prevention/treatment.  Our training logs have 3 mileage workouts to choose from-beginner, intermediate or advanced.  I need to decide between intermediate and advanced.  It doesn't matter for tonight though...it's 5 miles for both.

...and as I looked around the room I realized that I am one of the oldest in the clinic but that's OK because I run to feel young.