It’s hard enough to find a good running blog from a regular Jane or Joe Jogger. But it’s even harder to find a good blog written by an actual elite. I hope to expand this list over time, but for now I’ll start with Shannon Rowbury’s blog, which is well written and endlessly entertaining. I am a big fan of Rowbury’s not only for her ability to burn up the tracks and roads, but also because in every interview (and now, her blog) she comes off as a smart, witty, mature and articulate person.
Filed under: elites, inspiration, olympics, reading |
Races Like a Girl 
Looks good and nice to see!.
And i hope this respons will work?.
Rinus.
It work!!!! yoehoe joepie de poepie…..
Rinus.
Looks like you’re golden, Rinus.
Thanks for the list. Now I’ll come here and go elsewhere 😉
I hope she keeps it going through to London and beyond. Looks like she enjoys writing it.
Does 1 item qualify as a list?
I could give you a second. “With good blogs” is a tough ask – given that elites make up a very small percentage of runners. Depends a bit on your definition of “elite” too. I guess in this case you’re talking about runners who are good enough to make national teams?
Sure, that definition works for me. Hit me with that second blog, Ewen.
I like Nate Jenkins’s blog:
http://www.trackshark.com/blogs/natejenkins/
No recipes, but great for running – especially as he’s a pure marathoner, now running PBs for the mile and 5k. One blog where the comments (from Nate) often have more value than the post.
Also Desiree Davila and Brian Sell – both on http://www.athleticore.com/ (you have to join, easy enough, to read them). Just diary entries, but it’s interesting reading between the lines – some funny lines at that. Like Sell’s shoe descriptions and feelings at the Houston Half:
“Shoes: Brooks Them Blue Ghosts From Pac Man.
Intensity: Very Hard
Comments: Semi-pleased with a PR considering my training going in and how my heel felt the entire race. Moved up well through 9 miles, then just stayed put.”
Davila’s comments about the same race: “got rolled by the old folks and the mommies. started feeling decent around 7 miles in, didn’t have any go when the pace dropped. took the lead a few times to get things moving, take a guess at which miles i went to the front…”
I had the privilege of running and talking with Shannon almost daily for a few weeks last winter (well, it was winter in the Northeast, but not in Sarasota) and until you see her blend of positivity, humility, and toughness rolled into one package, it’s easy to think that such things don’t exist. Never had I had more fun with a story than I did with the one featuring Shannon, her training partners, and her coach.
Concidentally, I just talked to Nate Jenkins today because I’ve been forced to write an article about cross-training and he ran a 3:55 mile on an Alter-G (“antigravity” treadmil) on Saturday. He’s got some startlingly cogent thoughts on training; I pretty much figured I had heard it all by this time, but I left our discussion with some new ideas thanks to a 27-year-old self-coached workhorse. I hope he can get over the hip thing and run NYC in the fall, as he hopes to do.
Thanks for the reminder, Kevin — I need to add Nate’s blog to my list, as it is a good read.
I remember that piece on Rowbory, Donahue and Flanagan in RT, and forgot that you wrote it! What came through there was a great camaraderie and chemistry among a talented, smart group of people. With these blogs, I at least get to live vicariously for a few minutes a day.
hi julie, i just found your blog after doing a search on stephanie herbst. i just read the article on her in RT and was hoping to find more about her. i am also always looking for elite blogs, of which there seem to be few!? shannon’s is good..i found that about a month ago. there are always the blogs on nyrr.org as well.
am happy to find another above average runner’s blog though! haven’t read many of your postings but it seems we have similar times. hope your race goes well tomorrow!
Hi, Stephanie. I think there are lots of elite blogs out there, but I haven’t found many good ones. Or, rather, there might be good postings, but they are very infrequent (maybe once every season?).
Thanks for reading!
Another worth a look (a little wordy), is Marilyn Arsenault’s – a 41-year-old Canadian running in the World Cross Country Championships tonight, which I guess makes her elite.
http://trainharder.com/blogs/divamar/