Joining the Digital Age With a Tweet

I’m in the process of joining the digital age by joining Twitter (Lord help us all), and there was a space in my profile for a link to my blog. Hmmmm…I remember this. I used to be pretty regular in my updates but, between moving and landing a new job, “Enjoying the Journey” fell by the wayside. So I think it’s time to blow the dust off this thing, stir the crickets in the corners, and get back to it.

As part of my job at Austin Fit Magazine, I get to do a lot of writing. Mostly, it’s quite a bit of fact-based, relatively invisible stuff. Sometimes, though, it’s personal; I have a piece in the upcoming issue that touches on my injury and recovery. When Melanie Moore (our editor-in-chief) asked me to write it, I was hesitant. It felt a little indulgent to write about myself in a print magazine. So I tried to step back a bit and focus on the broad picture, using my personal experience merely as a framework to discuss the more universal concepts behind my particular experience. (I’m being a little cagey because the issue isn’t quite out yet–the April issue comes out any day now!)

Still, writing for a magazine is not like writing for your blog. There’s an assumption that the people who come to this blog are interested in my personal experiences, that all reading are simply dying to hear about my last run or the way I struggled over the pounds I gained while not training or just how I managed to snag another grand adventure. It makes writing about those things feel safe. But that’s an illusion, isn’t it? There’s no more guarantee that anyone reading this isn’t rolling his eyes, exclaiming, “Oh, come ON. You’ve got to be kidding? Can you spell n-a-v-e-l g-a-z-i-n-g?” than there is with the random print audience. Haters gonna hate.

My wonderful Ironman coach Amy Anderson led me to this blog as a training tool, a way to connect with the rest of the (rabid) Ironman-Austin community. I think I’ll pick it back up not just a sports training tool but also as a work training tool, another way to connect with the people “out there” who, like me, love Austin, fitness, and the words and stories that go along with all of it.

Nice to see you again! @leahruns100