How Running is Like Blogging

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This time of year is my busiest season for writing and other projects. And, it is at this time each year where I contemplate sacrificing some of the things I love – like running and blogging – in order to make more time for work. Last year, I did actually take a hiatus from blogging for 1-2 months in order to spend time working on more lucrative projects. As for running, although I’ve never stopped running for work-related reasons, I took a planned hiatus from running for 2-3 weeks after I had both of my children.

When you really think about it, blogging is a lot like running. In many ways, at least for me, the two go hand-in-hand, with running as an impetus for blogging and vice versa. Plus, giving up blogging or running, even for a short amount of time, is difficult for someone who does it every day. But although the “giving up” part was difficult, the coming back after the time off was even more difficult than I imagined.

Let’s take a look at the other similarities between running and blogging:

6 Ways Running is Like Blogging

1. Love/hate relationship: I truly have a love/hate relationship with running and blogging. I love to run, just as I love to write. But I hate that both have me so entranced that they are hard to give up cold turkey. Both are definitely hard habits to break.
2. Practice makes perfect: Although blogging is not a sport – unless you consider taking hits from women’s magazines a sport – like running, your blogging/writing skills will typically improve the more you engage in that activity, be it running or writing. Running and blogging also take practice and dedication to get to the level that you want to be. Furthermore, many experienced bloggers and runners will keep to a set schedule in order to become more consistent in their practice and to gauge their progress.
3. Varying Levels: Like runners, bloggers can be considered anything from novice to experienced, or from casual to professional. Some runners run for fun, some bloggers blog for fun. On the flipside, some runners run professionally, to earn money, prestige or just to beat a previous personal record. Bloggers are the same way in that many experienced bloggers write because of the money it earns them or with the intent of receiving some sort of recognition in the blogging world.
4. Socialization: Blogging and running can be solo or social activities. You can write for the masses but never read or respond to comments or you can engage in online communities, conferences, and more. Similarly, you can run by yourself to your heart’s content or you can join a group of runners for weekly workouts.
5. Outlet for feelings and ambitions: Running and blogging can be used to help alleviate stress, tension, anxiety, make you feel empowered, or simply help you achieve a purpose – whether it’s to run a 5K or to write your first novel.
6. The Good and the Bad: Runners and bloggers have good days and bad days. On a bad day, a blogger may post just to get something posted, while runners will force themselves just to finish a few miles. But on good days – both runners and bloggers can be on fire – writing strong content or achieving that runner’s high.

Now, if I could just find a way to run and blog at the same time….