LOLZLetter Edition 13| Social Media Running vs Real Life
Welcome Back or Welcome!
Since this is the 13th week of the newsletter and there are 650 people now, I thought I would reintroduce what the newsletter is about.
So Why a Newsletter? Don’t you Have Enough Social Media?
The newsletter is a different direction than blogging. Over the last year, I’ve felt stale in the social media world. I can’t believe I’ve blogged for over eight years now. That is most of my twenties!
I’ve blogged before dating my husband and even when I still swam. Then I blogged when I entered the whirlwind that is now the military world, as well as beginning my job in run specialty (which I love!). Heck, I blogged before Instagram and Twitter were “cool.” 2014 was probably the “height” of blogging. Then slowly blogging has weaned down, with most of my favorite bloggers stopping. I wrote about the rise and fall of blogging last April.
With Instagram on the rise, anyone can post a photo with a 10,000-word caption and give advice. I mean, why listen to someone with 2000 followers when you can listen to someone with 50,000? I’ve been guilty of listening to others just because they have X amount of followers, or even being jealous of not being chosen for campaigns because I didn’t have enough followers? That’s all silly and irrelevant, but hey, I’m only human!
How will the Newsletter Benefit Me (the subscriber)?
I need to pitch you, the reader, to stay subscribed in a sea of social media right?
The goal of the newsletter is to share things I’m loving, exciting happenings in the running world, and industry, and whatever else I find that might benefit you.
As someone who works in the running industry, I have a much bigger knowledge base of current running shoe trends or industry trends. I'm not telling (“influencing”) you to buy a shoe because I got it for free. I'm telling you it's good because I've fit dozens of runners in it and seen it successful time and time again.
Theoretically, I would like to keep the email free and eventually have sponsors of relevant products. I know I wouldn’t ever have a sponsor, for the sake of a sponsor (I’ve never done that with blogging either).
Sharing is the most significant way to help keep the newsletter free. Sharing gets the word out to people that usually wouldn’t see the newsletter and helps it grow. I value and appreciate every single share, even if it’s to your parents. (Thanks mom for sharing it to dad ha!
Anyway onto Content Social Media Running Versus Run Specialty Running:
In 2011, there wasn’t a lot of social media for running. There was dailymile, but most people didn’t take selfies, and GPS watches were the up and coming thing. Things like Instagram running shots, Strava, and all of that good stuff didn’t exist.
I knew about local runners that I saw at races. I didn’t know about people in California, “crushing it.” I knew about the same 20 people who lived in Upstate NY, crushing it. In the last decade, running has exploded. Now, if you didn’t post about your run, did you even do it?
As someone who is not married to my watch and does about half of my runs without ever turning on the GPS, it fascinates me.
One look at Instagram you think:
Everyone is crushing it.
Everyone is trying to BQ.
Everyone is trying to get the OTQ.
EVERYONE IS TRAINING FOR A MARATHON.
But that is far, far, far from the case.
So when a good friend asked me to write more about the differences in social media with running and working in a running store, I thought it was a great idea.
I found these stats about Marathons (from Marastats) especially interesting:
Since most readers I know, I love the Half Marathon, I found this too (by Marastats):
Just take a look: 1% of female and 4% of male runners finish a marathon in under 3 hours. Sometimes, it feels like every person on social media does but that is just what you are seeing and a product of who you are following.
Working in running specialty, there are very few people (maybe…1 per week), that come in and say they are training to break 3 hours in a marathon.
A few years ago, I wrote a post about how social media skewed my thoughts of running “fast.” As someone who has run a 3:07 marathon, and damn I’m proud of it, I’ve seen plenty of people running sub 3 and thought: “if only that were me” — or running 1:30 half marathons and feeling like I’ll “never get back into shape.” It becomes easy to compare yourself to someone else running faster, stronger, or further.
But you’re looking at a subsection of runners. You are looking at who you follow.
Here are a Few Stats that You Might Not Realize about Marathons (taken from RunnerClick):
The world average of female participants in a race is 34.82%
The US has the highest proportion of female runners at 45.7%
The overall participation rate of a marathon has decreased by -3.02% (Good! You don’t need to run marathons to be a “real runner.” Do what makes you happy).
The world’s average finishing time from 2014-2017 is 4:26:29
Men’s average finishing time of a marathon: 4:15:13
Women’s average finishing time of a marathon 4:47:14.
So yes, it can be easy to think “everyone” is training for a sub-three marathon, OTQ, BQ, or is crushing it but that is far from the case.
Finally, I wanted to add this little tidbit of information about running shoes in run specialty versus social media.
From social media, you would never guess the most sold shoe in the industry: The Brooks Ghost. In the current industry, Brooks accounts for nearly 40% of sales. In a loose order it goes:
Brooks
Saucony
New Balance, Nike, Hoka
Asics, Mizuno
Altra, On, Underarmour
Other brands dependent on the location (trail shoes sell out west, Diadora sells for us in the Philadelphia area)
From social media, you would think brands like Altra, Sketchers, and Newton were the most popular brands in the industry. When I polled twitter, there were about ten people who loved the Saucony Kinvara. In running specialty, we had to pull that shoe and the Brooks Launch because it didn’t sell!
When we brought the Nike 4% at the height of the launch, we had many of them sit for weeks. People didn’t “rush to the store” as they did online.
Just remember this, social media is only one subsection of running. Not everyone who runs has an Instagram. Not everyone or even half of the population is training for a marathon, BQ, or OTQ. All of those goals are incredible, but they don’t have to be your goal because they are five people you follow’s goal.
Personally, I think Boston is incredible. I’m so proud of each family member, friend, or person who has qualified. I’ve also qualified, but I don’t have the interest to run the marathon right now. I don’t have the interest to train to OTQ, and that’s okay.
Things Keeping Me Entertained:
The Strength Running Podcast: Episode 95: Peter Bromka on the Fear and Hope of the Marathon
I’ve been enjoying Jason’s podcast recently. I appreciate that his information isn’t timely, so I can go back and listen to previous episodes and still get information that is relevant today. I follow Peter on Twitter, and I appreciate his honesty about his goals chasing the OTQ. His first marathon was a 2:56, and he ran a 2:19 at CIM last year. Both have a lot of knowledge of the sport, so it’s interesting to listen in.
If you’re around the same age as me, you’ll appreciate this movie about a kid growing up in the 90s. The film follows Stevie, a thirteen-year-old in La. His home life isn’t great, and he finds a new group of friends at a local skate shop. It has nothing to do with running, but it was a good movie, and I enjoyed it.
Giveaway Winner and Another Giveaway?
I like the idea of giving something away on the newsletter if possible. The winner of the sock giveaway from last week is Amanda R. that shared via Instagram.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned I enjoyed Meb’s Book: 26 Marathons: What I Learned About Faith, Identity, Running, and Life from My Marathon. Now I have a copy to giveaway to you!
The giveaway extends to through the week so you can share anytime between now and 6 am next Monday (May 20th). To enter, all you have to do is share the newsletter and tag me, or let me know you did through email. You can share any way you would like: Instagram, facebook, twitter, forwarding an email, DM your friends, whatever. Here is the internet link.
I will respond to everyone who shares (so if I don’t, make sure to let me know again).
I appreciate every single email back and try to respond to each email. Any feedback good or bad is always helpful. Is there a specific topic you want to see more about? Don’t be a stranger and let me know!
You can email me at FueledbyLOLZ@gmail.com. All feedback is helpful, good or bad.
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