Run DMZ

 Dear ChatGPT: How would you characterize Run DMZ, the running blog based in San Diego? Run DMZ was one of the pioneering running blogs of the 2000s, especially within the "citizen journalist" scene for endurance sports. It's often overlooked today, but it played a real role in the grassroots online running community. Overview Run DMZ (a play on Demilitarized Zone and "Running in San Diego" was a personal yet community-focused blog covering the San Diego running scene -- races, training groups, charity events, and local profiles. It stood out because it wasn't just a training diary; it was journalistic . Anne's tone blended personal running experiences with race coverage, photography, and stories about everyday runners years before local running media became common online. Why It Mattered Early regional focus : One of the first running blogs to act as a local community hub, spotlighting races, clubs, and personalities. Balanced voice: Not purely abou...

  My large, heavy luggage proved the perfect metaphor for the baggage I brought to our girls’ getaway in Colorado. It was my first real vacation in years and I realized the toll of the pandemic shortly after we arrived.   I came to Colorado with a lingering cough that worsened through the days, or at least it seemed that way. I annoyed my friends and strangers alike. No one is allowed to cough in public anymore, let alone uncontrollably. An upcoming medical appointment will confirm which C it might be.   In the meantime, let’s share only the highlights with that old Joe Walsh song in the background.   Our home base was the town of Frisco —cute, well-manicured, condense and full of outdoor fun. At almost 9,100 feet elevation, it took my breath away. I had symptoms of altitude sickness, but they were mild. So, I ignored all of the advice I’d gathered prior—like drinking lots of water and staying away from alcohol and other dehydrating liquids.  I ate well. I ...

  For many, many years (like, early 1990s to the late aughts) I kept track of my training on paper calendars. First, I used those pocket-sized calendars you could get for free with a Hallmark store purchase and later for $1 at a Dollar Tree. I was quite diligent about documenting my runs and cross-training, if only out of habit. Rarely did I consult the logs; I just enjoyed those few seconds of satisfaction recording my commitment.   Then I migrated to  a now-defunct social media platform for runners and triathletes . It was even easier to keep track of how much mileage I logged. But the social component had me veering off course. I’d make “friends” with high-mileage runners and suddenly feel less adequate. I commuted by bike to my job at the time, riding 10 miles each way with most of the return 10 all uphill. And still, I didn’t feel worthy because  Penelope was for amateurs  (even local police told me this!). Some people I followed appeared to do little but w...

There haven’t been many bright spots since March, when half the world was forced to lock down to curb contamination from a deadly virus. But one has been blogging. Journaling in its various forms is making a strong comeback in the wake of a novel coronavirus pandemic. That includes blogs.    The  newest annual survey by Orbit Media  shows a similar uptick. That survey focuses on corporate blogging, but I’d argue that many running blogs are now so enmeshed with sponsored content and affiliate links that they are as commercial as those produced by a brand. And there’s nothing wrong with such promotion if the author is crystal clear about those business relationships and provides valuable content.    Journaling is also up, as people return to paper or keyboard to express their thoughts, process their issues and document their journey through troubling times.   The evolution of running blogs As someone who’s been reading running blogs since the early 2000s...

There's this DIY blog I read each week, not because I have an interest in redoing my entire house but because I am fascinated by the family. Husband and wife are both full-time bloggers and make in the six figures basically recording their homelife. They even wrote a book based on the blog and it was almost instantly a New York Times bestseller. They have a huge following and get sponsors to give them great loot to give away. They have a no swag policy, meaning they won't take freebies from companies. This is genius because it makes them appear to have a lot of integrity when I suspect it's really because if they buy a product or service and then blog about it, they can deduct it as a business expense.  They moderate up to 10,000 comments a day (I am not kidding). And they love to take pictures of themselves and do Q&A videos where you feel like you are right there in their living room or kitchen. They just did a book tour and people all across the country lo...

It’s not your imagination that I’m not as chatty as I used to be – on this blog, your blog and email. Two things happened. My laptop that holds my RSS feeds is on its last breath. The battery died three years ago, and I never replaced it. Instead, I relied exclusively on electricity to keep it going. Then it started to send out small distress signals culminating in a keyboard FAIL. First the n and then k keys no longer work, which makes it difficult to blog or comment when you can’t use every letter in the alphabet. T hen our IT policy changed at work and I no longer do anything personal using company equipment – even on my lunch break. This means I can’t access my personal e-mail account, nor read or respond to running blogs. It took a week to get used to the new system, but then a funny thing happened. I became incredibly productive. Without the distractions, I could focus for longer stretches on tasks at hand.   I always thought I carefully managed my days, but I now rea...

I don't know about you, but when I'm considering entering a new race, especially if it's a trail race, one of the first things I do besides look at the price is to look at the results. I basically gauge from the results if it's a really hard course and if there typically are many competitors around my age. Back before the Internet, most of us entered races blindly - having no idea of the field or the course unless it was printed on the race flier. You went with word of mouth but had to consider the source. You would pick up or be mailed a race flier and look for code words - like "rolling course" meant there were a lot of hills and "net negative elevation" meant the course was far from flat and you like wouldn't feel the "net" as much as the "elevation" (Hello, Charlottesville 10-Miler!). A trail run in or anywhere near a mountain range was going to be super hard and maybe single track with a lot of technical elements. Now...

I don't know about you, but I've now got plans for November 18 and they involve me shakin' in my shoes and probably trying not to pee on my shorts. I just discovered I won Jeff's giveaway over at The Detroit Runner for a free entry in the Griffith Park Trail 10k ! I've always wanted to run in Griffith Park in LA and to finally see the famous Hollywood sign. It was endangered a couple of years ago, and I remember signing an online petition to save it. I'm not sure what to think of a course that makes no bones it's tough. I've done difficult trail races billed as easy, so this should be interesting. At least it says it welcomes walkers, just in case. So now I have my year's A race (or more accurately, a destination race since my performance will likely be a C). Thank you, Jeff!! I'll raise my Guayaki Yerba Mate Iced Tea and Whole Foods lunch to you when I make it through the finish.

Today this blog turns 7, which means it now has outlasted half of all U.S. marriages and 90 percent of blogs begun the same year. It's not the same blog it was in 2005, nor should it be. Everything evolves. When you start blogging, comments can be hard to come by. And even after all these years, I still get a little rush when I see someone took the time to read a post and let me know they liked it or disagreed with my opinion or point of view. So I want to take today to thank the 92,000 of you who stopped by in the past and especially those who kept me on their blogrolls or favorites lists and those that took a few minutes to leave a comment. I manage a blog at work and I must spend at least an hour a day filtering out spammers and nasty, hurtful people. I now realize how very lucky I am to have the readership and the friendships I do. Thank you.

I had the pleasure last night of dining with some old and some new running friends, all of whom are like me and can't keep their thoughts to themselves. Meg gathered a bunch of us while Jill and her son were in town. We'd hoped to toast the Denver pair's great adventure up Mt. Whitney; however, a nearby forest fire created conditions that made the asthmatic in the group abort before reaching the summit. Plus, poor Jill has been battling a serious injury for months now. It sounds like they had a good time anyway while in California. Meg and her husband Steve were hosts extraordinaire. They have a wonderful home and one of the nicest backyards I've seen. Now I know why Meg lists gardening among her hobbies. She's very good at it. And Steve was an excellent barbecue master, especially since we barbecued custom-made pizzas. (By the way, everything you might have ready about their adorable dog Daisy -- completely true!) It's always interesting to meet bloggers. I...

This week's Monday Brain Exchange, courtesy of One Little Tri Girl's blog is to create a poem that sums up your 2010 race year . Those who've followed this blog know in October 2009 I tore my achilles tendon, one of the most serious injuries a longtime runner can suffer. Through a beaurocratic blunder, I had to forgo surgery. With a lot of patience and physical therapy, I managed to heal the injury and accept newfound limitations now placed upon me, a former marathoner who loved nothing better than running 10+ miles every Sunday just to clear the cobwebs. So my return to running and racing inspired this poem. Marking the Occasion Toeing the start line Not once Not twice But three times With a firmer body A sounder mind A fully healed injury And good friends of mine Is better than Any personal records Any finisher’s medals Any technical T-shirts To mark the occasion You proved critics wrong. After all these decades Here is where you belong.

I normally point out great blog posts via my Twitter feed, but today I am making an exception to send you all to JohnF's blog, Running and Travels . John has a lot of experiences the rest of us can only dream about, and he relates them in a way that is almost humbling. We sometimes like to exaggerate our experiences for effect when we blog, but John has never done that and it's one reason I love his posts. That and his beautiful photographs from his races and runs in way-off worlds. He sometimes goes AWOL on us, and it's usually because he's been traveling and working hard. His last "adventure" is amazing. I don't want to spoil his story, but I do want to point out two paragraphs that should resonate with all of us striving to stay healthy. His tale is one reason why we do what we do. I started marathon distance running and triathlons 8 years before this incident. Since then, I have been in almost continuous training for some type of endurance event. One d...

I just saw this piece in the New York Times that all bloggers and consumers of blogs should read. Soon, Bloggers Must Give Full Disclosure And an excerpt: The F.T.C. said that beginning on Dec. 1, bloggers who review products must disclose any connection with advertisers, including, in most cases, the receipt of free products and whether or not they were paid in any way by advertisers, as occurs frequently. The new rules also take aim at celebrities, who will now need to disclose any ties to companies, should they promote products on a talk show or on Twitter. A second major change, which was not aimed specifically at bloggers or social media, was to eliminate the ability of advertisers to gush about results that differ from what is typical — for instance, from a weight loss supplement. For bloggers who review products, this means that the days of an unimpeded flow of giveaways may be over. More broadly, the move suggests that the government is intent on bringing to bear on the Interne...

I'm currently doing research on exercise addiction as it relates to eating disorders and came across this piece by a competitive triathlete in our track club . I've never done an Ironman, so I'd be curious to hear what others think of this post. I did note the author is a full-time working mom, which means she monitors her time closely out of necessity. Here's an excerpt on signs of exercise addiction that I found particularly thought-provoking: Seven warning signs of exercise addiction are: 1. Always working out alone, isolated from others. 2. Always following the same rigid exercise pattern. 3. Exercising for more than two hours daily, repeatedly. 4. Fixation on weight loss or calories burned. 5. Exercising when sick or injured. 6. Exercising to the point of pain and beyond. I’d be willing to bet that those of you who have completed an Ironman, or are currently training for an Ironman, can relate to the majority of these warning signs. Now ask yourself, is this by cho...

Have I ever mentioned how much I love volunteering at the Sue Krenn 15k ? I typically show up early and help with registration, which can be chaotic with two different bib handout areas and a lot of last-minute entrants for a race that starts promptly at 7 a.m. Then I help where needed until it’s time to work the finish line. This means that I get an opportunity to at some point view almost every name and face in the race. And, for at least the past three years I’ve handed a bib to, or stripped the tag of, someone famous in the triathlon and running worlds. Last year it was Michellie Jones , Heather Fuhr and Paula Newby-Fraser . Yesterday, the adulation level ramped up several notches when I filled out a bib for Joan Nesbit Mabe . She was in town with her husband for a business trip and decided to run with us on Mission Bay. Younger runners and newcomers to the sport might not recognize the name, but, trust me, she was a mainstay in magazines like Runner’s World and had a great blog th...

I won the Oscar Party contest last night by guessing the most winners and returned home with two movie tickets! Unfortunately, I also came home to discover I had a request from the office that I now need to do early this morning. No morning run and no time to post any more right now from the Tour of California. So, I'm sending you over to Christine's blog since she took great photos and we were together the entire time. She also makes note of another highlight of my weekend -- meeting blogger AKA Alice not once but twice! My friend Louise sent some great shots that she took from the race start that will have to go up later. Friends rule!

My theme for the year is Preservation. I plan to better tend to everything I hold near and dear, and that includes my mind and body, my relationships and all my “stuff” to which I’m economically or emotionally attachment. Race and running gear included. “Technical clothing” made of synthetic material is great at wicking away moisture to keep us cool or warm. But it’s often at the cost of soaking in odors and stubborn stains. It’s embarrassing to show up at summer races already reeking, and I have. It also kills me to toss great-fitting shirts, shorts, tights, or socks because they now resemble spotty rags. That’s why I was thrilled to be among a group of running bloggers to test the activewear detergent called ProWash . As many others have noted, the packaging is eco-friendly and the liquid’s consistency unusually light. But don’t let that fool you: like the other reviewers have noted, this product packs some punch. I’ve done four loads of laundry with it thus far and it’s surpassed ex...

One of the best parts of being a running blogger is meeting others that you instantly know share some of the same interests. Today I got to show Rae and Brent around some of my favorite parts of San Diego while they are here on a "babymoon." My camera battery was drained before I even turned it on, so we'll have to wait to see what the two of them post after their trip. When you follow someone's blog for long enough, you start to feel like you really know them. This couple from Nashville was just as nice in person as they are in the virtual world. As usual, I talked too much and, by my count, began at least four stories without finishing them. I think that's down from previous blogger meetups. We went to Torrey Pines, and I intended to just walk along the beach but Rae, despite being seven months, was game to hike to the top of the cliffs. For lunch, we lucked out on street parking in downtown Del Mar and ate at Americana Cafe, where the omelettes and chocolate wa...

Mike A ., a columnist for Complete Running , is starting a new Carnival of Running. For those new[er] to blogging, “carnivals” are collections of blog posts from the past week or so and can be focused on a theme, such as different impressions of the Boston Marathon or a roundup of run-ins with nature. Typically, though, someone is assigned to just jot down highlights and hyperlinks to their favorite blog posts. Mike’s blog is called Running is Funny and, thus, he’s taking carnival at its word and asking for running bloggers to submit strange, weird, wild and uproarious runs or encounters with runners that they experience during the week. You can send them to carnival@runningisfunny.com.