Blogging is Dying.

April 25, 2018 By Hollie in Reads Tags: blog, bloggers, blogging, digital, life, running, social media 68 Comments

Blogging is Dying.

There I said it.

I’ve actually had a document on my computer titled: “blogging is dying” for a couple of months now. Past that, I haven’t continued the post. Maybe I was waiting for the best moment to post it, maybe not. Either way, blogging is slowly dying.

I’ve contemplated writing this post for a while now, but I don’t know where to begin. It’s probably a mismatched bunch of words that don’t flow together but when is that anything new?

So here we go:

I started blogging in 2010 when blogging was beginning to grow. Everyone was blogging!

It was the new thing to do instead of writing a Facebook update that was 10 pages long. I think in 2010, I followed close to 20 blogs. I was captivated by their writing, and it ranged from runners, to triathletes, to even a chocolate blog (you know).

I followed people with similar interests. Most people were posting at least a few times a week, if not more. To be honest, I think most blogs posted daily, which I did too!

2012-2014, continued the trend and blogging continued to grow. As the years went by, new social media was created.

There were so many new platforms:

Instagram: To take photos of everything you did!

Twitter: To write short burbs and updates about life!

Facebook pages: When one facebook isn’t enough, get two!

Pinterest and more (to save blogs, recipes, and whatever else you’ll read or follow up on!

I remember kicking my feet at getting twitter…ugh another thing, I couldn’t keep up. I ultimately got most of them, except for Pinterest, because I just pin cat memes.

Then 2013 was a big year for me. I moved four times: New York to Virginia to Texas to New Jersey. I ran my first marathon, and moved in with a boyfriend at the time who put a ring on it (yes Tim). It was the year where I had no idea what I wanted to do. I lived off of savings, made some money blogging, and just job searched like any early 20 year old.

In 2014, life settled down a little bit (not much, but enough). My husband and I got engaged, settled in NJ, and I finally set a half marathon PR. 2014 for blogging was probably my “biggest year”.

What does biggest in blogging even mean?

Most page views? Most engagement? Most money made?

All three!

Then in 2014, a lot of things on the internet changed. Social media channels began to grow, and many runners turned to Instagram to document and give running advice. I tried to go that route with long blog post captions but quickly realized I liked Instagram for taking photos of pretty places. It isn’t my personal preference to write a novel caption about how inspired I was to get out there.

I run and come home. I don’t have an inspiring story about every run, I just get out there and do it. I’m just a woman in the Garden State trying to make it look cool. I don’t like to post half-naked photos and don’t like to give advice about running. I don’t want my account to be running only and don’t want to create a separate Instagram account for my personal life either.

My Instagram is my life whether I have a blog or not. It isn’t limited to running, because my life isn’t limited to running. Maybe I’ll never have a niche, but that is fine. My blog talks more about my training and life, while Instagram is just photos and short captions. A couple of weeks ago, my husband I celebrated our anniversary. Not running, but part of my life.

Celebrating our 3 year anniversary.

A post shared by Hollie (@fueledbylolz) on Apr 12, 2018 at 4:39pm PDT

Anyway, with the growth of Instagram and other social media, came the slow fall of blogging.

It isn’t just blogging that has fallen, and many running publications have ceased too. For instance, Competitor magazine only exists online. Runners World was acquired by Hearst.

This post isn’t too bash anything or anyone. It’s just to briefly explain what I’ve observed in the last several years. It’s not the only view, and for some their blog has gotten bigger, which is great!

In summary, social media such as Instagram has grown. People would prefer free advice versus paying, and to be honest, people don’t want or have the time and interest to read blogs anymore.

So How do You Support Blogs?

The easiest way to support any blogger or let them know you’re reading is occasionally comment (and no I’m not begging for comments). Commenting or sharing posts/articles are two big ways to support bloggers without doing much.

Many people have told me in person, “love your blog” and to be honest I’m shocked they read. Sure, right now I average about 500 page views a day, but I rarely get more than 1-2 comments per post, so I have no clue who reads, if anyone! No one is a mind reader. I don’t expect anyone to read, but it’s always nice to hear from people who are.

I will still blog because I like too. I’ve stopped blogging every day, but I’ll continue to blog. This post is not meant to be negative, or put anyone down. It’s just the trend i’ve noticed throughout several years of blogging (which of course different people notice different things).

Questions for you:

How long have you been blogging? Is blogging dying? Discuss?

Blogging Review

December 29, 2017 By Hollie in Articles Tags: 2017, blog, blogging, life, recap 1 Comment

The year has come and gone. Last week, I recapped my running in 2017 and now it’s time to recap blogging since this is a Running Blog. I have begun to think a lot about blogging in 2018. Where is it going? Is it dying? Will fueledbyLOLZ die?

Eventually yes, all good things must come to an end. I have a longer post about the direction the blog will “go”. Mentally I have written the post, but I haven’t strung 500 words together. In summary, I probably won’t kill FueledbyLOLZ, but I will post less in 2018.

Instead of focusing on 2018 (which I will do at some point), it’s always fun to look back at the year and hanging out with friends and fellow bloggers and internet users.

Danielle, Amelia, and I

Most Popular Posts from 2017:

My Running Story: My about me, running page.

My Running Burnout: What led to about 4 months off of running/racing.

Should You Race in Racing Flats?

Care Free Training

Interestingly enough, a lot of my shoe posts are the “top” posts. Yet, they seem to have the least comments.

Top Referrers:

Twitter

Facebook

Blogging brought many new friendships!
Photo Credit Marty D.

Thoughts about Blogging:

I do like blogging and I enjoy it as an outlet. For me, blogging will never pay “the bills”. I am lucky that I do occasionally get sponsored posts which equate to extra spending money. Those come and go and are completely unpredictable.

Plus, I don’t accept sponsored posts from something I wouldn’t personally use or buy which also limits how many I receive. It’s nice to receive sponsored posts, but will they pay the bills? No. It’s also nice to receive free product to review and try, and I’m always cautious when I do that (for instance, I’m clear in shoe reviews if I didn’t pay for shoes…which 95% of the time, I paid for them).

The platforms of which people choose to blog is also changing. With Instagram growing, many running bloggers have stopped sharing posts or writing lengthy posts and gone to microposts on instagram. You must do what works for you. I am not there yet because I do see blogging as an outlet. While my grammar and spelling leave a lot to be desired, it’s nice to connect with other bloggers and readers in that form, especially my “real life” friends (and dad) that don’t use social media but subscribe only to blog posts.

Blogging is 2017 wasn’t my highest viewership, in fact one of my lowest, but I still enjoyed it. At the end of the day I blog for “me” but it’s nice to share the experience with others. If I wanted to keep a personal diary (which I do keep a personal notepad), I wouldn’t press publish on a public website. Thanks wordpress for being more organized than I am…

Questions for you:

Bloggers: How was your 2017 in terms of actual blogging?

Do you have a favorite post? Do you keep a personal diary?

Training: Back to NJ

November 13, 2017 By Hollie in Running, Running Reads Tags: fitness, life, run, running, sports, workout 4 Comments

Last week was just about assimilating back to New Jersey. After getting food poisoning, this week was about getting back out there and just getting some easy runs in during the week. Even though it meant about 2 weeks between races and speed work, it was necessary. I was exhausted from vacation, as well as getting over food poisoning.

It all worked out, and with extra sleep, easy miles, and focusing on nutrition, I seemed to feel a lot better towards the end of the week.

Monday:	Easy 45 minutes
Tuesday:	Easy 45 minutes
Wednesday:	Easy 60 minutes
Thursday:	OFF
Friday:	Easy 45 minutes
Saturday:	Haddonfield Road Race (19:59)
Sunday:	Blueberry Challenge XC 5k (20:01)
Total Miles:	35-37

Haddonfield Road Race (19:59) 6:25, 6:26, 6:25

The goal of this race was to run a 20 minute 5k which I ran right on pace. The course itself is difficult and the day did not go exactly as planned but I was able to get done what I needed too with a few faster miles on my legs. Despite being one of my slower “races” recently, my effort was exactly where I needed it to be.

Blueberry Challenge XC 5k (20:01)

I have always wanted to do this race, but whatever reason, it never works out. The race is a mixture of a lot of grass, gravel, pavement, and finally, a stair climb up Blueberry Hill. Even without the climb, it’s one of the hillier 5k courses I’ve done. My goal was to try and run 20 minutes, and I met that goal.

Thoughts:

While neither are “fast” races indicating my fitness, I enjoyed both and getting out there again. Training isn’t linear, and I’m the same person who ran an 18:46 less than a month ago.

This week will also be a lighter week as I will be running the Philadelphia half marathon. I’ve never run particularly well there as coincidentally enough I had food poisoning in 2015 and in 2016, I just felt like garbage. Third time is a charm, right?

Posts from the Week:
How to Build Back Mental Confidence
Hiking Flagstaff Mountain in Boulder
Smile Brilliant Review and Giveaway

Questions for you:

Do you like running on trails or roads?

Have you ever run up stairs during a race?

Reflecting on 7 Years of Blogging

August 9, 2017 By Hollie in Uncategorized Tags: blog, blogging, life 26 Comments

Blogging has changed a lot since I started in August of 2010. You can read my first post here. Sure, I could correct several spelling errors in my first post ever, but it wouldn’t be as “authentic”. So I leave it as my 2010 college self-wrote it.

If anything has remained the same in my blogging, it’s that I don’t have the best grammar or spelling. I spell check, but there is always something. If you have ever held a conversation with me in real life, you know I talk a mile and minute, and my blog is pretty much the same.

But Back to Blogging in General…

I feel like a crabby, old fashioned blogger even saying that blogging has changed so much. When I first started blogging, it was just that. Blogging.

There was no Instagrams, twitters and people did not make facebooks for their page. You just wrote stuff and hoped someone subscribed through email. After you posted an entry, you moved on with life.

Now blogging is more competitive and social media is far more advance. You don’t write something and move on. You write something, link it to all of your social media, multiple times, promote, promote, promote and maybe promote some more. By the time you finished pushing your master piece of writing, it’s time to promote the next one. It’s no wonder blogging can get so damn tiresome. The least time-consuming portion of blogging is writing the post.

Hey you!!! Have you subscribed to my internet?

But here we are. I often reflect on blogging. Many bloggers who started much later than I did make a full-time income from blogging. They do the ten (thousand) step process of blogging, great content, and whatever else it takes.

The first LOLZ header is 2010.

That is their choice but blogging full time has never been mine.

Is it great to make money from something you work hard at? Of course. The majority of the money I now make through blogging pays for the 10,000 races I run each year with it…but that is really it. I don’t make a full-time income and I don’t spend hours on content creation and sponsored posts.

An early header

Part of the reason begins with I won’t promote products I don’t personally stand behind. I can truly say I’ve used and enjoyed every product I’ve promoted on this blog. Throughout the last 7 years, I’ve probably turned down close to 5,000 dollars worth of sponsored posts (whether money or product) because it doesn’t reflect my life or interests.

If you blog full time, you make more money by taking more sponsored posts. You can’t “love” everything so you cannot like and use every single product you promote. It’s a fine balance of blogging about product, life, and whatever else. Too many sponsored posts and you are a fraud. Too few sponsored posts and you eat ramen for dinner. That sort of balance doesn’t interest me.

Plus, to be honest I don’t sit still well. I don’t like sitting at home, I’m usually boring, and I don’t like to people, socialize, and network every moment of my life. I just like to run, eat at diners and talk about various topics that pop into my mind (like reflecting upon blogging).

So How Has Blogging Changed Since 2010?

First, as I just said I’m not a professional. Many bloggers, social media experts, and internet users know far more about “how blogging has changed”. I can tell you what I’ve noticed in the last several years.

From about 2010-2014 blogging thrived. Page views were high. There were months in 2013 and 2014, I would get 50,000 page views on LOLZ blog. I wasn’t even a popular, superstar blogger, so I can’t imagine what others got! But people were visiting blogs! Blogging was booming! There wasn’t a lot of excess social media. Just people and blogs.

I remember when I first started my twitter, I kicked my feet. Everyone had a twitter, but I didn’t find it appealing or necessary. I was finishing my junior year of college, barely staying afloat in Spanish class and dreaming of math equations and proofs. Then I started a twitter, and it’s still probably my favorite platform. You can follow people and things and not be creepy. There isn’t anything you really can’t follow on twitter at this point.

In 2014-2015, Instagram was starting to evolve and pop up. More people had instagrams, but the captions were short. I would Instagram everything. My coffee, flowers, dirt, a pineapple sitting on top of a cup. Then I would filter the $hit out of it pretending I was a professional photographer.

Now you can find Instagram captions that are longer than some blog posts. As Instagram continued to grow, blogging began to fall. My blog that once got 50,000 monthly views now gets about 20,000.

In the recent few years, several of my favorite bloggers shut down their blogs. Also, blogs that used to post weekly went to 1-2 times per month. Few people blog but more people used Instagram! My reader has dwindled for several posts daily to 1-2 per day that consistently update.

Now in 2017, the Instagram trend is still growing. With the addition of Instagram stories, which I occasionally use, it’s more fun and more live. As Instagram grows, I do find myself attempting to take more quality posts (all from my trusty phone). Personally, I like to follow friends and look at pretty photos. So I’m trying to mirror that. Will I ever take out a loan and buy some fancy camera. No…

Just after college graduation header

So where does that leave the mother hen old lady LOLZ blog?

Will I continue to social media in year of blogging? Probably.

Will I continue to use all of my social media? Once again, probably.

Will I get a Strava? No, I can’t even remember to charge my Garmin.

I will continue blogging about life, running or whatever else happens. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, next week or next month (LOLZ to think about next year).

I don’t commit to anything. I don’t know what curves life will throw. I can’t guarantee, I won’t completely stop blogging for whatever reason but I have zero intentions today…not sorry I love talking too much.

Questions for you:

What is your favorite social media platform?

If you blog, how long have you been blogging for?

The Importance of Easing Back into Training

June 22, 2017 By Hollie in Running Tags: fitness, life, run, running, sport, wellness 9 Comments

Whether you are coming back from an injury or just time off, getting back into shape isn’t always the most enjoyable thing. I like running. However, the feeling of being out of shape and always tired isn’t pleasant.

This particular return, it’s also been incredibly hot. Thinking out loud, when I left running a few short months ago, most of my runs were in pouring rain and the cold. Now it’s hot and humid. To be honest, during my break I also didn’t do a lot of cross-training, so I did also lose quite a bit of fitness. My first 5k back, I ran at a pace slower than the half marathon I consider to be unsuccessful. My second 5k I got lost, but I do think I made some sort of improvement. When I left running, I could run 18:30-18:40 5ks like no big deal. Currently, I believe I could push myself as hard as possible for a 20:00 5k (but it probably would need to be a flat, fast and ideal day).

But like anything in life, it’s important not to compare yourself to anyone, including yourself. Some people can jump right into training and never lose fitness. I’m definitely not one of those people.

During my run, I didn’t run, I didn’t cross train much and gained a little bit of weight. I also didn’t care about any of these things. That just makes getting back into shape harder.

So What are Important Aspects to Remember?

Easy Runs are Important:

You don’t have to run fast at all. Whether they are coming back from an injury, a rest period of anything else, too many people makes the mistake of running too fast. It doesn’t matter if you are in shape or not, if you train fast all of the time, you will set yourself up for an injury. In fact, running too fast all of the time is how I got my first tibia stress fracture. Easy runs are what build you stronger. It’s especially important for me, this time because I’m not coming back from anything broken and don’t have something especially suspectable to breaking by doing too much.

Don’t Compare Yourself:

As humans, there is always something to compare ourselves too. Every article or blog I’ve ever read always says “don’t compare yourself”, but that is so much easier said than done.Whether it’s while running or not. Don’t compare yourself to yourself either.

With fitness, you are always at a different point journey. We are never in the exact same fitness level all of the time, and it’s important to recognize that. Don’t train how you once trained. You have to build up to the fitness you were once at. Determine your paces and realistic goals from where you are right now, not 3 months ago.

Slow and Steady Wins the Base Race:

Many times, after I begin running again, I want to go as fast or run as much as possible all of the time. That is unintelligent and going to result in an injury. Ease into training and allow yourself to slowly build your base. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is fitness.

No matter where you left, getting back into shape is challenging. It’s not effortless or streamline. Perhaps a better reminder for myself more than anything!

Other posts:

What to do Between Training Cycles

NonRunning Workout Ideas

Question for you: Have you ever taken time off of fitness entirely?

A Day in the Life on Global Running Day

June 9, 2017 By Hollie in DailyMusings Tags: global running day, life, random, run 4 Comments

I don’t typically blog “day in the life” posts, and actually, I haven’t been blogging much on Fridays either. I run out of things to say by Friday, or I don’t feel like blogging.

I’m not sure how it happened, but Wednesday was one of the busiest, but most fun days I’ve had in awhile so I thought I would share. It doesn’t hurt that it was Global Running Day either.

If you followed LOLZ blog last year, you might remember seeing one of my friends Montana. Montana is a good friend, and I ran and raced with her several times. Unfortunately, (but fortunately), a job took her to Rhode Island.

She was back in town for a couple of days, so we were able to start Global Running Day together with my longest run in a while (6 miles). The run flew by, and it was one of the best I’ve had in a while. As I continue running, I can’t say it feels amazing, but I feel mentally good about where I’m at right now.

After that I got ready to head up to North Jersey. I like New Jersey for many reasons but since it’s a small state, driving “across the state”, isn’t a big deal. When I lived in Texas, it was also 90 minutes to drive to a big city.

I met up with my friend Devon at the Urban Griddle in Newark for a date and what better place than a diner? Devon is one of my good friends; I just wish we lived closer! She recently ran the Boston Marathon and PRed with a 3:06.

After a fun couple of hours, I made the trek back home. As most people know, the New Jersey Turnpike is great…until it’s not. The Delaware Memorial Bridge had a construction fire and they closed it completely down. It’s the main arterty of East Coast travel. They also completely shut down the turnpike at exit 4 (my exit).

This created a massive backup on both the turnpike and 295. The Garden State is typically known for traffic, but it’s unusual for it to be on the turnpike on a weekday.

That was no big deal, except with every vehicle getting off and going through the toll at exit 4, it created a huge backup. It took me over 90 minutes to go 3 miles. Needless to say, I spent most of the time contemplating my escape route incase I had to use the bathroom.

After that, I stopped at home for enough time to eat and headed off to work. As most people know, I work at a running store and you have to celebrate Global Running Day there right?

We had a big group run complete with raffles from various shoe companies and Lululemon. We had a tremendous turnout with over 200+ people. As much as I would love to have run with the group, it’s important for me to take things at my pace right now. (Plus I ran with Montana and I didn’t need a bonus run).

Finally, I got back home at 9 and by that time, I was ready to go to bed. (Not that that is any different than any other day). In all, it was a great and wonderful day. I caught up with so many friends and it made me appreciate the sport even more than I do now.

Questions for you:

How did you spend Global Running Day?

Do you like to stay busy or prefer relaxing time?

Visiting New York City

May 24, 2017 By Hollie in DailyMusings Tags: bagel, broadway, life, new york city, nyc, personal, travel 7 Comments

After my husband came home, we decided to go visit New York City. Even though we live approximately 90 miles away, we rarely go. Between, traffic, tolls, and parking it’s not the easiest place to get too.

So last week, we decided to take the train from Trenton. It was an easy process, and we made it to Penn Station and into Manhatten. We ended up staying on 57th street close to Central Park, Broad Way and Times Square. We had booked the hotel before I decided to stop running, so we had planned to run in Central Park. One day we will (that isn’t the New York City Marathon!)

While in NYC, we didn’t do a heck of a lot. Both my husband and I are relaxed and we like to take trips with not a lot of plans. We figure it out as we go along. For the most part, we walked around New York just looking at sights. We did go see some of the big things like the Empire State Building and Times Square. I’ve been before, but it’s always fun to see again!

We got close to the Empire State Building but opted not to go in.

Times Square

One thing we both wanted to do is get a New York Bagel. As someone who went to college in New York (way upstate at SUNY Potsdam), we got used to good NY bagels. NJ just doesn’t compare.

My favorite is a Nova Lox. It was a good bagel (not that I’m an expert) and I have no complaints.

The one thing we did do was go see a Broadway. We booked tickets to “Waitress” starring Sara Bareilles. I like Sara Bareilles as a songwriter, and the Broadway was about a diner waitress…how could we go wrong? It was excellent, and I highly recommend it if you’re ever up that way.

Before leaving, we also checked out Ellen’s Stardust Diner near Broadway. The Diner is unique in that the servers are always performing. You get a meal and a show. You’ll see your server perform for the entire restaurant.

We had a great weekend away. It’s funny, as I mentioned, New York is not a far commute for us, but we never go! We will definitely go back sooner rather than later.

Questions for you:

Have you ever been to New York City?

Where was the last weekend trip you took?

FueledByLOLZ

Running and Laughing through the Garden State

Tag Archives: life