World domination

[Sasha Pachev]

I was looking at the Ogden results from this year, and counted 16 bloggers in the top 100 (both male and female). As you may have expected, the blogger density was much higher towards the top, and then dwindled down. Incidentally, while there were 15 in the top 50, there was only one in the second 50 (Chad Booth) and he will be out of there next year if everything goes reasonably well. While I am very happy about FRB dominating the top 10, I think our next goal should be to start dominating the top 100 as well. Questions:

Why are we so good at dominating the top 10 compared to top 100? (Hint: Our training methods are effective but we have a small pool of runners)

What can we do to dominate the top 100 as well? (Hint: We need to have 100 local runners that are interested in running a Boston Qualifier)

One idea. If you happen to know anybody in the top 100 (male, female, general) that is not currently on the blog, bug him/her about it until he/she joins. This will help us have thinker padding in the top 25.

Then we staff (yes, that's right, how about this for a job description - your responsibilities are to place in the top 50 in Ogden next year?) the 25-50 places with the guys/gals that are not even showing up in the top 100 this year. This should give us enough of a dominance to where the 50-100 places group would just give up and join. They would not be able to resist it. Instead of just hitting the wall, they are now getting beat by the wall. The wall of bloggers  in front of them. They would rather be a part of the wall then.

[Michelle Lowry]

I think we should always be looking to recruiting our running buddies.  However, I think we should be careful to try not to "bug" anyone.  I don't want us to get a reputation for being obnoxious.  BTW, my hubby joined the blog yesterday (private - but that's a start) and my friend McKenzie joined today, so I am definitely working on those around me, but I think we need to be careful about pushing too hard.  My two cents.

[adam]

If the top 100 runners were all part of the FRB, or if everyone running was, would that dilute the influence of the FRB and decrease performance gains of the individuals joining this group?

While it is our mission to help as many others as possible reach their potential, one drawback to a rapid increase in number is that it becomes harder to give advice and encouragement to new members. Unless they are a friend or somebody "famous" on the blog, we often do not visit their page.

Additionally, when you have many joining it becomes hard to follow an individual's progress. Many times now we are quick to welcome people to the blog, but after a day or so, many others have joined and we forget to check up on those we just welcomed because their names are no longer on the side of the page. Then, the lost sheep are born.

I'm not trying to be negative here. I do believe that anyone who joins this blog with a true desire to improve and sticks with it will see huge improvements. I am just trying to say that there needs to be a plan to retain the influence, or the "power of the blog", as the numbers increase. Just getting more people to join isn't necessarily going to help us achieve the goal of the blog.

[Josse]

Adam you are so wise, I do think you have a very good point.  My idea is to get a bigger local group going and have organized runs. 

[Sasha Pachev]

I think what we should do is that everybody should pick 2-3 people that they keep an eye on.

But we must remember that the blog only gives 5% of what it takes. Our success stories came from people who got a little bit of advice, some needed a little bit of a kick in the behind motivation talk, and the rest they did themselves. After all, if they need help they can ask for it and we will respond. And there are many blogs of success to peruse to get ideas.  And in the end, we cannot run the miles for them, they have to get out and do it, otherwise we are getting fit and they are not.

What I have noticed is that a typical  blogger that makes the advertised 30 minute marathon PR improvement in a year is self-motivated. The ones that you constantly have to battle with in the area of getting out, or training properly rather than doing random Jeff Galloway/Runners World workouts never make improvements.

So my approach now is to focus on the bloggers that are responsive to advice and encouragement. I randomly offer it to the bloggers I see popping up in different places. If I find a healthy response - the runner asks questions, changes his training, starts getting out regularly, etc, I spend more time on that blog. If not, I wait a while, and try again. If the runner gets the hang of it and appears to be self-sufficient, I visit the blog once in a while, usually after a race, to check on the progress. I'll confess that sometimes I visit the blog of a stubborn runner that did not listen earlier after he had had a bad race to see if he is more open to advice. If he is wondering out loud why he did not run well, I tell him.

[Jim Flowers]

You guys really have a great thing going with this blog.  I do think it gets a little harder to stay plugged in when you live in another area.  However, I don't think it takes a lot to keep people involved.  I only have one person that makes regular comments on my blog but it has made a huge difference and has kept me blogging.  The other key factor is success.  Many of the runners on this blog are having success and I want to see what successful runners are doing in their training as well as the commitment they have. 

[Sasha Pachev]

Jim - when you start feeling lonely, post a training review request. Also the more you comment on other blogs, the more people comment on yours.

[Kory Wheatley]

I agree with Adam I would like it if the running miles were totally separate.  It just makes the statistics better personally and on the blog.  Cross-training should be separate.

[Matt Konold]

I guess I've been hiding out too much because I'm here bloggin' and actually did crack the top 100. . . . 94.  I did improve from a 3:36 last month at Salt Lake to a 3:20 in Ogden, and hope to get to under 3:11 by Deseret News.  I've been needing to get up early and do some runs with you Sasha (I ran with you once a few months ago), but have been more of a night/after work type runner.  With the heat coming, I think I'm going to try to get out early. 

[Dallen]

I have to agree that we are diluting the benefit of the blog with more runners. However, those people who are not in the front of races probably are not serious enough about their running to bother blogging about it.

[Craig Green]

I have to be honest here, mates. I love the blog and I've made some decent progress since joining last September. I also got my running friends that I train with to join. Some have stuck with it, some haven't. Some of my really talented running friends refuse to join because they are private people or just don't want to put any more time into running than they already give.

My point is that the blog isn't for everyone. The best way I can think of to get others to join is to be an example and tell your friends about the blog when they ask what your secret to recent improvement is (sounds like a missionary, I know . All my friends that I talked into joining haven't stuck with it. My other friends that made the decision themselves have stuck with it.

[Sasha Pachev]

Craig:

I have noticed that when a blogger starts beating his competition that he could not touch earlier, the competition all of a sudden gets interested. Your legs speak a lot louder than your mouth, and consistent training tends to amplify their speaking volume.