Run to Win

2007 has been a really busy year here at Run to Win. The website has really grown. I wrote more this year than I did last year, and received about half again as many comments and trackbacks. More than twice as many people visited me this year than did in 2006, and there are about 4 times as many people subscribing to this website this year than there were towards the end of last year.

I am really happy with those numbers.

The popular content on the site this year was not quite as surprising as last year. First, I have been paying a lot more attention to what has been going on this year than I did in years past, so I had a good idea about what was popular. Second, I predicted last year what would be the most popular content this year, because the articles had not had enough time to gain traction and take the top spots last year.

My Marathon Preparation Series article list was viewed more times than any other page besides my home page last year. I knew that it would be. More people actually visited the article about what to do the week before the marathon than the series page, but the series page was viewed multiple times as people jumped around within the series.

A few of the other articles from the marathon preparation series made the top 10 in both people reading the article and unique visitors over the past year. Almost all of the articles made the top 25. The popularity of this series is a big reason why I am writing a more in-depth book about the subject which will be available in less than a month.

The one big surprise on the list this year was a random article that I wrote about Tom Brady’s NFL Contract, which had a lot of people come to visit it. It was the only popular article that was more sports than running related, and I did not promote it at all.

The articles that dealt with running shoe frequently asked questions and tempo running were also quite popular and made it into the top 10. The environmental impact of running and describing the difference between running on a track and running on a treadmill were close to making that top 10 but just missed it.

Some of last year’s favorite articles are still really popular, though. My video about how to tie your shoes so that they don’t come untied has been bringing in a steady stream of traffic. The New Rules of Lifting is also just as popular, being the 11^th most viewed page on the site (including the home page!) I highly recommend the book if you are considering cross training.

A second surprise, although not as large of one since I did promote the page a little, was an article that I published this month. Just over two weeks ago, I began offering a free special report, The 3 Components of an Effective Workout. I started publishing a running tips newsletter, and you can download the report when you sign up. It is pretty amazing to me that it was the 15^th most popular page when it has had so little time or exposure. This must mean that if you haven’t signed up for my newsletter yet, you better hurry up and do so! (I’ll be releasing some new goodies in the near future to people that are on the list.)

Since 2007 has shown nothing but improvements to both the website and my satisfaction with it, I see no reason that this trend won’t continue into the new year. I believe that 2008 will see even more and faster growth, especially since I formed a company a few months ago and will be opening the doors to my new business, Run to Win LLC, in January. I hope that you stick around for another exciting year!

This week last year had more of the same with race results and NFL picks. I also discussed:

• A video demonstration of how to tie your shoes so that they do not come untied while you are running is one of my most linked to articles on this site. I use the runner’s knot every day and have yet to have a pair of shoes come untied since I started using it a few years ago. I also listed a few exercise related How-To articles that were written on other sites around the same time.
• I reviewed Chariots of Fire, which must be the most well known running movie ever made.
• Dean Karnazes began the Endurance 50 and ran his first of 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. This year, Brad Alsop is running a marathon every day between the 4^th of July and Veteran’s Day on November 11^th. So far, he has run 82 of the 131 marathons in his efforts to raise money for the Injured Marine Semper Fi fund.
• I learned how to mix up my pushups with medicine balls, which has become my standard method over the past year. I also offered a race tip: run a bit early in the morning before a race to properly loosen up your body.
• Two years ago, I climbed Mount Washington and I wrote about gym etiquette.

It does not seem like a complicated thing to tie your shoes. A simple bow tie is all it takes, right? For everyday use, that is all you need. For running, it just is not enough. I’ll show you how to tie your shoes so that you never have to worry about a knot that won’t come out or a shoe lace that always comes untied.

You could run for 3 or 4 years and never have a problem, but that first time you will still curse your shoes out. A regular bow tie can easily come undone, which leads to an unsafe situation. If your shoes are not tied, then your foot will move around a lot more inside the sneaker. This will only gets worse as the laces loosen more with each step that you take. You also run the risk of stepping on your laces, having somebody else step on your laces, or getting your laces caught in your environment somewhere. This tends to lead to falling down, which is a good thing to avoid.
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