Blog makeover, etc.

So, with the new training season and some new goals, I've been working on a little redo around here.  When I first started this blog, it was simply to chronicle my training and the things I was thinking about as I trained for that first marathon--and a way to yammer on about running at will without annoying all of my non-running friends. It's also become something I didn't even expect... a way to virtually "meet" runners from all over the country and all over the world, which is completely awesome.

Now that that first marathon is over, though, I've been thinking more broadly about what I'd like my site to do.  I want to make this blog into more of a resource for people who might stumble in here wondering about veganism or vegan sports nutrition or contemplating a first marathon, or any number of running-related interests.  I really like the idea of having a site with some substance.

To those ends, there are new tabs along the top. They don't all have content yet, but they will.

• "My story" is a little narrative of how I became a runner and what's kept me invested.  There's a version up now already but I will probably add more later.
• "What I Eat" is going to be a page that will include a) a little personal food philosophy statement, and b) a section on being a vegan endurance athlete--tips for what to eat, easy ways to keep track of your nutrition without going insane, what I've learned as a vegan athlete in marathon training, etc.  I've been getting asked a lot about various nutrients and how I get them, what kind of protein I eat, whether I take supplements, etc, as well as how I make sure I'm eating a well-rounded diet in the first place, and I thought it would be nice to have a part of the site devoted to explaining some of that.  I will also comment on gels/sports drink/etc and what my pre-run/during run/post-run eating habits are.
• "How I Train" will have some discussion of training plans I've followed and what I think works/doesn't work, at least for me.  I will also talk about other cross-training-ish things I do besides running.
• "What I Wear" is a section devoted to commenting on gear I like.  This is because I constantly look for reviews of products before buying online and it seems I can never find anyone who's bothered to write a review of a lot of the stuff I want to buy.  So I'm going to start filling that void by putting in my own $.02 about assorted running gear.
• "For New Runners" will be my cheesy little section where I wax philosophical and give advice to newbies... not so very long ago I wasn't a runner at all, and there's a lot I've learned along the way. I want a little spot to share what I've learned.  I'll probably also have a "what I learned from marathon training" list or something as well. 

Other things I'm considering:  more food posts; hooking my site back up to my dailymile.com account (I 'unhooked' it because I don't like that when I upload my garmin data to daily mile it also shows the entire universe where I do my runs on a google map... and I don't know how to make that stop..); maybe a little photo thingy that rotates various race photos.  Maybe a tab for "running in Columbus, Ohio" where I talk about good parks/trails/routes around the city and good stores and running groups!  

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Today I did a very cold, kinda icy 8 miles.  Decision to wear shorts in 32 degree weather = not a very good decision.  I thought it was warmer than it ended up feeling by about the last 3 miles.  But oh well.  And, I pencilled in my very first number on my new Daniels training plan!

See that tiny tiny handwritten 8 in the Sunday column???  Yep, that's it! (sorry--terrible cell phone photo there...!)