Running is hard, or at least that’s how I always perceived the sport. When I was a teenager I tried running longer distances a few times and didn’t like it very much. I was always out of breath and my legs felt like rubber after a mile or two. I didn’t understand how anyone could actually get enjoyment from this sport.
Don’t get me wrong – I was active in sports. I played basketball and baseball through high school, and I loved to ride my bicycle on the country roads around my house. But the Zen of running escaped me for a long time.
After going through a period of time in my life where I wasn’t as active and fit as I should have been, I tried running again. This of course was tackled after losing some weight, gaining strength and becoming fit.
Last fall I ran two 5-kilometer races after training a few months, and I was just beginning to understand the rhythm of running. Usually when I ran by myself I started at a much faster pace than I should have, and I didn’t have much fun during and after the exercise. Eventually I learned to pace myself correctly, to listen to my breathing and my heart rate. I would do this not by using a monitor and a fancy watch. In fact, this past spring, I started running without using any special electronic equipment. I just started running by feel – in other words, how I felt. If I thought my pace was too fast because of my breathing, I would just shorten my stride a bit. After awhile, runs actually started to become fun, because I was staying within myself.
I’ll be running a half marathon this coming weekend, and believe me, I never thought I would ever run that distance. It takes a lot of training miles, and it also takes a lot of patience and persistence.
Running for me is like publishing this magazine. It’s a marathon, or half marathon – at any rate, it’s a long race. There are small goals achieved along the way like mile markers, and you are always working to do better.
This year we’ve stepped up our game to bring our magazine to more people.
First, we moved from publishing five issues a year to six. It’s amazing how much work and effort goes into one extra issue!
Second, we updated lifeinthefingerlakes.com. The new website went through a major overhaul and redesign. Now, with larger photos and responsive text, the website can be viewed on any computer or mobile device, no matter the screen size, and the articles are still easy to read. We are also publishing short articles, press releases and pictorials exclusive to the website, so please visit the site frequently, since content is always fresh.
Most recently, we launched a mobile app version of the magazine, an option in addition to our print version. You can download it FOR FREE at lifeinthefingerlakes.com. This means that the latest issue can be experienced on mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads and Android tablets and phones. There are readers who digest much of their information this way, and others that enjoy it better in print. We want you to have a choice.
It may look slightly different from the layout of the printed magazine, but the quality design will still be there. What’s more, videos that enhance articles are clickable right from the app. And, the app gives us the ability to expand on some articles – something we can’t always do in the printed version, where space is finite.
Our ultimate goal is to get the magazine in front of as many people as possible. We just want you to read it, whatever way you can.
