A long overdue update on Running Writings!

Hello to all readers! You’ve no doubt noticed an embarrassing lack of content on Running Writings in the last year or so, so I’m here to provide a brief update.  I’ve been surprised and pleased by the fact that despite this, RunningWritings continues to be quite popular in search results, and I’m still contacted rather frequently by runners around the world with questions and insights on training and injury. Sometime in the last year or so, RunningWritings hit two million views! To top it off, Modern Training and Physiology—which is coming up on its fifth anniversary of publication!—is perennially popular on Amazon.com.

You will be happy to know that RunningWritings is not retired, and I do still have projects in the works.  Last spring, I accepted an offer to pursue a PhD in biomechanics through Indiana University. As a result, I’ve been pretty busy over the last year! The good news is that I now have access to an incredible array of technology through the Indiana University Biomechanics Lab to study running mechanics and running injuries.  Since my program is a part of Indiana University’s School of Public Health, I’m also able to apply the tools of epidemiology to ask bigger questions about what affects your risk for running injuries and even how we might be able to prevent them.

Me, markered up in the IU Biomechanics Lab!

 I’ve also submitted a number of findings to scientific conferences, and soon, to scientific publications.  As these are accepted and published, I’ll be providing summaries on my blog about what these findings mean for regular runners. I’m doing my best to make enough time to share what I’ve learned here on my website. Finally, I’m currently working on another major injury article (this one will be on metatarsal stress fractures; my tibial stress fracture article is still one of the most popular I’ve ever written!).  I’m shooting to get this next article up by mid-April, so keep your eyes open!

After publishing another big injury article, the next major project is to revamp the design of Running Writings.  This website is over seven years old now, and the Blogger platform is showing its age: the layout does not look very good on mobile platforms, and the ads are not very relevant.  Further, many of you have no doubt noticed the spam comments on many of my articles, which I don’t have the time to remove. Sometime in the next few months, I’m aiming to re-launch RunningWritings with a website design that’s better than ever.  You might even see some new features alongside as I move to a platform with greater flexibility. I’m going to be moving away from the ad content you see now and towards a revenue model that’s more fitting with what the fans of this website (including myself) want to see.  But don’t worry—all the content will always be free. After the website overhaul, any articles you’ve bookmarked should still remain at the same URL as before.  Preserving article comments may be more difficult—I’ll do my best, but no promises.

Following the big website overall, I should have more time to dedicate to reviving regular content, like training analysis and the Brief Thoughts series.  Who knows, I might even bring back the YouTube channel!

Thanks in no small part to the readers of this blog, my running journey has taken me to some pretty incredible places—and right now, that’s the ability to study the causes of running injuries for my doctoral degree.  While Running Writings can’t be my top priority while I’m working on my PhD, I’m just as excited as you to put out some new content.