How Running Changed My Life: My not so glamorous story
It might sound overly dramatic when I say, ‘running changed my life’. The reason I say this is because we’ve all heard it before, a story about a person who struggled through various life adversities and found an outlet in sport or another profession that requires dedication, resilience, and many years of hard work. I’m no different from those people, however, I only truly figured out just how important this sport is to me at the beginning of 2021. It isn’t just something I do, it is a lifeline. This may be unhealthy, or what is often coined ‘an over-reliance because the question is always raised – what happens when you get injured? What happens if for ‘insert reason here’ you can’t run anymore?
Injury is a part of competitive, high-level sport. If I am going to push my body and test my limits, an injury may just be heralding that I’ve found a limit or pushed it a bit far this time. Next time, I’ll approach it differently, in a smarter manner, or address the weakness. Then try again. This is the beauty of sport. You’re either all in for the journey and can understand this, or you’re not willing to risk it. I have had multiple sprained and dislocated ankles from trail running, and a torn tendon from sudden, consistent high-mileage and not enough rest. I’ve learnt my lessons, and I still very likely have many more to learn. The trials and tribulations of being a distance runner!
“There is always darkness before dawn.”
Thanks Malia.
Running has always been a part of my life.
I have always run in some way for the most part of my 22 years. I’d mostly use it to train for other sports or dip my toes in junior and high school cross country for fun. I didn’t experience true competitive running until 17, in my final months of high school. I ‘accidentally’ won a race I entered on a whim, coming back from a week of high altitude nordic ski training. I wasn’t having the most success in nordic skiing, and running seemed to click with me better, and suit my busy life schedule in final exams. After all, you truly can run anywhere – there aren’t a lot of excuses.
This race win was a really big moment for me. Primarily because I didn’t feel like I always fit in throughout my entire schooling. I was sporty, but also very academically driven and was a part of all the school vocal and music-writing groups. I didn’t really have a ‘group’ and there were times I felt extremely ostracized because I wasn’t defined by something. I wasn’t heading out to parties every weekend. I achieved everything I wanted, but not without a fair share of tears, excessive hours of studying and training. Suddenly, after winning the Sydney Harbour 5km, I was known as a ‘runner’. People seemed to change the way they treated me. Almost with more respect. I don’t think this is a good thing, I think we shouldn’t categorize people and define them by what they do – but it got me through, and it definitely still has a lasting impact.
One very cold, rainy morning at 5:30 am, I turned up to a training session with a group in centennial park, Sydney. I might sound a bit strange, but I love training in crazy weather – I am used to it having a background as a nordic skier when we’d wait in the nordic shelter waiting to hear if our heat was going to still run in gale force winds and sideways snow. One time I raced a 5km skate race without poles, the wind was so strong. It was all good fun. I stuck with the consistent run training program my coaches prescribed and never looked back.
Running Saved My Life in multiple low points and in contextual depression.
Fast forward to 2017, and I’m in training for the Australian Cross Country Championships. I’d had a killer year with multiple wins and massive improvement – what is known as the upward training trend in a runner’s improvement before they hit a natural plateau. Unfortunately, a very close family member was diagnosed with cancer for the second time, and I knew I would have to step up my game to support the family in a way I never had before. Aged 18/19 I was not the most emotionally mature, so to comprehend the emotional rollercoaster I went into auto-pilot with my run training. I won the U20 Australian XC Championships because I was so determined, fuelled by very strong emotions and a sense of helplessness. My sick family member was able to come especially to watch this event and to come home with a title I doubted I would ever achieve meant the world to me. To this day, this is one of the most important and joyful days of my entire life.
I am so lucky that my family member has recovered, and I have learned the importance of life at a young age. It is short. It is so important to do everything you can to shape your life around what you value and surround yourself with people who make you a better you.
Long story short, running really saved me during this time, and I am extremely lucky that I was able to run consistently during this period.
The past 1.5 years have been the toughest of my life – more specifically the last 10 months. The coronavirus situation in the U.S. was handled very differently from my home country, Australia. I made the choice early in 2020 not to return home to Australia. My family and I hoped that the situation would clear up for a visit home later, which we now know isn’t the case. Running on a collegiate cross country and track team, I found myself in multiple quarantines which I didn’t handle particularly well. I was lucky enough to never catch the virus and obtain a full dose of vaccination recently. In my first quarantine, whilst being tested continually I was allowed out once a day to run at odd hours in a mask. That was the only thing I could do – so of course, I ran myself silly.
In the second quarantine, we experienced a team shut down. This meant no more practices for the rest of the year and a lack of familiar training structure that we’d become so accustomed to. I found myself sinking into quite a low place, feeling like I’d only just got out of the first quarantine. Radiating pain in my adductor longus started to appear due to overuse combined with poor biomechanics due to lack of strength and conditioning work to supplement my mileage over these quarantines. The inability to run pain-free and a team shut down weighed on me. With an abundance of time alone with my thoughts, I think I began to feel slightly homesick and get really stuck in my thoughts. At one point I needed some medication to help me out of this hole alongside some serious meditation and mindfulness work. During this time I turned to books, I learned new songs on my guitar, I went on walks and collected various rocks/crystals, and learned about how they are formed in the different ecosystems of Idaho. Looking back, it is important to know what you enjoy outside of sport and keep fostering these alongside it.
Early this year I had to take a break from collegiate running as I couldn’t handle high-pressure situations or more quarantines. I was also in a situation that involved a serious breach of trust, and in a minor car accident which sent me plummeting further into the ‘weeds’ (an analogy). I honestly hit a very low spot, and am still working my way out of this. I am frustrated at myself for not being able to bounce back from this quicker. I am working on acknowledging the headspace I am in, and justifying that these new feelings I am experiencing are normal given the situation. The biggest part of all of this is not feeling like I was a part of something, being away from family and away from my team-mates felt extremely lonely. After all, I moved to the U.S. to run collegiately. At one point, the team and the lifestyle of the team were all I knew in this country.
Over the last 2 months, I have made a very large effort to get myself back on track. I gave myself an all-or-nothing attitude. I made a choice. My mentor calls it, ‘The Choice Point.’ It is to ‘act in a manner that is either consistent or inconsistent with your values.’ Essentially, if we let ourselves think consistently in a negative manner on auto-pilot, we don’t make any changes. I like to trouble-shoot this by allowing myself to feel the feelings for a minute or so, and then choose to act in a way that is beneficial to me. Sometimes we won’t be able to do this and instead fall back into old habits. That is ok – practice grace for yourself in these moments. It takes practice and consistent work. As does every skill. The simplest way to remember is when you have a choice about a feeling or action, stop and evaluate, then act in a way consistent with your goals and values.
Some food for thought – we also create our reality through the thoughts, feelings, words, visuals, images, and conversations we experience day in and day out. Watch that the narrative you are creating in the present and moving forward doesn’t follow a consistently negative storyline. We are in charge. The past is the past, it happened, it will resolve naturally. We can only impact the now because only the now exists. It might sound airy-fairy, I know, but it’s the stone-cold truth.
Running Social Media is not reality
This is so important to remember. Everything you see on social media is the carefully selected, best parts of someone’s life. This includes my Instagram, Facebook and Strava. It is just running and sports, and the best parts selected. Why would I post the bad days, or write about the bad times? No one really wants to see that or hear about it. Social media is meant to be a quick fix. But maybe we should normalize this? I wonder what change or response it would create across these platforms if people were a little more genuine about what they post and how they post.
Essentially, it is what they want you to see. In the case of sponsored athletes and professionals of certain disciplines, it is often what is required or expected by the receiving audience. Don’t get sucked in, or as I am trying to very lamely coin, ‘Don’t get stuck in the suck.’ It’s an addiction – looking at what others are doing, what equipment they have, the scenery they get to run in, their stats. The negative side can be a game of comparison or ‘I’m not good enough’. The positive side can be a place of camaraderie, knowledge sharing, connecting with friends and family, and having a laugh.
Running is my fallback when the going gets tough
When push comes to shove, running is my fallback. I won’t lie about this. I simply am a better person if I get out the door each day to run. Whether or not this is considered ‘healthy, I don’t really care. I make it through my injuries perfectly fine and with a greater knowledge of the human body and how to take care of my own even better. I can’t even shoot out some decent anatomy terms now! Not the coolest party trick, but I will take what I can get! I also love to work hard so when rest time happens, I can really kickback.
Remember,
“It’s not what you think you can do that holds you back, it’s what you think you can’t.”
Thank you again, Malia.
(Malia, my team-mate was sitting opposite me the entire time I wrote this article, firing these inspirational quotes at me as I harassed her with questions about how to write and structure this article. Much love.)
Do you ever find yourself thinking out on a run, “why am I doing this?” Why do we put our body through pain, wake up ridiculously early, sometimes when we don’t want to, and still hit the pavement or trails?
I contemplate this question often, and what I found for me and others I have asked is that the role running plays in our life changes frequently. For example, I run as it brings me joy, to challenge myself and test my limits on occasion, to learn to be a good team-mate, to be a better decision-maker under pressure (think quick decisions in racing) to better my mental and physical health, to escape traumatic events and situations (as an outlet), and sometimes, quite honestly, running is a coping mechanism for me, especially in times of emotional challenge.
I was inspired to write this post as I think it’s important to explore this question as a runner. The answer to this question at certain points in your life can reveal the place you are in from a mental health standpoint. Tuning in to this is an immensely powerful tool. I personally have utilized it frequently over this tumultuous world context at present, particularly when I notice I am using running to cope with stress or other life issues. There’s no problem with this when it is ‘your why’ on occasion, however, it is important to recognize if there is a trend and address it.
Why do runners like to run?
My lovely team-mate Olivia and I, out for a run and laugh.
Interestingly, a lot of my team-mates began running because they weren’t so good at other sports. I can definitely say I am in this boat.orning can often provoke some philosophical thinking (at least for myself!). Sometimes I find it quite meditative, especially on early morning sunrise trail runs. I feel like I am awake before the ‘world’ wakes up in a sense, and very at peace with myself in nature.
But this isn’t always the story. As soon as I recognized that I tended to place running as a sort of stress coping mechanism tool I asked myself, what is the goal I am trying to achieve by placing running as this form of “tool” in my life? I couldn’t come up with a good answer. I recognized this trend in the early stages of COVID quarantine, back in March and April of this year (2020). I came to the conclusion that running can definitely play this role for me at times in my life, but it is dangerous if it becomes the sole reason for running when races and practices are nowhere to be found.
Recognizing the trend was my first step in truly understanding my motivation to run, and the role running plays in my life. It actually took COVID, when races are canceled and running is purely self-motivated, to realize these things. It is an important self-discovery as an athlete and has skyrocketed me for further growth.
It’s important to discern that the role running plays to us personally, and our motivation to run are both interconnected and different. Let me explain.
Definitions:
Role: The function assumed or part played by a person or thing in a particular situation.
So, running as it fits in our life – what function does it have for you? Because it makes you happy? You like the challenge and testing your limits? Physically and mentally bettering yourself? A coping mechanism? A stress-relief tool?
These will obviously change depending on the situation and context, as the definition states. The role running plays to us personally underlying motivators to a goal/goals we are trying to achieve. Like goals, our ‘why we run’ should evolve over time as you evolve as both an athlete and a person.
I asked a teammate on a recent run why she runs, looking for a variety of answers for this post. She said because it makes her happy. Surprisingly, I hadn’t thought of this first thing, but as an athlete who dedicates so many hours to running, it should be the number one reason. At the end of the day, when competitions and formal practices are canceled, we run to have fun and because we love it. better ourselves as people and athletes and become a stronger team player.
“Running is my meditation, mind flush, cosmic telephone, mood elevator, and spiritual communion”
– Lorraine Moller, Olympic Bronze Medalist
Motivation: The general desire or willingness of someone to do something or the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.
This often changes, different to the role of running. Often races are our motivation, but with no racing, that has had to change. My motivations each day change from a desire to explore a new trail, to feel like I have achieved something first thing in the morning, to catch up with teammates, to maintain fitness for when races do roll back around, to get to the lovely brunch + mimosas waiting on the other side of a long run…
Motivation to run and role running has in our life can be the same at that very moment. For example, if I am highly stressed, and looking for some outside time, to make myself a little tired and get a hit of endorphins, I am running for mental health and stress relief.
When running becomes a coping mechanism to deal with stress, adverse life situations, trauma, and other mental health challenges, it can honestly be a savior. It is great we have a tool like running to help us through these tough times.
The danger is, what happens if we get injured or sick, and we can’t run for a while?
It’s important to have other things you enjoy and can throw yourself into when you can’t run. Running playing the main role in your life as a coping mechanism is risky, as I mentioned earlier. If you think that you might fall into this boat here and there, or full-time, I challenge you to learn an instrument, find an art form you’re passionate about, learn a skill, like Indian Curry cooking and the purpose of different spices (I learned how to make a variety of curries from scratch over COVID, it was super rewarding and I now have a new life skill).
Interestingly, at my lowest point this year I had very little energy or motivation to give to running at all. Even if I wanted to, mentally I was drained, which meant physically I had nothing to give. I got myself out of this rut, and I’m much better for it, as a person and athlete.
Stress is stress to the body, I was always told growing up by the influential sports people in my life. The body can’t tell the difference between stress caused emotionally, to stress accumulated from physical fatigue. I keep this in the back of my mind and provide myself with forgiveness, patience, and love when needed in regards to training if things are on the tougher side. It’s just life! Besides, put things in perspective – for those younger runners out there, missing a session will not impact you in the long term. Distance running is a long term game, reliant on consistency, intuition, self-awareness, and mental + physical health.
Remember the cups analogy (credit to my BSU coach!) from my Smart Running Training post? Here’s a reminder below…..
Imagine your life is balanced between different cups, that are each half-filled with water. Considering this analogy, most of us have cups for:
Work
School/College
Social life
Family
Sports/Exercise/Training
Recovery/downtime/me-time
Hobbies
All these cups need to be balanced with certain amounts of water, not overflowing. This is optimal to reduce stress and anxiety in our life. Before you think, “that’s impossible” – hear me out.
If 1 cup is overflowing with water, for example – a heavy load at work, something else has to give. Some of that water needs to go somewhere else to balance the extra work stress out.
If multiple cups begin to overflow, we start to spread ourselves thin. Don’t panic if this is you, especially at this time in the world at present. We just have to reevaluate priorities and potentially make a few shifts or changes to better suit our needs.
So, next time you want to push your limits or step outside your comfort zone in training, for example, make sure your cups allow for this. Same for any other endeavor. You’ll recover better, perform better, and develop smart habits for the future. It’s establishing foundations for long-term success in running or whatever it is you want to do.
Running motivation quotes to get you fired up!
I have a few favorite quotes.
“Fortune favors the daring”
– Virgil, The Aeneid
“I always keep in mind that it’s better to be undertrained and healthy rather than incredibly fit but injured”
– Ashton Eaton, two-time Olympic gold medalist & world record holder
“Excellence is not a singular act but a habit. You are what you do repeatedly.”
– Shaquille O’Neil (15x all-star, won 4 NBA Championships)
Remember, we are all just trying to do our best as people. Running is a reflection of life in this sense – hurdles, barriers, obstacles, tough days, great days, proud moments. Feel through them all, one step at a time.
When you think college athlete or student-athlete, the common things that come to mind are becoming part of a college team, NCAA (national collegiate athletic association), high-quality fields of talented individuals, traveling to meets, fast cross country courses, lots of team gear, completing a degree, and moving out of home – potentially even overseas. All these things are a part of the student-athlete experience. I personally chose to come to the US and study at Boise State as a graduate/masters level collegiate athlete. I was offered a sport halfway through my undergraduate degree in Australia, after winning the 2017 U20 National Cross Country Championships. It was fair to say that this race changed my life forever. A bold statement, but sitting here at my computer now and reflecting on my first year living in Idaho, this is an extremely fair conclusion.
It was difficult to make the decision to move my life overseas aged 21 when I felt comfortable in Australia with my coaching set-up and university team there. However, I felt like I needed to take on a new adventure. I wasn’t quite ready to go into the working world full-time (I tried this for half a year before I left), Sydney is expensive to move out of home in, and a collegiate athletic scholarship would provide me with the luxury of being ‘paid’ in a sense to do what I love, be a part of a team and make new friends, move out of home, live in a foreign country and see new places, and experience the true long-term independence I had been craving.
What does it mean to be a student-athlete?
If you’re a student-athlete, you are expected to balance your academics, training, and college life – and do it well. I have improved my time management skills immensely, learning to prioritize and time-block (scheduling – I personally love to use Google Calendar) so I can travel to meets stress-free and perform at my best, and have the social life that I desire as a graduate student in a new country. This was a must for me. I am the best athlete I can be when I’m happy, which means a balance of social life, study (I study a master’s of music performance in vocal studies), and training.
I had some idea of what to expect when I moved to America to study at Boise State as I had been in continual contact with the coaches, asking them numerous questions for over 9 months. I wrote a list every time I thought of a question and would cross them off as I asked them. The coaches were always willing to answer, and answer promptly.
What are the benefits of being a college athlete?
The support system is one of the biggest benefits. I’ll use my school, Boise State, as an example. The program here has been designed to optimize training and student-athlete health, so you can perform at your best and balance your other life commitments. We have multiple training staff that attends our training sessions, a team sports-performance psychologist, sports nutritionist, and some excellent athletic trainers and athletic training facility. We are allowed to visit the athletic training room 6 times a week if we wish and work with the athletic trainers to address niggles and injury concerns, and recover from training sessions/workouts. Often we go straight after practice, as the center is right near the athletics track. The room is decked out with foam rollers, compression boots, thera-guns, cupping, and dry needling kits, an ice bath, compression ice gear, heat packs, and a small rehab weights and equipment area.
The Training
The training is slightly different from home, which is to be expected with any new coach and program. We keep with the standard recovery run, 2x workouts a week for the most part (including fartleks, tempo runs, track sessions, grass sessions), a mid-week longer run, a sprint session, and a weekend-long run to finish off the week. The main differences for me were the addition of pre-cross country season altitude training up in the hills and ski resort in the warmer months, the team-based focus including groups for workouts, and a very season centered workout approach (Outdoor, indoor track, and cross country).
Team Focus
There is no denying that team camaraderie and a team-based focus is crucial to student-athlete life. One cross-country season at Boise State was enough to show me the immense importance of working as a team in what is often regarded as an individual sport, and as a result, I have friends and training partners for life, all around the world. In cross country, it is so important that the team finish as high as possible, so we need the whole team to perform at their very best, to place well in meets. To do this, we must work together in race scenarios to optimize the result at the end. It is also important to mention that I love having people to run with all the time. I can choose whether I go solo on some days, but for the most part, it is nice to know that I always have friends up for a jog.
Finances
Yes, we do get a stipend. The university pays us a certain amount each month to cover living expenses such as groceries, rent, phone bills, potential car payments, and entertainment money. This will differ from university to university.
Travel
Traveling and team camps are also another perk of being a collegiate athlete. In this past year, I’ve had the opportunity to visit states such as Utah, Washington, Oregon, and Indiana for competition, and explore heaps of Idaho. We also have a team camp once a year, which is a great way to meet new teammates, and have a weekend away in a cool part of Idaho.
Student-Health Support and Athletic Trainers
I mentioned this earlier in the post, however, it is important to mention it as a massive benefit of being a student-athlete. We have amazing athletic trainers who help us manage niggles and injury, to get us running and healthy again. I also have worked with the sports psychologist and sports nutritionist to optimize my mental toughness and mental skills, and diet to match my energy needs.
Student-athletes and academics: how do you balance it?
A good college program will have an Athletic Department Academic Advising facility and resources. At Boise State, we have PRECO, a study area with printers, computers, and group study areas right where the athletic facilities are such as locker rooms, the weight room, and staff offices. For undergraduate students, they are expected to log a certain number of hours studying in the PRECO center – as a graduate student, this is not required, however, I took advantage of this resource to remove myself from the distractions of home. Our team academic advisor is brilliant – she handles inquiries about classes, difficulties with the competition, and class commitment and helped me keep on track with my academics over the past year.
The school expects you to get a medium range GPA each semester, to meet the academic eligibility standards so you can compete in collegiate competition. Most student-athletes in the past 2 years have recorded an average of GPA 3.0 or higher. This is definitely achievable. It is truly about time management and making sure you work productively. Some tips I utilize include:
Work to your chronotype (early bird or a night owl, maybe you’re a bit of both!) I am an early bird – so I like to start my day with an hour of work, and then train. Or train, then work.
We are more creative when we are tired, as our brains are more easily distracted. That’s why you come up with cool ideas right before you fall asleep. Keep a journal beside your bed to jot down anything you need, so you don’t forget
Eat the frog first – do your least favorite piece of work first thing. This way you’ll ease into the day better, and recover better from training by facilitating a less stressful environment in the evening.
Make your to-do list visible. I pin mine up on the wall at the beginning of the day and have a sticky note open on my desktop.
Make sure your workspace is neat and free of distractions. Maybe put the phone in a drawer on silent for a couple of hours?
Download f.lux for technology screen lightning that suits the time of day you are working.
Can NCAA Athletes have jobs?
If you are an American citizen, you can have a job anywhere in the city or on campus, and work the number of hours that suit you and fit in with your training load, academics, and social life. You just have to submit a form to the student-athlete compliance office to let them know you have a job and the details. There are rules set by the NCAA that you must meet to ensure you retain student-athlete eligibility. For example:
You can’t use your name, image or likeness to make money at current. However, there is debate and talk of change around this rule in the near future
You must be paid the going rate for the job you are doing
You must be hired under the intention that you are the right fit for the job, and not simply because you are a student-athlete.
If you are coming to the US from another country, the rules are slightly different. My F1 student visa allows me to work up to 15 hours at an on-campus job. It is more limiting in options than for a US Citizen, in this sense. The jobs are well-advertised and not too tricky to apply for. We use a platform called ‘Handshake’ and have careers advising center which was helpful for me when looking for an on-campus position last semester.
Any student-athlete can apply for internships if they are approved or organized by the athletics department. I know plenty of athletes that take advantage of this opportunity during the long summer break.
Fun facts about college athletes:
When we travel, especially for track meets, in our free time we can often explore the city we are staying in. For example, when we traveled to Seattle we could explore some of the city in the evening if we wished
When recruits come to visit, often we will throw team events and dinners to introduce them to the team, the team culture, and show them around Boise. It’s super fun to be a tourist in your own city for a little bit. I’ve eaten at some nice places and met some lovely potential teammates by being involved in the recruiting process. I personally made an official visit to BSU before deciding to commit to the program.
You can choose whether you live on or off-campus. I live off-campus and like this option, as I can separate school life from personal life more effectively
We do get awesome new shoes often from our team sponsor Nike. We are very lucky to receive this support. It’s like Christmas every time we get a gear drop!
Yes, we do have a social life. Boise has a great down-town. I love to go dancing when it fits in with competition and training, it has great Italian, Mexican, Japanese (yes, including poke bars), Vietnamese, Thai food, and there’s even Himalayan which I recently discovered. It has a nice bar scene, including cocktail bars, distilleries, and wine tasting cellars. I’m over 21 now, so it is silly to deny that this isn’t a small part of my student life here. I’m an avid post-long-run beer fan. Shout out to Boise Brewing Company.
It is important to establish a clear purpose/s and goal/s for your website or blog. This will guide your focus when creating the platform and content, and allow for smoother decision making as you follow the construction process. Some questions to ask yourself are:
What are you trying to communicate to your audience?
What are your short and long term goals with this website?
Why are you establishing this platform of communication to the world?
I recommend writing these down in a notebook that you dedicate to jotting down anything to do with your blog, small business website (whatever your purpose!). These can be anything from ideas for your next blog post, random late-night to-do thoughts, or miscellaneous stream of consciousness writing. Whatever, get creative.
Trello.com
This nifty ‘to-do list’ style website will help you keep track of what you need to do, what you’re working on, and what you’ve finished: https://trello.com/. The great thing about it is you can add multiple users who can also adjust the list, and see what you’re doing. Everyone’s on the same page!
Establish a domain
This is your URL to your website. In other words, your web address (like a home address). It is easy to get confused and assume this is your ‘website’. The website is the product that is created once a ‘host’ server is established (the house). URLs were created to get around the issue of IP addresses, which is an identification number that computers use to communicate with each other. These numbers are difficult to remember, so personalized URL creation was established to make this much easier.
Before you purchase a domain, you need to make sure to check if the name is available. The links inserted below will lead you to the domain purchase sites where you can also search URL name availability. Choosing a ‘.com’ URL is best in most cases, as it is easy to remember and the most widely used URL style.
I also recommend choosing HTTPS secured links, as these sites are more trusted by Google, and therefore rank better.
If you’re running a business from this site, clients are more likely to feel safer purchasing off an HTTPS secure site. See the links below are, ‘https’ before the ‘www.’ This is what I am referring to:
I highly recommend WordPress. Statistics show that it “powers over 30% of the entire internet”, (for an interesting read see: Venturebeat.com). WordPress is great because of its variety of options, versatility, and user-friendliness.
Popular domain establishment sites + cost breakdown:
Around $8.88 a year for a ‘.com’ link. This is a very simple, cheap option and seems to work well. Unlike Wix, discussed below, it is just for the purpose of establishing a domain.
Wix is slightly different, as it allows you to purchase a domain, web hosting and website building software all in the same package. You can choose this option which consolidates the number of websites and platforms you use to help create your own website. However, I have found that using a specific website link ‘Namecheap’ to purchase a domain, a separate hosting server like ‘host-gator’ and a specific website builder like ‘WordPress’ just as effective. If not more!
Wix has multiple different plans, which it advertises as ‘per month cost’. Select the one that best suits your needs (referring back to the purpose of the site in section 1 of this post). From a personal standpoint, I’d recommend the ‘Unlimited’ plan, as it has lots of options. The simple ‘Connect Domain’ plan is very limited and can be frustrating in this sense.
Similar to Namecheap, you can purchase domains quite cheaply on Godaddy. I tested out a domain I’m interested in which ends in ‘.com’. It offered me $0.99 for the first year, and around $17.99-19.99 every year after that. However, if you buy multiple years in one package, it is often more economical.
You’ll need a hosting server
Websites need to be stored on a server, as we mentioned above. This is essentially ‘the house’ to your address (URL). A web hosting service provides the user with the services required for the website to be viewed on the internet. For example, when you search for a website in a browser, the browser connects you to the server and the web page is then delivered to you through the browser. So, a browser is just a gateway between the server and your web page.
I like to use Hostgator. It is cheap, links with WordPress (a great site builder) and has awesome customer service.
Host gator has 3 plans, as shown in the link above. I recommend a Hatchling Plan if you are just starting out, and only planning on establishing 1 domain. This is $2.75/month. However, if you plan on owning multiple domains in the future, the Baby or Business plan would suit your needs better.
Install self-hosted WordPress via QuickInstall
Log in to your cPanel on www.hostgator.com (the server hosting site discussed above)
Hit the menu page labeled Software, and then click ‘QuickInstall’
Under ‘Website Essentials’, hit ‘One-Click Installs’
Then select the WordPress icon on the next page.
Select which domain you’d like to have WordPress installed in to.
Complete the form that will appear
Congratulations, you just need to check your emails for your WordPress login credentials and a link to your WordPress admin page, and you can begin building from there!
For a more comprehensive explanation, visit this website:
It’s highly recommend that you use WordPress. Statistics show that it “powers over 30% of the entire internet”, (for an interesting read see: https://venturebeat.com/2018/03/05/wordpress-now-powers-30-of-websites/). WordPress is great because of its variety of options, versatility, and user-friendliness.
Getting started with WordPress
To begin, pick a minimalist theme/suited to the aims of your website. Why minimalist? It draws attention to what is important in your website, which is the content.
Under the ‘appearance’ menu hit ‘themes’
Selecting one of these themes establishes how your website will look to the audience. Different themes allow for different customization options and enhance certain features. For blogs, we generally recommend something that is simple: it draws the readers attention to your post, not clogged up side content.
Pick a font, generally speaking, one with the word ‘Sans’ in it works best
You could use ‘Open Sans’ font
To choose from a variety of fonts, visit https://fonts.google.com/. Here you can download fonts in a zip file, and use them in wordpress when writing content.
Set up your pages → under ‘pages’ menu in WordPress
Homepage (seen by the audience)
Content/posts page (seen)
Contact (seen)
Find us online (hidden, this is purely for link building)
Brand Guidelines
(hidden, this is where you record the details of your site building you might forget, such as your chosen font, color palette codes, etc)
Widgets
(WordPress admin → Appearance → Widgets)
Widgets are small blocks that have particular functions that you can add to your website. It affects the design and aesthetic layout of your site.
Some of the key widgets I have chosen to use are:
Archives (monthly archive of site’s posts)
Navigation Menu (to display different pages on your site)
Recent Comments (displaying comments on your posts)
Recent Posts (most recent posts)
Plugins
Plugins are how we add extra features to a website. They enhance the user experience of the website. Some of these will run in the background, whilst others are interactive and customizable. This is a good order to install the basic plugins to begin with, for ease of use:
Classic editor → enables the WordPress classic editor, old-style edit post screen. Supports older plugins
Really Simple SSL → SSL(Secure Sockets Layer), ensures the security of your website
Yoast SEO → an SEO solution for WordPress. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and works effectively with the Google algorithms.This runs in the background and enhances your site. Some of the features include:
Keyword and synonym optimization
Readability analysis → reading-ease score
Image optimization → helps you rank images
Insert headers and footers → to insert code or text into the header and footer of your website pages, for softwares to track and gather data, such as Google Analytics
Popup Maker → create popups, easily edit their theme, design, size. You name it!
Gravity Forms Plugin
Sadly the Gravity forms software does have a cost to install and utilize as a feature, but it is well worth it, and a small investment for long term gain. This feature costs $59 and can be added directly to WordPress via the plugin installation. – https://www.gravityforms.com. It allows you to:
Easily create web forms and manage form entries within the WordPress admin. This is important if you want to establish a Newsletter or Contact Us page, which is highly recommended for any website type.
Install the Gravity Forms Plugin, hit activate, and enter the support license key you received upon downloading the software via the Gravity Forms website.
Your Analytical Toolbox (how we gather data to enhance your website)
This section will teach you how to set up the essential software you need to gather data and analytics, optimize your experience as a website owner, and better the audience’s experience of your platform. This covers what you should begin with, and what you should set up soon after you’ve got the hang of things.
When I mention ‘Keywords’, this is what I am referring to. Keywordseverywhere is a browser add-on (or extension) that has a free or premium version. The premium version after a few months of establishing and getting the hang of your website is optimal. For now, install the free version. Here you will be able to see the related keywords to your google searches, and what other people are searching related to those keywords.
The premium version is fantastic, as you can see “monthly search volume, cost per click and competition data for keywords on multiple websites like Google Analytics, Google Search Console etc.”
It’s a good idea to target your blog posts and content around keywords which are not overly used and could rank well on Google with some smart post writing, promotion on various social media and link building methods.
Set-up Google Search Console
The Google Search Console (GSC) will be one of your foundational go-to tools for reports on analytics regarding the performance of your organic-search traffic in google. GSC assists in establishing that your site exists with Google. It makes your site searchable and builds trust with Google.
It also provides you with valuable analytics for your website. For example, the number of times your site links have been clicked via a google search engine result (known as an impression, which will discuss a bit later). It also reports on:
Post-click data regarding engagement with the content in your site such as:
E-commerce conversion rates
Performance of an individual blog post (via the posts unique link)
Bounce rate (the number of people who visit a website and navigate away after only viewing a single page)
Add your website and verify it with Search Console. To do this, select the ‘property dropdown in Search Console’. Next, hit ‘+ Add Property’ on the dropdown. Add the property under the specific category.
You’ll be asked to verify the domain or URL’s added to the Console. You can verify it immediately or do this later.
Once you verify, it is important to enable GSC data sharing → click ‘Admin’ and then ‘property in which you want to enable Search Console data sharing’.
Hit ‘Property’, then ‘Property Settings’. Scroll down to Search Console Settings, and you should see the URL/s that you have added. This confirms that your website has been verified in GSC and you now have permission to make changes.
Select the ‘Reporting view’ for the URL you want to see the GSC data.
Note: GSC keeps data for at least 16 months.
Set-up Google Analytics
Google Analytics allows you to collect simple data about your website.
Set up a property (your website) in your Analytics account. To do this, hit ‘Admin’, then hit the ‘Account’ column. Select the account to which you want to add the website/URL.
In the ‘Property’ column, click ‘+Create Property’ → hit ‘Web’, and enter a name for the property
Enter the website URL, and make sure to select the protocol (this should be ‘https’ which we looked at earlier in the post). Also, enter the simple domain name eg. www.website.com
Select your industry category, and reporting time zone.
Hit ‘Create’, and accept the terms of service. Then hit ‘Finish’.
Next, we have to ‘Add a new view’ for the property (your website).
Sign in, hit ‘Admin’ and then select the page titled ‘account and property to which you want to add the view’.
Under the ‘View’ column, click the menu, then hit ‘+Create View’
Hit ‘Website view’ for the online copy of analytics, or ‘Mobile app’ for a mobile analytics view. They are slightly different from an analytical standpoint.
Enter a Name for the data, select your time zone.
Hit ‘Create View’.
Note: if your analytics account is going to be linked to a Google Ads account, data from Google Ads will be automatically imported to any ‘New View’ you create in Analytics.
Find your Google Analytics ID to add a tracking code to your website
Sign in to your Analytics account
Hit Admin, then select your desired account from ‘Account’ column
Select a ‘Property’ (your website) from the ‘Property’ column
Under Property, click tracking info → tracking code. The ‘Tracking ID’ will be displayed at the top of the page.
Now that you have your ID, you’ll want to add it to your site. I recommend installing the ‘Headers and Footers’ Plugin to your site, so you can copy and paste this information onto your pages. See the screenshot below from https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1008080
Tip: Be sure to install the Google Analytics App, so you can gather data from your device! Global Site Tags allow for on-demand data tracking via google analytics for each page of your website.
The Google Marketing Platform
It’ll be useful to make an account on the Google Marketing platform to manage your Google Ads accounts and to install these other software products for your website. Similarly, you’ll have to paste a bit of code like the one above into the header or footer of your website pages you wish to have the software chosen active on.
I recommend installing:
Google Optimize → this allows you to create the best possible version of your website, in an everchanging online environment and the outside world. For example, you can create variants of your webpage and content (or experiments) and test them against other variables to see how they would perform before your release the content.
Google Tag Manager → Free tag management. This allows you to manage and utilize marketing tags (code snippets) on your website. From there, you can track multiple features of your website such as conversions and analytics.
Data studio (data reporting)→ to generate data reports of analytics to make smarter business decisions
Use it as a means to write about what you actually want to write about
Answer the question, and segue into the similar topic….
Remember, posts with more writing content generally do better overall! At least 1000 words is key.
Always begin with a photo that is relatable to the audience and post
Humans love visual content, our brains respond to it easily. Draw your audience in with a lovely, high-quality photo before your first paragraph of text begins.
Of course, this should relate to the content discussed, and if possible, include a human body part in it. Why? Our brains are hardwired to respond to visuals first, it is our first true connection to the outside world when we are born. As a baby, we’d seek out faces we recognize, and associate them with comfort (subconsciously). Further, visual input sparks emotion. Emotion is key to igniting a response from the potential audience.
Label the image description and title the keyword of your post. For example, if you are writing about ‘5K Meal Plan’, the first image would be called ‘5K meal plan 1’, and so on.
Trickle images throughout the post. I’d say around 2 for a post around 1000 words.
Getting your website out there
We like to take a multi-faceted approach, which means to expose the content of the website to many different marketing platforms. Think visual content sites like Pinterest, interactive blog platforms such as Tumblr, popular forums platforms like Quora, and the usual suspects Instagram and Facebook. Here, we engage with users who are interested in the content you are writing about, or products you are selling. The multi-faceted approach establishes the foundations to achieve the best possible number of impressions for your content (the number of people who are exposed to your content, whether they choose to engage with it or not). Likely, some of these users will engage with your post (your ‘Reach’). This is your audience, from whom we gather data to further refine the marketing and exposure process. Sound complicated? It’ll get easier as we go. Trust me!
Link Building
Link building involves answering questions regarding your topic and specifically, the keyword/s of your post on popular forums (like Quora). For example, I searched for people asking questions surrounding ‘Best 5K running shoes’ on Google. I answered questions in a popular running forum called ‘Let’s Run’, ensuring I added my link to the bottom of the post, directing the readers to my website. With Quora, it is the exact same process. I highly recommend reading these great in-depth articles surrounding Quora Back-Links and Types of Backlinks to build your knowledge in this area. It is a really effective way to build the popularity of your website and, eventually, make the front page of Google search results.
Types of Backlinks: Backlink Matrix and Backlink Portfolio
A quick tip with Quora, be careful of posting your link too many times, as Quora admin may remove your posts. Just answer a few specific questions targeted to your keyword in focus.
Keep it simple and neat, with a key image (the one you used on your post).
For example, I used a simple theme, and selected my color from my color scheme on Coolors.co. See below
Coolors.co
Color palette selection platform → establishes your websites color scheme. Record the codes (for example, #F303BA) somewhere same, such as your Brand Guidelines page you have/will create (WordPress admin → pages)
Here’s my example:
Head Back to Pinterest.
Hit your user icon and the ‘+’ to ‘Create Pin’. Add the pin image you created on Canva. In the description add the keywords associated with your post.
Remember to include your URL link to your post.
Congratulations, you’ve created your first blog post associated pin.
Tumblr
Tumblr is a cross between a social networking site and a blog. Creating a Tumblr account will be purely for the purpose of increasing exposure of your website on the internet to a greater audience. You can copy the individual links of your posts to your ‘Find me online’ page on WordPress, and then index them (see Link Building).
To begin, create an account on https://www.tumblr.com/. Just like we did on WordPress, select a theme, a font, and post your content from WordPress on Tumblr as well. We should treat it like a system. What goes up on WordPress as a content post, should also be made into a pin on Pinterest, a Text AND link post on Tumblr, and so on. Always remember to utilize the keywords of your post, and link back to your site. On your dashboard you’ll have these options available to create targeted posts:
Facebook ads/Instagram ads
Running facebook ads is an essential part of advertising a business or product. According to the Pew Research Center, 70% of Facebook users in the U.S log into Facebook on a daily basis. From this statistic we can conclude that there is large market exposure potential on this platform. The great thing about Facebook ads is it is extremely easy to ‘target’ the users you want to market to, and it runs your ads on Instagram as well.
The targeting features facebook offers are:
Audience targeting, with customizable features
Location
Gender
Interests → keywords can be used here!
People with connections to your app, page or event
Language
Behaviours → people who have visited your website or interacted with your content
You also need to select your budget and duration of the promotion.
Next, you’ll be guided to design the look of your ad, with the features shown in the screenshot below available to you.
Facebook ad budget
It’s a great idea to create a budget spreadsheet on google sheets to manage your costs for 12 months. Pick a budget that you can sustain for 12 months, and work with this.
Here is a template for $150 a month to get your started. This is quite a low budget if you are wanting to monetize the blog or small business website in any form. However, we have to start somewhere! This template is customizable to your needs.
Mailchimp allows you to create newsletters, ads, landing pages, and CRM tools.
You can create your first Newsletter on Mailchimp about your blog post, and target subscribers who register via a popup form they receive when they visit your website.
Below will show you how to create a popup and link subscribers from your WordPress site to Mailchimp.
Zapier → Connecting Gravity Forms, WordPress and Mailchimp
Create an account on www.zapier.com, the workflow management website now, to make your life easier later.
Once you’ve made an account, create your first Zap.
Choose Gravity forms under ‘App’
The ‘trigger event’ should be ‘New Form Submission’
3. Next, in section 2. Select Mailchimp, and under ‘Choose Action Event’, select ‘Add/Update subscriber’. See below:
4. Congratulations! You’ve created your first Zap, and now your newsletter subscriber form submissions from your website will be directly linked to Mailchimp.
5. Head over to WordPress and add a new Plugin. It is called the Gravity Forms Zapier add-on → for the smooth integration of Gravity forms and Zapier, so your newsletter list subscribers are automatically sent to your configured zaps!
6. Under the forms tab in your WordPress Admin menu, hit forms, and select the ‘Newsletter’ form you have created.
7. Under Settings on the ‘Newsletter’ form editing page, you’ll see a new column labeled ‘Zapier’. This confirms the connection is established.
Let me know if you start the process of creating your own website! I’d love to hear about it. Still got questions? Comment below or you can visit the ‘Contact’ page above.
There’s no doubt it’s crazy times we live in right now. We need to be smart with spending whilst still fueling our body to stay as healthy as possible. I run at the moment for the pure joy of it, the outdoors time each day and the mental clarity it provides. When I’m consistently running, I’m almost always hungry. It is important to consider the necessary nutritional intake for any training you may be doing at this time. Stress is stress, whether it be physical or mental, so eating well, and enough is essential to keep the immune system in check. Don’t let this one slide right now.
I’ve put together these tips for you, so you can save some extra cash in these next few months (or however long this thing is going to last!), and still enjoy your cooking and eating.
Write a list
Writing a grocery list might sound like a frustrating thing, however, it will ensure your grocery trip is the most cost-effective and time-efficient. You’re more likely to stick to your grocery budget if you write a list!
When writing a list, it can be handy to categorize it. Most grocery stores will have the fresh produce and potentially specific colder goods in the first few aisles or entry section, so I tend to write these on the list first, as shown in my sample template below. Often the bakery section and bulk produce are in the same area, so I place any goods I need from these sections next. The middle aisles hold the cheapest food items, that last the longest. Essentially, your non-perishables like canned goods, preserves, nut butters, cereal, pasta, rice, etc. Meats and often dairy goods are in the same general area towards the back or sides of the store. I like to add these goods to the right side of the list. There are also frozen goods, pharmaceuticals, toiletry needs, and cleaning products, which I put at the bottom of the list.
Navigating the grocery store like a pro
Have you ever walked into a grocery store, and not known where to start? The middle aisles hold the cheapest items that last the longest. Keep in mind that this is great for saving money. If you’d rather fruit and vegetables that last a while, remember you can always get canned, frozen, or chop them up and freeze them yourself. I like to freeze bananas and chop up veggies to freeze for roasting or stir-fry later.
Another nifty tip is to always look high and low in the aisle. Fun fact, grocery stores make most of their money off brands paying to have their product placed in prominent positions around the store, not you as a consumer. The most expensive products will be placed in the middle. Generic brand products often taste the same, so save money where you can here.
Always look at the price per weight, ounce or serving if applicable. You’ll always get the better deal. The first situation I think of where I use this most is milk and toilet paper (although I wouldn’t stress about the latter, there isn’t any, anyway). Also, always buy in bulk for goods you use often. It’s the same deal with cost-effectiveness. Think oats, rice, flour, sugar, pasta, olive oil, chicken stock, seasonings, etc.
Choosing the goods.
On a budget, being open to eating cheaper cuts of meats is prime. Chicken thighs are cheaper than chicken breast, and often marinate better and contain all the flavor. Don’t believe me? Try cooking a curry with chicken breast, and then try one with thighs. Life changer.
Do your own slicing, dicing, and shredding. The stores always charge more if they make cuts or shred the item for you.
Shopping in categories for the time savvy
I’ve found it’s a good idea to have a knowledge of where you can buy produce the cheapest, packaged goods, and toiletry products. This makes grocery shopping most effective cost-wise, however, if the stores are far apart and you don’t own a vehicle, this can be a little tricky. For example, in Boise (Idaho), close to Boise State University campus and downtown, we have an Albertsons, Wholefoods, Trader Joe’s and Winco. There’s a Walmart, Costco and Fred Meyer in other areas of Boise, but they’re not easily accessible by bike or particularly close to BSU campus. These are also cheaper options.
For organic produce at a lower cost: Albertsons (open nature generic brand products), Trader Joe’s (How is it so cheap for good quality? Check out this post)
Cheapest: Winco, Walmart
For organic produce, regardless of cost: Wholefoods, Albertsons, Trader Joe’s (organic veggie section), Fred Meyer (organic section)
Savings programs?! You can get more bang for your buck
Most people’s first thoughts on joining a rewards program are annoying advertisements including multiple emails, flyers and potentially an annoying card that sits in your wallet, hardly being used. However, I’ve found Albertsons ‘Just for U’ rewards program really helpful in saving money, and also for the occasional free grocery item giveaway if I decide to shop at this location. Essentially, you make an account, and each week you can choose which coupons you add to your account. These coupons automatically deduct from the cost of groceries when you enter the phone number you registered at the checkout. Look out for ‘FREE’ groceries each week. I got a free bag of Open Nature Granola for 2 weeks in a row, some Kite Hill yogurt, and have had free bags of coffee on multiple occasions.
I know Wholefoods have rewards for Amazon Prime members. Prime members get an extra 10% off sale items, weekly deals (look for the blue prime member store icon), special deals on online grocery shopping with Amazon-like free delivery.
Moocho App: free grocery money
This app is worth downloading if you shop at Albertsons. For $5 free grocery credit upon downloading the app, use referral code: 293683. Ask to pay with Moocho at the counter and collect 1 Mooch for every $5 you spend. At 20 Mooches, you get $7 worth of grocery credit at the store. The app also connects up with Starbucks and other popular fast food joints, but given the COVID-19 restrictions, these might not be utilized at the moment.
Hey! I’m Lara, a long-distance runner, and outdoor sports enthusiast. if you want to stay up to date with my latest articles, offers, and happenings, fill out my newsletter form below:
