She was once a runner

Lize wrote:

Thank you. I hope your daughter has a long and healthy running career. I fully believe it can be done.

Hey Lize, just wanted to say that I'm a big fan of your blog and thanks so much for doing that interview!

female college runner wrote:

Hey Lize, just wanted to say that I'm a big fan of your blog and thanks so much for doing that interview!

Thank you so much. I have been a fan of her blog for a long time now, so it was a pleasure doing the interview.

Okay, I am confused by her latest post-

"Hi, if you would like to know why I haven’t updated this blog in a month, check out this interview I did with Lizze Brittin:

http://trainingonempty.blogspot.com

Thanks, and like I say in the interview, feel free to email me with suggestions! The more support I get, the more willing I will be to put out the book!

Thanks,

The Author"

I thought the reason she hadn't posted in a month was because she was going out of town. That is what she said in her second to last post and specifically said she would start posting again in August. Now she is saying that we should read her interview with Lize which would tell us why she hasn't posted in a month. The interview doesn't give any clue as to why she didn't post this past month, so I have no idea what she is talking about.

What isn't explained is why she hasn't posted since she has been back in town for almost two weeks now. Is istbecause she is thinking of making this into a book? I would hope she wouldn't just keep people hanging because of the remote possibility of turning this into a book. I think she started the blog and needs to carry the story out to its conclusion now that she has us hooked.

It's her marketing technique! You know you're going to buy it now regardless.

Maximus wrote:

I thought the reason she hadn't posted in a month was because she was going out of town. That is what she said in her second to last post and specifically said she would start posting again in August. Now she is saying that we should read her interview with Lize which would tell us why she hasn't posted in a month. The interview doesn't give any clue as to why she didn't post this past month, so I have no idea what she is talking about.

This part of the interview suggests that she hasn't posted since her return from wherever she went because she's not sure exactly how she wants to continue telling the story:

"[The story] needs to be told in a different format. I feel that posting entries on the blog breaks up the fluidity of the plot, which doesn't do the story justice. I am currently trying to figure out where I should go next with She Was Once a Runner. (Feel free to email me ideas, readers!)"

So taken together, I interpret this as "I'm back and able to post just like I said I would be, but having had some time to think I'm uncertain as to the format I want to use and am open to suggestions."

I understand why she hasn't posted since her return, although I don't agree with just stopping in the middle of a story. What I don't understand is why she said in one blog post that she was going out of town for four weeks and wouldn't be posting, but then in her last blog she says to see the interview to see why she hadn't posted in the last month. She says nothing in the interview about why she hadn't posted in the previous month, even though her blogs says to read the interview to see why.

Maximus wrote:

I don't agree with just stopping in the middle of a story.

Maybe you should ask for your money back.

Barking Spider wrote:

Maximus wrote:

I don't agree with just stopping in the middle of a story.

Maybe you should ask for your money back.

Nah, I only paid $50 to read it. How much did you pay? I just want to make sure we all had to pay the same amount.

She does have every right to stop her blog, but she had given no indication that she would do so and even said she would start posting again after she was back in town.

Maximus wrote:

she even said she would start posting again after she was back in town.

I am going out-of-town for the next four weeks and will not be able to update the blog until August. I would like to use this opportunity to thank you all for supporting my writing these last few months. You will hear more from me in the future.

I'm not seeing where she said she would take ONLY four weeks off and would resume posting on the 29th day after she gave this notice. In fact, there's nothing that comes even close to implying that she would continue writing as soon as she was back in town. "You will hear more from me in the future" is pretty opened ended, wouldn't you say?

Besides, if you think about it, going out of town is a BS excuse for not writing anyway. I highly doubt she didn't have a laptop with internet access during those four weeks. So basically, she'll write when and if she feels like it. I'm sure she is flattered that people are hanging on her story to the point that they are complaining about her sabbatical, but jeez. It ain't life or death.

I got the feeling she was going out of town for 4 weeks and then would start posting, but you are right that she really did leave it open ended. Personally I am interested in her story for several reasons, but no in the grand scheme of things it is not that important. If she did decide to stop the blog in mid-story and write a book instead, I would not buy the book based on how she is going about things. The person that interviewed the "she was once a runner blog" has written a book and is trying to get it published and I am definitely going to purchase that book, which seems to have a more appealing story line anyway. Obviously I do find the once a runner blog interesting as well or I wouldn't be reading it.

I went to one of the top universities in the country for distance running and most my teammates had some sort of disordered eating. It didn't bother me because it was their problem.

I thought my body was fine...my coach tried to tell me I wasn't "as lean as I was in high school." I told them, "please, I am NOT a 15 year old girl anymore!" The fun was sucked out of my team because of the drama. The girls were all catty and full of themselves. Most gossiped about one another and were complete haters.

I should write one of these blogs. It would of been a great story. I have just moved on from those days of my life. Now looking back it it makes me laugh at how immature college can be too. I never experienced more cattiness in my life...and it was a cancer that I'm not to proud to say I participated in as well.

Strangely (I guess) I was also out and about starting one day before her going-away post. Now I'm back and wondering where the story is, and I find its still where it was when I left, haha. Oh well.

I think she needs to expand on some of her entries if she's going to make it a non-self-published book. The longer entries she posts are usually pretty good, but sometimes she writes the equivalent of a paragraph and then its on to something else.

I feel the book "An Honorable Run", which was self-published, suffered from a similar problem (among a few others.)

That may just be a limitation of the blog format. I hope she does finish the story for us, even if she later publishes it as a book with more detail and depth added to it. Like many of you I want to know how it ends now that I've been reading the blog for so long.

zamboomba wrote:

I think she needs to expand on some of her entries if she's going to make it a non-self-published book.

The story as written stands no chance in hell of being sold to a publisher. It's compelling to people here because it hits close to home for so many of us, which is the reason so many people mistakenly refer to the writing itself as great. It's not even good, not even by high-school standards. It's one of the many examples of why people should be grateful for the existence of the Internet and blogs and the opportunity to reach large numbers of people without paying a dime.

Interestingly enough, the manuscript excerpts the person who interviewed her has posted on her own blog are fantastic and I hope she is able to find a publisher. If not I hope she creates an e-book or something.

Lize definitely has a more compelling story, especially since she was at a very high level of running at a young age. She is by far the better writer, judging by the excerpts from her as of yet unpublished book. She also is not keeping her identity hidden and is willing to open up and use herself as an example to help others. As I have said before, I will be buying her book as soon as it is published. I hope the "she was once a runner" writer finishes her story in her blog as she started out to do and then she can get some feedback and possibly turn it into a book if the feedback is good. Obviously people are interested in her story or we wouldn't have a 28 page thread going on letsrun.com about it.

Maximus wrote:

Lize definitely has a more compelling story, especially since she was at a very high level of running at a young age. She is by far the better writer, judging by the excerpts from her as of yet unpublished book. She also is not keeping her identity hidden and is willing to open up and use herself as an example to help others. As I have said before, I will be buying her book as soon as it is published. I hope the "she was once a runner" writer finishes her story in her blog as she started out to do and then she can get some feedback and possibly turn it into a book if the feedback is good. Obviously people are interested in her story or we wouldn't have a 28 page thread going on letsrun.com about it.

Good points, although I question the premise in your last sentence. If memory serves, there was once a thread at least this long about some kid who Farted While Running With The Girls.

I've read Lize's entire manuscript and she hasn't posted the best parts of it to her site. Talk about harrowing. Her style reminds me of Mary Karr ("The Liars' Club" -- a memoir about growing up in a drunken rural Texas environment). She has the advantage, at least in a literary sense, of having experienced the entire spectrum of anorexia and running from being a Kinney regional champion to almost dying to making a genuine recovery. And if you keep making posts like the ones you've made here, you won't have to spend a dime on her book -- she'll send you five autographed copies for free.

Okay, just let us know if you are done with writing the blog or not. I know a few people that keep checking every day for an update and I have checked it out a few times. If it is done, fine; just let people know either way so we can stop checking for updates. Thanks for what you have written so far; it was an entertaining story and opened up some peoples eyes to what can and does happen in some DI women's cross country programs.

My impression is that she is done with telling the story on the blog.

J.R. wrote:

My impression is that she is done with telling the story on the blog.

That is why I only check once in awhile anymore, but it would be nice to know for sure.