It’s not all about the bling…

My next guest blogger is the local photographic legend, ‘biggest loser’ and blinged up runner Jules Porter.

Jules Porter’s blog

Introduction

My name is Julian and my friends call me Jules. I am a 51-year-old photographer and I am a type 2 diabetic which means I need to stay fit and healthy to maintain my weight and the more I exercise, the more I can eat, so I exercise quite a lot! I have always struggled with my weight and I still do to this day.

I was brought up in a very sporty family, but never participated in any sports at all and it was not until I was 50 that I started running and racing and now I have become super competitive.

Blogging history

I have been blogging my business blogs daily since 2006 and decided to start this blog when I started running in March 2013. The idea is to track my races and training so that I can look back to see what I loved, what I hated and where I excelled… and so far I have not hated any of them. My reasons to blog are just the same today I still blog every race for a record.

Despite running several blogs myself I don’t really follow too many bloggers, but I do follow a few holiday blogs that I love, mostly Americans who are way over the top and one cooking blog, which is diabetes-related. I also read a few local blogs like Dean Jones running blog, but my style really comes from my other blogs. As with much of what I write, my blog style is very much “as I say it”. I am not an academic and type what I feel – simple 🙂 I write with my heart.

If you’re starting a blog then think about what you want to achieve first. A blog or “weblog” is simply that: a log or a diary, so think about posting things that you might want to look back on like race stats, weather etc. but also look at your audience and try to keep it interesting. For me, I try to do this with photographs.

Who do I blog for?

My audience would be my lovely clients who follow my running and hopefully a few running buddies. I know a few of them choose races that I blog about booking and I get quite a few comments on some posts which is nice. I have had non-running people call me and say, “that post about ……… inspired to start running”, and that makes me feel pretty good.

I blog every race – warts and all 🙂

I don’t really cover much about nutrition in my blogging, so it’s not really a challenge to me.

My blogging does not take up much time, I do it either early mornings or late at night and other than that I run a lot and spend time photographing my amazing clients, which keeps me busy.

Future plans

2014 will be an exciting year, I plan to do my first full marathon and work on my speed work much like I did earlier in 2013. I let that slide a little towards the end of the year concentrating on mileage, which I think was a mistake.

The one skill I need to master is marathon running. I have run 16 miles on my own several times but never raced more than 13.1, so that’s my new challenge. (On Wednesday this week, Jules completed a 22.5-mile marathon training run!)

Questions…

I would like to ask the next featured blogger, “What do you get from blogging personally, is putting pen to paper enough or do you thrive on feedback?”

My favourite “running-related” gadget is my Garmin 620 watch. It’s amazing and has all sorts of information to help me become a better runner. It also allows Sue [Jules Porter’s lovely wife] to follow me from her laptop and it allows me to upload my stats when finished.

I have travelled 4350 miles to run a half marathon in Disney Florida. It was amazing! I have booked to go to California this year to run a series of races and that’s 5400 miles, so getting longer!

I don’t listen to music when running.

Being a diabetic I have so many recipes that I love. We make a lot of meals together and all are clean and healthy. I don’t eat much processed food apart from cakes! I don’t really have a favourite, because it changes from month to month. For special occasions, I am a big curry fan. For daily food, I cook a lot of brown pasta and brown rice meals

I am injured right now, so I see my physio at least once a week. Plus I get a sports massage and I go to my gym and keep up my strength work.

I always put my socks on in order and I have a lucky penny sewn into my hat.

Smile and those around you smile.

If you are new to exercise take it easy and start with small challenges like the parkrun (5km) and build up slowly. Start running and don’t stop until you reach the finish. Hopefully, the finish is a long way off.

I get an awful lot from my running. My blogging helps me remember the great races and fun times and I love it. I love getting feedback from all sorts of people.

I use Facebook and Twitter although I find Twitter very boring.

Please head over to Julian’s blog and check it out – you can be certain that it will be illustrated with beautiful photos!