#blogjune Post 14 - Back to work

Alas, the long weekend is over and it's back to the grind.  Thank goodness it's only a 4 day week and next week will only be a 4 day week too because we are heading to a wedding in Qld.  I could get used to these 4 day weeks.

This morning it was up at 4.30am to meet my running buddy for a 12km easy run at 5.30am.  Hmm, since my running buddy is naturally speedy, it was not going to be an easy run.  We decided to head out along Yellow Rock Rd, which runs along beside the river and has paddocks on the other side.  A nice run when you can actually see the scenery - this morning it wasn't till we headed back that we could see anything.

The Garmin played up around 4km and started dropping in and out.  This stuffed us up a bit because we were sure the turn around was at a particular point but we had not hit 6km yet.  So we decided to turn at 5km and add a bit of a detour on our way back.  By the end it felt like we had done more than 12km but if it's not recorded on the Garmin/Strava then it never happened so we had to make sure we had done the 12km according to the watch!

Funnily enough, when I uploaded the run to Strava, it did say 12.3km (still think we did more) and apparently we went swimming across the river to North Beach.  I think Garmin was confused - perhaps it doesn't want to get back to work either!

This sort of leads in to how much I rely on technology to track my runs.  And how disappointed I get when for whatever reason it doesn't work out right.  Mind you, I do not live by the watch when I run.  In that way, I mean I don't hang off every km split it give.  Due to completing the Run Down Under virtual run around Australia, I'm more concerned that I track my km's.  And it does help having something track how far you've gone rather than trying to measure it out yourself by driving the track first.  I wonder how they did it all before km tracking watches?!?

#blogjune Post 2

Yep, I'm all for creative titles for each post - not!!  I promise to work on this.

This morning I was reading my friend, Rachel Wray's blog post about social media.  I tend to follow the same trends Rachel does.

I used to be a big user of Twitter but now only venture on there when attending conferences.  I tend to use is as a note taking/sharing device.  Or when I'm doing a challenge like this - #blogjune  Oh I also sometimes go to it when watching The Voice to check out what other viewers are saying about the contestants.  But generally Twitter is not something I check all that often.

Since moving away from family and friends, Facebook is my go to for social media.  It has also become a place I connect with other runners from all over Australia.  I go for it for the latest news reports, weather, and generally what is happening around the place.  I provide updates/snippets of what I've been doing so my family and friends can stay in touch.  I share pictures of places, people, and family.  This would be the social media tool that I use the most.

I've recently started using Instagram a bit.  Mainly because I can do running selfies and upload the image, tag and share very quickly.  It also posts to my Facebook page - 2 birds with 1 stone!

I have tried using Pinterest but find it's probably of more interest to those doing crafty things - I'm not very crafty.  That said, apparently it's good for getting some memes (sorry if I've used the wrong word) for Facebook posts for my library service's page - but I find that I have little time at work to be looking for or thinking about possible posts for our Facebook page.  I actually think that it is worthwhile having one staff member looking after a library's social media to ensure a targeted, consistent approach - not having random posts for the sake of posting.

These social media tools are about the extent that I have explored in the hundreds of tools available.  I must admit that I do use a little bit of the social aspect of Strava but find that it is more of a running recording tool for me than a social tool.

Thanks, Rachel for prompting some thought and reflection regarding my use of social media.  It was interesting to read about your uses.

How do you use social media?