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Photo:InterContinental EurAsia Marathon, Istanbul – 5th of November, 2006, Me and my friends, just before the start

According to mom, I started walking when I was only 8 months old. I was so hyperactive that my dad and mom could not cope with me. This continued like that throughout my teenage period. Therefore my parents always motivated me to try new sports: basketball, swimming, water polo, karate, body building, football. I did all these sports from time to time since two years ago.

Two years ago I discovered long distance running and now I can’t stop myself doing it almost every weekend. I joined a few marathons, and tested myself.

When I started blogging, I found a lot of similarities between blogging and long distance running. There is no difference between blogging and running a marathon. You need to keep going in both of them. Self motivated and disciplined people will succeed in both of them. Long distance running is good way of preparing yourself for blogging marathon.

It is good to see that I am not the only one thinking like that. Last month I interviewed Prieur du Plessis for April 2008 Bloghology. Here is a short extract from the interview:

Mert : When reading your biography, I noticed that you like long-distance running.Do you see similarities between blogging and long-distance running?
Prieur: There are numerous similarities between blogging and long-distance running, suffice to highlight the following four:

• Both blogging and long-distance running have as goal to excel over the longer term, i.e. to endure to reach a marathon personal best, or to provide high-quality blogging content that will build a loyal subscriber base and withstand the test of time. (It is, however, also tempting to be ahead at each 100-yard interval!)
• Success in both instances depends partly on natural talent, but also on dedication and perseverance. In reality, self-discipline is paramount.
• Both blogging and long-distance running are individual “sports”, rather than team “sports” where the momentum of a group of people can spur you on to greater achievement. This requires a “self-starting”-type of temperament in order to get the job done, and eventually to excite a large number of spectators / readers.
• Long-distance runners continuously fight the adversity of injury. Bloggers, similarly, get “injured” by writer’s block, comments in bad taste, wrong market calls (in the case of investment bloggers), etc. Fighting injury and regaining top form in both instances require mental toughness.

In short, I have become quite dependent on both blogging and running to provide my daily dosage of adrenalin. And the bonus is that they both work just fine on my travels across the globe.

If you are also interested in running, and have a story in your mind, do not forget to check Win my book or an iPod – A story in 140 characters

What do you think ? Do you think long distance running or doing sports regularly will help you become a better blogger in the long term?