Advice sought on 1) running, 2) LJ

[luzula]

1) So, I am going to try to get into running, because I feel that I need more exercise during the non-summer months. I've had this idea that I dislike running, but I have not actually tried it in forever, and I've never given it a serious chance. And I know I don't enjoy biking, so that's out.

I read a little on random sites on the web, and have now picked up that a) to avoid injuries I should go slowly in the beginning, in cycles of 1 minute running + a few minutes walking, and slowly increase from there, b) I should warm up properly, which is only common sense, c) I probably need new shoes. I do have a ten-year-old pair of trainers that I haven't used in forever, and I'm somewhat reluctant to get something new when I don't know if running will stick, but OTOH some site said good shoes are important to prevent injuries? We do have one of those stores in town that will help you pick out which running shoes are good for you.

I walk a lot in the summer and have been doing a year of this workout basically every day, so that's my baseline fitness. I've got a fairly hilly dirt trail just outside my house which is lighted when it's dark, so that's good. Anything more I should think about? petra recced me the Run, Zombies app, but I have no smartphone so that (and anything else smartphone-based) is out.

2) So, LJ. I'm trying to decide what to do about my presence there. I have it all backed up in LJArchive and also on my DW (although I probably need to import comments again, since I've had commenting on at both places). I can't decide if I should delete my LJ or not? I mean, I bet that the content would not actually be deleted from LJ's servers, but just look like it's deleted, so maybe that wouldn't do much good anyway. The alternative is just to stop cross-posting to LJ in the future. What are you all doing?

Relatedly, I feel that all the due South comms ought to be imported into DW for backup. ride_forever, what's the progress on the import of the dS flashfiction comm? I know we talked about that before. Maybe I should make a post on the noticeboard and see what other people think about backing up all the comms....

Comments

[sage]

re ds_ff, china & I talked about it over New Years weekend and then life happened, oops. I'll be posting a notification probably this weekend that it will be happening. I've also talked to ppl about importing the ds match team comms. I still need to get a hold of Ces about importing the noticeboard.

[ride_4ever]

Progress on the dS flashfiction import: china_shop and I are on it -- a week or so ago we discussed the announcement that we will be posting about it.

AS for "a post on the noticeboard to see what other people think about backing up all the comms," I think it's more effective to communicate with the contact people of the individual comms as I have been doing with china.

As for what I personally am doing about my LJ, I'm not deleting it and I'm continuing to crosspost from DW to LJ.

[isis]

If you're in pretty good walking shape, you don't need to start running THAT timidly. You can probably run continuously if you run slowly and start out with very short distances (under 3k); if you feel the need to start out with walk breaks, you can probably run for 3-4 minutes and then walk for 1. The C25k type program is intended for people starting from "couch", which I don't think you are.

I do recommend decent shoes, if yours are old. You don't need to get expensive ones but you should get good supportive shoes that feel comfortable.

Probably the most important thing is not to do too much too soon, but not to hold back from running frequently because that's the way to get better and actually to feel better while running. (I always find that I need to be running at least 4 days/week to feel comfortable with it.) I would start out with every other day, but quickly move to 2 days on/1 off, or even more. Overall weekly volume shouldn't increase too fast. A good guideline, once you're ramped up and running at least 3 days/week, is to hold the same weekly distance for several weeks before increasing again.

Run at an easy pace; you should be able to sing aloud or talk in short sentences to an imaginary (or not) companion. Once you get accustomed to running you can throw in "strides" or short accelerations, or run one day a week a little faster.

I'm always happy to answer questions about running! It's one of my favorite things.

[desireearmfeldt]

Are people pretty much just ducking the question of "moving a comm wholesale means re-archiving a million billion people's stuff without their express permission, because there's no feasible way one could get permission"?

I, personally, kind of feel like if you post stuff to the internet and then wander off without taking it down, you really can't expect to control or predict what happens to it, but I'm looking at all those before-my-time people putting notes on their fic saying "don't archive this elsewhere without my permission" and thinking this must once have been an issue people cared deeply about... :/

[princessofgeeks]

I'm just a random DS fan from the internet, but to me, if the choice is, "gets backed up somewhere without your permission, in a format very similar to the original LJ" versus "Your posts and comments are lost forever", I vote for the former.

[ride_4ever]

If someone says "please don't archive without permission" and keeps their contact info up-to-date a "courtesy call" to them is feasible...but if they haven't updated that info and left whatever out there "free" in cyberspace then my feeling is that if they have stopped caring about being contacted the importer isn't obligated to hunt them down.

[ride_4ever]

*nods in agreement*

[rachelmanija]

1. I never ran seriously but at your level of fitness, I don't think you need to start with a). Also, yes, you will eventually need good shoes but on the other hand, your old ones are already broken in. You could probably wear them for long enough to get a sense of whether you enjoy running enough that you'll continue and so need better shoes. A little casual see-if-you-like-it running is unlikely to injure you if the issue with your shoes is that they're not ideal rather than that they're totally inappropriate.

2. Ha ha, I am the wrong person to ask about "exactly how hard should I flee LJ" because I am still cross-posting.

[luzula]

Oh, good. I'll talk to the ds_snippet people, since I was recently a mod there. Hmm, and then there's ds_meta, ds_workshop, ds_profiles, ds_recsredux. There's so much fannish history here.

[luzula]

Good to know you're on it! : )

[luzula]

Yeah, this is pretty much my feeling as well. There is so much fannish history here that I wouldn't want lost.

[luzula]

Thanks for the advice! What, you like running? I had no idea! : P

No, not starting from "couch". : ) I think walking breaks will probably be built into my first attempts since there's a lot of up and down on the trail. And I'll try doing it often but for short distances, then.

I've been rifling through my closets and I can't even find my old shoes now, so new shoes it is.

[frayadjacent]

What Isis said, of course.

Do you have an MP3 player? I don't like running with my smartphone (too big, reminds me of running with a Walkman!) but I have an MP3 player and like to listen to music or audiobooks on it. Music is more energising but it's much easier to find audiobooks I'm excited to listen to. :)

[luzula]

Yes, I do have an mp3-player which I listen to a lot, and I am planning to use it. We'll see if music or audiobooks/podfic/podcasts will work best.

[sage]

Yes, exactly. This is about preserving fandom history in a location where we can be reasonably confident that the servers won't mysteriously vanish overnight.

The internet archive has been backing up public LJ comm posts since last spring, out of concern for LJ being shuttered by the Russians, but only the public ones. That means there's a lot for us to deal with.

[luzula]

1. Thanks for the advice! I've been rifling through my closets now though and I can't even find my old shoes, so new shoes it is.

2. Heh. Well, I think I'll start with not crossposting anymore, and hold off on deleting my LJ.

[kabal42]

You're in great hands with running (which I know very little about) so I'll stick to LJ.

I've decided to finally delete mine. I didn't during Strikeout, but went here and didn't crosspost. Then they mended their ways and I started crossposting. Now I've stated that I'm going to delete the damn thing, so I will. I never look there anyway, but there is sadness attached as I have had it for so long.

[brigantine]

Yeah, I can speak only for myself of course, but I tend to interpret the "please do not archive" note as "please do not magpie my stuff," as opposed to what would be happening now, which is an attempt by dedicated fandom-keepers to prevent works from being lost forever into the void. Notification is a lovely gesture, but generally I just approve of fannish history not being lost. :)

[ride_4ever]

♡ ♡ ♡

[feroxargentea]

Running shoes don't need to be expensive but they should be reasonably padded & cushioned and have a supportive heel cup and a flared heel to minimise risk of ankle twist. To avoid problems in the future, you might also consider using anti-pronatory shock-absorbing insoles to reduce the impact on your lower limb, hip & spinal joints.

(I'm not a runner, obviously, as I walk with a limp, but I audiotype for orthopaedics and podiatry, amongst other departments, and this is what they repeat to just about everyone who comes hobbling in after taking up running :)

[luzula]

Well, I actually ended up buying fairly expensive running shoes. I went into one of those stores where you run and they film you and see how you put down your foot. And they are super-comfortable on my feet, and also I have orthopaedic inlays to support the arches of my feet that I've used for years in my hiking boots, and they fit perfectly in the new shoes as well. And I really will be taking this super-slow. Hopefully I should be okay? I'll be alert for warning signals though. : )

[luzula]

Did you and China talk about contacting the owners of the other comms? I'd be glad to help. But you two are older in the fandom so maybe you are more likely to know them? There's brooklinegirl for ds_recsredux, and sprat for ds_workshop, for example.

[sage]

Oh, it would be great if you could track down Tracey (blg). I'm co-mod of the workshop, so I put it on my import list. (I THINK those are all the credentials I need. I hope?) I'm not even sure if Sprat is online anymore, but I'll see if her old email address still works and make sure she's okay with it.

[luzula]

Okay, I will do that, then!

Oh, and there's stop_drop_porn, I'll contact Spuffy about that one.

ETA: Maybe we could make a spreadsheet of the comms or something, so we can keep track of which ones are done?

[sage]

nodnod. That makes sense.

my to-import list:

ds_flashfiction
ds_team_angst
ds_team_reality
ds_team_romance
ds_team_whimsy
ds_workshop
ds_noticeboard


I'll start the imports next weekend.

[luzula]

Okay, here we go: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Yao5zFitA5Awq_uldQSOGSw3ARr2NkRE-lScNGtxOAw/edit#gid=0

Do share it with China and other people as well.

Hmm, I think you have to be a maintainer, not just a mod? https://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=230

[sage]

Okay, cool.

Ooh, thanks for the help link! I was looking for that earlier but got sidetracked. I made myself maintainer of all my comms when I created the "sagemod" account, so we should be in good shape for importing.