Top 5 Blogs: May 2013 Edition

Normally I like to keep my blog very me-focused, but given the fact that I’m not running much these days, and that other people do exist, here are the top 5 running/fitness related blogs I’m enjoying at the moment (that were not written by me).

1. Ali On the Run: This girl loves running, is a great story-teller, and has major GI issues (Crohn’s disease), that makes her story a little different than the average runner.  She’s also not a mom, and doesn’t claim to be a devout religious follower of any kind (at least not so far as I can tell).  Being a mom and super faithful are great things to be, but I’m not either of those so far, and somehow a ton of the running blogs that I love are written by people who are both of them.  Sometimes I think those are necessary components of being a great running blogger, but then I find blogs like Ali’s, and feel reassured that I don’t need babies or religion to blog.

2. The Angry Runner: A blog that is great at running, whining, and GIFs.  The author also feels strongly about running skirts (she hates them), which is nice to see someone announce in writing.  Most content on running skirts found on the internet are suspiciously positive.

3. The Great Fitness Experiment: Here’s a lady who likes to try any fitness or diet trend she finds and gives a full report of it.  Her blog ranges from super serious/heavy topics to hilarious pictures of meat babies.  She’s one of those mom-bloggers I was talking about, although she definitely doesn’t go overboard on the kid-talk.

4. SoCal Runner Gal: I think this blog won me over with the author’s post: True Life: I’m Not Perfect but Facebook Thinks I am.  I also think I found her blog when she commented on one of my posts (I could be misremembering though), which is always a plus.  Looking at pictures of sunny SoCal is always fun too, so at least I know it’s not dark and rainy everywhere in the world while I’m sitting up here in Portland hiding from the bad weather.

5. Hyperbole and a Half: Not really a running blog at all, but the first time someone referred me to this blog, it was with a post involving running, so it feels like one to me.  Lately the author has gotten really into explaining the deep depths of her depression, which is heartbreaking, entertaining, and uplifting (a little), all at once.

I realized that these are all written by women, so maybe some day I’ll do a “Boy Blog” list.  Please note that these are also mostly very successful blogs.  I started reading most of them from some “Top 20” blog-list or another, and most of them have sponsors.

I’m always on the look-out for good running/fitness blogs, especially small/personal ones that aren’t all fancy and sponsored yet (so I can say I found them first).  If you or someone you know has a blog you’d like to share, please leave a link in the comments, and you might find it a top-5 blog list some day in the future!

PS. Please note how impressive it is that I resisted the urge to include my own blog in this list!