This is an expert from FitnessDigest.us Volume 4 Issue 3 2012.Thank you to all the readers who saved a copy of Vol. 4.2, I’ve dubbed it the English Channel issue, because of the Bryn Dymott story. Looking back I’m amazed at what the team put together. Not only did we get a great story from Bryn Dymott, English Channel swimmer, but we got stories from an Olymipc Hall of Fame member, Transplant Games World Champion and another contribution from Charlotte Andersen.
All good stories and causes. Vol. 4.2 was such a fun run. It really set the standard in many areas. We got thousands of new readers through CoopNet, DocStoc and Scribd. We heard from a handful of people that said they enjoyed the issue. With the completion of Vol. 4.2 we are on pace for over 1 million pages read in 2012. The free issue for the quarter was the bench press world record issue Vol. 4.1. It was a VERY popular download.
Now we move onto Vol. 4.3, Summer 2012. It is jam packed with stories and writing.
We are settling into a good pace with this issue. It’s our sixth issue for public distribution and might be my favorite issue yet. The contributors may not be as well known, but their stories are just as fun, inspiring, heartfelt and entertaining.
We have our best collection of ultra-short stories in this edition. Ultra-shorts are 25-50 word works of wonderment. Some of the most entertaining and humorous stories we’ve ever received. Keep sending these stories to us anyway you can: use the form on the homepage, write a letter, email, phone or send us morse code – whatever works. Just get’em in here! It is these short antidotal narratives that are some of the most popular reads in each issue.
The most value comes from our feature stories though. Our main feature this issue is from Texas. Brandi Shipman is an elite triathlete and cancer survivor. Her story is about the incredible comeback she made from breast cancer. After battling the disease she took on the race course. Her list of accomplishments on the race course are long and she is faster than ever! She uses her racing to raise awareness for the American Cancer Society. She has touched so many people with her racing and as a survivor. That is why stories like Brandi’s need to be preserved digitally in the most professional way. Which leads me to the topic of preservation.
One of my jobs, as publisher, is to watch the current publishing trends. I’ve spent a lot of time lately on digital-preservation of history. To communicate the importance of preservation to customers we’ve added the words: gather, distribute and preserve to the coopnet.biz online store. I feel so strongly that stories like Brandi’s need to be published with preservation in mind. Ironically I have a story that illustrates why.
My grandmother is moving to a nursing home and the family was cleaning out the things she had saved. One of the items was a collection of old Life magazines and a magazine called Archer, published by ADM. In an amazing coincidence, my father opened a Life magazine to a feature about the city we currently live in! What an incredible find and the story is so much fun to read. Second, my family had no idea that my grandfather had been writing a column for ADM’s Archer magazine. It is so much fun to go back and read the words he wrote in 1950. We are so lucky that my grandmother saved this collection. It is priceless to our family. Third, I just read about Evernote, a company that is asking, “Will the internet be around in 100 years?” I should mention now that the company has a billion dollar evaluation. Their business plan is built on the idea that websites can disappear in seconds. One solution is back-ups. Each duplication you make of a file increases the chances of it’s survival in years to come.
It is my hope that someday people will find stories like Brandi’s on an old iPad or Kindle and get to read her story, just like we read my grandfather’s stories in Archer.
Another first for the magazine. We are taking a creative writing expert and pairing his story with a story from a US Masters swimmer. The stories are about what inspires and motivates – how to find inspiration and motivation in your life. I couldn’t believe how many underlying similarities there where when I placed them side-by-side.
This issue is also our first issue that is going to include a new columnist. Jen Schmitt is submitting a quarterly column for the magazine. She is an inspiring mom in training – mom first, writer second and triathlete third. That is a recipe for success. On top of the fact that she is a talented writer, her style fits the magazine’s concept. Her writing is fun and she is great at finding the interesting details in life’s precious moments. She brings to light many details that could easily be overlooked. When I see that talent in an athlete-writer I think to myself that they must understand hard work and suffering – because it is the suffering, often times during our training, that teaches us to see beauty in life. Jen uses her talent to help moms find the reward from long workouts. Fittingly, we have a poetic story that illustrates this link between suffering and the appreciation of life. That story can be found on page 10.
In 2008 I ran the Mickelson Trail Marathon in Deadwood, South Dakota. Since then I’ve always felt a personal connection to it. When I got word from Emily Wheeler, the race director, that we could get some photos and a short story from the 2012 race I was very excited. Jen works closely with the legendary runner Jerry Dunn. Mr. Dunn is well known for his 200 marathons in the year 2000. He is America’s Marathon man. He has appeared on the Today Show and has been featured in numerous magazines. The chance to work with Jen and her team is so cool. I’m very thankful for the contribution. I’d like to include a quick side note to Emily – I think my next challenge will be to make that 100 miler work for me.
On a whim I emailed a coordinator from the National Office for the Ride of Silence. I mentioned publishing the official poem for the ride along with some photos. The excitement I heard back was so positive. The ride is emotional to so many people. The stories of riders being hurt or killed is tragic, we never want to forget them. That is why education about sharing the road is a huge part of cycling safety. I won’t tell you more than that. When you read the poem remember those that were hurt or killed while cycling. The pictures we got from Robert LaVallee show the different color ribbons given to riders. Red is for cyclists who knew a rider that died while cycling, black is for a rider that has been injured during a ride.
I’ve been downloading classic (out-of-copyright) novels to my Kindle and iPad for re-reading and because I think the are important to preserve for future generations. I’ve downloaded the Illiad, Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the original Wizard of Oz. I also found some good fiction from Jack London. I think the magazine’s readers will appreciate it. It is a classic work that is about hiking – Think “The Long Walk.” It is a good read with a surprise ending. I hope readers will search out books and stories like this and add them to their own collection. If we find more that are fitness related or have active subjects we may share them too.
Please enjoy Summer 2012 Vol. 4.3
