The Monday Shakeout: What a Week Looks Like at Doctors of Running
By Bach Pham, Content Manager
Recently a few folks have asked what life looks like for our team at DOR. With so many different things on the table that we juggle, it took awhile for the team to come together and figure out a way to work with one another's busy schedules. Whether it's members in the clinic, in PhD programs, working in our daily jobs and taking care of families, it can be really challenging to fit in our work at Doctors of Running. In this week's Shakeout, Bach offers a glimpse inside what his week looks like helping manage the team's content.
Sunday
It's 6 AM. As much as I'd like 15 more minutes, my cats are on a set schedule with no wiggle room. As they meow and chase each other around our bed, I give in and go make coffee and fix their breakfast. Sunday mornings are our video podcast release day. This past week we released a fun episode with Connor from Running Warehouse. Mornings on the weekend I tend to get up first and get some time to myself to work. I spent a bit longer than normal this week working on crafting a tight title for the video, along with a thumbnail. After an hour of work getting the video details, putting together the title, and fixing a thumbnail, I released the video and prepared social media. At this point, it's getting a little later into the morning and I realize I'm am starving. I rushed to make breakfast for my partner and I - a bacon, egg, and cheese muffin, our weekend staple - before returning to finish part two of the morning's work.
Being our big midyear episode, I knew I wanted to coincide the video release with a special specific social media post. With a 9-5 job weekly and other releases, most of my daily social media work comes day of. We had been toying around with the idea of making a graphic to highlight each individual's choices. Spending a bit of time on Canva (an app used to make graphics), I pulled together the twenty shoes listed in the episode and prepare the graphic for release. Fortunately, it was a quiet Sunday so I was able to spend extra time on this one to get it completed. I was really excited about it.
Monday
Monday Shakeouts like the one you are reading here have been a new addition to DOR, giving the team a chance to write on some subjects that would otherwise be hard to fit elsewhere. This past week, Nathan took up a piece about some research Saucony had done with the Kinvara Pro, elaborating on some thoughts he had from the discussion Andrea Paulson and Cory Hofmann.
Fun fact, Nathan typed this up on his phone during some quiet time on his way to David Salas wedding!
My weekday alarm goes off at 5:45 AM. After the usual coffee and cats routine, I set out to transfer his work into our website and work on editing the piece. It was a relatively smooth edit and I was able to publish the feature and get social out in around 30 mins of time before getting breakfast together and working to pack lunch for the day. Then it was time for a morning run before work at 8:30 AM!
Sundays are usually our podcast recording day, but this week was a special one off while the team celebrated David's wedding (congrats David!). To keep things moving, Matt recorded a solo podcast about his recent publication on Masters runners, which will be coming soon (teaser!).
Tuesday
Tuesdays are typically shoe review release days for us. We have a scheduling calendar that is highly flexible, but helps give a rough timeline of when things go out. This has been so, so helpful for keeping us on track, even if we make adjustments all the time. Being full-time employed outside of Doctors of Running, having a set structure has been key to keeping things moving.
This week Chief Editor Matt Klein tackled the On Cloudflyer. I edited the piece, adding photos and formatting the review. Later in the morning, I took a few minutes to work on an idea I've been having for social. Connor on the podcast had some great insight on the future of shoes, and I was excited to work on a way to help showcase it a bit. The decision of what to highlight in our social on a daily basis changes all the time. I don't like to have a fixed rule on what things need to be shared and I think that's enabled us to have a lot of creative freedom. There's definitely weeks where that is harder than others, but in general there's usually so much going on it's not hard to find something to talk about.
Also Tuesday morning, I prepped a video review of the Cloudboom Echo 3 that Matt recorded a week prior. The team often prerecords content that we release also on a varied schedule from our written work. I put together a quick thumbnail using a relatively basic design we use for video reviews and help ship that out before the workday starts. On days like these where it's a bit busier than normal, I'll cut a run either short or altogether. Thankfully had just enough time for a couple of miles!
Tuesday's are also our podcast prep day behind the scenes. Between Monday and Tuesday, often our audio engineer BJ is preparing the release of our podcast, editing for audio, working on timestamps, and getting any ad reads needed recorded and added in. The podcast team also has a brainstorm session weekly on podcast titles. This week was a little easier being a mailbag episode where we just pieced some topics together. Other weeks can be more challenge, especially with guests. One of our favorite titles recently was our sleep episode entitled "From Zzzs to PBs: Enhancing Run Performance with Quality Sleep."
Each Tuesday evening, BJ is typically finalizing the content and getting it loaded for release on Wednesday.
Wednesday - Thursday
I really enjoy Wednesdays as it's just all about getting the pod out far and wide. Each Wednesday morning I prep the graphic for the latest episode and work on sharing it to our usual spaces along with a post on the website. The process usually takes around an 45 minutes, spread out through the stretch of the morning to hit all the bases. It's always a good feeling getting it done in time for a run.
We also dropped another video from Matt, giving some first impressions of the Nike Ultrafly! The details and thumbnail were prepped and sent out for an afternoon release.
Wednesdays for the team is usually crunch time on working on reviews and editorials for the remainder of the week. This week is a bit different though as David is on honeymoon and folks are out on vacation. Knowing this week will be a little different, we had pre-planned what this week would look like. I used Wednesday evening and Thursday morning to finalize a guide to Newton Running shoes that has long been in the works. Guides typically take one-to-two weeks of work to rally information together and assemble from start-to-finish. This was a bit more time investment as we've done some fun things with Newton in the past that helped add some extra texture to the piece.
Friday - Saturday
Again, this week was pre-planned knowing the team would be out. We conducted some updates to our Beginner's Guide to Running Shoes and Affordable Shoe Guide which helps run the remainder of the week on the website. I also prepped and released a new comparison video Matt had recorded on Monday or Tuesday.
A lot of this time is not just writing and making content, but also testing! I broke out for a couple slightly longer runs for upcoming Brooks Running footwear reviews. The rest of the team is work on miles for a variety of shoes in the coming weeks including the Mach X, Brooks shoes, and Salomon footwear.
The remainder of this week was focused on planning out the upcoming weeks. The podcast team is working on organizing our next interviews, while I revisit the schedule of release for the next two-to-four weeks out. We also tend to do a lot of the administrative work during this time, especially on Nathan's time who helps manage our relationships with companies and organize products being reviewed.
Last Thoughts
We do try to make sure time is balanced for everyone at Doctors of Running. We adjust schedules based on each person's week and do our best to avoid burnout. Some weeks are a bit crazier than others when we have midweek interviews or special releases.
One of the biggest things for us is focusing on keeping things enjoyable. Any addition to our work is always one we do cautiously. With Doctors of Running being a fun project for the team and not our main work, we do our best to skirt the line and make sure we evaluate that we are enjoying what we do weekly and not pass the line where it becomes a burden. Fortunately, we have a tight group that we often refer to as family. We talk daily and celebrate our wins, support each other in our losses and work through problems in a respectful manner. I feel pretty lucky to be able to do this day-in and day-out with a really special group of folks.
PS: To hear Nathan's thoughts on what the work/life balance at Doctors of Running is like, listen to our recent podcast here.
PAST MONDAY SHAKEOUTS
Sustainable is Only Going to Work if It's Good
A Simple Guide to Footwear and Foot Health
Best Flat Feet Shoes by a Flat Feet Runner
How Long Do Shoes Last?
SHOP | SUPPORT DOR
*Using the link to purchase helps support Doctors of Running. Thanks so much!
Ultraspire Fitted Race Belt: The best way to carry your phone and goods on the run. No bounce and various sizes for waist. (Also recommend the Naked belt)
Saysky Running Gear: We were really taken aback by this Scandinavian company's ultra-thin, durable performance clothing
Skratch Recovery, Coffee Flavor: Mental and physical boost post run. Coffee flavor is excellent and goes great straight into a fresh brewed cup
goodr Sunglases: Run in style with goodr's super fun sunglasses.
Feetures Socks: Massively grippy socks that will make you feel more one with the shoe
Amphipod Hydraform Handheld Water Bottle: Perfect for long runs when you need hydration in the summer
Trigger Point Foam Roller: Help get those knots out post-run and feel better for tomorrow
Theragun Massager: This small version is great on the go for working tired legs
Ciele Hat: Our team's favorite running hat of choice!
Fractel Hats: Our team's wider fitting running hat of choice!
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