Laura always starts out her link posts with “Want to stay in bed longer?” and I always wonder who this mythical creature is who lolls around, reading in bed.

In my quest to slow the eff down this week, I’m doing just that. Just lying in bed with Bailey, watching the sun stream in through my windows. [Or, I was when I started writing this this morning…]

And matching with Pumpkin Spice Lattes on Tinder, as you do.

Anyway, here’s the fitness-related links I loved at work this week (HELLO YOGA ACTION FIGURES), and below are the random ones that didn’t make the cut there.

As a side note, I use Pocket to save links for later, especially when I come across something good at work that I don’t have time to read.

Using Google Trends to Create Popular Posts: My buddy Katy nailing it, per usual, on blogging advice. “But every once in a while, I find myself…uninspired. Unsure on what to write about. Overwhelmed at the possibilities.” We’ve all been there, right? I usually just don’t write if I don’t feel inspired, but I like this idea to look at Google Trends. (Katy Widrick)

ALSO: I just added some free ads for bloggers on my sponsorship page, because I like Katy’s idea of doing that. Go sign up for one if you have a blog you want to promote!

Best and Worst Times to Post to Social Media: My boss sent this to me, and while some of it is not entirely ground-breaking (and it totally depends on your own audience), still worth a read. (Fast Company)

The Two Times Nobody Knew What to Call a Banana: This is the best thing I saw on the Internet this week, so thanks to Katy for making me laugh until I cried all my mascara off and then shared it in an all-company chat room, because everyone needs to see it. (BuzzFeed)

Meet the 24 Writers Selected for the Amtrak Residency Program: I never thought I’d ever have reason to link to Amtrak.com?! But they’re doing this really cool residency program for 24 writers who are being provided free round-trip long-distance Amtrak trips to work on writing projects. I should have applied… (Amtrak)

Want to Run a Marathon for Free? Nuun is doing an awesome promotion, and the winner will receive a free marathon entry up to $300 in value. (Nuun)

What to Do When Your Big Dreams Feel Stalled I love this. (Twitter does a lot of weird stuff, but one of the new things they do that I actually really like is send an email of stuff your friends have been tweeting a lot, and that’s where I found this.) Good lord, I’ve been there. Multiple times. I love her advice to turn off the negativity and pressure, and to rest. Sometimes just beating yourself down doesn’t accomplish what you think it will and you need to let go for a bit. (Cotter Crunch)

Did Strava Play a Role in the Central Park Bike Death? (Is that one of the most sensational headlines I’ve seen in a while?) Last week, a woman tragically got hit and killed by a cyclist in Central Park. Since then, I have seen so many different opinions on this across social media—everything from calling for bans of cars to bans of bikes to requiring cyclists to have licenses. Without a doubt, Central Park is a challenging place to bike. You have super-fast cyclists like this dude, fitness/hobby cyclists like myself, tourists and Citi Bikers who aren’t really paying attention, runners, walkers, rollerbladers, dogs. That’s a lot of different constituencies all trying to use the same land for different purposes. I’m not sure what can be done to prevent tragedies like this in the future, but I do think everyone in the park / West Side Highway / any mixed-use area like that need to be really aware of their surroundings and cognizant of which lanes they’re supposed to be in. (NY Mag)

What did you read and love this week?

I don’t know about you, but I really like reading link roundups, and discovering random new sites and articles on the Internetz beyond those in my usual rotation. Lindsay at Lean Green Bean writes a pretty epic one and Laura writes one every week, and I usually find lots of great articles for the one I write at work. But sometimes I find some awesome random stuff that doesn’t quite fit in the work one, so I thought I’d (sometimes, no promises this will be a regular thing) share ’em with you.

But first, a selfie. I’d gone out after work every night this week, so yesterday morning I decided some Sculpt Fusion was in order. I was on the waitlist, but both Lacey and I got off around the same time yesterday. Spontaneous friend date plus favorite class? Done. As I was leaving work, a friend texted me to invite me to some fancy IPO party, and I contemplated it for a second, but my soul really needed some Uplift, not to mention I had work to do when I got home. I rarely say no to social plans, but it felt kinda good last night and was just what I needed.

I Met My Husband on Tinder: I’m infinitely amused by Tinder, and I do think it’s changed a lot since it first debuted, so it’s really interesting to read about this lady who’s getting married to someone she met on what used to just be a hookup app. Social experiment I did this summer: looked at Tinder any time I left NYC – whether it was Savannah, Amagansett or down the shore. Very different results each time! (xo Jane)

Capsule-ish Wardrobe: I have too much stuff. I like Gina’s plan to have a “capsule” wardrobe of only what she needs most. Although I’m not sure how my penchant for prints fits into that… (Fitnessista) She also just wrote an e-book about blogging tips that’s great for newbie bloggers.

What You Need to Know About NYFW: If you are an aspiring fashion blogger, this a great service-y post. But that’s not why I’m including it in here. Hallie is just freaking hilarious and I love her blog for when I need a break from reading about reps and greens. (Corals + Cognacs)

Fit Awakening: Not a specific post, but my former coworker Lauryn started a blog, and I love it. Blogging has certainly changed for me over the years, and I love seeing new blogs start with all that wide-eyed enthusiasm.

I’m So Grateful for Who I’ve Become: I first got to “know” Lauren through her blog, but then had the privilege of working closely with her for all of my NYJL communication stuff, and I’ve loved following her journey to getting fit. (Flywheel Blog)

SEO 201: How to Optimize Images, Alt Tags + Page Speed: I’ve been meaning to do some posts on how I grew my blog without really trying over the past year, but optimizing images has been one of the things I’ve become fanatical about. (Lean Green Bean)

How to Eat Intuitively: A great guide to intuitive eating from my girl Anne. This is what I try to do these days for the most part. One of the most helpful tips is in this post is to think about why you want to eat something. 94% of time if I am mindlessly snacking at work, it means I need a break for even just a few minutes. (Fannetastic Food)

What You Write About Doesn’t Matter As Much As You Think: One of my guiding principles for this blog (along with never take myself too seriously) has always been to write about what I enjoy and what I’m passionate about, because if I don’t, it will come off flat and won’t be fun for me to write and you to read. (Goins Writer)

The Blog: This is a really interesting read from Dori on why she’s going to blog a little less. “But I won’t let myself ever feel stressed about this blog again,” she says. This is definitely an attitude I’ve adopted over the past year or so. I used to blog every day and get upset with myself if I missed a day, but now if I blog 2-3x per week, I’m happy with that. Blogging is a creative outlet for me, a way to connect with others and yeah, a way to get to do some fun stuff. It’s not my job, it’s just something I do for fun, and I’m trying to cut back on “fun” things that cause me anxiety so I can actually just have fun/relax. (Dori’s Shiny Blog)

Quite a few of these links are blog-related, because they also apply to my job doing social media and helping with content strategy on our site. That said, I’ve definitely had a bunch of blog-related posts swirling around in my head for a while. Are there any blogging/social media tips you want me to write about?