Since it seems that these days the majority of my non-commute free time is spent running, thinking about running, preparing to run, recovering from a run, scheduling time to run, washing sweaty running clothes, and eating enough calories to sustain a long run, I figured I might as well give in and turn my blog into a temporary running forum. Very temporary, I'm sure.

So, from a neophyte "runner" (see post from April 20th or so if you want to understand why I just started to consider myself a runner)... my tips for those new to running:

-- find a training schedule you like (Hal Higdon is good for any distance) and post the schedule everywhere you look... mine is next to my front door, right above my alarm clock in my room, taped to the bathroom mirror, written in my planner, and right in my line of sight at work all day

-- sign up for a race and tell everyone you know you're doing it. they probably won't care or think any less of you if you don't run, but it'd be embarrassing to answer questions like "how was the race?" with "I didn't run because I was too out of shape"

-- invest in a good pair of running shoes. there are all sorts of thories about whether you should have one pair or two that you rotate, thow long to keep a pair of running shoes, he best brand, etc. my advice is to go somewhere where the salespeople know something about running and will ask you questions like where you run, what distances you run AND will let you run around the store, around the parking lot, or on a treadmill. Don't buy running shoes just because they're the ones on sale. Buying good running shoes will serve two purposes--- you will have to run a lot to justify the cost, and your feet, ankles, kneees, hips, back, etc will thank you

-- run with other people. this one doesn't actually work for me because I generally prefer to run alone. but especially for long runs, if you schedule a run with another person you're both more likely to actually follow through and run b/c you don't want to let down the other person. and while you're running you can motivate each other and call each other mean names when you wimp out. if you don't have any friends crazy enough to run with you, find a running group. There are tons in chi-town, but they exist pretty much everywhere

-- drink lots of Gatorade while you're running. not sure how much it actually helps, but it's fairly addictive, and if you start associating Gatorade with running you'll start craving running :)

-- even when you don't feel like running, run anyway. sometimes you feel better once you start. sometimes you don't, but it still gets you in better shape, and your run the next day will feel better

-- email me every day and tell me how far you ran, and if you stop I will yell at you!