The Conditioning Factor

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  As my war on obesity rages, I've found that many neophytes try to follow my path of running as a means to lose their fatty-mc-fat-fat.  The problem with that is that Herr Burgermeister often goes out too fast and too far without conditioning his body to handle the exercise.  Running is wonderful in in its simplicity in that it need not take much training or expense to participate.  Just go out and run.  Shoes are even optional these days.  Still I try to get new runners to wade in slowly.  The run-walk method is proven way of preventing injuries and building endurance.  Unfortunately the newly converted-former couch potatoes may sometimes feel so good that they believe that they can tolerate either more speed or distance and end up hurting themselves.  Trust me, I've been there.  Lots of times.  Lots. and lots.  And it hurt. So my recommendation to new runners is that you run-walk for no more than 30 minutes every other day the first week.  I also suggest that you do some weights to strengthen your core and entire body to handle the stress from running.  The weight conditioning need not be overly-strenuous or difficult.  Body weight exercises  are a great way to build your base strength before you can start to really lose weight, as muscle burns more fat (or some other saying like that which I didn't really understand).  Geek Tip of the Day:  If you're not watching Flashforward, head over to Hulu.com and watch the first 10 episodes.  It's no Lost, but it does have an interesting premise in that people worldwide blacked out for 2.5 minutes and saw their future in that time.  Pretty cool.  All right kids, run hard and have fun.