For those of you who have lost some weight at and have made it to the truly fit stage... if you could share your tips on what has worked and not worked related to running I'd appreciate it. Past: I have been in great shape... but that was a long time ago. Even when I ran cross country in High School I was probably 190 pounds so I was probably among the bigger/heavier runners out there. But I was able to run sub 18 5k so I was fairly fit. I had to quit running in High School due to stress fracture. But I think that was from being ignorant. I did not have money for the shoes and did not pay enough attention to preventing injury. I want to avoid those mistakes again. But now I am carrying extra age and extra weight. Now... I have been running off and on for 12 months. I have gone from dead stop to about 15 miles per week plus cross training on a bike to avoid being too hard on my body. I can run 5k in under 25 minutes which isn't bad considering I'm 39, and 220 pounds. I know I need to drop another 15 pounds and get my miles to 30 per week to improve. I think I can do all that and be running under 21 minute 5k in another 12 months. But... I have to avoid major setbacks. I know I don't have a lot of running history if you click "view log". I need to pretty much slowly build for another month or two before anyone can really see what I'm doing right or wrong. But if you can share any tips on what has worked for you in a similar situation or even what NOT to do I'd appreciate it. Last fall I tried to do to much. I was stupidly throwing in some speed work. I was remembering what it was like to be fit. Hah... what good is running Fartleks when you only run 10 miles a week. I'll tell you what... you barely improve and you risk shin splints. I got through that. And I've had some poor months where I was not consistent. But I'm pretty consistent now. Anyway, thanks for reading and for any comments.

If you can run 21:02 in a 5k you are fit in my book. Thanks. I probably am another month or two from any speedwork. I think it would not really be helpful for me and might just increase risk of injury. I'm trying to be smart after having last fall be sort of up and down. I wasn't building a base correctly. For now I'm thinking I need to slowly build miles with occasional rest weeks. I'm around 15 mi/week know plus 20-25 bike miles. I'll plan to build to 25 run miles per week over the summer. I've got time. I am not in a great hurry if that simply leads to more problems for me. It is interesting that there is not a lot out there about how to transform from an out of shape person to a good runner. Considering there are millions of us out of shape people. John Bingham appears to be a good source. http://thepenguin.runnersworld.com/2008/06/clydesdale-advi.html Though honestly I don't think I should be a "back of the pack" runner for the rest of my life. I see no reason why I could not run sub 20 minute 5k in a couple years even if I'm 40+ and 190 pounds... it should be possible.

Thanks. I am starting to feel like a runner but I suppose I should concentrate on the weight at this point while slowly building miles. But... it sure feels like jogging at a 10:00+ pace is not really going to do much for my fitness. But I've heard other people saying the same thing about their "easy" pace so I guess it is not just me. I've read some of the info about Maffetone... I don't know if I could work out 5 times a week and never exceed 145 bpm heart rate. That's seems kind of extreme to NEVER push myself. I wonder if I could be that commited to not working out hard.