I am certainly no running expert. Let's get that out of the way immediately. The reason I'm writing this post though is to encourage those of you who are thinking about running on a regular basis but are hesitant or lacking the motivation to get started. I'm not the best runner now, but if you told me two years ago that it would be a semi-daily occurrence for me to run 3-4 miles, I would have taken the last bite of my jelly doughnut and told you that you were crazy. But after losing 80 pounds, I've learned a couple of things along the way.

1) You're Going to Suck at First

If you're not an avid runner and/or are out of shape, then you shouldn't expect to go very far or fast your first time. One of the worst things you can do is compare yourself to all of your friends that do run. This was a huge problem for me when I started. A lot of my friends are fairly adept at running and many of them run marathons. When I first started running, I always felt like a failure because I was no where close to them in comparison. But realistically, why should I have been? I was 215 pounds and just started for the first time. You've got to know that when you first start, you're not going to be a track all-star.

2) Don't be Discouraged if You Get Worse

One of the most frustrating things about running for me is that some weeks I felt like I was getting worse. There were times when I couldn't run as I could the previous week or struggled a lot more with it than I usually did. The best thing is to keep going. There were a lot of times that I thought about giving up because it never felt like I was going anywhere. But you've got to keep going and think about the big picture. Don't get so caught up in the week to week improvements (though it is important to strive to get better), but think about the long term progress. Are you running better than you were a year ago? Then you're making progress!

3) Embrace the Pain

This is something that I wished someone would have told me earlier. When I first started running, I would quit when I started to feel "extremely" out of breath or started to feel a "significant" amount of pain. But you know what I found out eventually? I found out that I could keep going a lot further past that pain. If I kept running past that initial pain, I could go further and faster than I ever did before. It's important to keep in mind that you should never deliberately try to hurt yourself, everyone has a limit. But push yourself beyond what you think you can do, you might surprise yourself.

4) Talk to Others

This is still something I'm not very good at, but it's important to talk about your goals and progress with other people. I understand that it can be a daunting thing. You don't want people to know how out of shape you are and how terrible you actually are at running, but if you never tell anyone else about it, you'll be less likely to be motivated to make progress. Take a slice of humble pie, admit that you've got some work to do, and let others encourage you along the way.

Those are just a few things I've learned going from never running to being a mildly active runner. And seriously, if I can do it, then there is no reason that you can't either! If you make a dedicated effort to it, you'll find that when you look back you won't be able to believe how far you've gone. The biggest challenge is to get out there and do it. So get off the couch and make it happen!