Running
I need an exercise routine I can start/keep up during the summer when I'm at my parents' house. We live miles from anywhere and I can't drive, so the gym is out as a regular form of exercise, though I'll go when my (driving) sister goes, and I'll go for walks when my mum does.
So, inspired by my newly-fixed MP3 player, I'm thinking of taking up running. I like running on the treadmill at the gym because I feel like I'm actually doing something immediate and direct toward my fitness, so I think it would be a good and satisfying thing to start doing from home. It's also something I can hopefully get into a routine of doing first thing in the morning a few times a week, so a) it's over and done before I'm awake enough to talk myself out of it or get "busy" or "tired" (which tends to happen with evening exercise), b) I can do it anywhere (e.g. on holiday in Austria, or back at uni in September), c) doing it first thing in the morning will hopefully leave me revved for the day (and god knows I need the energy) and d) it'll let me get out and about and see the place I live in.
Downsides are the damage caused to my knees by running on tar, having to get up at maybe 7am or earlier during uni term to get a run and a shower which might mean going to bed around 11pm (GAH!!), and the fact that running is hard.
I have a route near my house in mind, and I'm thinking that if I start during the summer with 10 minutes jogging/walking the rest (because I am SO unfit) for a total of 45-60 minutes, by the time I start my job in August (and time becomes important), I can be doing it in 30 minutes of jogging, and then I can work toward getting faster in the same amount of time.
I know quite a few people on my flist run or have started running -- any advice? Things you wish you'd known when you started? Suggestions to make life easier? Is my rough plan feasible? I'm just looking for general information about running, really.
So, inspired by my newly-fixed MP3 player, I'm thinking of taking up running. I like running on the treadmill at the gym because I feel like I'm actually doing something immediate and direct toward my fitness, so I think it would be a good and satisfying thing to start doing from home. It's also something I can hopefully get into a routine of doing first thing in the morning a few times a week, so a) it's over and done before I'm awake enough to talk myself out of it or get "busy" or "tired" (which tends to happen with evening exercise), b) I can do it anywhere (e.g. on holiday in Austria, or back at uni in September), c) doing it first thing in the morning will hopefully leave me revved for the day (and god knows I need the energy) and d) it'll let me get out and about and see the place I live in.
Downsides are the damage caused to my knees by running on tar, having to get up at maybe 7am or earlier during uni term to get a run and a shower which might mean going to bed around 11pm (GAH!!), and the fact that running is hard.
I have a route near my house in mind, and I'm thinking that if I start during the summer with 10 minutes jogging/walking the rest (because I am SO unfit) for a total of 45-60 minutes, by the time I start my job in August (and time becomes important), I can be doing it in 30 minutes of jogging, and then I can work toward getting faster in the same amount of time.
I know quite a few people on my flist run or have started running -- any advice? Things you wish you'd known when you started? Suggestions to make life easier? Is my rough plan feasible? I'm just looking for general information about running, really.