Posted by Leon Mattics on December 04, 2006 at 12:11:32:
In Reply to: Re: Newbie... posted by Ben Harper on December 04, 2006 at 09:55:21:
Are you the Ben Harper who used to play such beautiful music on WHIL?
Be sure to follow Kerry's advice and not try to do too much too soon. Your muscles will become fit before your bones can adjust to the new stresses you are putting on them. Your body is taking a little bone from one place and adding it to another.
Your muscles will tell you you are ready to increase your mileage and maybe try a much longer run but your bones are not ready. I would suggest you not increase your mileage by not more than a quarter mile a week. A lot of new runners who increase their mileage too fast either end up with a Stress Fracture somewhere from their pelvis to the bones in their feet and/or some kind of a knee or foot injury.
One more piece of advice that you will be getting from every veteran runner is to go to see Joe Sims at McCoys Sporting Goods on Springhill at the Beltline and have him fit you with a good pair of shoes, you might think some pair of jogging shoes you bought a Walt Mart may suffice but they won't and if they are not right for you you will end up injured.
In summation, the most important thing is to avoid injury, you can't improve if you are injured, and there is nothing sadder than a runner who can't run because they are injured.