[VAV1500]

The rule of thumb I use is appx 500 miles before you start phasing a pair of sneakers out of use. Keeping track of this is helpful.

As far as running itself goes, one of the best things I can personally reccomend is to seek out the softer surface whenever possible. Not only will running on soft grass cause you to exert (an albeit minimally) greater amount of force to push off, hence strengthening more muscles in the feet and legs, the long term ramifications of not slamming your feet on concrete, stone, or whatever you are running on will pay dividends later on. Espescially if you are putting in serious mileage.

If you're going to be going on a long one, I would advise eating something small beforehand, if you have that option. It is amazing how much of a difference that nutra-grain bar makes when you're coming up to the 2/3 point of a run greater than 12 miles. The difference, to me at least, is not suffering massive energy loss and slowing down to the point where you cannot go for more than 200 yards at a time without having to stop and dry heave.

I'll echo something mentioned in "Get Selected" as well. At the very least, all runs should begin at that "conversational pace". I have spoiled a lot of potentially good sessions of excercise because I was feeling strong at the beginning and decided to run 20-30 seconds faster for the the first several miles than the pace I am able to reasonably maintain for the prescribed distance. Once you get into rhythym, you can speed up if you want to, but unless you are racing, there is no point in charging out of the gate.

I'll crawl back in my hole soon, but I feel it is also important to mention running form, particularly that of the lower portion of the body. If anybody has seen the movie "Without Limits" you know that you can't bring your knees up when you are sticking your butt out. Even if you're jogging around the block with your wife as shes trying to get back in shape, you should always be thinking, hips forward, knees up. This will minimize the rear action of your legs, in other words not kicking back too far and concentrating on actually putting your feet in front of you.

Just a few thoughts from 10+ years of running, if you do all the small things right, you will be that much less likely to get injured and that much more likely to gain positive benefits from running.


EDIT: (for Too Tall)

Stronger muscles are more resistant to injury, obviously, so working on the knee ligaments is probably a good idea. As for trying to deliberately alter your footstrike, I can't say I'm a podiatrist, but I can say from personal experience that it is probably not a good idea and will cause you more trouble than it will prevent. Do you know how your foot hits the ground when you are running? Do you pronate or supinate or are you neutral? How high are your arches? Although it is easily written off as BS, the many different kinds of running shoes for different kinds of feet are in fact quite helpful. The questions I posed before, when answered, can be used to determine which shoe is best for you. I would also mention that perhaps more important than what part of your foot is striking the ground is the position your foot is in immediately prior to striking the ground, as dictated by the flexion(sp?) of your ankle and the point of your toe. Also--keep in mind that some people just have weird feet, you may be one of them. If it is natural for you to run on the balls of your feet (i.e. you do not have to think about what you are doing) there may be more benefits than hazards to be had by performing as such. Generally, however, forcing yourself to put more pressure on one part of your foot is not wise, it isolates a specific area and puts the full stress of your weight on it.