I am not an elite runner....

...Not by any standard.  In fact, I'm not even a good runner.  I'm just a runner.  And I'm okay with that.  My last race, I finished in the top 30 percent overall, but smack dab right in the middle for my age group.  So I guess you could say I am an average runner.  But I still consider myself to be a beginner, and there are a million things I don't know about running.  Which is why I started writing about it.  That probably sounds counterintuitive, and in a sense it is.  But there is a method to my madness.  As I have progressed in my hobby (as I've previously posted here, I don't call running "excercise" ...it sounds too much like work and kind of sucks all of the joy out of it), I have naturally tried to find information about it, such as what equipment to use, how to run faster or longer, etc.  But as I've searched and searched, I keep finding running blogs and articles that were written by researchers and elite runners, who use terms that I still don't understand, like VO2 max and fartlek (although fartlek sounds like something I would have called my little brother when we were growing up, as it turns out, it's a Swedish term and has to do with speed work - which is another term I have only recently begun to use).  I'll be honest with you: I still don't care about all of that stuff.  Now there are probably some hard core runners who may read this and gasp.  That's okay.  I understand.  But hear me out.  I'm just starting out.  I'm the guy for whom it was a big deal less than a year ago for me to be able to run a full mile without stopping for a cheeseburger, a glass of water and an oxygen mask at least twice along the way.  So fartleks and

intervals and "speedwork" were way outside of my realm.  But when I was first trying to learn more about running, those terms were very overwhelming.  I sometimes second guessed myself because I kept being confronted with how much I really didn't know, and started wondering if it really was for me.  It seemed like everyone else on the planet had been running their entire lives and I was the only idiot who had just clued in to the fact that it was fun and good for you.  I kept with it anyway, because the weight was falling off and, well, bikini season was coming up and I was going to finally fit into my two-piece.  Wait, that was my wife.  I kept running because, despite my hopeless lack of knowledge and my dismally slow speed, I felt good.  And then I realized that there's plenty of time for caring about fartleks and VO2 max later.  Right now, I just like running.  It makes me feel good about myself.  Let's face it, no matter how fast I get, I'm not going to win a 5k, and I'm definitely not going to win a marathon.  But I do enjoy running in them.  Well, not marathons yet, but I'm working on it.  Running is personal, and it's all about yourself and your accomplishments.  The only person you ever really need to worry about trying to beat is yourself.  And you don't even really need to worry about that.  My point is simply this:  If you are new to running, just get out there and do what you can.  Work your way up to a distance you feel good about, at a pace you can handle.  Eventually, you'll start going faster on your own.  Take the pressure off.  Unless it’s something you grow to love, you won't want to do it often, which means someday you'll stop.  And I'd hate for you to stop.  It's okay to just be who you are.  You don't have to be a lifetime track star.  Just get out there and go!  Make yourself proud.  So here's to us newbies and beginners and average runners!  And when you start participating in races, please, for the sake of those running behind you, try to go easy on the fartleks!