more running

lolgaimans, which is more or less self-explanatory. Personal favorites include You get what everyone gets . . . and My stories.

For desfido, The Couch-to-5K Running Plan. My advice, distilled from everything people have told me: 1) it's a good plan; 2) drink before and after you run; 3) get running shoes, they don't have to be expensive but they do need to provide some support and cushion; 4) regulate your breathing and breathe out more often than you breathe in; 5) if you get bad shin splints, stretch the back of your lower legs by putting the balls of one foot on a curb and pressing the heel down for about ten seconds, then doing the other leg.

Me, I've been reasonably conscientious about getting out three mornings a week and doing just over two miles in just under 25 minutes. The past couple of weeks have been absolutely horrid: humidity of 80% makes it feel like I'm breathing through molasses. (Today was a delightful fifty-five degrees, and not overly humid.) Week after next I'll try varying my route, see if I can add length without too much elevation. I seem to have reached one of those pesky plateaus, though. Weight and size haven't changed since about February. Grr.

Origins in two days. It always seems to sneak up on me. This will be a weird year; as rbandrews pointed out, there won't be anyone from Blacksburg there this year. End of an era, or something.