The first time I did the program I was 48. It all began when my son sent me the book “Born To Run” by Christopher McDougall. Highly recommend.

Decided to go minimal (zero drop) shoes. But couldn’t afford them so I got some cheap water shoes at Walmart. Zero drop. Calves hurt like hell for about a month as they got used to being used.

First two weeks were easy. So I skipped to week four. Big mistake. Don’t skip anything.

Once I got into it my confidence improved.

When I had a bad week I just repeated it. I could tell if the day was going to be bad about ten minutes into it and learned to just stop for that day.

I felt like a failure sometimes when I couldn’t complete a run. Learned that my mood would improve later when I did get it done.

About halfway into the program it gets really hard. Seriously hard. Everybody encounters that. Just kept repeating runs until they became doable. (Is that a word?)

After that plateau things got really easy. I finished the rest of the program quite easily. That was because my body became conditioned.

Then I bought myself some Merrells. My poor water shoes were worn out…

The feeling of running 5k is beyond compare. Runner’s high is real. I started running every day and hated to miss a run. Once I was in the hospital after shoulder surgery and just could not take not being active. So I walked around the ward, in my gown, pushing my IV drip until my need was satisfied. The nurses hated that…

Lessons learned:

Before you begin make sure you can walk at a brisk pace for 30 minutes nonstop.

Read “Born To Run”.

Get good shoes and socks. Go to a running shoe store and let them help you choose. If you don’t want to pay their prices get the shoes from Zappos.

Learn to properly stretch your calves. Stretch before and after each run.

Run like a penguin. Short strides. Your pace and stride length will improve.

Run on the balls of your feet. Your heels should never touch the ground while running. Good shoes can make this easier.

Don’t swing your arms. Wasted energy. Bend your elbows and then just let your arms hang. Loose fingers.

Run as if you are about to fall down. Forward tilt. Your feet should touch the path under your hips. Not in front of them. This helps ensure you are not doing a heel strike.

If you can, listen to hard rock or metal or fast beat hip hop. If you have to carry your phone get an arm band or belly band carrier. Wireless earphones if you can.

Run on a soft surface if you can. Trails. Grassy parks. Pavement kills your knees.

Avoid running in circles on a track. Varied landscapes help keep your mind busy.

Dress as if the temp was about ten degrees F warmer than the thermometer says. Walking and running increases your body temp. I’ve run at 20 degrees F with ice cycles hanging from my beard. Never felt better.

If you are bald like me wear a cap. A proper wicking cap. Sunburn on your noggin sucks.

If you don’t like the looks of your legs or belly cover them loosely. Warmups or sweats are okay. For hot weather wear a loose wicking tshirt and wicking compression leggings. But please wear shorts over the leggings for our sake.

If you want, get an accountability buddy. Someone who will help you get motivated and keep you going and honest.

Don’t skip rest days. I don’t care how easy the run was. Injuries are the fastest way to kill all the progress you’ve made.

Be easy on yourself. You will fail sometimes. We all do.

Celebrate after every good run! Not with pizza.

Share your progress. We want to know.

You can call yourself a runner after completing week 1 run 1. Because you are.

BTW I’m 61 now. Due to a serious heart issue and several surgeries I stopped running for three years. Now that I’m all better I’ve begun the program again. So I’m a beginner too.

Added: I use the WatchTo5K app on my Apple Watch. No need to carry my iPhone.