I started running for my high school cross-country team without having done any physical activity for four years. My mantra for the whole season was “Just keep moving.” I had to commit to running for the sake of running, and to realize that I wasn’t going to be nearly as fast as any of the other girls on the team. At the beginning of practices I couldn’t even run a whole mile. Now, (five months later), I can run for six miles comfortably. You don’t have to run fast—shuffling is fine. But you can always jog one step more than you think you can. And one step after that. And one step after that.

Also, be conscious of the terrain that you’re running on. Running uphill raises your heart rate something like 27 beats per minute more than it would be if you were running the same pace on flat ground. Just try to get through some period of time where you train consistently.

Go to runnersworld.com for more advice. They have everything.

I started running by paying attention to time rather than distance. I was totally out of shape but I committed to running 15 minutes a day, distance was unimportant. From there I added more time, eventually I could start paying attention to distance and I was surprised how far I could go!