Runner's Resources

As I fumbled my way through "how to run" as a newbie, I came across a lot of good websites, articles and tools that taught me a lot about pace, calorie burns and more.  So, I thought I'd put a bunch of stuff together to make it easier for new newbies to find.  Most of the orange text below contains a link to another page.  I hope these are helpful to you.  Thanks!

Couch-to-5K Program - So, you're brand new to running.  My #1 advice is SLOW DOWN!  In my short experience with running, I've seen too many people get inspired to run, run too fast, hurt too much, and quit.  Seriously, if you've been sedentary or semi-sedentary for a while, you cannot go out and run hard.  Like any sport, you have to start from the bottom and build up!  Couch to 5K programs are great for this.  You run for a little bit, walk for little bit.  Each day your running portions get longer.  You don't start out by running every day.  If it's too hard, SLOW DOWN!  That means you are going too fast.  You will not start out by running 10 minute miles.  Don't even try.  It doesn't help.  Your goal is run longer, not run faster.  Check out one of these programs to figure out how to build up to it.

Calorie Burn Calculator - This is the most accurate calculators I've found online (thanks Pike Creek Valley Running Club) for calorie burns.  Some of the others give you wildly different results.  I've compared this one to the BodyBugg, MyFitnessPal website, and a heart rate monitor.  I think it's most accurate because it takes into account your weight, pace and duration, which all effect the burn.  Most online calculators leave out one of those factors.

Training Pace Calculator - want to know what pace you should be doing long runs, tempo runs, etc.?  Use a recent race time and this calculator.

Pace Calculator - Know your overall time and distance, but not your pace?

Marathon and Half Marathon Training Schedules - Hal Higdon is a respected authority on the matter.  Don't sweat it if you miss some training runs, but this will give you a great idea of how to start. 

MapMyRun - Need to map out a run? There are other things you can do on this site like track your miles and link up to your smartphone app with GPS capabilities.

Speedwork - What is it?  Why do it?  How to do it?  If you need to know what paces you should be doing speedwork at, check out the training pace calculator above and enter a recent race pace.

Hill Repeats - What is this?  How do I do them?

Social Networking - There's plenty of social networking for runners.  I personally like and use DailyMile, but there's a social networking component to MapMyRun and RunKeeper as well.  It's all a personal preference.

Running Apps - RunKeeper, MapMyRun, Couch-to-5k,