The difference between discomfort and pain is crucial.

I'm still a beginning runner, but I think I've learned a few things in these past 13 weeks (13 weeks!). The most crucial is the difference between discomfort and pain. I think what stopped me (and a lot of other people who try running) from running before was discomfort as opposed to pain.

I know now that a certain level of discomfort is to be expected during running, even for the most seasoned runner. Things that I used to think were signals from my body telling me to stop - shortness of breath, tightness in my muscles, etc. - are signs that my body is being challenged and working hard. This is normal and to be expected. Pain, on the other hand, is caused by injury and overwork. After a few weeks of running, you'll know the difference between when you must stop and when you just want to stop because you're exerting a lot of energy.

I wish someone had told me this when I first started. I would have pushed myself a little harder and progressed much more quickly. I also wish someone had told me that often the hardest part of a run is the very beginning, when your heart rate is climbing and your muscles are warming up. No one told me that it wouldn't last, that the nagging tightness in my joints would eventually go away, that my breathing would become deeper and more relaxed and my legs, arms and breathing would take up a natural, easy rhythm.

I wish I had known these things, but maybe I wouldn't have believed it. These things fly in the face of logic; who would believe that the longer you run, the less tired you become? But that's exactly how it works. For me, anyway.

Here are a few other things I've learned while running:

1. A mile is not far at all.

2. If you're walking on a track and you see a runner coming toward you, move out of the way, or you are an asshole. (I'm talking to you, bleached blonde bitch that I see every morning at the track talking on your goddamn cell phone. Who goes to a track to talk on a cell phone, anyway? MOVE OUT OF MY WAY. [I'm going to have to write a separate entry about this woman.])

3. Give runners the inside of the track.

4. It's better to get up an hour earlier than to face the mid-morning sun.

5. Very early morning is a gorgeous time of day.

6. A good sportsbra is essential (and fucking expensive).

7. Drink a good amount of water before and after you run.

8. Start slow.

9. If you eat a bunch of crap the night before, your legs will feel like lead the next morning.

10. An inspiring iPod workout playlist can push you along a bit further when you want to stop.