Thanks for the informative post. About two years ago I was desperate to find some motivation to get into shape, so I signed up for a local 5k race. I suffered through about a month of training, hating almost every step but determined not to finish at the back of the pack. Then a strange thing happened: I started to enjoy running. Now, many 1000s of miles later, I've run everything from 5ks to a full marathon, and hope to run a 50k in a few months. Running has been a life-changing experience.