I am not sure what consist of a newbie runner but I started running in December of last year.  About a year ago, my weight and health was getting worse.  I was about 88 pounds overweight (if I remember correctly I was considered morbidly obese).  I started to lose weight and in 90 days was able to drop 25 pounds.  In December I had so much more energy and I decided it was time to put it to good use.  I have always been overweight and when I was a freshman in high school (I'm 26 now), I had to run and I hated it.  I couldn't breath and I ended up with shin splints at one point.  My mother told me at that point in my life that I couldn't run so for the past 11/12 years I believed her.  I have always been someone who likes to prove people wrong, so I decided to start running.  Since it was winter time, I started on a treadmill and began with a walk to run program from Nike.  My first mile on the treadmill took me over 19 minutes. (Keep in mind that at that time I had gained a few pounds back and was about 63 pounds overweight).  I followed the program to a t and finished it in March.  I have been using other training programs since then. 

I am about to hit 500 miles on my nike app that I use to track my running.  I have tried my best to run outside as much as possible but the heat of the summer and being my first summer running.  A typical warm up mile is a little over 12 minutes and my pr is 10:20.  I have completed 2 5k's this past spring and realized my running app is not as accurate as I like so it is possible that I am doing much better than I think.  I am a perfectionist and trying to get better and better. I am working right now on changing my mentality and I'm trying just to enjoy the miles instead of focusing on speed or time.  The past two days have gone really well with this and I'm trying my best to remember that everyday I get out there is progress even if it's not my best run.  I typically run by myself and I know the one time I ran with others who were in better shape, I ran faster.  My former personal trainer is away right now but when he gets back, we are going to try and run together.  I know he will push me along. 

I am taking everything slow. Right now I'm only about 18 pounds overweight so I know that helps a lot.  My goal is to soon be running a 10k outside and increase my miles slowly.  I would love to eventually qualify and run the Boston Marathon.  After that, I'd love to run a marathon across the Great Wall of China (ascents and descents of 10% and over 5,000 steps!)  I know it's going to take a lot of training and dedication but I have faith sooner or later I will get there. 

I'm so excited to find a discussion board and learn from others.