How to Start Running
So much bad advice.<p>(1) Actually it <i>does</i> matter how and where (relative to your body) you land your foot.  Contrary to the article, many people do need to fix their "natural" form and/or get shoes that help them avoid pronation, both to avoid injury and to increase the enjoyment that will help them stick with it.<p>(2) Similarly, the article's advice about stretching is way out of date.  It's now consensus that static stretching can not only reduce performance but increase chance of injury.  The author weakly hints at some of this, but never actually recommends against static stretching like most would.<p>(3) Lastly, there's a pervasive assumption bordering on encouragement of people wearing headphones while they run.  I realize there's a lot of controversy about this, but a responsible author would at least have mentioned that it's a safety issue as well as an aesthetic one.  If you run all alone where there's no traffic - including pedestrian traffic - do whatever you want, but if you're running in crowded times or places it's <i>irresponsible</i> to deafen yourself.  I've know runners who have both been injured and have caused injury to others because of this, so I'm not inclined to let that pass.<p>I'm sure many people could follow this author's advice and be fine, especially if they're young enough and slim enough that they've never had to overcome the barriers that face older/heavier runners.  Good for her and good for them, but that doesn't mean her experience can or should be generalized to everyone.  There are better sources.  Just search for "beginner running advice" and pick anything, especially one of the articles from Runner's World.  With all that was already out there - it's practically an industry - this one just doesn't cut it.