Now it's your turn!

Hey guys, I need some advice!

Now that I've registered for a 5K run in Toronto in the spring, I find myself feeling the way I did a year ago when I started on my weight-loss journey: lost and uncertain, like I'm staring up at a mountain with no idea where to start climbing in order to reach the summit. I know I've come an unbelievably long way since I weighed 200 pounds. Back then, I felt intimidated in the gym, knew nothing of the science behind muscle building, and had a distorted perception of what it means to eat healthy (fat = bad, right?)

Today, I am by no means a fitness expert, nor do I have any certification or official education - not yet anyway. But I can navigate a weight room with confidence and I look and think about food in a whole new way. For instance, I know there are good fats and bad ones, and that eating low-fat everything won't actually help you lose weight. I owe this knowledge in part to my job here as a fact checker and researcher, but mostly due to the fact that I've taken all I've learned at Oxygen and put it to good use.

But, I still consider myself to be a newbie and always a work in progress. I try to be constantly learning and open to all I can in health, nutrition and exercise, so that I can continue to grow (and in turn, shrink), and improve. And as it turns out, running is definitely an area of exercise in which I can vastly improve.

So I'm opening the floor up to you pavement pounders out there! Whether you run marathons or just jog with your pup, what advice do you have for a new runner? Any tips on training for a 5K?