When you are first starting out, the most important thing is consistency, not speed. You need to find a pace that you can sustain for a reasonable amount of time. Maybe that's walking briskly -- and that's OK!!! If you want to start running, then try walking first, but throwing in a little jog every few minutes. Over time, you will find that you can go faster with less perceived effort.

It never really gets *easy*, but you reframe and learn to feel the exertion as positive rather than negative. It certainly gets easier. But I advocate starting moderately and building up gradually --- rather than killing yourself and hoping for a breakthrough. You will naturally improve through consistent effort.

And, losing 10 pounds in a month is great!! If you had previously been gaining weight steadily, not only have you reversed that trend, you made progress in the right direction. Don't be discouraged!!

For me personally, if both feet are off the ground at the same time, I'm running. I might be running slowly, as I'm recovering from knee surgery and I'm thrilled to hit 5mph, but I'm still running. My father, a life-long runner, insists I am jogging until I'm doing 6mph, but I just ignore him. To me, if you're consistent and enjoying it, call it whatever you want!

I run @ 4.6 mph.. and for me this is running! I "jog" at 4mph .. I think it's personal based on height and fitness level.

Exactly how I see it too.

bliss3244 -- I don't know if you've already heard of it, but the Couch to 5K running program has helped me immensely. When I first tried to start running, I was a lot like you. I'd set out with high hopes, but by the end of the second minute (or first minute!) I'd be out of breath and feel my heart beating too hard.

Couch to 5K starts off with a lot of fast walking with short run/jogs sprinkled in. Every day and week, the amount of jogging increases. I'm up to the 25 minute runs now, and I know there is no way I could have gotten here without using a program like C25K. Check it out!

I am doing womens health magazine 6 week program, I just started it yesterday.
I did C25k last year but only got to week 6 and then holiday's came and never got back on track. I decided to start from beginning on another program. You can find it by typing womens health run walk program in yahoo or google.

I've been trying to do the C25K program and I "run" at 4mph. According to both the dictionary and my personal trainer, running is when your movement is such that both feet are off the ground at once. Speed has nothing to do with it. If running were defined only by speed then it would be impossible for a small child to run due to their short little legs, and anyone who has ever been in charge of any small children knows that they can definitely run! I also use the if I can talk then I'm not running method, but I do that for all my workouts. If I can hold a conversation then I need to work harder.

joyfulloser - I love the "it's not how much you do on one day...it's how many days you do it!" comment. That is an awesome way of looking at things. I have put it on a post-it note and added it to my wall of neat quotes, reminder, etc.

bliss - 10 pounds in a month is actually pretty darn awesome. As for the fear, I agree that as long as it is only your head messin with you then you should push on through it. You will be amazed at what you can do if only you will let yourself do it. At the same time, don't push yourself too hard in the beginning. If you take all the fun out of it then you won't stick to it and the last thing you want to do is risk hurting yourself and not being able to workout at all. Do what you can when you can and take it one day at a time.

I'm up to a 9 for my tabata sprints on the treadmill!!

I think it is different for everyone and it is hard to say what exactly is running for everyone. Some are working their way up and going 5 mph is running, while avid runners may still consider a 6mph a jog to them.
In the end as long as your working up a sweat on the treadmill it doesn't matter who classifies it as running or jogging! Just keep up the good work you'll get up there!!!

I average 5.5 mph. I know some people don't consider that running, but I don't care. I'm not doing it for other people. Every time I see someone running faster than me, I remind myself how far I've already come. And that chances are high they aren't training for the distances I am either. I'm 9.5 weeks from my first half marathon and 51 weeks from my first marathon.

i am 5 foot, 4 inches...the fastest i can walk on a treadmill is 4.0 and that's pushing it for walking...my hips dont like to rotate well either because of past lower back/hip problems...anyhow...i started to run at 4.6 and now i run at 5.5 and that's an easy run for me...i will always do intervals due to my asthma but i havent let that stop me yet ....i feel like i'm not really working at running at 5.5 right now, i feel like i'm starting to really work at it around 6.3-6.5 mph and when i do sprints i can hit 7.3 and 7.5...ive never pushed the speed higher than that because i'm afraid i will lose balance and fall off and get injured LOL

but i run nearly every day and work up a good sweat...i only do treadmill though because outdoors my asthma flares up to where i have to stop, it's manageable on a treadmill

I usually run between 5mph-6.5mph depending on the length of the run, the terrain, weather, and my energy level. I consider anything that is 5mph or more running. It depends on a lot of things.

I think "jogging" is bogus - I RAN my first half marathon at 9:30 pace - I didn't tell people after I "jogged" it - I RAN it because I didn't bike or walk it! Running is running - it's moving faster than walking in my opinion!

Running then walking (or running faster, then slower) is interval training. It's very effective in building up endurance and in time, overall speed. I've never found that running slower without stopping has had greater effect on calorie burn or weight loss than interval running. I think it's just easier to measure.

One more!! SO true.