I’ve never been much of a runner but always found running to be a pretty decent way to keep fit. It requires very little in the way of skill or technique; you don’t need any equipment; there’s nothing to set up and you can do it pretty much anywhere. If you’re busy with kids and travel and a job then you’ll find it pretty decent from a time investment point of view.
The only time I’ve really done any regular running was over a decade ago (notably before kids) – I ran the Bristol (UK) Half Marathon 3 times (98, 99 and 2000) as well as a few other shorter runs here and there (most recently the Los Gatos Dammit Run). But I’ve really never been much of a runner and find it pretty boring (more so on a treadmill) – I find cycling much more engaging and a much easier way to ‘turn off’; but cycling needs a lot more investment.
Over the Christmas break I signed up for the Tobacco Road Half Marathon and put together a 10 week training plan. I finished the first week this morning and am slightly ahead of my target. That’s fortunate because my plan (and the time available) has absolutely no contingency for injury or travel. And you guessed it – next week I’m traveling – the hotel has a small poorly equipped gym with exactly one running machine and the temperature in Boston isn’t going to be above freezing until August. If I was a runner – I’d be a fair-weather runner at that.
Get yourself a GPS HRM and software like Trailrunner. This allows you to just run wherever you want and still record and visualize the results. This can be highly motivating (especially when you see progress). Also you don’t have to always do the same track, just because you know its length in advance.
The following is a track in Raleigh, that you can start just from outside the office
http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?url=http://web.me.com/pilhuhn/trailrunner/J7KDER.gpx
I’m using Cyclemeter on my iPhone – it’s pretty accurate and I can listen to some tunes / a book while I’m running. The accuracy is pretty decent and it has configurable voice updates so you know what pace your at. I agree – I prefer to just go out and run and not have to stick with a known, pre-planned route.