Heavy but Wanting to Run, Can it Happen? Suggestions?

You might want to look into the Couch to 5k program. I am going to start it either tomorrow or Sunday. Don't worry about speed, just finish even if you have to walk it. You have to start somewhere. Good luck.

Couch to 5K may be good, a friend of mine did something similar and began by losing 20 lbs, then started training. She completed a half-marathon last fall. Anyway, before you really start your running journey, please visit a running store where someone can help you get fitted for proper shoes! Especially for those of us who are heavy, running is very hard on the joints and proper shoes will help. I don't know of any "chain" stores, so I can't make a universal suggestion (our best running store is a locally-owned one here in AK), but good shoes are important, and starting slow. As long as you believe you can do it, you will =-).

So, for some reason I have a desire to do something I've never been good at, which is to train myself to run. On a treadmill I can run a couple miles no prob but without the give and boost of the treadmill, I tire out easily. This from a once college-recruited softball player! LOL They always sent in pinch runners, no joke, under the guise that I was too valuable as pitcher to run the bases... We all knew, though, that I was pretty slow as a runner.

Anyway, I keep reading that it's a great exercise for burns and I'm sure I'd get into it happily if I just knew how to start. It's been so long that I don't even have running shoes!

Now, I don't have any illusions about this... I know I'm pretty darn heavy to even consider it and I will have to be very careful. However, has anyone else here started from a very heavy weight (I'm 445 currently) and successfully brought running into their life? If so, how did you do it? I'm thinking that since it's getting nice out, I will just use trails around town to avoid people watching me, but what else can I do for success?

Thanks!

Absolutely - start out slow, don't overdo it - you'll feel much better for it.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/513023-first-half-marathon-and-obese

I would do fast walking for a while (outside...the variation of terrain and scenery is good for your brain) , then move into adding short intervals of running.

Couch to 5K worked well for me. There are a couple of versions out there tho...look for the one that starts with the shortest running intervals.
Since you're SUPER new to running and overweight, I would do each week at least twice. I was a bit overweight when I started and it really helped knowing it was no big deal to repeat weeks. The trick to the running part is to try not to go very fast. Your beginning run should be as gentle as possible and not much faster than your walking.

The action of bringing your body up and down will really get your heart going and strong which is the key to being able to run for a longer period of time. So, run slow. Run so slow you think you look silly. You are building endurance at this stage (c25k), not speed. Once you can run for 30 minutes (even at your silliest slow pace) then you are ready to speed up and start worrying about distance.

Another piece of advice for overweight beginning runners is to NOT RUN more than 3 days per week. It's very hard on the joints, muscles and bones, and your rest between workouts is ABSOLUTELY necessary. Doing more than that makes it more likely that you will injure yourself, and then you wouldn't be able to run at all. For your weight loss, do some cross training on the off days: yoga, swimming, weight training.

what helped me the most to stay with my running was joining our local running club. They have walking, run/walk, and running groups, social runs, and training classes. Belonging to a group of other runners was so important to my continued success.
I've been running less than two years, started out overweight, and am running my 4th half marathon this year in 2 weeks.

Do it!!