Jog while you still can. Jogging also has a few tips. Some start with proper techniques naturally. Many others learn the techniques.

Some benefits of jogging

1) Able to run during emergency.
2) Improve performance for other game, such as basketball.
3) It costs less time and money compared to other sports.
4) It releases mental stress.

Planning for jogging

2 km in Google Earth

Use the ruler in Google Earth to plan jogging path at desired distance. Avoid path across busy vehicle road for safety. To be more accurate, turning path should not be drawn by just one point, creating sharp turn because in an actual jog you do not do such sharp turn.

2 km in GPS

Install a free GPS tracking application in your smartphone if you want to track the path and distance you have jogged during the jogging. It is also needed when you want to jog in an unfamiliar area where you do not know how to plan your path with Google Earth. Take note that the distance measured by GPS is may differ than the distance measured by GPS. For example, 2 km in GPS may have a little longer distance than 2 km in Google Earth.

Get a pair of light sneakers. Of course if you have extra budget, go for professional running shoes because their extra cushioning may minimize shock. Some prefer minimalist shoes or even barefoot.

Start out with a short distance first, for example 1 km. Keep to this until your stamina builds up. Then choose to increase 200 m, 500 m or 1 km and keep to the new distance again.

To minimize injury, instead of increasing speed, it is better to increase distance. When I started out jogging, I was particular over how fast I could run and my body was stressed out after each jog. Speed should be improved gradually and naturally in a long term.

I think it is not enough to just jog once a week. But it is also good to take a break between two jogs, say 48 hours or long enough for soreness of leg muscle to subside by itself.

Ankle weight is not needed.

Before jogging

After having a heavy meal, wait for a few hours before jogging. Jogging with loaded stomach is extremely uncomfortable. For me, I wait for at least five hours.

Before warm-up, jog in place to test if your body at that moment is comfortable for the jog. Warm up until sweating a bit. Any warm up method will do, such as quick handstand, pushup, punches in various directions while in horse stance, turning upper body left and right, shoulder blade squeeze, quadriceps stretch, front and back kicking, squats, forward and backward bend stretch. Sometimes I do taiji or simply just walk and breath deeply.

If you plan to jog around neighborhood but you do not feel like doing warm-up outside, you can do it at home.

If you jog at dawn beside vehicle road, it is better to wear light colour clothing so that you will be more visible to drivers.

It is good to carry some information about you (name, residential address, family phone number, blood type) with you.

When jogging

Do not jog if it rains unless you want to wear raincoat to jog. If it rains in the middle of a jog, stop and get shelter somewhere.

Time the jog with stop watch (e.g. in cell phone or wrist watch).

Jog in relaxed pace. Jogging is supposed to be relaxing. When you feel that you are short-breathed, slow down the pace. The steps should be as silent as possible by touching the ground lightly and briefly. If you want to increase speed, do it only after some distance, say 1 km.

Avoid landing on heels. This is to minimize impact to knees. This also gives the feeling of 'jogging'. In the beginning the calf will be painful but it will get stronger everyday. Although I think landing on heels may not reduce speed and may let you win prizes, but you should not compromise the potential knee injury in the long term.

Do not land foot in front of body as this obstructs the forward momentum.

If you are jogging with someone, keep the same speed with him or her.

Do not use earphone when jogging on the road so that approaching danger can be heard in time.

When I am chased by a dog, I just run away without yelling at the dog. After seeing me always, the dog will ignore me finally. That is my own experience so far. You may use your own preferred way to deal with the dog, such as ultrasonic dog repeller.

Be alert of bad guy, bicycle and car door opening.

After the jog

Wait until your body stops sweating before taking a shower to avoid catching a cold. If you think that you will not have sufficient time for your body to stop sweating before taking shower, then it is better to cancel the jog.

Put the record in the spreadsheet file. The example file is downloadable at the bottom of this page. You may modify it for your own use.

Jog-A-Thon or Marathon

Participation in marathon gives more motivation to keep jogging. Anyway, finish one first before registering for another so that the body is not stressed out.

There is quarter marathon, half marathon, full marathon and ultra marathon. Choose quarter marathon or less if you have not tried it before. As a leisure jogger, the target should not be to win medal, but just to complete the journey without walking.

Bring along a small waist pouch to store keys, cell phone etc. Or buy a pair of running pants with pocket and zipper but put the things in plastic bag first to protect against sweat.

Avoid wearing cotton clothes because such clothes absorb sweat. Wet clothes are heavy and may give a chill. Usually marathon organizer will provide decent running vest.

Avoid bringing along towel because its weight will increase after absorbing sweat.

Relieve the bladder and bowels before the start of marathon.

Download: jogging_record.xls