How I started running in my 30s

I hated running. Now, I love it.

Happy Sunday! Now that I got my tariff doomscrolling out of my system, I want to talk about something that makes me happy: running.

Many of you are probably very good and experienced runners. I am not. Feel free to skip the first section, because I likely have nothing to offer you. But, if you’re someone who’s kinda thought you might want to run and never tried it or gave up, I hope this will be some encouragement and practical advice.

1. I can run. You can run.

Me after a run in Mobile, Alabama, last month. Look at this beautiful scene I never would have experienced without running!

My fluorescent orange Nikes slapped pavers at 7:08 p.m. February 14, 2021¹, absorbing water on a drizzly 44-degree night along the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida.

I don’t know how far I went — I apparently hadn’t enabled location tracking on my watch — but I remember starting out in a jog, stopping to walk and picking back up into a jog. I kept going back and forth. I did that for 30 minutes. I’d guess I traveled about two miles.

The thing I remember most, aside from wet socks, is feeling surprised by how well it went. I had only tried running outside a handful of times during my adult life. I always hated it. This time felt … good.

So good that I was back out in the same spot at 8:09 the next morning. For 40 minutes. More jogging, less walking.

I thought about that after my wife asked me about my favorite part of our spring break trip to Alabama. The first answer that came to mind: running.

That was a bit of sarcastic commentary on the difficulty of traveling with two young children. This trip, like all trips, was a lot. We played all the hits: exhaustion-induced meltdowns, car vomit and too much McDonald’s.

But my answer also was a sincere reflection of how much I’ve come to love running. I ran through the University of South Alabama campus, Medal of Honor Park and some random, boring subdivision in Mobile. Not very fast, and maybe not very far, but I did it!

Running has become a highlight of most trips. Some of my clearest memories from our fall travels through Europe include running in the predawn hours through the streets of Oxford and Hyde Park in London. There are few more intimate experiences in faraway places than seeing the sights while communing with early-rising locals who are out getting their steps in.

Traveling aside, running has become one of my favorite activities in general. Stepping outside for a run marks a clear, decisive break from work, parenting and other stressors. I return less grumpy and with more patience. I feel better at times when I’m running a lot.

Getting into running has been the single best gift handed down from my 30s to my older self.

I wish I could have discovered these benefits earlier in life. I wanted to run, but I just didn’t know how to get started. It’s working for me now because, when I hit the Jacksonville riverwalk in 2021, I finally started out with a sustainable approach.

Here’s what I did:

👟 Researched good running shoes

• I’m not out to pretend to be a pro runner or anything, but I figured sore feet would be the quickest way to kill my motivation. So, I bought some good running shoes.

• There are plenty of running sites and forums, but Wirecutter is my go-to for pretty much everything, including running shoes. I have a version of the Nike Pegasus, which gets an honorable mention there.

💪 Used a (virtual) trainer

• This has made the single-biggest difference for me. When I used to try to run on my own, I didn’t know what I was doing, and I would just run hard, get tired, hate it and not do it again for a long time.

• When I started my running journey in 2021, I had Peloton’s Matt Wilpers in my ear, guiding me on a beginner run at an attainable pace with scheduled times for walks. I started out with a mix of beginner-level runs and walk-and-run workouts, and it was exactly what I needed to build stamina and confidence. (I’ve written about Peloton before — it’s been a game-changer for keeping me on track with workouts.)

• Peloton works for me, but other similar options include Apple Fitness+ and Nike Run Club. I highly recommend something like this if you’re like me and just couldn’t figure out what to do on your own. It’s like hiring a personal trainer for pennies on the dollar.

🎧 Got comfy earbuds

• If you’re going to take a coach with you on runs, you need earbuds that won’t distract you. I had one pair that would fall out of my ears during sprints. Avoid that.

• Again, I defer to Wirecutter, or your favorite review site.

🏃 Chose a pleasant path

• I started out at the Jacksonville riverwalk because it was close to where I was staying, separated from traffic and I wanted to see it anyway.

• At home, I run through neighborhood sidewalks, trails and other places I’d otherwise enjoy spending time.

• I avoid cars and busy intersections as much as possible. Running should be enjoyable, and a nice path is key.

If you take one thing from this post, it’s that you shouldn’t give up on running if you’re interested in doing it. I found joy by getting more comfortable and running with professional guidance in my ears.

I’m still extremely recreational. I’ve never participated in a 5K or any other organized race (though I could and probably will some day). But that’s not the point. The main thing is, I like doing it and it improves my mental and physical health.

2. News is heading for a traffic cliff

Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash

AI is killing search traffic — and news orgs had better pay attention.

Axios’ Sarah Fischer reports:

Traditional search traffic to the top 500 media and news websites in the U.S. dropped by more than 15% from an average of 5.3 million page referrals per publisher in May 2024 to an average of 4.5 million in February 2025, according to new data from Similarweb shared exclusively with Axios for Media Trends Executive members.

AI chatbots are getting better than search engines at delivering quick, relevant responses to queries. When I type a question into Claude, for instance, I get the precise information I want (albeit with a need for fact-checking) rather than having to click on five or six links and hunt for relevant details.

Google understands this and is offering similar AI-generated responses in its search engine, reducing the need for people to click through links. This is generally good for users — and bad for sites that rely on search traffic.

Fischer writes: “Experts believe we are at the beginning of a terminal decline in overall search traffic referrals to web publishers.”

News is heading for a search cliff. Those of us who publish #content for a living need to think about how to develop direct, personal relationships with our audiences (btw, in case I haven’t said it lately, thank you for subscribing to this newsletter!).

Pageviews from search still deliver revenue, for now, but it’s drying up.

3. What I wrote

Photo by Steven Van Elk on Unsplash

I published three columns last week for IndyStar:

• Indiana is turning school boards into a farm system for wannabe politicians

• Micah Beckwith and his Indiana DOGE bros are livin' large

• Diego Morales is rubbing our faces in his corruption. Impeach him now.

4. What I read

I finished an advance copy of “Hate the Game” by Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. It’s an excellent guide to applying economics concepts to life choices, including relationships, homebuying and salary negotiations. The book drops April 11. I’ll likely have more to say about it.

5. Who gets killed in “The White Lotus”?

I, like many people, am watching the third season of “The White Lotus” and wondering who dies. Here are the most likely contenders, per betting site Polymarket.

1. Valentine’s Day, lol.