I've continued to run intensely and in short bursts

Do you mean walk-run-walk-run in a single session? Or that you do short intense sessions with no walking?

It's time to stop rationalizing, and instead try the approach that's overwhelmingly recommended.

Have you considered not running as your primary exercise program? If you aren't specifically going for the performance of running, I would shelve it and instead cut calories (assuming you have extra weight to lose) and lift heavy things at the gym. Distance running is great for distance running.

I have been in multiple running groups and they are great for achieving goals like 26.2 miles, but after that, I wanted to optimize for looks and not for long distances (any more).

Is there any specific reason why you've been avoiding those approaches (e.g. where you slowly increase)? You mention that you told yourself "It isn't for me," but haven't told us why.

because I felt embarrassed to have to walk any

Something I've had trouble with now that I'm starting to run is finding a running/jogging speed that takes as little energy, while still not walking. The last time I ran I finally found it and severely decreased the time I spend walking. It might be helpful to find that speed. I can guarantee you that it will feel very slow.

I've been struggling with how to improve in running all last year, and now again this spring. I finally realized (after reading a lot of articles on lesswrong.com, and specifically the martial arts of rationality posts) that I've been rationalizing that Couch to 5k and other recommended methods aren't for me. So I continue to train in the wrong way, with rationalizations like: "It doesn't matter how I train as long as I get out there."

I've continued to run intensely and in short bursts, with little success, because I felt embarrassed to have to walk any, but I keep finding more and more people who report success with programs where you start slowly and gradually add in more running.

Last year, I experimented with everything except that approach, and ended up hurting myself by running too far and too intensely several days in a row.

It's time to stop rationalizing, and instead try the approach that's overwhelmingly recommended. I just thought it would be interesting to share that recognition.

I'd be thrilled to have you take the [edit: edX] course with me if you're interested. If you think it's too basic, then I'd recommend the book i linked above. I skimmed it and it looks very good. Also has great reviews. Let me know if you register for the class!

I am enrolled in 2 MOOCs at the moment. I have completed several MOOCs in the past year and have found that the MOOC format with deadlines and tests works very well for me. It forces me to actually do the work at a certain time, since I have to meet deadlines or I won't pass. I have also enrolled in the "Signature Track" for these courses where I paid upfront for an "ID Verified" certificate if I pass. I believe this will help me complete it, as I have money on the table. I would love to have study partners for both courses. Below, I give some general information and a pitch for each.

Single Variable Calculus (Coursera) - Course Page

Requirements: Pre-calc, basic familiarity with Calculus (ability to differentiate and integrate a simple polynomial)

My Reasons: I never deeply understood Calculus in college, even though I could solve the problems in context. I feel that deep understanding of calculus will be useful for Probability Theory and more advanced programming.

My pitch for this course: The course materials are extremely high quality. (Tied with MIT's 6.00x for the best I've ever seen) It emphasizes deep understanding of relationships between different mathematical structures. It starts with the Taylor Series and uses it to develop the rest of calculus. It covers all of single variable calculus rigorously and concludes with building discrete calculus from the ground up.

Start Date: It has already started, but we're only in week 2. It would not be too hard to catch up and even if you don't catch up in time for the first quiz, it's only worth 4% of the total for the class.

Linear Algebra (edX) - Course Page - Outline

Requirements: Geometry, pre-calc, high school algebra. (I suspect that basic programming knowledge will be helpful)

My Reasons: Again, I never deeply understood Linear Algebra in college, even though I could solve the problems in context. Linear Algebra is important in many aspects of computing and programming. Linear algebra is on the MIRI course list (though I suspect that this course will turn out to be better than the Coursera course that is listed there. (Also, the Coursera course is not currently offered and does not have any upcoming sessions.) Additionally, the book on the MIRI course list says in the preface that it is intended as a second-pass at Linear Algebra and focuses more on abstract vector spaces and maps. I plan to work through the book after this course.

My pitch for this course: It appears to be a very complete course. It emphasizes computation throughout the course which appeals to me more than trying to memorize steps to solve problems by hand. There are programming assignments throughout the course to teach linear algebra in the context of computation instead of in a vacuum. I imagine it would be much harder to start applying LA to programming if you learned them completely separately.

Start Date: January 29th

I am now working through the "Structure and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics"

Good for you. Checking multiple sources is very rational :) If you get stuck, the Freenode ##physics IRC channel often has physics undergrad and grad students around to help with the technical stuff, though discussing interpretations is generally not encouraged.

I'm Anthony. I found out about Less Wrong from Overcoming Bias, and I found out about Overcoming Bias about 2 years ago when Abnormal Returns, which is like a sampler of all kinds of posts on the econ-blogsphere, linked to Overcoming Bias.

I had previously decided that the singulatarians were crazily optimistic. I thought they were all about the future being unimaginable goodness all the time. I guess that was my interpretation of Kurzeil. I thought they were unrealistic about the nature of reality. I don't believe that the singularity will hit in a few decades, at least I don't understand the arguments enough to think that yet, but it is an interesting topic

I used to be part of an Objectivist campus club at the University of CU-Denver. And then an Objectivist magazine promoted the idea of nuking Afghanistitan in response to 9/11. And also I discovered Michael Shermer's "Why People Believe Strange Things", and specially the chapter calling out Objectivism as a cult. I fought against the idea of Objectivism being a cult for a long time, but then I started to be convinced, and I eventually abandoned Objectivism completely.

But reading HPMOR, the sequences and some of the other posts here has been really informative and fun. I especially liked the Quantum Mechanics sequence, it really cleared up some of my fogginess on the subject, and made me want to know more. I am now working through the "Structure and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics". Just the linear algebra in the latter half of Chapter 1 goes way behind anything I learned in college, so it is still slow going, but I have learned a lot about Linear algebra (projection operators. How to take a norm of a complex-valued vector, etc.)

I live in the Northern Lower Penninsula of Michigan. Its pretty rural up here. There aren't many jobs in IT around here, but I have one of them. Its a lot less specialized that I'm sure most IT jobs are. I do purchasing, PC support, in house app programming, printer support and on and on. I'm in the middle of a difficult programming project that's taken 2 years, because I am the only programmer here, and I can't spend full time on the project.

I see that there was recently a meetup in Detroit. I might have to make the drive south for the next one, if there is another one.

Anyway, I decided to it was time to get more involved and learn more actively. So I registered rather than continuing to lurk.