12/27/10 ~ Blog of Asad Mirjat

Seven tips for new runners

28 December, 2010

Lots of people decide to start running at this time of year, usually to lose weight, look after their health or control stress. This year perhaps some people will have been inspired to become more sporty by the Queen's Christmas message.

In the hope that it will help other people to be happy runners like me, I've published online the full text of my 2002 book, Running for Fitness. The book includes lots of advice for beginners, so if you are considering making a New Year's Resolution to take up running, you may want to browse through it.

To get you started, here are seven tips for new runners:

Take it easy
Running for Fitness includes a training programme for beginners which begins with walking only for the first three weeks. This helps your body to adapt and avoids injury. Once you start to run, make sure you don't go too fast. Lots of new runners have a vague memory of sprinting at school, and think that when they run they should be completely out of breath. A good rule of thumb for new runners is the "talk test": if you can't speak to your running buddy in complete sentences, you are running too fast.
Get a running buddy
Running with someone else is more fun, and if you have committed to meet someone it will be harder for you to change your mind or decide that you are too busy. (You might also want to join a running club, which is not as scary as it sounds.) You are much more likely to enjoy running, and keep at it, if you run with a friend or as part of a group.
Give it three or four weeks
Many people find exercise a bit of a grind when they first start; but generally after about 3 weeks, something clicks into place. After that, many people are hooked; and often they wonder why it took them so long to start. So give it three or four weeks. If you don't like running after that, find something else that you do like.
Get the right shoes and a bra that fits
Please doon't run in a pair of old plimsolls, or trainers you bought when they were fashionable: you'll get injured in no time. There is no "good" brand or model of running shoe: the only good running shoes are the ones that suit your particular running gait. There is more detail about shoes here, but the best advice is to go to a specialist running store, if you can, and get them to watch you run and help you pick out shoes that will keep you running injury-free. If you are a woman, you also need a running bra that fits you well. (There is advice on bras here.)
Set a sensible goal and keep a log
Many people find it motivating and rewarding to have a goal, such as taking part in a 5km charity run, or losing 3kg; and most people find it motivating to keep a log of their progress towards it. Set yourself a goal that is achievable. (Please don't try to run a marathon - at least not until you've been running for at least six months.) Tell your friends about your goal, so you can't wriggle out of it; and perhaps you'll inspire one of them to join you. Become geek-chic and start a running log. Make a note of how many minutes you run each day, how far you have gone, and which route you did. Here is more advice about goals and training logs.
Don't diet when you start to exercise
Let's face it: lots of people start running to lose weight. But it is not a good idea to increase the demands on your body and at the same time to deprive it of the nutrition it needs to cope with those demands. One you run regularly, your metabolic rate will rise, you'll burn more calories running, and you'll find you shed the pounds naturally. There is lots more advice on running and losing weight here. If you find yourself constantly worrying about what you eat, and never really enjoying food, please talk it through with a family member or your doctor, as you may be on the edge of an eating disorder.
Be safe
Some people - such as people who have heart disease - should see a doctor before starting to exercise. Here is a checklist of who should see a doctor. Carry a card or runner's id with your name and contact details. If you run in the dark, don't run alone and wear a bright, fluorescent or reflective shirt. Don't run with headphones in the city. If it is sunny, wear sunblock and a hat, and keep your shirt on.

Once you get started, I hope you'll find the Running for Fitness website a good resource to help you continue to enjoy your running, and - if it is something you want to do - to improve. The website includes various online calculators, which help you design training programmes, adjust your running times for your age, and improve your nutrition.

If you have other suggestions or tips for people starting to run, please put them in the comments.

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Adsense Spotted on Ufone’s Website #Corporate Fail
Email Phishing Reaches Next Level, Pakistani Bank Account Holders Become Target
Mobilink Jazz Giving out 7 Honda City Cars
President Zardari Inaugurates Mobile Banking Service
Motorway police to launch SMS service to educate commuters
Online Real Time Collaboration via Google Wave – A Must Have Experience!

Adsense Spotted on Ufone’s Website #Corporate Fail

Posted: 27 Dec 2010 08:55 AM PST

Adsense Spotted on Ufone’s Website #Corporate Fail is a post from: ProPakistani

A ProPakistani reader sent us following snapshot and a URL from Ufone's official website, that contains two adsense units on it.

Not to mention, this page on Ufone's website is created to sell Mobilink numbers.

We won't say much on this, just the headline and below image will tell you the complete story!

Email Phishing Reaches Next Level, Pakistani Bank Account Holders Become Target

Posted: 26 Dec 2010 11:47 PM PST

Email Phishing Reaches Next Level, Pakistani Bank Account Holders Become Target is a post from: ProPakistani

Email Phishing, a way to acquire sensitive information from internet users by disguising as an official email from the service provider/bank, is not a new term for Pakistani users, however, the criminal minds have started targeting the bank account holders – one of serious most offense in cyber world.

Let's review an email forwarded to us by a ProPakistani reader, who has a bank account in Allied Bank Limited.

He received following email:

When we clicked on URL(http://caramotards.free.fr/phpBB2/pakis.htm) in email, it opened following page:

Now this page is designed exactly like Allied Bank's official website.

Message for General Users:

NEVER respond to any email that asks Password, Pin Code, Security answer or any similar information that you may not want to share with anyone.
Immediately report any such email to your bank
Register a complaint with FIA

Message for Banks!

With increasing trend of mobile banking and net-banking, there should be a comprehensive awareness campaigns by banks to educate their customers of such phishing attacks.
Enhance your security and intelligence to detect and deal with such criminal activities.

Message for FIA and Government of Pakistan

You are too sluggish to act on very sensitive matters. You may know that there is no Cyber law in place in our holy land, bring a law now – This country is running without a law, what a pity!

Mobilink Jazz Giving out 7 Honda City Cars

Posted: 26 Dec 2010 11:30 PM PST

Mobilink Jazz Giving out 7 Honda City Cars is a post from: ProPakistani

Mobilink has announced the largest prize ever for in-active subscribers. All those customers who have not used their Jazz connection since November 24^th can now get a chance to win a brand new Honda City car every alternate day till January 9^th.

All you have to do is just put your Jazz SIMs back and send an SMS to 550 before January 9^th and be one of the lucky winners.

This is not all, on reactivation, all Jazz users will also get 50 instant free On-net minutes and free bonus minutes equivalent to the double of their Rupee usage in the month of January.

Offer Details:

Just send an SMS at 550 from Dec 26, 2010 to Jan 9, 2011 and get qualified for

50 free On-net minutes
Bonus minutes equal to double the Rupee usage done between Dec 26, 2010 and Jan 31, 2011
Great chance to be one of the 7 lucky winners of brand new Honda City car

Offer Mechanics:

Confirm Prize of 50 Free Minutes

All the subscribed customers sending SMS on 550 will receive 50 minutes (for Mobilink to Mobilink calls only)
50 Free minutes will be posted within 24-72 hours from the date of sending SMS on 550
Validity of free minutes will be 3 days from date of posting

Bonus on Usage

All subscribed customers will also get free minutes equal to double their Rupee usage during Dec 26, 2010 to Jan 31, 2011 (with a maximum of 200 On-net minutes).
These free minutes will have a validity of 5 days
These free minutes will be posted after 10^th Feb

President Zardari Inaugurates Mobile Banking Service

Posted: 26 Dec 2010 10:29 PM PST

President Zardari Inaugurates Mobile Banking Service is a post from: ProPakistani

President Asif Ali Zardari inaugurated a mobile banking service named Benazir Bhutto.

Solution is aimed at providing mobile-banking solutions to far-flung areas of the country with less developed banking infrastructure.

Addressing a ceremony the President said that the value of one card of Benazir Mobile Banking is equivalent to Rs. 3,000.

The President said the facility of Women Protection and Rescue will also be incorporated in this Card which will enable the user to register a complaint against any police personnel or any one committing excess.

This mobile phone will provide every kind of product, he added.

Motorway police to launch SMS service to educate commuters

Posted: 26 Dec 2010 10:13 PM PST

Motorway police to launch SMS service to educate commuters is a post from: ProPakistani

The National Highway and Motorway Police (NHMP) is going to launch a Short Message Service (SMS) from the new year to create awareness about road safety in commuters and inform them about weather conditions.

Senior officials in the Motorway police are in contact with the Excise and Taxation Department to collect data of registered vehicles while cellular service companies are also being consulted to get mobile numbers of vehicle owners.

General citizens, who frequently travel on Motorway, are also invited to register their cell phone numbers at NHMP helpline No 130.

The officials are also in contact with owners of all public transport companies to collect information of their drivers and their mobile phone numbers. Teams had also been assigned at many motorway interchanges to collect details and mobile numbers of the commuters.

Talking to Daily Times, the inspector general (IG) of Motorway Police, Dr Wasim Kausar, said the department always facilitated commuters with road safety measures, awareness and information and the idea of free information service was a landmark step in this regard.

He said N-5 (Central) DIG Syed Ibne Hussain had floated the idea of free information service and it was appreciated and approved by the department officials at a high-level meeting.

Via Telecom Recorder

Online Real Time Collaboration via Google Wave – A Must Have Experience!

Posted: 26 Dec 2010 09:00 PM PST

Online Real Time Collaboration via Google Wave – A Must Have Experience! is a post from: ProPakistani

About a month ago I paid a visit to my marketing guru (and a very dear friend) and while we were discussing some great online entrepreneurial ideas, I told him how a couple of friends and I have been trying to arrange social media marketing and strategy workshops but we never get time to be at one place, brainstorm our ideas and plan the entire project.

When I was done narrating my predicament, he told me that we don't necessarily have to be present psychically at one place to brainstorm and collaborate. He told me to try Google Wave which is an amazing tool to collaborate in real time with team on a project and so far he had found it very useful.

So I gave Google Wave a try.

The first thing I liked when I logged in was the mail in my inbox with embedded Google Wave tutorial video (it was great help to understand what the tool is all about). Then as I started exploring Google Wave, I saw options to create a new Wave for a meeting or a brainstorm session or a new document or task tracking.

I created a new Wave by clicking on the brainstorm icon. A new sub window popped in the main window and then I added my 3 friends who I had to work with on our workshops project.

I decided that until all 3 invitees find their invitation to join Google Wave, I should write a welcome note for them and type down my ideas about the project so I started typing. The first line typed became the name/title of the wave and then after typing a rather funny welcome note to greet my friends I wrote a brief intro of our workshops project and what was to be done next.

While I was just typing my thoughts away, I saw that one of my friends had just logged in on Wave and began to write something too in the same wave. He had started sharing his thoughts and both of us began working on the plan. In the meanwhile third friend of ours logged in and all 3 of us were typing and throwing our ideas at each other at the same time from the comforts of our homes.

The best way to describe Google Wave experience is that it is a combo of email and online chatting yet in a more visually pleasant and rich media format.

You can drop images, videos, attachments in the wave, use rich text, add links to the discussion, edit documents and what not but the best part is that it gets saved as one big mail message so you don't have to worry about losing all the million dollar brainstorming you have done with your team on any project.

My experience with Google Wave is still underway as I am happily working on my project with my friends by collaborating with all of them in real time from the comforts of our own homes.

If you haven't tried this fun and such an effective communication and collaboration tool by Google yet then you must give it a shot at least once. I bet you won't be able to keep yourself off of it and you will be planning all your events and projects on Google Wave from then on.