Running: best doctor, best running mag and cool new running-tracking site (it's a blog and I can make up phrases if I want to)

Since I'm entering a little health competition with my friends, I'm starting running again this weekend. Okay, in the interest of candor–of which I am a huge fan– what I do is not what most would consider "running", it's more jogging-and-looking-sometimes-stopping-at-tag-sales-or-to-look-at-something-cool/interesting. But since I did run the NYC Marathon–again not so much as run as jog/walk/jog and walk– I've picked up my favorite running magazine, Runner's World, which is also online and I find that incredibly useful.

It offers something for just about everyone that has an interest in running: for new runners, it has a beginner's section, for veterans it has articles on how to up your personal records and for everyone in between they have running schedules, running events and even injury advice.

This brings me to my third point, which I guess I should switch the organization of my title around, but I just love that I don't have to because it's a blog- it's like get out of jail card- my favorite doctor: Jim Wharton. Okay, he's not really a doctor, but a stretching guru, but anyone who can fix my back like he did, I consider a doctor (when several others including chiropractors have failed). I went to the Wharton Center on the Upper West Side about three months into my training and ten years of back pain. The marathon training had pushed me over the edge of pain and I had to do something- Wharton showed me all of the stretches I needed to heal my back. It just so happens that Jim is in every month's runner's world with suggestions on how to stretch better and avoid injury.

Lastly, I also highly recommend a new site my friend and running guru (that's the word of today's post) Liz gave me: Flotrack. It lets you connect with other runners and see what events are available all while updating your personal training information.