Hi someone forwarded me your post so I want to encourage you and tell you what worked for me. I'm blogging under ihatediabetes. I think you start with running shoes with a professional fitting. I wear neutral running shoes but I add a thick cushioning insert. I have a lot of extra pounds and the cushioning really helps. Running shoes are meant to add energy because they push back when they are compressed. That's why you have to buy new shoes even though your old shoes look fine. Old shoes don't push back so well after they are worn so many miles. You have to keep track how many miles are on the shoes. Before my first 5k I had been weight training and hiking so I did have a base to build on. You have to know what fitness/health base you're starting with. I knew what my base was because I had been through assessments at the healthy living center at Mayo Clinic. So I started jogging by goingslow enough so I could maintain a steady pace. I bought a Garmin forerunner 35 which is a great jogging watch with GPS. My pace is 3.2 mph for 5k distance. I found my pace where I could jog without getting winded. Then I signed up for a 5k during Twin Cities marathon weekend. They published a route map ahead of time. I did little pieces of the race until I could do the entire 5k distance. That took 4 weekends practicing the course. So I finished my first 5k in about 58 minutes October 2018. Since then I try to run a 5k about every month. I did one for Halloween, Thanksgiving, December Reindeer Run, and January Polar Dash. I didn't have a February race so I signed up for Polar Plunge instead to raise money for Special Olympics. That took jumping into a lake in Minnesota in freezing weather. The point is to have a challenge every month because it helps my mind to believe that I am an active outside person. My next race is March 23rd and that's called Hot Dash because you get a serving of Minnesota hot dish when you finish. I first heard heard the announcer call us athletes at my first 5k in October 2018. That was moving and amazing to be called an athlete because I don't consider myself one. But I am an athlete and my event so far is the 5k. I am a 5k athlete. I also signed up for 5k Tough Mudder. When you finish your first Tough Mudder then you get to call yourself a tough mudder. I will race and get muddy and banged up just so I can be a tough mudder athlete. I know you can do this. You just have to believe and put one foot in front of another. But I would get a jogging watch and good shoes that are from a running store. They know how to watch your gait to help you chose shoes. I know the Garmin forerunner 35 is $169 list but you can find it cheaper on line. Good running shoes are over $100 plus the insert is probably $40 on top. But you really need some decent equipment to have a good experience. I know that I need 7w in New Balance plus cushioning insert. There are many great running shoes from which to select. Good luck.