Get Into Running Without Injuring Yourself in the First Month

Most running beginners go too fast, add mileage too quickly, and discover their shins after three weeks. The injury is predictable and preventable. This builds a proper eight-week beginner plan with the actual pace (slower than feels right), the physiological reason for the three-week injury pattern, and a simple daily rule for deciding whether to run or rest. The plan that survives the first month.

I want to start running. I am currently [describe fitness level: sedentary, lightly active, or someone who does other exercise but has never run]. Previous attempts have [describe what went wrong: shin splints, boredom, going too fast, or just stopping]. Help me build a genuinely beginner-friendly running plan for the first eight weeks, explain the one physiological reason most beginners injure themselves in the first few weeks, tell me how slow I should actually be going (most beginners go too fast), and give me a simple rule for deciding whether to run or rest on any given day.