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Just looking for some information about running while overweight. I've been doing it for some time now, trying to lose weight, and so-far-so-good. Does anyone have any words of wisdom or additional precautions I should be taking? I really don't want to hurt myself.

Well first off we really have insufficient information here to make any kind of recommendations. Knowing absolutely nothing about your current spot, your goals, your diet, lifestyle, etc, makes it difficult to say. However, I will tell you this that long cardio/runs on a calorie restricted diet is a road to no where. If you are capable of doing it, and not already doing it, resistance training is the better way to change body composition. Each additional pound of muscle you gain burns an extra 50 calories a day. For example, gain 10 pounds of muscle, burn an extra 500 calories a day just to maintain that muscle. For most people a 500 calorie a day difference is enough to lose a pound a week as long as the diet is sane. Running by itself tends to be catabolic, it breaks down muscle instead of building it, thus long runs without weights can reduce your amount of muscle and reduce your metabolism, especially on a calorie reduced diet. However, a good solid base of weight training with reasonable cardio, especially high intensity interval training, along with a sane balanced diet is the road to success.

I hope this helps you man.

Yeah, that helps a lot. I guess I will ease up a little bit from the running and add more weight lifting.

Oh and I guess some info on me... I'm 21 years old, 235-240lbs, 5' 10"... I've been running off and on for well into 2 months now. Currently in my best streak of consistently working out 2 weeks in a row. I never take more then 5 days off usually though. It's mostly a time issue with school and other things.

Hey, I am 6ft1in and I weighed around 260 when I was 19. I tried running, but got shin splints rather easily. What worked for me was the elliptical. I slowly increased my resistance and time on it, and combined with a lot of diet changes, got down below 200. After that I started running outside. As of now though, I wouldn't recommend running for you. Granted I am no health professional, but speaking from experience, you might cause long term damage to your knees or hurt yourself, hindering your ability to continue exercising.

SHOES if your running make sure you have the proper shoes. Go to an independent running store and get fitted properly.