"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Good start! Take a day or 2 off see how you feel and do it again. Take it slow, run/walk if you need to, it's all cumulative.

You mentioned you like to read, pick up a copy of The Triathlete's Training Bible, Joe Friel and check out the monthly mags: Triathlete and Inside Triathlete.

You'll also find some great training plans right here, click on the Training tab.

Keep on trainin'!

Congrats. It definitely is all cumulative. Make sure you are running in the right type of shoe. You can avoid major problems now with a proper fit from a running specialty store if there is one in your area. If not, it is worth the time and effort to research your foot type on an online running store.

Most are a 1/4 mile. However, seeing how many you can do is about the LAST thing I would recommend. Once you do that, you'll never want to run distances less, your focus will turn to going farther, and you will be on a good road to injury. Trust me on that one :)

If you want a more accurate mile time, perhaps jog to the track as a warmup, do 4 laps (1 mile) and then jog home as a cooldown (however, this is if the track isn't very far away).

In general, the best way to build a successful relationship with running is by taking it slower than you think you should. Keep your 2 mile runs for a week (maybe 3 runs), just to make sure no sore joints develop, or muscles. Then SLOWLY increase. Like by no more than 10% of the distance (or time) at a time.

There are 2 ways to measure runs: time and distance. If you know the measurements on routes around you, it's up to you what you pick. If you prefer to just run where you want to, time is a great one (or a GPS speed/distance kind of thing, but that can come once you are totally addicted ;)). The general rule in running is to never increase by more than 10%. That means 10% of either: (1) your weekly distance/time (whichever you measure) or (2) your long run distance/time, when all your other runs for the week stay about the same. It sounds like right now using the first of those would be best for you, and then once you have a good base built you can start having a long run and then using your 10% there.

Just my thoughts of course, but the easiest way to stay in love with running is to take it really slow, make it feel easy at first, and learn your body. Injuries suck, as does unnecessary pain. If you search the forums here, you'll find tons of more info on building a running program for yourself.