Newbie and loving it

Hi everyone !  I have been reading all these threads for a few weeks and decided to do my own !  I am 46 years old and have suffered with  Asthma from birth , one day in late November after yet another heavy night out I was sat feeling sorry for myself , I was over weight and felt like cr*p all the time !  so out of nowhere I had a brainwave that I was going to do something about it !  I had never been out running before but that was my going to be my new fitness regime and from that day I have been hooked !  I used to see people out running and always felt a bit of jealousy towards them !  anyway I bought myself a decent pair of running shoes ( Asics gel kayano 19 ) and off I went !  the first week I could hardly run 100 metres without stopping but I would do alternate running and walking !  I admit I found it a lot harder than I could of imagined but I stuck with it and found myself running a bit further every time , to be honest I made the mistake of running too fast but since slowing down ( a tip I picked up from this forum ) I found it easier ,  nearly 3 months later my weight has gone from 96.5 KG to 89KG and I feel so much fitter !  the furthest I have ran is 4 miles but my average midweek run is around 2.5 miles which I now do in 24 minutes !  not fast but I am getting there !  My son is in the Army and when he is home he comes out with me ( even though he runs in boots and carries 30kg on his back ) I find a bit of encouragement helps me along !  My message to anyone is ,  if I can do it so can you !  basically I am really enjoying running and find myself thinking about and looking forward to my run whilst at work !  I will read all the threads on here and hopefully pick up more tips !