By April Robertson

Photo by Jaclyn Johnson

How is your New Year’s Resolution coming along? We are now at the end of week five of 2010 and maybe you have seen the lines at the HPER wane slightly. Fitness Fridays are a designed reminder to help you stick to your fitness or weight plan for 2010.

Which has more options: ordering a latte at the local coffeehouse or running in Fayetteville?

The HPER alone offers stair-machines, elliptical, treadmills and an indoor track while the new Fayetteville bike trail and Wilson park are great outdoor running options. Then there are the races: the Hogeye Marathon, the Chile Pepper, the Root Rocket, Run for the Grapes, etc.

Here are a few other easy ways to find motivation to get in a fitness routine:

• Run with a friend.

• Run while listening to your iPod.

• Run away from your overbearing roommate.

• Run from an axe murderer.

No matter how you do it, running is a great way to increase your heart-rate, which helps your heart to pump stronger and more efficiently and allows your muscles to use oxygen better.
In fact, running burns more fat than swimming and cycling.

Swimming turns out a leaner body that burns more calories, but “the pounding of weight-bearing activities like walking and running may cause more fat burning than a seated exercise like biking, or an activity like swimming where there is no pounding at all,” according to Medicinenet.com Web site.

The study at the Medical College of Wisconsin and the Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee revealed that fat burning was 28% higher during running and walking uphill than it was during cycling.

But what should you know before hitting the trail, the track, the machine, or starting your 30-minute workout/friendly banter?

Running shoes have a life span of 300 to 500 miles, according to the Runners World Web site. After that, they can be used for less harsh impact, such as walking, for another 100 miles.
The trick is to not wear them unevenly, which could damage your feet and garner them unsafe for even just walking.

But how can you tell? Set them on a table or other high surface to see if they are tilted. Nudge them, and if they wobble, throw them out or send them to Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program (www.nikereuseashoe.com) or One World Running. They will make the best of your recycled tennis shoes.

If this eliminates your current running shoes and leaves you with a new pair to break in before the Hogeye Marathon on April 11, you can still wear them without affecting your performance.

According to Runners World, about eight to 10 runs or at least 30 miles will break in your new running shoes before the big race day.

Simply wear them around the house at first, so it will conform to your foot. A few speed workouts or shorter training runs will help you grow accustomed to them.

So when will you start?