Hike away!

This morning as I was going on my piddly run and thinking about my good friend Suswa, who would be starting the Chicago marathon 24 hours from that time, I realized that to do exercise you have enjoy the exercise the you are doing. I like a quick, short run in the AM, it wakes me up, makes me feel better and gives me a little more self confidence. Sus on the other hand likes running for hours at a time. My brother leaps on his bicycle at 8am Saturday and Sundays and rides for 5 hours. In my case, I am not sure I would have enough to think about when running 15 miles or biking for 5 hours. In all honesty, the farthest I have ever run is 6 miles, on a treadmill with my eyes glued to Good Morning America, or a 12 mile round trip bike ride to the store during one of my 'green' moments when I didn't want to pull the car out of the garage (or didn't maybe have enough gas in it to think I could get there and back!).

Hiking is a prolonged activity though that I do enjoy, and one which makes a ton of sense. If you think about it, most hiking is done on the side of a mountain, and you always go UP the mountain first and come back down when you are tired. Makes perfect sense to me - use all your energy during the first half working out your quads and calves, and then walk down in almost a sitting for the return trip to sore up your gluts (butt) and your abs. You will end up back at your car a sweaty, exhausted mess but you will feel great and your spirits will be soaring due to the time spent outside in the sunlight. This is the perfect time of year for hiking. You get in a great exercise push before it gets to cold you leave your house, the leaves are changing colors beautifully and the air is free from humidity and at a crisp temperature most days. Find a buddy or two to go hiking with and you will have quite the afternoon! Pack water bottles and a couple pieces of fruit to quench hunger and thirst so that you can stay on the trail longer and enjoy the great fall days!