You've probably heard of the annual Susan G. Komen walk/ run that occurs every year around this time to fight breast cancer. Thousands of people annually walk or run the family 1K and/or the 5K races to help this cause and many others that include races or walks.

You do not need to be in great physical shape to do these events. You do not even have to run. You can learn to race-walk.

Walking may be one of the most convenient forms of exercise, but if you are a serious fitness fan, it may not be challenging enough for you to reach your goals. However, race walking can be very challenging and can get your body in great shape.

Race walking is more than just fast walking. There are two rules that define race walking.

First, you must keep one foot in contact with the ground at all times. The heel of your front foot must touch the ground before the toes of your back foot come off. These are the rules if you are going to be competitive. It will also make you walk faster. Many racers find this to be a challenge in itself, because as you speed up, you instinctively want to lift your feet up. If there is a person in front of you, your natural reaction is to speed up and run, which causes your feet to come off the ground. Many Olympic athletes are disqualified during a heat because of this rule. Their adrenalin is up, they want to win, they try to pass the person in front of them, and they accidentally raise one foot off the ground too soon.

The second rule of race walking is that you must keep the knee of your supporting leg straight from the second the heel strikes the ground until it passes under your body. It is very hard to keep your knees bent while walking. This is why your hips need to sway so far front and back.

Try to race walk once and you will see that it is a tough total body workout. You will be surprised at how many muscles you will feel working, as well as how many will be sore the following day. Just as with any new activity, your body will get used to it and you can continue to push yourself to new limits.

Get involved with a local walking club so that you can have other people help you with your technique. The technique is harder to get down than getting in shape for it. If your cardiovascular fitness level is good enough for a one-mile walk, it will be fine for a one-mile race walk. However, it may take you a while to get the technique down, and so will seem much harder. Once you start, keep these four technique tips in mind.

1. Aim to take more steps each minute. Serious fitness walkers may take 130 to 150 steps per minute, but race walkers should be at 165 steps per minute and above. Your goal is to try to increase your rate by 5 steps for every 20 seconds and move on from there.

2. Focus on good posture. Keep your head up and your shoulders pulled back. Your chest should be open and your eyes need to be looking forward.

3. Your arms should be at a 90-degree angle to your side. Drive your elbows back and front, close to your body.

4. Push off the ground with your toes so that the bottom of your shoe is showing to the person behind you.

It is difficult to transition from fast walking to race walking, so try to walk for a few minutes, then jog for a few minutes, then race walk for another couple of minutes. Rotate this for as long as you can. Each week, decrease a minute or so of the walking and the jogging until you are only race walking.

You will enjoy it ---- and will see new definition in your body.

Fit Fact: A 130-pound woman burns 384 calories an hour race walking. If she jogged, she'd burn around 410 calories per hour.

Michelle Rotell has been a group and personal fitness consultant for more than 20 years. E-mail her at mrotell@roadrunner.com.