Racewalking

I've finally made the commitment to learn how to racewalk.

For those I haven't bored with the story:

On Saturday, I completed a 5k. Ahead of me were two middle-aged women who were walking (really walking, not just strolling in their jeans and Macy's sneakers). Since I'm most motivated by the competition in a race - that's why I love races - I thought that I would use the ladies to set my pace. If I could keep them in sight (or maybe even pass them) I'd be good.

I was left in the dust. I lost sight of them in the first 5 minutes, they were going that fast. This particular course doubled back on itself, so they both passed me coming back. They were super-nice, giving me a thumb's-up and words of encouragement (they could speak!! at the pace they were going. I was puffing.). So, when I found that they were parked right behind me, I went over to introduce myself and commend their athleticism.

Turns out that they'd both been racewalking for years. The best part (for me) was that they assumed I had been racewalking too. How flattering! Learning to racewalk is something that I've been toying with for the past year or two. I love walking. I love walking in races. I'm probably not going to get below a 12 minute mile as a fitness walker. So, in order to keep pushing myself, I have to either walk longer distances as a fitness walker, or learn a new way of walking. And, by racewalking, I would be an athlete. I mean, racewalking is an Olympic event.

My main hurdle is that I'm completely unathletic. I can't tell you how many times I've been worst in a dance class and couldn't get better because my body couldn't understand the instructions that I was getting. What if I sucked at racewalking too? What if I totally didn't enjoy it? I find failure in the physical arena completely humiliating. Why put myself through that if just walking was fun enough.

So, my new racewalking friends gave me just the right push. After all, if I was close enough that they mistook my fitness walking as racewalking, then I don't suck and I do enjoy it. They offered to get together with me on the weekends and show me what they know. I mean these ladies are great!

I was so excited that I had to find out if there were any clinics or lessons in Houston. Hallelujah! Houston is flat, so racewalking is big and there's something almost every day of the week including an actual class on Tuesdays. Since Tuesday was Halloween, I called to see if they were still holding class. And they were! Turns out that Dave Gwen, one of the instructors, came out just for me. What a giving group of people.

I told Dave about the feedback I got on Saturday. He rolled his eyes just a bit; I'm sure he's heard all that before. Then he showed me the basics. Turns out that I did pick up on everything more quickly than average. As a matter of fact, he asked if I'd been practicing. I told him that I had experimented with some of the tips in Prevention's Complete Book of Walking from the Rodale press. I can do it!

That's not to say it was easy. Racewalking is NOT really walking. It's more like a modified jog. There's a lot of tricks to learn and a lot of new muscles to develop. And I'm going to have to learn to work through my shin splints. With walkers, they'll go away in about 15 minutes if you just keep going. (Runners get them for different reasons, so they might have to treat them differently.)

Now that I know what physical attributes are necessary for racewalking, I can see how some of it is natural for me. I tend to keep my shoulders very still, and have a lot of movement in my hips. Bad for ballet. Bad for most sports. Ideal for racewalking. I'll still have to work with the pronation with my left foot, but even that is easier to control by the way you push your leg straight and let your hips take a lot of the upward motion.

One interesting thing I've noticed is that the walker-specific stretches seem to do a lot more for me than the dance, yoga, etc. stretches I've done before. Dave showed me a hamstring stretch, something that I've been working to loosen for YEARS. Did it yesterday when he showed it to me. Did it today after I warmed up and after I finished walking. Wham! I can bend over and touch my toes with my knees completely straight. I swear to you, that is a very rare thing for me. I can usually only touch my toes after months of stretching every day. Also, the DBX stretches in the back of Prevention's book do an awful lot for me. There's just something about the way you use your body that is very right for me.

Right now, I'd like to learn to really racewalk, possibly even in judged competitions. I'd ALSO like to apply the techniques to fitness walking. I'd fitness walk in run/walks, which tend to be hilly in North Georgia, so it's more difficult or even impossible to racewalk. Also, according to Dave, you can actually go faster walking than racewalking, as racewalking has form being judged too. So, I could really work against the clock in non-judged competitions. This is so cool!