What is "walking" when in a race?

A digression from the prequels. The general answer -  in the fund raising events that I see scheduled - is that people signing up for the walking categories are not meant to run or jog at any point in the distance covered. That's never been a problem for me - I never jog, nor run, nor have ever enjoyed doing that. Most walkers are in the events for the exercise, because they support the charity, because they want to improve their times, and because they like the camaraderie.

What I do can sometimes be categorized as fast walking, power walking, and fast recreational walking. All of it is "not running."

There is also the more formal "race walking." Have you seen Olympic Race Walking? Remember the very pronounced hip swiveling?

There are two basic rules of race walking. (USATF #39 & 150).

• Racewalking is a progression of steps so taken that the walker makes contact with the ground so that no visible (to the human eye) loss of contact occurs.

• The advancing leg must be straightened (i.e., not bent at the knee) from the moment of first contact with the ground until in the vertical position. 

The first rule is easy for a walker like me and for even very fast walkers. Part of a foot is always on the ground....at no point do we have both feet flying through the air as do runners and joggers.

The second rule is harder to master. The knew must not be bent when the front leg hits the ground and remain unbent until the leg passes underneath the body. Most walkers - particularly on hills - bend the knee at least a bit. The second rule is where walkers get disqualified in formal, judged race walking events. Don't think of formal race walking as "stiff legged" walking, like in the Munsters. It is quite legal to have your leg bent when the leg is behind you! The Empire State Games and USATF meets have formal, judged race walking.


The rules don't mention "swivel hips" at all. However, the gait that you see in formal race walking events is a very efficient, fast way of walking. If your hip swivels forward on each step, you're gaining an extra couple of inches on each stride and a very efficient motion.


I have seen no formal race walking judging as part of the Eastern New York mixture of 5Ks, etc. Having even a walking category (rather than only running)  is a plus and encourages recreational walkers, fast walkers, power walkers and any definition of walker to participate. For example, there were 144 walkers in the Lap4Life event and I don't remember any doing a sustained formal race walk technique.

In a couple of other events, I've see a few with the race walking gait and, in general,  they have been far ahead of me. I'm very impressed and, perhaps in time, will try to master rule 2 and also become more efficient. At the moment, though, I'm content in doing the kind of "fast" walking that I do! 


After the break are some URLs of various walking sites. A lot more detail there!

Prequel #5: The Malibu Breakthrough

Malibu? The beach of Stars and Starlets? Where the final scene of "Planet of the Apes" and multiple episodes of "Baywatch" were filmed? Where famous film directors and writers are encountered in coffee shops? How could that be a breakthrough to a 60+ walker from the East Coast?

The race URL was enticing. "Join us in the Malibu Sunrise 4-Miler. This race takes you along the beach actually running on the beach in the sand whether low tide or high tide on the first Sunday of every month." We were going to be visiting Emily in Los Angeles (Sherman Oaks) the first weekend of August, so maybe this longer-than-previously-walked race would be a challenge and fascinating experience. To Emily's immense credit, she agreed to accompany her dad for a 7 AM Sunday start. (Yes, 7 AM on a Sunday!)

After the Lap4Life race, I increased speed and distance on the treadmill. 5.0 mph for 3.1 miles,  5.1 mph and then 5.2 mph. I was now doing under 37 minutes for a 5K in preparation for the next outdoor challenge (Malibu!) I felt faster and more fit and was still losing weight. But how would I do with those tanned, athletic Californians?

We arrived in LA, enjoyed Emily's new apartment, outdoor downtown LA dancing, and the Saturday Malibu Library book sale. My family endured my planning for the big Malibu event.

Only 10 people showed up. California, I guess. One upper 30s woman asked if anyone wanted to jog with her at a 6 and a half minute a mile pace, not an auspicious beginning for the aspiring walker.

The race coordinator took out his stop watch, told us to run down this paved path, go down a little trail, and turn around at the driveway of a restaurant that we couldn't miss. 4 miles down and back. Ready. Set. Go.

Emily and I burst into last place. One-two-three-four, One-two-three-four, One foot in front of another. The paved lane was easy to walk on and flat, the scenery was beautiful, and I felt "fast" and comfortable.  The other runners waved as they passed on their return, telling me where they turned.

One-two-three-four. I  felt comfortable. The beach was pretty (and pretty empty), the end of the walk was in site and breakfast would be next.

I cross the finish line. Success!  The coordinator cried out "40 minutes!"   Huh? No way. I never even hit better than 10 and a half minutes for a one mile stretch on the treadmill. Something was wrong, even though I felt good about the run. After saying where I (and others) had turned, we determined that the distance was probably 3.5 miles.

Still a significant drop in time....verifying the improvements that I had felt in the gym and setting me up for future, less weirder kinds of races!

Our victory picture:

Prequel #4: The Springtime Series

After Lowe's 5K, I looked for races to reconfirm that I wanted to supplement gym sessions with organized events. Thus evolved the Springtime 2009 series:: Ray's run (Kingston), Woodstock 5K, Wappinger Fall's 5K, and Lap4Life (Newburgh). Each was different and new and ended up establishing:

• I enjoyed racing, even though apprehensive before each start!
  
• Runners and walkers are a friendly breed of people.
• The mantra of Prequel #3 stood the test of four more races.
  
• I - a non-jock in my preceding 6 decades - enjoyed competition.

A short highlight of each race, ending in the picture I call: "Demon on Fleet Street":

Ray's Run:  A 4 mile run through Kingston for runners and a 3K walk for walkers circling Dietz stadium started at the same time. I liked that format.  I followed (by far) an excellent formal race-walker and finished tied for second. And thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie and food after finishing!

Woodstock 5K: In theory, this was a run and I did it for two reasons: a) It began and ended at the elementary school (Zena) that my daughters attended and b) Emily (the younger daughter) was visiting from Los Angeles and consented to accompany me. My goal was to beat 40 minutes. My third race and, for the third time, I started fast, for me. Surprised Emily.  39 minutes and 19 seconds (success!!) later, we crossed the finish line. The route was hillier than previous races.

Wappinger's Falls 5K: The walkers started a half hour earlier than the runners. I was assuming that there would be faster walkers than I; more precisely, I assumed there would be people ahead of me who knew the route. I found myself 1st and after various turns, I wasn't 100% sure I wasn't leading the rest of the walkers into strange territory. I stopped to ask a police officer for directions! I finished 1st, with a time of 40:04.

Lap4Life: The culmination of the Spring Series. An extraordinarily well-run event that had 144 walkers in a 5K separate from the 170 runners in a 4 mile race. As in most running/walking events in our area, this was a fund raiser and, in this case, for very touching and personal cause. The number of participants - particularly for walkers - was swelled by the fund-raising. The day's weather was excellent, but it had rained the night before and the stones on the path were a bit slippery.

My competitive juices were stoked. I lead for the 1st half and ended up second, with a time of 39:46. I was extremely pleased with the experience and will enter again. You'll see in the attached picture that my form and demonic aspect would scare many people.

NEXT: The Malibu Breakthrough









Llinks to available results:

Prequel #3: The First Race

Out of the gym, I did my usual "logistical" thing: research and look over web sites about this prospective hobby. I read in the local newspaper's running column that an upcoming 5K would break up the winter blahs and raise money for a worthy cause. Walkers were invited. I now had an external goal.

OK. If 15 minutes a mile is a reasonable time for a first race, that would mean under 47 minutes for a 5K (3.1 miles.) My workouts at the gym would now include walks of 3.1 miles at 4.1 mph, then 4.2 and 4.3 and occasionally higher speeds at lower distance.. The intent was to be ahead of my goal during treadmill time so that the actual road conditions (like hills! bad weather! floppy clothing!) could be overcome and keep my goal in reach.

I showed up at the Lowe's 5K with a bottle of water to carry, a towel to wipe sweat off my face, a hoody sweatshirt to walk in and my new mantra of goals for the day:

• SURVIVE
• Finish
• Have a good time

It was lightly raining and cool. I didn't know if I'd actual start. But I saw people warming up, some really serious and some not. I saw high school teams, but also people who seemed like me. All in good moods. So I stayed and lined up the rest of them, way towards the back where there were other walkers. Runners and walkers started together in this race.

"Start!" The runners spurted ahead. To my surprise, I bolted out at around my (then) top walking speed and was in the front of a small second tier of walkers and some runners. Step by step, counting mentally: "One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four." I kept up my pace. Mantra one was holding. When I reached the half way mark and turned around, it looked like mantra two was going to happen. When I crossed the finish line at 42 minutes and was 2nd for male walkers, I was hooked.

I stayed for two more hours, eating refreshments and waiting for my winnings: a coffee mug, which was brought in to work to show my lunch-time walking colleagues.

There are no pictures of this race (and that is good, since I looked very odd carrying my own water bottle and towel the way I did ) and the time printed for me in the paper listings was wrong, but that didn't matter.

I added a 4th mantra for future races:

• Enjoy the food after finishing.
  

My weight was now under 200. Hmm.....wonder if it could go lower.

A word about diet: 

Prequel #2: Treading the gym

I gathered my sneakers, old shorts, and an x-large t-shirt and drove back the next day to do 2 miles (at 3 or 3.5 mph) on the treadmill and 2 miles on the stationary bike. I signed up for a class on the exercise machines. A good start and, since I was on vacation, I stopped in every other day. Treadmill, bike. Treadmill, bike. Walk around. Try a couple of exercise machines after the instruction.  I quickly got my average cost per visit down to lower than past memberships!

I discovered that my analytical mind could busy itself by trying out combinations of distance and speeds. If I go 3.5 mph, why not 3.6? How about 4.0, to me, a magical number since I had read that a 15 minute mile was a nice brisk walk. How about monitoriing my pulse rate and target levels? What shows were playing on the TV channels?

A routine was established in January and February. Once or twice a week after work gym sessions, plus once and often twice for longer times on the weekend. Supplemented by the two or so less intense walks at lunch, I started walking an increased number of miles a week. The TV helped, particularly on weekends....finishing a half hour (drivel) show added more time exercising!

The net:

• I gravitated toward the treadmill.
• I discovered that, after about a half mile on the treadmill, my pulse rate stabilized and I was able to breath more evenly.
• Manipulating the distance and speeds was a fun intellectual activity
• I went under 210 pounds and thought, "That's cool, I wonder if I can hit 200."

Next: diet and my first 5K