Walk
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By Judy Heller

Judy Heller, founder of
Wonders of Walking LLC,
advocates walking for well being and pleasure. Wonders of Walking promotes Walking Events for Walkers by Walkers. Judy Heller is founder and owner of EroFit & Associates, LLC, celebrating Fitness for a Lifetime. Heller offers personalized fitness training and coaching for individuals and groups.
Contact: Judy Heller
at 503-282-1677:
email judy@erofit.com
jheller@wondersofwalking.com

Also visit: www.erofit.com
www.wondersofwalking.com

I only went out
for a walk and
concluded to stay out until sundown,
For going out,
I found
Was really going in.

— John Muir

Take to the Fast Step…Racewalking or Go, Walker, Go

The sport of walking is like a nest of elaborate boxes — each box nestled within a box, each more complex than the last. The largest box is fitness walking or power walking — moving with a normal gait at a faster-than-normal speed for a specified period of time several times a week. Open this box and find speed walkers. These are walkers who move faster in the pursuit of time goals. Open this box and find racewalkers.

There is no better way to start your day off on the right foot, awaken your mind, soothe your soul, and energize your body than by walking. As more than 73 million Americans are making walking the nation’s number one physical activity, racewalking is a sport for all ages and body types. It is a superb cardiovascular fitness sport and an exciting competitive sport. And above all it feels good and is fun.

To the uninitiated, racewalkers are waddling, wiggling, wriggling eccentrics who twist around on strangely stiff legs. To those who appreciate — and understand — the sport, racewalkers are remarkably fleet-footed athletes.
While most types of speed walking simply require doing your regular walk at a faster pace or over challenging terrain, racewalking demands an altogether different approach. Think of racewalking as a dance, the waltz of walking. The technique is based on controlled, precise movements. In fact, the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) has established specific rules:

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 the first contact with the ground until in the vertical position. Disqualification for failure to adhere to the above definition is governed by Rule 39.

Simply put, you must roll the entire length of your foot (heel to toe) over the ground. This low impact movement makes racewalking a safe, smooth, rhythmic, and graceful (yes, graceful) forward progression. It maximizes the walking workout as it uses all the major muscle groups in the body, is challenging physically and mentally, and can be done almost anywhere, anytime. With proper instruction, the technique is relatively easy to learn; the process of mastering the technique can provide years of enjoyment and challenge. By proficiently using the technique, you can walk faster than you ever thought with less chance of injury than if you were running or even walking as you do now.

Racewalking safely works the whole body by toning the upper thigh, including the inner thigh, and the buttocks. In addition, it flattens the abdominal muscles and improves posture by opening the chest. This is a sport where concentration matters as much as coordination, where years are an asset rather than a liability. Often, the concentration on technique makes racewalking more intellectually satisfying than jogging or running.
When compared to other physically demanding activities racewalking will:
• Exercise more major muscles
• Strengthen bones and connective tissue
• Burn more calories
• Build upper body strength
• Promote muscular balance
• Increase muscle coordination
• Provide a greater challenge to mind and body

Olympic athletes first put the sport to the test in the 1906 “Interim” Olympic Games in Athens and added it to the 1908 Games in London, when only men were allowed to compete. Eighty plus years later, at the 1992 Olympic Games in Atlanta, women were finally allowed to compete.

Olympic walkers aside, most folks racewalk for the same reasons they choose other forms of exercise: to get fitter or faster, to lose weight, to try something new, to have fun, or to win. Racewalking is a wonderful way to enjoy the benefits of running without the potentially harmful pounding on your body, and a significant number of people take up the sport after being injured from running.

Anne Whittaker, a 66-year-old, nationally ranked Master’s racewalker from Portland, Oregon, loves every aspect of her sport. “Racewalking is beautiful ... it’s fluid, graceful, physically intense, and challenging. It raises my spirits. It gives me a chance to exercise my previously latent sense of competition. It enables me to challenge myself on several levels.” Ultimately, Whittaker is drawn to racewalking because of the simple joy of “moving gracefully and staying fit.”

Portland racewalker Marie VerMeer (43) shares Whittaker’s enthusiasm. “Racewalking is a sport I can do and do well,” she says, noting that she quickly picked up racewalking even though she’s not naturally athletic. “It has truly changed my perception of myself. I am now an ‘athlete.’ That’s a term I never would have applied to myself before. Now I am passionate about racewalking.”

Former cross-country runner Kim Miller (42) says that for her, racewalking offers tangible rewards. ”It’s a sport where I see results,” says the marketing communications manager in Portland. “I am able to do it faster and faster, and it helps me keep in shape. Plus, it relaxes me and gives me time for myself and my thoughts.”

Go on. Put a little waddle in your walk. Who knows where it will take you?

Racewalking is a technical sport, and as with any sport if done incorrectly increases the risk of injury. For information about clubs or coaches in your area contact one of the following racewalk resources:

Ero Fit & Associates LLC providing racewalk instruction and coaching since 1991. Sponsoring the 9th Annual NW Regional Racewalk Retreat May 14 -16, 2004 with 50K 2000 Olympian Philip Dunn. Call 503-282-1677; email erofit@erofit.com.
Racewalkers Northwest www.rwnw.org
North American Racewalk Foundation (NARWF). Founded by Elaine Ward in 1986 provides information on how to find a club or coach. Call 818-577-2264; email NARWF@aol.com.