Racewalking can give you a second career on the asphalt.
During Olympic competition we always see those weird-looking racewalkers shaking those hips while keeping short steps and swinging arms like crazy. A select few know about whatâs going on, some wonder what it is theyâre doing, and the vast majority just laugh out of ignorance. Racewalking has been around since long before the Boston Marathon was a thing and it is an athletic discipline that requires the same training and dedication and any other discipline. Most important for this audience, it can give you a second career on the asphalt.
Personally, racewalking was my segue into running. After my second knee operation, at age 39, I told the doctor I still had another marathon in me, and I wanted to make sure I could do it. He was very clear telling me âyour marathon days are overâ. Sadly, I took his word and stopped completely until eight years later, when I realized I could still participate even if it was walking. Shortly after, I discovered racewalking, met with a racewalking group and the rest is history.
Racewalking is not just walking fast; it is not power walking either. Racewalking has two basic rules: a â one foot always must be in contact with the ground (as discerned by the naked eye), and b- the front knee must be straight when it makes contact with the ground. There are other techniques and details you need to know but this is what you need in order to get started.
Racewalking is gentler on your knees because you are not dumping the additional weight of a jump on them when you land. That alone can give a second career to both those knees and its owner. It still provides you with cardiovascular benefits if you exert yourself hard enough and you can still enjoy the runners-high we all crave. If that wasnât enough, you can still participate in races, as there are no limitations against walking, you just need to observe the right etiquette, which in not on the scope of this blog post.
Less stress on your knees
The one thing you will have to adjust when you move to racewalking is switching your mindset. Throwing out the window all your previous PRs, race paces, tempos, age group rankings and being comfortable at the back of the pack. You will have to be content with just racing against yourself and enjoy getting better and progressing. Just realize you are still racing in a 5K, or a half marathon, or even a marathon, which is a better alternative to reading on how your friends via your WhatsApp group.
It is unfortunate that there are not that many racewalking groups out there, given how beneficial this discipline can be to so many. I was lucky enough to find a group and to meet coach Danny Koch, who guided me through 13 half marathons and 3 full marathons before I was able to return to running. Regardless if you find a coach or not, I can recommend âThe Complete Guide to Racewalkingâ, by Dave McGovern, as the go-to book to learn about the philosophy and technique of racewalking.
If your knees canât handle running anymore yet you still want to remain active and/or competing, I invite you to give racewalking a try. It worked for me so who knows, it may work for you, too.
Bernardo running on his home treadmill during the Canadian winter
Letâs say youâre going through your second winter since you moved to Canada. Itâs -30C (-22F) outside, youâre not that tough (Iâve seen people running outside at -4F) and you have no choice but to use the dusty treadmill. You donât love it but youâre not fond of gyms, either so you stay home and run in front of the TV. It can be quite boring even if youâre watching a good show.
Then, the new reality of the pandemic hits us all and we are forced to spend even more time indoors. Youâre thankful that you are staying healthy and that spring is finally arriving⌠and then you go out for the first run in the open, after a very long time, at the end of a long winter. Your head is suddenly filled with heavy thoughts. Â
And this is what you find:
View out of Bernardoâs window on March 30th, 2020
The sun and the wind in your face feel as good as ever.
Itâs lunchtime during isolation and you can smell what theyâre cooking in nearly every house you pass by. Itâs a feast!
Youâre enjoying yourself so much that you just donât want to keep track of distance, time, pace or heart rate.
When you finally check your watch you realize that your performance is way better than it was the day before on the treadmill.Â
You feel like you have wings on your feet, which comes as a surprise as youâre supposed to put more effort when you run on the asphalt than the treadmill.
Bear in mind that Iâm not what you can call an avid runner. I have never been really that consistent, but in days like this I can fully understand Adolfoâs passion about running. I remember something he told me a while ago about this thing called ârunnerâs highâ. I think it makes sense now.
Bernardo Garcia Carrillo lives in Calgary, Canada. He has been training under Coach Adolfo Salgueiro since 2016.
During these challenging times when we are all cooped up given the reality affecting the world, the time for our sempiternal âI-will-do-it-when-I-have-some-extra-timeâ has finally arrived. Every expert, every magazine and every everyone is coming up with suggestions for good uses of your time, do-it-yourself videos or online classes. Why would Foultips.run be different? even if we are just recycling an old YouTube video from 2013.
I had some tight hip issues for a while and during the 2018-19 racing season I suffered a lot. As I was doubled in pain during the last mile of a half marathon in Miami Beach, a friend who was reeling me in told me she would send me a link to some exercises sheâs been doing for her hips. The rest is history. I was a convert after my first try.
She sent me a link to a video by Runnerâs World called the âMyrtl Hip Routineâ. A series of 12 floor and stand-up exercises that can be done in less than 10 minutes. Performed twice or three times a week will do wonders for your tight hips. I can only talk through my experience but unless you have underlying orthopedic issues, I donât see why it wouldnât work. I started with 10 of each move; then went up to 15 and 20. It may not be necessary to go that high, but as runners we are well known for being obstinate and overdoing things a little from time to time.
I tried to do some research to figure out who came with this routine but was unsuccessful. What I did find is that many coaches recommend with slight variances, which makes no difference. Also found that contrary to what you may think, Myrtl is not the person who developed this routine. Somehow the name is based on the are the routine is focused in, which I didnât get either. Anyway, this is just anecdotal.
 What is a fact is that all exercises are designed to increase the range of motion and strengthen your hip area. And I can guarantee you they do work. So, take advantage of your indoor, social distance time and get those hips ready for when the doors are opened again and you are ready to charge your running as if you were a bull on the streets of Pamplona during the San Fermines.
With the cancellation or postponement of three races in my calendar, as activities all over the world came to a halt because of the Covid-19 pandemic, my 2019-20 running season comes to an abrupt end. I understand the reasons behind it, and they are justified. Yet, on a personal level, this is a reflection on how rough the season was for me.
Season best at the 305 Half Marathon in Miami Beach
I had a couple of non-running related injuries, which took me twice to the operating room, and had me limited in my athletic activities since May 2019. I have been able to keep myself active, first by walking and then going back to my old friend racewalking. I racewalked from 2012-15 and really enjoyed it. It was my way back into the sport after a long hiatus. But then on 2015 I started running again and improved plenty through the seasons despite the almanac doing its thing.
For the 2019-20 season I was already registered in three half marathons, which is by far my favorite distance, so rather than skipping them I trained to racewalk them. After flirting with the sub-2 last season, I had to settle to see if I could go sub-3 this season. It was a struggle to find myself towards the end of the pack after being in the middle of it no so long ago. It was a struggle to ask my friends to wait for me at the finish line party when I was arriving an hour after most of them. It was a struggle at times to reach mile 9 around two hours knowing you had another full hour to go.
My personal triumph was to go sub-3 in all three races, including a season-best of 2:54:23 at the 305 Half Marathon in Miami Beach in early March. During the season I also participated in two 5Ks and one 10K race, just for the pleasure of keeping myself competing in the activity I love and sharing my friendsâ achievements.
With my 3 runners from the Miami Marathon
There were highlights to my season, though. I had the chance to run an entire 5K with my dad and finish together, holding hands. I had three coaching clients finish the Miami Marathon, two of them smashing their PRs. I was also able to lock in four more runners who requested my coaching services. Also, my half marathon count reached 40, which I take as a secondary milestone.
It is a dilemma to be so thankful about being able to keep active and participating yet being so frustrated when you see a season pass by without being able to accomplish what you would have hoped. But as the sports clichĂŠ goes: âthere is always next seasonâ and, as the suffering Brooklyn Dodgers fans used to say: âWait till next yearâ. Even though I am not completely healed from my ailments, I already started running a little bit and enjoying the runnerâs high, the camaraderie and the time alone with myself on the road. So, I look forward to a better season recap a year from now.
Thanks for all the support. I couldnât have done it without it.
One of the most difficult things for runners is to go slow when we know we can go faster. We tend to think we are running âJunk Milesâ instead of âRecovery Milesâ. Foultips Running is an advocate for this concept and believes recovery is as key to your training as the tempos, Yasso 800s and any other type of speed work.
Some coaches rely on heart rate to set up the recovery runs, others set it up based on pace. Regardless of our method, we have to recover so we can do it again, thus avoiding injuries and burnout.
Check out this link from Runners World magazine. It is from an article published on January 2019 where it details what we preach.
