starlight6
Cathlete
Kathryn that's awesome! High five!
Ruth
Ruth
One milestone reached!
- Thread starter kathryn
- Start date
beautifulsoul
Cathlete
Wow, congratulations Kathryn, you are such an inspiration.
materialsgirl
Cathlete
Whoah. That's some fast walking! Good job, Kathryn! The fastest I can walk is 4.2 mph, but not for any significant length of time. It's HARD! Big high 5s to ya!
Good job, Kathryn! The fastest I can walk is 4.2 mph, but not for any significant length of time. It's HARD! Big high 5s to ya! 
kathryn
Cathlete
> I find my feet hurt more
>than anything.
One word: Thorlos!
I found that having the right shoes (I wear some Earth fitness shoes), and the right socks works wonders! Though a bit of lubrication from petroleum jelly or Body Glide helps a lot to avoid chaffing.
I also use a tennis ball or a small massage ball or 'footsie roller' to massage my feet.
>than anything.
One word: Thorlos!
I found that having the right shoes (I wear some Earth fitness shoes), and the right socks works wonders! Though a bit of lubrication from petroleum jelly or Body Glide helps a lot to avoid chaffing.
I also use a tennis ball or a small massage ball or 'footsie roller' to massage my feet.
kathryn
Cathlete
>Do you use a racewalking technique?
Not strictly: I'm sure I don't always have a straight weight-bearing leg and I probably also have 'loss of contact' (two no-no's in official racewalking), but I have read up on it and try to incorporate some of the techniques (the ones that won't make me look too odd!: the bent arm, and really pumping the arms when I need a speed boost; working on the front-to-back hip swing and making sure that my step is longer in the back than in the front; working on foot speed over gait length).
I use some of my walks, or parts of walks, to focus on specific techniques, like posture, driving with the arms (I notice that doing this works the back as well), pushing off from the back toe, keeping feet close to the ground (knees don't come up much at all), hip movement.
It also helps me to either have something/someone to compete against (my Garmin helps me push, but I also try to set up targets to try to catch up to as fast as I can without running. The other day, another walker was on the other side of the street, about a block away, and I pumped up the speed to pass her, and of course had to keep up that speed for a while so I'd look cool and fast! Another day, it was two women walking on the bike trail with me).
I started walking without music (because I long ago got rid of my Walkman and my portable CD player, and don't have an IPOd), and found that it works well for me. I have enough noise in my head to keep me preoccupied, it's safer, and if I need a push, I just run some song through my head. The other day "Flight of the Bumble Bee" and "Ode to Joy" (the faster parts) helped me power through one interval. (I'd tried "Little Red Caboose," but it wasn't fast enough. Don't ask me where it came from, except that I was on my way towards a railroad track!)
> If you don't mind me
>asking, how tall are you and do you have longish legs?
I'm 5'6" (on a good day) and have just average leg length for my height, I'd say.
> Just
>wondering if a certain technique or physical traits help. I
>once paced myself by following a woman walking on campus at
>lunchhour who was moving at a fair clip ... she took smallish
>steps but could outpace me - I was surprised.
I've learned that most of the fastest racewalkers have fairly short legs compared to their height, because what takes you faster is the speed of your stride, and the longer the lever is (the leg), the harder it is to move it fast. So people with longer legs are faster when just strolling, but people with shorter legs can learn to move them faster more easily. That's why the 90=degree bend in the arms is important as well: a shorter lever that can move faster (and the legs will pick up the same pace as the arms, so if you ever feel like you want to go faster, just start pumping those arms, and the legs will follow), also keeps you from getting swollen/tingly hands.
I think I'm just kind of built for walking: I always walk fairly fast, even when just strolling through the mall, and I've always had a 'wiggle,' which may or may not be the same as the racewalking hip movement--which is forward and back--but it helps.
Not strictly: I'm sure I don't always have a straight weight-bearing leg and I probably also have 'loss of contact' (two no-no's in official racewalking), but I have read up on it and try to incorporate some of the techniques (the ones that won't make me look too odd!: the bent arm, and really pumping the arms when I need a speed boost; working on the front-to-back hip swing and making sure that my step is longer in the back than in the front; working on foot speed over gait length).
I use some of my walks, or parts of walks, to focus on specific techniques, like posture, driving with the arms (I notice that doing this works the back as well), pushing off from the back toe, keeping feet close to the ground (knees don't come up much at all), hip movement.
It also helps me to either have something/someone to compete against (my Garmin helps me push, but I also try to set up targets to try to catch up to as fast as I can without running. The other day, another walker was on the other side of the street, about a block away, and I pumped up the speed to pass her, and of course had to keep up that speed for a while so I'd look cool and fast! Another day, it was two women walking on the bike trail with me).
I started walking without music (because I long ago got rid of my Walkman and my portable CD player, and don't have an IPOd), and found that it works well for me. I have enough noise in my head to keep me preoccupied, it's safer, and if I need a push, I just run some song through my head. The other day "Flight of the Bumble Bee" and "Ode to Joy" (the faster parts) helped me power through one interval. (I'd tried "Little Red Caboose," but it wasn't fast enough. Don't ask me where it came from, except that I was on my way towards a railroad track!)
> If you don't mind me
>asking, how tall are you and do you have longish legs?
I'm 5'6" (on a good day) and have just average leg length for my height, I'd say.
> Just
>wondering if a certain technique or physical traits help. I
>once paced myself by following a woman walking on campus at
>lunchhour who was moving at a fair clip ... she took smallish
>steps but could outpace me - I was surprised.
I've learned that most of the fastest racewalkers have fairly short legs compared to their height, because what takes you faster is the speed of your stride, and the longer the lever is (the leg), the harder it is to move it fast. So people with longer legs are faster when just strolling, but people with shorter legs can learn to move them faster more easily. That's why the 90=degree bend in the arms is important as well: a shorter lever that can move faster (and the legs will pick up the same pace as the arms, so if you ever feel like you want to go faster, just start pumping those arms, and the legs will follow), also keeps you from getting swollen/tingly hands.
I think I'm just kind of built for walking: I always walk fairly fast, even when just strolling through the mall, and I've always had a 'wiggle,' which may or may not be the same as the racewalking hip movement--which is forward and back--but it helps.
kathryn
Cathlete
>There's an incredible
>power that comes from it and it's just as satisfying as any
>other cardio really...
There is! I like the feeling that I can get somewhere fast under my own power. And it makes the town seem much more walkable for doing other errands as well. The other day, my 'warm-up' was walking to the postoffice to drop of some mail, and mý 'cool-down' was carrying a 10# bag of prescription cat food home from the vet's.
>Tell me: what do you listen to as you walk along? Or do you
>focus inwards?
When I lived in Madison, Wisconsin, I got into walking my last 2 years there, I bought a few walking cassettes, but mostly I made a bunch of walking tapes with my own music (I figured out the general bpm of the songs I liked, made up different play lists with increasing/decreasing pace and varying lengths). But I got rid of my Walkman and later portable CD player a while ago, so I started walking with no music. And I find I really like it! I can hear the birds and cicadas (they are crazy this year!), hear the traffic and any potential problem people. I have plenty of 'noise' going on in my head most of the time, so I just let that 'play,' and when I need more of a boost, I run a song in my head (see above: it's not a particularly comtemporary playlist, LOL!).
>power that comes from it and it's just as satisfying as any
>other cardio really...
There is! I like the feeling that I can get somewhere fast under my own power. And it makes the town seem much more walkable for doing other errands as well. The other day, my 'warm-up' was walking to the postoffice to drop of some mail, and mý 'cool-down' was carrying a 10# bag of prescription cat food home from the vet's.
>Tell me: what do you listen to as you walk along? Or do you
>focus inwards?
When I lived in Madison, Wisconsin, I got into walking my last 2 years there, I bought a few walking cassettes, but mostly I made a bunch of walking tapes with my own music (I figured out the general bpm of the songs I liked, made up different play lists with increasing/decreasing pace and varying lengths). But I got rid of my Walkman and later portable CD player a while ago, so I started walking with no music. And I find I really like it! I can hear the birds and cicadas (they are crazy this year!), hear the traffic and any potential problem people. I have plenty of 'noise' going on in my head most of the time, so I just let that 'play,' and when I need more of a boost, I run a song in my head (see above: it's not a particularly comtemporary playlist, LOL!).
RunninTeach
Cathlete
That's a fast walk you're doing, Kathryn. WTG! Oh yeah, that Garmin is a beautiful thing. Good luck finding a 5K!
[font face="heather" font color=brick red size=+2]~Cathy [/font face] http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif
"Out on the roads there is fitness and self-discovery and the persons we were destined to be." -George Sheehan
[font face="heather" font color=brick red size=+2]~Cathy [/font face] http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/4.gif
"Out on the roads there is fitness and self-discovery and the persons we were destined to be." -George Sheehan
bayerngirl
Cathlete
Congratulations Kathryn! That is so awessome
Belinda
Belinda