Why Walk?

Hello to all who may find this blog! A bit of background on me. I am a personal trainer who used to run. It didn't come easily. I was almost constantly injured with shin splints, which a podiatrist discovered was due to hyperflexibility in my feet (99th percentile of flexibility in the tendons and ligaments led to severe internal pronation that no amount of motion control in my shoes could cure). Orthotics helped somewhat, but I was still continually plagued by injury. Finally I said "screw it" and started just walking, something I had always considered weak before. Turned out with proper training, I got pretty good at it, and I can now walk faster (without injury!) than I ever could run.

Showing up at races as a walker leaves one open to stereotypes and, sometimes, mockery. Sadly, there are many runners who don't take us seriously, and even more sadly, there are many walkers who make us all look bad. Let's look at some of the (mis)perceptions of runners and run/walkers first.

1) "Walkers are out of shape." That's why we're walking, right? Because we can't run? Not really. Many of us could run but choose not to. If I were determined to jog, I certainly could do it. The problem is, I couldn't go far, I couldn't go fast, and I couldn't go more than twice a week without getting injured. For me, it's far more enjoyable to walk quickly than to run slowly, and I put my base fitness up against any comparable runners.

2) "It's not fair when people can walk faster than I can run." If I had a dollar for every time a runner said "it's not fair" to me during a race, I'd have a decent nest egg. I'd like to know what dictionary these people use to define "fair." I train my ass off to be as fast as I am, and never complain that my hyperflexible feet are "unfair" to be saddled with. If I am beating you in a race, who cares? Races are supposed to be fun, and it doesn't matter if a walker beats you. And if you care so much, train harder and beat me next time.

3) "Walkers don't get race etiquette." You got us there. Honestly, this is the worst offense and it's what I meant when I said lots of walkers make us look bad. If you are walking in a race, for the love of GOD, don't walk more than two abreast, don't start too far forward in the pack, don't veer all over the place, don't come to a dead stop at water stations...this goes for you runners, too. And y'all bitches have to stop taking your walk breaks without checking behind you, because I have run a few of you down.

Anyway, I have explained why I and others walk. In this blog I hope to help educate wannabe race walkers, give tips for starting out and improvement, strategies for hills, headwinds, and flat ground (yes, flat ground also requires strategy), and perhaps let runners know that we are not all a bunch of noob jerks.