For the photo album, Click Here

More pics on Dave’s Tiburon Clinic Group page

(The 2010 Tiburon Racewalking Alumni)

This was my 4th World Class racewalking clinic in 3 years, and as always, I got to meet some really nice people , had a great workout, a great time, and I learned a lot.

I wanna thank our wonderful host, Liz Shepard, for organizing this whole thing. Also a special thank you to Jim and Sally Shepard for welcoming us into their beautiful home for the weekend. And of course a big thank you to Dave, for showing us all how it’s done. He’s an awesome coach and a world class athlete.

And speaking of World Class Athletes, by placing 5th and walking under 4:45 at the USATF 50k in Surprise AZ on February 7th, Dave qualified to compete in the 2012 Olympic Trials, and also earned a spot on Team USA’s 5-man team going to the World Cup of Racewalking on May 15 – 16 in Chihua, Mexico. He was already going as the manager for the team, but since they didn’t have a full team, he was convinced to step down as manager to compete in the 50k. Pretty cool eh?

(Dave, Ms Lizzy and her parents, Sally and Dr Jim Shepard)

(Liz, yours truly and Melody)

(Dave’s classroom charts ..aka Original Dave Art)

Part of what happens at one of these clinics, is that Dave does a lot of video analysis. He will take a raw “before” video of each racewalker individually as they racewalk on the track. He shoots the video from different angles so he can see how your feet, knees, hips and upper body are all moving. After pointing out any obvious problems, he’ll take an “after” video. Later on during the classroom sessions he critiques the videos and points out what you’re doing right and what you’re not doing right. He then makes specific recommendations for improvement.

Anyways, when it came to my turn to be critiqued, Dave immediately spotted a major flaw in the way I was propelling(or I should I say NOT propelling) my left foot forward, which was slowing me down, shortening my stride length and making me look clunky and slow. After the horrible way I looked during the Solana beach clinic, I thought to myself… I give up. No matter how many of these classes I attend or how hard I try, I just can’t get this right. BUT WAIT!, then he went on to say, that there were other elements of my technique that were on par with elite racewalkers! and that my overall form was very good! (phewwww)
Coming from someone who coaches Olympians, that meant a lot. The advanced racewalkers in the group were very kind in their words as well. Who knows? Maybe there’s hope for me yet .

He also noticed that I over-pronate quite a bit ( told you he was good) . So it looks like those nice ultra-lightweight green racing flats Ive been using for my marathon training will be shelved for the time being. Apparently I need a racewalking shoe that has a little more stability. On Monday I bought a pair of the Saucony Grid Fastwich IIIs online, which are what a lot of racewalkers are wearing nowadays. I hope to receive them and in time for next weekends 18 miler. I’m at that point in my marathon training where I only have a couple weeks left to break-in new shoes for the race.

After the video analysis, we headed back to the track where I went to work to correct that problem with my left leg. With just a few minutes of practice my form was already looking a lot better, and by the end of the first clinic day I was able to racewalk a 180 meters in near perfect form. I even managed to complete 2 legs of an 800 meter relay race that we did. I’m not very fast and that particular walk nearly killed me, but my team finished the race in 2nd place!

Part of the reason I have so many problems in trying to become a good racewalker, is that I simply can’t move my body fast enough and far enough for all the pieces to fit together smoothly. I have my lungs to thank for that. I think if it weren’t for my crappy lungs, I would be an awesome racewalker…possibly even one of the elites. Why I chose a sport I’ll never be good at, I’ll never know. Oh well, if I can walk “like” an elite racewalker , even if it’s only for a couple hundred meters, all the effort Ive put into this will be well worth it.

Now for a special treat. A sneak peak at Dave warming up (yes, he’s walking). This is what I want to look like when I grow up.

Remember my Boston marathon jacket from 2009?

Well, with the high cost of anything related to the Boston marathon(especially merchandise), and with the fewer dollars I have available to spend on this years race swag, I decided to get creative.

Rather than buying the official 2010 Boston jacket (which btw, is not as nice as the 2009 jacket), I just had the year “2010″ embroidered on last years jacket. I might have them embroider “114th” on it as well to make it look even better. Either way, I think it looks just as good as having a new jacket. Gives you kind of the ” Veteran” look.

I can’t take credit for this idea. Last year I saw several Boston repeaters who did the same thing. I remember seeing one guy who had 10 dates added to his 1999 jacket. Let’s face it, it gets expensive to shell out a $100 for an official jacket every year. Then again, how many people actually do the Boston marathon more than once? Surprisingly….. quite a few.

People really covet these jackets. They’re kind of a status symbol that says ” Look at me, I made it to “Boston” . You should see how many people are wearing these jackets at Logan airport, the weekend of the race. It’s kind of a badge of honor. People will walk up to you out of the blue and give you that special nod. It’s really cool.

OK, I’m not total cheapskate, I did fork out $25.00 for this 2010 hat ( gotta have the hat).

Just got my lung biopsy report back from Dr Wenzel. Seems I have high levels of a type of cell called a mast cell. A “normal” (not cancer) cell that has long been seen in asthma patients. But, mine are a slightly different version, which seems to be more common in people with really bad asthma. These new findings, along with all my other test results from the SARP study, are starting to paint a clearer picture of why my asthma is so severe.

If there’s any good news in all this, it’s that there’s a new drug in the pipeline that could possibly help people like me who have this cellular abnormality.

Dr Wenzel to me;

( 2-24-2010)

Steve, At long last, some MICROSCOPIC pictures of your airway! These are “orange colored STAIN” to identify cells called mast cells. The first AE2typrt identifies mast cells which make tryptase (an enzyme…. we don’t really know what it does, but it identifies this type of mast cell) the 2nd AE2chym is a different enzyme (chymase) also made by mast cells, but a different “type” of mast cells. As you can VISUALLY tell from the 1st slide, you have “orange” everywhere. LOTS and LOTS of mast cells (even though almost all of the OTHER cells we associate with asthma (eosinophils, lymphocytes) are gone) And, interestingly, about 50% or more of these mast cells make the 2nd enzyme chymase, (2nd slide) which we ONLY see in severe asthma. WE think understanding what causes this increase in these cells is REALLY critical to understanding severe asthma. We are WORKING On that… but you clearly fit the picture that we have seen in other severe asthmatics, maybe even to a greater degree than many.

Finally, you ALSO have an epithelial layer (the top of the slide with the oval-like holes in it) and some cilia on top) which is MOSTLY mucus producing cells. LOTS AND LOTS of them too. We think the mast cells and the mucus cells are somehow related and we are working on that. And, there MAY be some drugs that block PGD2 (a prostaglandin molecule also made by mast cells) which MIGHT help your asthma… but probably wont be able to try those for another year or 2 as part of a study, and if they work, 5+ years as a marketed drug. But, there MIGHT be hope!

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Wait a minute…….. what the heck happened to weeks 1-7?

Well, weeks 1 and 2, (January 1st-8th) I was in the hospital(on a ventilator). Week 3, I was too wiped out from said hospitalization to do any exercise. Week 4, I actually managed to pull off a 10 mile walk. Weeks 5&6 , (January 27th- February 4th) I was in the hospital again. Week 7, I was still recovering that hospitalization. Which brings us to week #8.

Week #8 ( Feb 13th) I did a 17.7 km ( appx 11 miles) training walk. This is the longest walk Ive done since my half marathon race back in October. I was able to get a couple shorter walks in earlier in the week, but it’s a huge leap going from 4 miles to 11 miles! Considering I’d only been out of the hospital for 9 days, I think this first long walk was a success. I did experience some pretty nasty abdominal cramps, but that was totally my fault. The combination of prednisone, energy gels, too much sweating and not hydrating properly, was just too much for my system and well……let’s just say, thank god there was an open restroom out there in the middle of nowhere.
I completed the walk in 2:55 min ( 16min/mile pace), which is just about right for an LSD walk. My lungs fared much better than I thought they would. During that walk I only used my inhaler about 6 times. I started wheezing a little at the end, but it quickly reversed after a couple of neb treatments. I kept the racewalking to a minimum, not so much because of my breathing, but most because my legs were sore from being bed bound a week earlier and I just couldn’t get a good rhythm going .

This was the same day the Maverick Surfing competition was going on (about 25 miles south), but even here in San Francisco, the waves were crashing pretty high near Golden Gate.

Week #9Trying to play catch up with my training, while also trying to dodge the bad weather has been a real challenge. So, on Feb 17th, just 5 days after doing the 11 mile walk, I did a 23km (14.5 mile) walk. I know it’s crazy to do two long walks back to back like that, but I really needed to get another long walk in before the next rain storm hit the region. In just a 7 day period, I clocked something like 38 miles. Way too much, but I had to take advantage of the dry days when they came. Needless to say, I’m pretty sore from last weeks walks. My lung are paying for it too, as I haven’t quite healed after spending half a month in the slammer. I pre and post medicated with neb treatments and used the inhaler about 8 times during this walk. At the time , I was only on 15mg of pred, vs 30 mg during the previous walk.

Week#10 Starts this Saturday with a series of really long walks LSD walks, which I refer to as my “REALLY LONG WALKS”. They are the 16, 18 and 20 mile( 32km) walks, and are the most important training walks in building the endurance and fortitude required to complete a full marathon. These long walks are basically mini-marathons in themselves, complete with all the not-so-pleasant after effects you can expect when doing a real marathon i.e. muscle cramps, blisters on blisters, joint and body aches, dehydration side effects and in my case, potentially severe respiratory problems.

In addition to the long endurance walks, Ive also been doing three 5 mile tempo walks per week. With most of those I try to incorporate at least a little racewalking.

Ah…. the crazy things we put our bodies through in the name of fun!

I just want to take a few moments to honor the life of a good, kind person. His name is Jim Cady. The husband, father and best friend of one of my racewalking buddies, Vickie. Jim was a very kind, soft spoken, but courageous person.

An avid skier, Jim wasn’t a racewalker himself, but he would often come to San Francisco to cheer the rest of us on during our races. Jim also treated me to my first Giants Baseball game.

Jim was about my age, and though he had been battling his disease for years with weekly chemotherapy treatments, you never heard him complain about it. I was continually amazed by his perseverance, and somehow always figured that he would out live me.

[Jim, his wife Vickie, Me, Brandon and Rachel at the 2006 San Francisco Marathon]

In an earlier post, Kerri had mentioned how she liked the look of my green shoes ( Asics Hyperspeed 2s), better than my orange shoes ( the new and supposedly improved Asics Hyperspeed 3s). Well… so do I (though for slightly different reasons).

I reason I bought the “orange ones” in the first place, was because I couldn’t find any of the “green ones” (they discontinued the Hyperspeed 2 model last year). Well, after scouring the Internet for months, I finally found some more of the green ones, and have decided to train in both to see which ones I like better. No, not at the same time, though that would look kinda cool:-)

When you walk and /or racewalk as many miles as I do, your feet become extremely picky as to what they will allow you to put on them. Actually, I could care less about the color of the shoes(unless it’s something like neon pink ). When I’m shopping for walking shoes, I go through a pain staking trial & error search. There are several things that I look for in a distance walking shoe , but many times can’t tell for sure if the features are there unless I actually try on the shoe. The problem is, most shoes that are suitable for racewalking and/or long distance walking are only available online, which makes trying them on a costly proposition. (you usually have to pay for the return shipping if the shoes don’t fit).

I look for shoes that have a low profile heel and lots of toe room. Cushioning isn’t a big deal for me ,as I use my own custom orthotic insoles in all my shoes. Racing flats tend to work best for me, but because they are so thin and so light- weight, they’re not very comfortable for longer distances and they tend to wear out very quickly ( about 250 miles of wear is all I get out of them). These ones only weigh 5.8 oz ( a normal running shoe weighs twice as much).

So, all things being equal, which shoes do you think I should wear for the Boston marathon? The older Green ones? or the new and improved Orange ones? Oh… and in case you’re wondering, both colors will go with the rest of my race apparel.