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.

Wanna learn to walk faster than most runners run?

There’s only limited space left for this one, so reserve your spot today! Whether you’re a Newbie or a National champion of the sport, come and learn to racewalk from one of the best racewalking coaches in the world!

Join ME for an awesome weekend of racewalking fun in Tiburon, California. Dave rarely gets to SF bay area, so don’t miss this one. ( Bet you didn’t know racewalking was an Olympic sport? )

Solana Beach, California;

The advanced clinic was awesome as I knew it would be. Dave always puts on a hell of a class and is one of the funniest guys you’ll ever meet. I don’t think Ive never been in the company of so many World Class racewalkers at one time. 3 time Olympian, Philip Dunn, was there along with a host of other National and International champions. Also attending the clinic was an up and coming young collegiate racewalker by the name of Jose Moncado . His coach is Chris Rael. Man o Man, can this kid walk fast! More like flying actually…

And speaking of Chris Rael, I finally got to meet him. Chris is the creator of Racewalk Planet TV. Ive been watching his racewalking videos for years (this is one of my favorites, though his son is actually the one who filmed it.). An accomplished racewalker and coach in his own right, Chris produces all kinds of racewalking media, including racewalking videos and podcasts. He wanted to interview me for one of his upcoming podcasts, but I had to skip out early on Sunday and missed the opportunity. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to hook up with him again.

Did I mention that I suck at racewalking? I don’t know what happened. I looked horrible on the video analysis. I was slow, clunky and actually looked worst than I did 2 years ago at the last clinic. I didn’t have that nice smooth roll- through that the good racewalkers usually have. My form was really off. I had what they call “soft knees”, meaning that my landing leg bending prematurely through my stride. Ok for runners, but a violation for racewalkers. Despite my lackluster performance though, I’m very grateful I got to take part in the clinic. I’m humbled and learned a lot. As Dave pointed out , that’s why you attend clinics ….to get better! And really, how many people get the opportunity to have their racewalking skills analyzed and critiqued by Olympians and National Champions? Another thing Dave told me , which makes a lot of sense, is that training to “regular walk” too many marathons (which Ive obviously been doing the past 2 years), can actually make you a slower racewalker . When you train to walk a marathon you spend a lot of time doing fat- burning, long slower training walks to build your endurance(what they call LSD’s). You gain endurance , but you loose the fast twitch muscle response that you need to be a good racewalker over the shorter distances. He recommended doing more speed drills, making my feet more “active” in all phases of my stride, and stretching out my calves out so that I land on my heel better.

Anyways, now that I know what I’m doing wrong, I can work on making it better. Still, the biggest problem I face in trying to become proficient in a sport like this, is that I simply don’t have the lung capacity . You can practice on your technique till the cows come home, but if you don’t have good lungs , you really can’t put the whole thing together and you certainly can’t compete in races. For me though, it’s never been about competition. It’s about doing and learning as much as you can for something you have a passion for. If you’re going to walk for fitness, why not learn about the mechanics and science behind it. Why not hang out with people who love the sport as much as you do. I know I’ll never be great at racewalking, but I get out there anyway, because it makes me feel good about myself.