Power Walking has it's possibilities.....

Tonite I had a nice recovery run scheduled. Nothing too fast, too far, too long. I was too excited about my new business cards coming in that I packed a few of them in a plastic ziploc baggie and ran to my parents house.

(ps. there is no such thing as a short visit, or a run in-run out, at my parents house no matter HOW hard I try)

So after about a half hour of chit chatting with Mom, I made my way to the door, BUT NOT BEFORE SHE POINTED OUT THE APPLE PIE on the stove. Well shoot. So I cut a little sliver and put it on a napkin and pretty much licked the napkin clean. Or maybe I ate that too? I chugged a glass of water to wash it down, called it 'recovery food' and or dinner, and left the house. Running didn't seem like such a good idea with that fresh in my gut so I started walking really fast to see if I would get a cramp.

No cramp, and I was able to walk pretty fast. I toyed with the idea of bending my arms up like a real 'race walker' and gradually I think they just naturally were guided up near my chest. I began pumping my arms and leaning forward, engaging my core muscles.. YES, CONSCIOUSLY. It actually felt reeeally good.

My heart rate began to rise. My stride lengthened. I could feel the muscles in my shins burning and my glutes were engaged with each push off forward. Hmm.. I think this may be something to add to my training program. If I can 'race walk' for an hour each week at this intensity, it will lessen the impact on my joints in my knees and hips, lower the pain scale in my feet and provide another alternative to running while keeping my cardio up with out the stress to my system left from the pounding of miles on the pavement.

If I can develop this same pace for a longer duration for Ironman, I may actually be able to sustain a forward motion for the marathon! It felt SOO GOOD. I may have looked like a geek out there, but after a while, I didn't care. (plus it was getting dark so I really didn't care. not like I would have cared much anyway.)

When I got home, I noticed that I still burned a ton of calories, used a lot of muscles in my legs although a bit differently, got my heartate up, and still took on quite a few miles, easily with out wanting to cut my feet off at the .. well.. the foot.

Why don't more people incorporate some sort of fast pace walking into their training programs. I think it would be a great benefit to everyone. You could even use it as a recovery day lessening the stress to the muscular system but still maintaining fitness.

hmm...

I was also 'walking' as fast as the person next to me was running up these hills... maybe even faster...

LOOK OUT MAURY... I MAY BE JOINING YOU ON A POWER WALKING MARATHON!!!

(although I'm sure Maury's outfit will be much cuter than mine)