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A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of participating in a weekend racewalking clinic. I was talking to friends and they were astounded that there was such a thing... a class to learn about walking, why would anyone want to do that, AND why would it take a whole weekend!!! Of course these are the same people that will never understand why I walked a marathon. Boy will they be surprised when they hear that I am planning another one. For this next marathon I would like to be faster, hence the racewalking clinic. We met Friday evening to get to know each other and meet the coach. I could tell immediately that we would have a fun weekend. Our coach, Dave McGovern had a casual, easy going manner and set everyone at ease from the start. While chatting over pizza we discussed the weekend agenda and Dave separated us into groups (basically experienced and inexperienced) for our Saturday morning workouts. We discussed individual goals for the weekend and Dave instructed us in proper racewalking technique. Saturday morning we met at the track for video taping and technique analysis. If you are camera shy, this is the tough part. I have a hard enough time trying to racewalk anyway. I feel like such a klutz. So now I am instructed to give it my best effort with the rest of the group  watching and Dave sitting in front of me with a video camera. Each person walks, is given instruction, and walks some more. It was amazing to see how fast some of the group made progress with Dave's coaching.After lunch we reviewed the videos of our morning workout. It wasn't quite as bad as I would have thought. All the clinic participants were there to learn and improve on their walking form and all were supportive of each other. Some were just beginning and others were very competent racewalkers. After the video review we headed back to the track to work on our technique. Saturday night was topped off with a fun dinner and social time at a local restaurant. I accidently allowed myself to get sunburned on Saturday and after sleeping in the hotel for two nights, I was a little tired when we met again on Sunday morning. For this workout Dave had us wear heart rate monitors, so he could calculate our correct max heart rates. Then we had a discussion about various types of workouts, correct heart rates for the training, and what benefits are received from each type.  This was a very fun and informative weekend and I would encourage anyone interested in racewalking to participate if given the opportunity. During the weekend we walked, talked, raced, and laughed a lot. Even though I had previously read Dave's books, this clinic has now given me the confidence to "go forth and racewalk"!  For more on Dave's clinics see: Dave's Typical Clinic Schedule and Upcoming Clinic Locations Additional information on racewalking
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