Anyone ever try speed/race walking?
I’ve been trying it on my treadmill and it’s tough; I can get my HR just as high as when jogging. But what makes it hard is that it just feels unnatural, very hard to walk fast (as fast as you can) and not be tempted to start jogging. The typical non-professional race at between 8 – 16 minutes per mile, with most in the 11 – 13 minute-per-mile range.
I’ve looked up some stats and was surprised at how fast some can walk.
I don’t know if these records still stand, but it gives you an idea:
- Denis Gennadyevich Nizhegorodov (Russian race walker and current world record holder in the 50 km (31 miles) racewalk, with a time of 3:34:14.
- On September 29, 2007 Kanaykin set a new world record for the 20 km (12.4 miles) race walk. He walked a time of 1 hour, 17 minutes, 16 seconds.
- The men's American indoor record for race walking a mile is 5 minutes and 38 seconds.
- In setting the men's world racewalking record for 50 kilometers (31 miles), the record holder averaged walking faster than 7:08 minutes per mile for over 31 miles. At that pace one could complete a marathon in just over 3 hrs.