Help! I Became a Racewalker!

You know they say 'never say never.' I told myself that I was probably never going to write a post about sports but here we are.

In my defense, I'm at a track meet, it's been a long day, and it's cold out here. Unexpectedly cold. Pretty sure the weather was supposed to be nice.

Anyway, I had my first experience with the race walking event today. Up until a week or two ago, I never heard of it. But it's actually an interesting event to get into.

1. First of all, what is it? It is exactly as it sounds. A competition to see who can walk the fastest. Olympic commentator Bob Costas amusingly compared it to a contest to see who can whisper the loudest.

2. There are a lot of detailed rules to follow which can get you disqualified if you don't follow them, which is what happened to me 😏)

3. Biggest thing about this sport is that one foot as to be on the ground at all times.

4. Second biggest rule is that the supporting leg must straighten from the point of contact with the ground. This is the rule that got me disqualified. I was bending my knees too much.

5. At the college level, the races are about 3 km or 5 in, but at the olympic level, they can go even longer. And yes, race walking is apparently an olympic event.

I'm looking forward to continuing my journey as a racewalker. Thanks for reading this unscheduled post. I'm going to go take a nap now.