Ready or Not?

Tomorrow will be my first racewalking race, and my 52nd birthday. Am I ready? Are my knees ready for this?

This morning I worked out with the Southern Cal Walkers. Just some easy accelerations. It was good being able to have a nice chat with Carl Acosta while working out and not having to concentrate on timing my laps.

What to expect tomorrow? I looked up last year's results just to get an idea of how fast the field was moving.

Walkers Club of Los Angeles 2006 10-mile Judged

Finish   Time      Pace    Name                 Age   Club        Age  :  Position / Notes
Position                                                          Group:
1        1:17:42    7:46   Philip Dunn          34                30-39:  1st / Fastest Male
2        1:18:36    7:51   Dave McGovern        40    Varsano's   40-49:  1st
3        1:29:30    8:57   Chris Rael           46                40-49:  2nd
4        1:32:59    9:17   Pedro Santoni        48    SCW         40-49:  3rd
5        1:34:01    9:24   Margaret Ditchburn   31                30-39:  2nd / Fastest Female
6        1:43:30   10:21   Mario Lopez          48    WCLA        40-49:  4th
7        1:43:35   10:21   John Backlund        65    RW NW       60-69:  1st
8        1:46:14   10:37   Deo Jaravata         40                40-49:  5th
9        1:46:59   10:41   Jolene Steigerwalt   62    SCW         60-69:  2nd / (1st Female)
10       1:50:50   11:05   Carol Bertino        58    ES          50-59:  1st
11       1:50:55   11:05   Carl Acosta          71    WCLA        70-79:  1st
12       1:57:35   11:45   Darlene Backlund     60    RW NW       60-69:  2nd
13       1:57:57   11:47   Al Cazas             46    IER         40-49:  6th
14       1:58:05   11:48   Brandye Smith        45    LA RR       40-49:  7th
15       1:58:57   11:53   Martha Fitzpatrick   62    SCW         60-69:  3rd
16       2:00:53   12:05   Ray Billig           48    SCW         40-49:  8th
17       2:01:07   12:06   Leon Glazman         72    WCLA        70-79:  2nd
18       2:16:41   13:40   Patti Kennedy        75    IER         70-79:  3rd / (1st Female)

I calculated the pace and at first I thought my formula was wrong. There were some very fast walkers there last year. Philip Dunn was on the U.S. Olympic team. Dave McGovern is a legendary athlete, coach, author and runs the best known racewalking clinics. Of course there's also Mario Lopez, fastest racewalker in last year's L.A. Marathon and Carl Acosta who coaches the Southern Cal Walkers on Saturday mornings.

This year the elite walkers are being drawn to the big event in Chula Vista next week so it will probably be a smaller field. Surprisingly there were no male's in my age group last year and only one female, Carol Bertino. However, she walked at an 11:05 minute per mile pace--that will be a very challenging pace for me at this point in my training. I think my knees just started hurting!