First Race, New Team

This weekend is my first official race at the USA 50km RW Championships where I will race over 20k. This is not super important but I still would like to do well for an early effort. I have done very little workouts faster than zone #1 pace (easy distance). I feel very strong though and feel like I can walk a good time. I will be walking with Tyler Sorensen and Bruno Carriere (Canadian Junior Champion) with Tyler walking the whole 20k and Bruno walking 10k. I am most looking forward to Tim walking the 50k though. It is his first time racing th 50k in 4 years. He is in great shape and ready to go and see what he can do. The race is on Sunday in Tustin, CA. You can view the results here when they become available.

I hadnt been planning on going to the Millrose Games this year, especially since it is only 5 days after my 20k this weekend however I got an offer I couldnt refuse. We got a call from the New York Athletic Club (NYAC) asking me to join their team. Tim has been on their team for over a decade now and they have been so good to him. I thought it was a great opportunity and its nice to be apart of the same team as Tim. Because of this, I am now going to the Millrose Games to try and defend my title. My dad is making the trip from Canada to be with me at the race and spend the weekend in NYC. Im really looking forward to it.

Wish me luck :)

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Starting 2011 Right

First of all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I know im a little late on both of those and I did have plans to blog while we were in Canada for Christmas but it just got too busy. We had a GREAT Christmas though. It was so nice to see my family again, especially my niece Anna :) Unfortunately I only got to see my sister Ruthy for 2 days since she lives and works in Toronto but it was nice to see her nonetheless.

We got so lucky with the weather while we were in Peterborough (my hometown). It didnt snow once, it didnt get colder than -10c when we were training (which may seem super cold to some people but I was happy with that!) and we were able to train OUTSIDE every day!!!! It was great. Last year for the week of Christmas we only got in 92km's for the week and this year we got in 120km's which is pretty good for being so busy and having many family engagements. We were very lucky to have my parents running with us almost every day so that helped us get the mileage in for sure.

Next up was the USA Junior Racewalk Camp which Tim and I do every year (Tim has been there for the past 10 years and I have been there for 6). This year we had 20 boys and girls and that included 6 college girls. It was a very successful camp, we had many talented racewalkers there and we look forward to seeing some great times from them this year. I was able to get some really good training in. It was nice to be back in some warm weather and this year was 100% better than last year. Last year at the camp we had lots of cold and rainy days, it seemed as though the sun never came out. This year was quite the contrary, it was sunny every day and it go up to the high 80F's for a couple days. I managed to get 144km's (my 3rd week this fall/winter over 140km's) and felt great throughout the whole thing. I was able to train with a local boy, Alex Chavez and a girl from Mexico, Nirvana Zalba, it was nice to have training partners every day.

We had 2 races like usual during the camp. On New Year's Eve we had the 1 mile race on the track and on New Year's Day we had the 5km race on the road. For the 1 mile race we decided to have 2 separate races as usual since there were so many people racing. In my race (the 1st race of the day) there was Tim, Alex Chavez, Ricardo Vergara, Vince Peters and I. Tim and Vince were doing 3k and Alex, Ricardo and I were doing the mile. Alex went on to help pace Tim through his 3k and Ricardo and I helped eachother to a fast mile time. I ended up walking 6:50 which is a great time for this time of year with little to no speed work (nothing under a km). This is a personal best (PB) time on the outdoor track and only 3 seconds off my best time ever over the mile. I was very happy with it and how even my lap splits were. The 5k went equally well. The plan was for Tim to try and help Alex walk a PB and I wanted to see how long I could hold onto them. The gun went off and we went through the first km in 4:37. The guys dropped the hammer right after that and I decided that it probably wasnt smart to try and go with them. I then proceeded to walk my next 4 km splits in 4:33, 4:31, 4:36 and 4:30. I really needed someone to walk with during the 4th km to pull me along but I was really happy with my time of 22:48. This is also a great time for this time of year, I walked 50 seconds faster than last year at this race so thats a big improvement. The picture above is from the 5k race. It was a great way to end a very successful training camp.

Training has just been going so well. I really havent changed much about my training this year so far compared to last year except that I am doing much higher mileage. Last year I did only 8 weeks total of 130m's or more and this year so far I have done 6 weeks of 130km's or more. I am feeling very good and very strong. It all just keeps getting better. I have now been walking the same times but with a much lower heart rate so that shows how well my training is going. Up next for me is the 20km race at the USA 50km RW Championships in Irvine, California. I am really looking forward to that race, my first real race of 2011.

Right now we have fellow TEAM members Bruno Carriere from Canada and Trevor Barron from Pittsburg, PA visiting us. Its nice to have some other athletes around and different people to train with.

Keep on walking,

Rachel

On a Roll

First I need to apologize for not posting in a long time. It seems as though I got out of my routine when my sister and niece came to visit and lost it from then on. Here is a recap of what ive been up to the last month and a half :)

When my sister and niece came to visit we had another person arrive in San Diego. Our close friend and training partner Lauren Forgues had decided to move here to give herself the best chance to improve and give her athletic career her all. It has been amazing having her here. Its great to have another girl here since the only other people we train with here is John Nunn, Andreas Gustafsson and of course my husband/coach Tim. She has really excelled in the short time she has been here. This is going to be her year and she is going to surprise everyone, I am so excited for her!

My training has been going really well. Ive been really focused this fall, way more than ever before. I have done a couple workouts that I did last year at this time and this year I can really tell that I am way ahead of where I was last year. I have been able to get much more mileage in this year, especially since we didnt "loose" training because of a wedding/honeymoon like we did last year. Last year I only had one month over 500km's and so far this fall I have had two and this month it seems like it will be my third. I have been on a roll and feeling great.

On the weekend on December 5th we went to Las Vegas to participate in the Rock n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon/Half Marathon courtesy of the Competitor Group. We did this event last year and we had a great time. This year Tim decided to do the full marathon since he is in training for the USA 50km RW Championships and I did the half marathon again. We decided that I would walk the first 15km's with Tim as a tempo walk for me. The gun went off and things were looking good but Tim started to have stomach problems and he ended up having to stop 3 times when I was with him. Having to start and stop a few times made me tighten up a bit but I still felt good. We were walking between 5:00-5:05/km and it felt so comfortable. I was able to talk very easily with Tim and my heart rate stayed very low which we were both surprised about. When it came to the 15km mark I decided to keep walking with Tim till 20km's when the half and the full marathon course split up. I was feeling good and thought that Tim would like the company for as long as he could have it. I went through 20km's in 1:41:25 and 1:47:09 for the half marathon (21.1km's). I was thrilled with this especially since I had just done 120km's that week before that day so I wasnt resting at all for this "race"/workout.

So far it has been an almost ideal fall base training period and its looking good as I look towards the winter/spring racing. This weekend we will head to Canada to spend Christmas with my family for the week and then the day after Christmas we will fly to South Texas for the USATF Junior Racewalk Training Camp for a week then finally we will come back home to San Diego.

Our first race of the season will be on January 23rd in Irvine, CA at the USA 50km RW Championships where Tim will look to win his first 50km Championship and I will walk a low key 20km with Tyler Sorensen for his debut 20km. We are really looking forward to the event.

Happy holidays to everyone and dont forget to keep on walking,

Rachel

Time for Some Visitors

Training has continued to go well. I have been very consistent and my mileage is increasing comfortably and I couldnt be feeling better. I am just starting to get into a little higher mileage (much more to come) and as I have said in previous posts, I am so much more ahead of last year. I am so focused and ready to have a breakthrough season. I am getting into some longer walks finally. Last weekend I did my first workout over 20k. Did 22k at Lake Miramar about 30 minutes north of where we live in California. There is a great path that goes all around the lake that is 8km's long. Its so nice to "just" have to do 3 laps to finish a workout. Today we went there again to walk 25k and I felt great.

This month is full of visitors and soon to be residents coming to San Diego. The last few days we have had our friend Ray come to visit from Las Vegas. It was great to catch up with him again and do a workout with him. Today my sister Rebecca and her beautiful baby girl Anna arrived and will be staying with me for the week. I am so excited to see them again and to have a training partner for the week. The next person arriving into sunny San Diego is Lauren Foruges!!! She has spent the last few days driving and will arrive here on Monday. She is the first TEAM member that has decided to make the move here and focus on training in hopes of making the Olympic Team. I am so excited to have her here and to have, finally, another woman to add to our daily training group here. Another person from our TEAM will be joining us for a few days of training later next month and I am really looking forward to that also!

A Canadian magazine, Chatelaine, wrote a short article on me and tips from me about racewalking. You can view the article here.

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Wisconsin, beautiful?

This is the view we had from our hotel room in Kenosha, Wisconsin on the weekend. We were staying right on the lakefront and it was just beautiful. Tim said that it was probably the best weather he had ever had while in Wisconsin (Tim lived there for 5 years in his college days). This was my first time in Wisconsin so I definitely had a good experience. Along the lake was a bike path so we were able to wake up and step out of the hotel and start training right from there. It was awesome! We were able to catch up with some friends that live in the area for a few days of good training (Thanks Ben, Miranda and Amber!). I did my first 20km of the season on Saturday and it went really well, I felt great and walked a good time for this time of the year. I am still around 4 weeks ahead if not more, ahead of where I was last year.

It was really fun for Tim to bring me around to where he used to live and work and go over some fun memories that he has from his college days. We were able to go to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside athletic building and see all of the All-American plaques (mostly racewalkers, yay!). I wont humiliate Tim and put the picture of his plaque on here but lets just say that im glad the haircut he had is no longer in style!

Next up was the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. It was great to hear about all of the other athletes accomplishments for the school. UWP definitely has had a lot of success in athletics. Tim gave a great speech and was presented with a medal and plaque that will be hung on the walls of the UWP athletic halls. What a great honor and definitely well deserved! We had a great time with his parents who also came up from Long Island, NY.

We are glad to be back home and now heading into a busy few weekends of Racewalking Clinics. This weekend Tim heads to Houston to meet up with Jeff for a Clinic of Excellence and then comes a clinic in Santa Cruz, CA on Oct.30-31st then the final clinic of the year in Springfield, IL on Nov. 13-14th. I hope you can join us at one of the clinics, they are always a lot of fun and you learn a lot. I will be attending the ones in Santa Cruz and Springfield. See you then!

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Dinner with El Presidente

Since my last post training has really come a long way. My heart rate has settled down a lot and my pace has dropped drastically. Since I am in base season now I am only training in zone #1 which is basically easy distance. The times I have been walking put me 3-4 weeks ahead of where I was last year at this time. I know that doesnt seem like much but it feels like a lot for me. I attribute my improvement to my weight training. I feel very strong and powerful already and I have only been doing weights for 3.5 weeks. Did I mention that I LOVE weights?! I dont know why I stopped the last 3 or 4 years.

Last Thursday Tim and I had the pleasure of going out for dinner with the great one, Jefferson Perez from Ecuador. He is the '96 Olympic Champion (only Olympic Medalist ever for Ecuador), 3 time World Champion ('03, '05 and '07) and '08 Olympic Silver Medalist. He's pretty great! Tim has known him since '96 before he won the Olympics. Jefferson was in San Diego studying at the University of California in San Diego (UCSD) for the week at a political leadership summit. We were able to catch up with him last Thursday night and it was so nice to see him again. We hadnt seen him for 3 years. He has been very busy building his multiple businesses and going to school to earn his Doctorate in Business. It was nice to go through all of his racewalking stories. We miss him not competing anymore but he is still doing great things that are impacting the world.

This weekend Tim and I are headed to Wisconsin to go to Tim's alma mater, University of Winsconsin-Parkside. Tim is finally getting inducted into their hall of fame, 15 years after graduating. We are so excited for this and I cant wait to finally go visit his school where he has so many great memories from.

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Time to Buckle Down

Its been 2 weeks since I started training and so far ive been feeling pretty good. Ive been slowly building up the mileage and doing weights 3 times a week. Ive been a bit slow to start. My heart rate has been pretty high and my pace has been slow but I am seeing progress.

Today Athletics Canada released the 2011 World Championships/Pan Am Games qualifying standards. AC has made some good steps in the right direction. They have released the standards earlier than ever and they have stayed with the IAAF standards. The bad news for me is that they are using the Rising Star criteria again for both events. Since I went to the 2009 World Championships under the Rising Star criteria, I am no longer eligible EVER to compete at any major international event with the B standard, I will always have to achieve the A standard which is considerably faster. I now have to break 1:33:30 for 20km's in order to qualifying for anything, which is a minute and 20 seconds FASTER than the Canadian Record!

Since taking my 3 weeks off, I have come back to training feeling a lot more confident in my potential. I know I can make big jumps and can achieve the A standard. I dont know if it will come this season or the next one but I know that I have the potential and that if I work hard and do everything I can to improve, that I can do it! I have re-committed myself this year to doing all the right things and train like a professional athlete. I have no reasons why I shouldnt be doing everything that I need to. Its time to buckle down and focus on getting my times down! Lets get it done!!!

Keep on walking,

Rachel