Forget what you’ve seen on TV because Race Walking is nothing like what it seems. Robyn Stevens is a 14x National Champion who just got back from the Tokyo Olympics. We talk Race Walking, the secret to swinging your hips and getting annoyed at slow walkers. Then, we countdown the Top 5 Ways to Get Around.
Robyn Stevens: 01:47ish
Pointless: 28:36ish
Top 5: 52:13ish
www.WalknRobyn.com (Robyn Stevens Website)
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Interview with Olympic Race Walker Robyn Stevens
Nick VinZant 0:11
Hey everybody, welcome to Profoundly Pointless. My name is Nick VinZant coming up in this episode, fast walking, and slow moving,
Robyn Stevens 0:21
I got there a few days after the opening, we had to miss the opening ceremonies. But I watched them from home which with my mom, which is really special because I used to watch all the Olympics growing up with her, our body are using all of the muscles, we're engaging all of the muscles but a sprinter, a middle distance runner and a distance runner are utilizing but all at the same time. And then our turnover is as quick as it bout of like between a 408 100 meter runner, I'm totally walk pretty fast. I know I get really annoyed when I'm in the shopping, you know, the grocery store and like, Oh, yeah, I can't. It's a big pet peeve.
Nick VinZant 1:02
I want to thank you so much for joining us. If you get a chance, like, download, subscribe, share, we really appreciate it really helps us out. So I don't think I've ever had my preconceived notions about something shattered more than by our first guest. Because whatever you think about race walking, speed walking, it is not, not what I thought it was. It is so much more interesting, and so much more physically demanding than I ever would have thought just by watching it on TV. Our first guest is a national champion and Olympian who just got back from Tokyo. This is race Walker, Robyn Stevens. So you're just back from the Olympics. How was it?
Robyn Stevens 1:50
It was great, obviously different from most years. But since it's my first Olympics, I didn't know any different. I think we're the only event that could have spectators just because we were outdoor and there's a lot of space. So it was really cool seeing all the locals come out and hearing them cheer and it's a good experience.
Nick VinZant 2:11
When did you arrive to the opening ceremonies were on Friday, like when did you get there?
Robyn Stevens 2:15
I got there a few days after the opening, so we had to miss the opening ceremonies. But I watched them from home, which with my mom, which is really special because I used to watch all the Olympics growing up with her. So it was kind of cool to see an opening ceremony that I'm supposed to be walking in for the Olympics I made but with my mom's I could see her crying and all excited. So that was that was like a different type of special.
Nick VinZant 2:42
One of the things that kind of jumped out at me and if Wikipedia and online is correct, that you were a little bit older for most than most first time Olympians is is racewalking a sport that kind of is conducive to that.
Robyn Stevens 2:56
Yeah, so racewalking we don't usually hit our peak until late mid 30s to early 40s. Yeah, and, um, I don't know I. So I took a few years off from the sport I retired in 2004 came back in 2000, officially 2016. And what encouraged me to come back was I had learned that one of the Olympians that I had watched, I didn't realize she had made her Olympic debut at 42. So when I learned that that inspired me to come back because I was thinking, Oh, yeah, it's too late. Because I was also before I retired, I was a runner and a race Walker and nationally ranked, but in both so I was in that runner mindset of Oh, okay. Yeah, like, it's, it's obviously too late. And then when I learned what her age was, it encouraged me like, okay, you know, we'll see what we'll see. We'll explore. But in in race walk, it's pretty common. I mean, for Spain, there's a his use Garcia, who has made every World Championships and Olympics since he was a youth. And he was 52, I believe, at the Olympics this year.
Nick VinZant 4:07
What is it about it that people can continue to do that so much later in life, athletically speaking,
Robyn Stevens 4:13
I think there's a couple things a lot of people, at least in America haven't heard of it. It's not it's more prevalent in southern America, in Europe and in, in all over China and Japan, it's super popular. But I think it's also because it's low impact. And so the body can handle a lot more and recover faster. Because our Olympic distances up until this year was 20k and 50k remain. So the 50k had two options, the 50 and the 20. The 50 is longer than the marathon. And then the women have the 20k. So we have a lot of we're doing a lot of distance, and we're probably doing that every other month. Sometimes depending if we're really active with the World Challenge events, then we're going to be Doing that often now, you'll see like, I've read a lot in magazines where they're like, Oh, you know, I can't believe this marathoner is going to do you know, two, two marathons back to back a month apart? And I think it's because yeah, they're they're absorbing so much power. Yeah, on their knees and their joints and everything where it's not unheard of, for us to be able to do that just because we can. We're putting our heartbreak. It's just as high as a runner. We're doing its justice, like, we're asking a lot of our body, but because of the low impact, or able to bounce back a lot quicker.
Nick VinZant 5:31
So the demand is the same, but the toll is not correct. Yeah, that's well, that's really interesting. So how did you get into race walking,
Robyn Stevens 5:41
I started in junior high, I had ran across country racing Dixon, and had a beat a little boy that in the race, that youth coach had wanted to humble. And so she came over and she was a club coach, and I had only Ranbir, junior high, you know, for the school system, I never heard of club track and field. And she came over and she was just like, Hey, you know, I run a club team. I'd love for you to join. If you stick with me, I believe that you have enough talent that you could make an Olympic team and even get into any college that you could ever dream of. And that was enough for me because I'd always wanted to go to college, and I'm the youngest in my family. So I was doing everything to keep you know, the way that a student and yeah, volunteer for clubs, and I would do everything to cover my bases in case they didn't have enough money left over for me, though, my mom's like, I would have always made sure. But you know, just in case, just in case, right, yeah. Yeah. So when she said that, I was like, oh, okay, I'm gonna, you know, I'll join. And since it's a club team, they, they purchase, all those events, you know, are going to have all of the events that are in the Olympics. So she would teach all of her athletes, every single event that's in the Olympics, so all of us learned throwing all of us learn race walk, all of us learn, you know, the only two that she couldn't teach us was hammer thrown pole vault, because there was no access to the the items on steeplechase because there was no staples. But we all learned race walk. And that's how I learned about it. And she would i would do the the mile the 800 the four by four and the race walk, but there was so much time between that 800 in the mile and the beginning of the race and of track needs cousin youth track take? Yeah. Yeah, that I would get really bored. And so that my muscles when get, you know, lazy or the two mile or get stagnant, she would have me jump in the race walk so that it could keep me limber, and, you know, flexible, two mile and not getting too bored.
Nick VinZant 7:46
No, like, why are you a good race Walker,
Robyn Stevens 7:48
I think I just picked up on it from all the years of dance that I had done. I started dance class when I was two. And when she discovered me, um, I wasn't competitive dancer, I was doing, you know, competing in the area in the local area. And I think just with all of that just years of, of dance, I was able to take to it, it was nothing. It didn't feel any different from you know, like, a lot of people are like, Oh, don't you want to run or? Or, you know, how do you race walk like that doesn't make you want to just break into a run? I'm like, no, it just it feels like a like an athletic endurance dance. So it just feels it definitely I don't get it confused with running.
Nick VinZant 8:31
It's it's one of those things that now that you mentioned it like there is some swiveling of the hips there, right?
Robyn Stevens 8:36
Yeah, yeah. So like a former coach of mine, Susan Armenta, she used to say, at a madang game, but if I didn't have enough hip flexor, to remind me just to relax into the hips,
Nick VinZant 8:47
is it just walking fast, like if I was in a hurry, and I want to walk fast, it's the same way that I would walk faster, is there a whole different kind of technique to it?
Robyn Stevens 8:56
Oh, there's a whole technique to it. So usually, if we're going to teach youth how to or beginners will say like, just pretend that you're at the pool. And they say, you know, the snow cone place just opened up and everybody's jumping out there, like don't run, you know, walk, don't run, and you're trying to hurry over to it. So that's how you start, you know, walk as fast as you can to get there. But to not get thrown out of a race. There's two rules, you have to land with a straight leg, and then keep it straight until it passes underneath the hip. And then but one foot has to be on the ground at all times. And that's how it different sheets from running obviously. So you can get sometimes confused because when you say that people will start walking like a Frankenstein. And, um, but that's where I like to just incorporate the dance if you're thinking of them, but I am gay. You land at the straight leg, drop that hip, let it pass as you're pulling that back, you know, your other leg through and then you can bend that last one as you're straightening the other one and then that's how you get that that smoother ride. them,
Nick VinZant 10:00
it seems like a sport that would be easy for somebody to cheat.
Robyn Stevens 10:04
No. So we have minimum five judges on a course at all times, unlike the distance running, we have to be on. So for 20 Ks, it's going to be a 1k course. And for the 50k 35k can either be a 1k or 2k course. So that way that there's always a judge that can see us and there's five to seven judges at all times, they have to have certification, the proper rolled athletic certification, at least three of them have to be like a level three, and an A world athletic certified. And then there has to be by that. So for the one foot off the ground, there has to be by the judges I and there's like a fourth of a second that the human eye can't see. So if you see if you slow down videos of professional racewalkers, if you've like, watched the Olympics, and you slow it down, and you see a side profile profile of us, or if you see pictures, you might see like, oh, they're cheating there, I see them, they're just a little bit off and right, not by the judge. So that's the key is like by the judges, I because they're not going to be able to see that seconds. Now we're not doing that on purpose that just happens naturally at the speeds that we're going and it's just going to go up so you can there's ways to get these, it's just like soccer, or you can get dq except for in soccer, you have to be misbehaving. And, you know, pissed off the referee, and re swacch we're not talking necessarily but we can, you know, the the judge has two paddles, they can give us the yellow is a warning, that is a courtesy, they don't have to give us that. That's just to let us know, we're we're in danger of getting red carded, and if we don't fix it, they're gonna read cardus on each judge can only give an athlete one red card. And that's how they they keep from over bias because you know, they like another athlete. And then three red cards, if they're not using a penalty zone, will dq the athlete, if they're using the penalty zone, like at the Olympics this year, some people may have noticed, you know, we had a strong pack of the top six. And then all of a sudden, there's this heat, like all this drama at the end of the race, where the person who was supposed to be in third, she already had two red cards. And she but she really wanted that second place. So she pushed it and she got pit lanes. So the pit lane, they don't always have to use but they had decided to use that for and this is going to become more normal for the Olympics. And that's where she's put in a pit penalty box for two minutes. So virtually two minutes gets added to her time as you sitting there and that that pit box. So she ended up 11th. So she was a favorite to you. She's from Brazil, she's actually a friend of mine. She was a favorite to metal. And then because she really wanted that. So for her, you got to appreciate that grit. She just pushed it a little too much and then got pit lanes. And then same with the gold medal favorite. She got she had red, two red cards going in got pit lane, and then she ended up third was supposed are supposed to be second. but ended up third she was the gold medal favorite. And so like there's so those rules make it so it's hard to tea because there's people watching us all the time. And the last 100 meters you can get dq whether or not you have previous red cards. So that's why you're not gonna see too many of us. Like this is one of the things I love to doing when I was running competitively is I love strong kick. So I still like to do that with race walk. But I have to be really careful because judges, if you if you switch if you significantly change your pace, and because if you change your pace, your technique might change a little bit too. And they don't like that. That's what I like about it. Because it's a it's such a technical strategy type sport, too, you have to have strategy, and you can't all you sometimes have to sacrifice. Even if you have a lot in the tank physically, you have to sacrifice that or sacrifice a higher place just to stay in the race. Because it could mean if you sprint at the end, it could mean that that chief judge doesn't like how you look. And they'll just throw you out that last time your leader.
Nick VinZant 14:20
Oh, yeah. So you could be like, technically perfect, exactly how you're doing it for the entire time. And then if you're in a tight race at the end, and you just speed up a little he can just go euro. Wow. So you really got to like maintain your whole speed. That's kind of
Robyn Stevens 14:39
like I'm doing a constant body scan the entire time. There's no checking out mentally,
Nick VinZant 14:44
you know, you're talking about it with these people who are the best in the world and they're still getting red cards during these races. Is it one of those kinds of things where people are gonna push it and see how much they can push it. Like you want to be right say that there's a line and you Want to be right up against that line without crossing it? Right? Because it would seem like if you perfected a technique, then you wouldn't ever be in jeopardy of getting fined for it or getting penalized for it. But then because people are getting penalized for it all the time, they must be like pushing right up against that all the time. Oh, is that how it works?
Robyn Stevens 15:18
Yeah, we're pushing the last part of our training is just figuring out where we can, how much and what that feels like to push that line and know that we're, we're technically sound and most of us at that level where we are technically sound, but, you know, judges are human and, and different judges have their preference on what they like, and what they consider good technique there, you know, so, you know, we might be fine in one country, but then another country's judges, like they interpret the rules a little bit differently. It's really not that like, if you're going those speeds, you're, you're probably going to get carbs, because you we are going super fast. I mean, we're going sub seven, the women are going sub 715 per mile pace, the men are going sub seven minute pace, you know about 650. So we're we are going fast. So one of the things that will push for is how you know, it's almost like you've aced it, if you can walk, you know, the two cards is almost like a badge of it's not a badge of honor. But it's like, it's like you know, you you know you're pushing yourself. Because if you're not getting any cards, maybe you know, it's almost like Well, are you pushing yourself enough?
Nick VinZant 16:32
It's that old saying like, if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.
Robyn Stevens 16:37
Because we're not cheating on purpose. Like the cards are all pushing it a little bit.
Nick VinZant 16:41
Yeah, yeah, you're bumping up against that edge. Now
Robyn Stevens 16:44
that these they're trying to figure out for myself, because I crossed the finish line was so much energy still left in the tank? Because I'm trying I'm still trying to figure out what it feels like to push that edge with the energy that I have. So
Nick VinZant 16:59
no is can I ask how, um, how tall are you? I'm just under five, three. So is that is that an ideal height? For a race? Walker is like something Oh, you'd be you would be the best in the world. If you were only five, four, like you're too tall for a race Walker? Is there? Is there a certain body type for it?
Robyn Stevens 17:17
I'm not really I think the shorter tend to do better, just because the taller athletes are gonna stick out more. So if they're particularly bouncing in their spec, they're gonna stand out to the judge because they're towering over the shorter. But if you're technically sound, that's no big deal. So
Nick VinZant 17:35
it's kind of like a being smaller as a blendin advantage as opposed to like a bio.
Robyn Stevens 17:39
Yeah, because we can have a quicker turnover. So I guess, because our fastest walkers in the world are for the minister Japanese, for the women, it's the Chinese. And then South America has a lot of strong walkers. Spain has a really strong program. And a lot of a lot of that is like we're shorter. You know, like, those cultures are shorter in height, or like my height. So you know, between my height and maybe 554455. So are the women. Um, so I think it does help. I mean, there are successful tall athletes though,
Nick VinZant 18:20
right? It's harder, it's like, not this quite the same, but it's like gymnastics where it's definitely beneficial to be a certain size, right? kind of thing. So
Robyn Stevens 18:29
yeah, I mean, I am someone who believes that if you have a will and you have a passion for you know, being good at a certain discipline, it doesn't matter what you look like you're gonna be you're gonna be able to pull it off.
Nick VinZant 18:42
Are you heart ready for some harder slash listener submitted questions, sir. Do racewalkers trash talk each other?
Robyn Stevens 18:51
Oh, probably more on the men's side. I believe the women are more. We just focus on what we need to do. So we're either going to be friends or we were just in our own little we just kind of keep to ourself on race day. But the men definitely like to have like playful, playful banter with each other and,
Nick VinZant 19:09
um, can you spot a good Walker out in public? like can you see somebody like rush rushing to catch a bus? That goo they got good form?
Robyn Stevens 19:17
Oh, yeah, totally. I mean, that's how a lot of us racewalkers who ended up in the sport got, you know, headhunted is you know, a coach sauce or someone saw that, oh, you would make a great race Walker. I see it all the time, when when we're training out on you know, on the trails, and the bike trails. Sometimes kids or other people will try to try to mimic it or try to, you know, go along with us. And there are times where I'm like, wow, actually, that's really good.
Nick VinZant 19:43
You should do a pretty good
Robyn Stevens 19:45
you're doing pretty well. And I had worked with some some other people who were just wanting to learn it, but uh, probably weren't, wasn't like thinking anything about it like seriously, and then I saw them like, wow, you know, If you weren't so successful at what you're doing, you know, if you weren't such a successful actress, you'd probably be in pretty good or a soccer but you're making way more money as an actress than what we make.
Nick VinZant 20:11
Can you make a living straight off of racewalking?
Robyn Stevens 20:14
You can a very humble living. I'm very, very humble. So like, the average that we might make is, at most, and on average, the most that we might make is 25k. really couldn't live in Silicon Valley on it. But it would be like really living like a conservative way. Like we're making like 2025 to maybe 50k with the bonuses during Olympic year. So like with a, you know, with that, but it's all in it's not salary, we don't get salary. So it's all based on winning, what would be your top speed? Like you're going to sprint? All out? Like how fast can you How fast can you walk? Ah, we don't normally race anything faster than a mile. And once we hit the elite level, it's not often we're going to be doing anything less than that. 3k like two miles. But there is like, once a year, there's the Melrose games, where we'll do a mile and so that's the only thing I can judge off of the fastest that a male is gone is a 531. And the fastest a woman is gone is 618.
Nick VinZant 21:29
That's like 10 or 11 miles an hour. And if I'm going trail walking or something like that, like I'm hauling ass at three miles an hour. That's incredibly you know, pretty quick.
Robyn Stevens 21:41
So what's interesting for a lot of like, when, so our body are using all of the muscles were engaging all of the muscles, but a sprinter, a middle distance runner and a distance runner are utilizing but all at the same time. And then our turnover is as quick as it bout of like between a 408 100 meter runner.
Nick VinZant 22:03
Wow.
Robyn Stevens 22:05
So actually orders race walk really well. A lot of sprinters like take to it quickly.
Nick VinZant 22:12
Just because of the turnover ratio. Yeah. I was really thinking that it was gonna be like five miles an hour, which would be a 12 minute mile, but it's basically double that you're talking like 1112 miles an hour walking?
Robyn Stevens 22:24
Yeah, cuz, you know, during the 20k, I averaged about 715 per mile.
Nick VinZant 22:30
Wow. Yeah. So that's like seven and a half miles an hour. Do you? Okay, next question. Do you generally walk fast everywhere you go.
Robyn Stevens 22:39
I'm told I do. I never really noticed. But my, you know, I'm short. So my dad always seemed super tall to me, because he's six one. And so when we would go camping, and hiking, we do a lot of camping and hiking. Growing up. I was always constantly trying to keep up with them. Because I talk a lot. And I'm trying to, you know, tell them my story that I couldn't keep up with them. So my best friend Ashley, she always just likes to she'll laugh about it because people always she's shorter than me. And people are always like, why do you walk so fast? And he's like, Well, my best friend is a professional race Walker. And I always have to try to keep up with her in the hallways in high school. So I think the key is like if you're around someone taller than you, I think you're just going to naturally be a faster Walker everywhere because you're just trying to keep up with the taller walkers. So I'm told I walk pretty fast. I know I get really annoyed when I'm in the shopping. You know, the grocery
Nick VinZant 23:39
store? Oh, yeah, I can't. It's a big pet peeve. Oh my god, that would be awful. If you were like walking in a crowd like, Oh my god,
Robyn Stevens 23:49
I can't stand proud. If they can't walk fast. You know, I don't like the the idle, especially the packs that walk in like groups of five or Oh, yeah, they're all on their phones. And they're just walking super slow. It's like can you walk single file or learn how to walk faster?
Nick VinZant 24:05
We asked the same question to both a decathlete and some ping pong Olympians that we had on. Where do you feel like racewalking ranks in the Olympic hierarchy hierarchy of sports? Like in my mind, you're going to have 100 meter sprint like that's, that's the Olympic sport, right? That is the thing. And then at the bottom, you're going to have archery or something. Right? Like where do you feel like so you're talking about all the events? Not Where do you think that like race walking, but in terms of like the coolness factor, like if this was a Olympic high school? Where do the race walkers rank?
Robyn Stevens 24:44
In my mind, or where do they actually rank because that's pretty low in in most people Unless Unless you're from Japan, or from Spain or from parts of you know, South America or from Russia. You know? racewalking is ranked pretty low. But I think it's because. But a lot of people, most people don't understand what's going on. And once you understand what's going on, it's really fascinating. And it's really interesting. And that's why I've gained a new appreciation for baseball because I used to think baseball was super boring. And I'm like, how can people think race walks boring when people watch like four hours of this just people standing around on a field, I also think that with race walk at the elite level, I mean, since we're using all the muscles of like a sprinter, middle distance, and distance, and distance runner, our build is going to be similar to a dancer or no, I used to get mistaken for a gymnast when I was younger. And I just think that like the musculature is just really aesthetically beautiful. And when you see when you see it done, right, it's gorgeous. Just seeing what the body can do when it's finally trained.
Nick VinZant 26:01
So that's pretty much all the questions that I have what's kind of coming up next for you.
Robyn Stevens 26:06
So next, we have a possibly depends on the Delta variant like, Yeah, what happens with that, we have a 10k, in quotes equality in Mexico. And we were supposed to do one in Monterey that got cancelled because of the COVID. And then, after that, and November, we have the men's national 35k, because the women already had ours in February or January, February. Normally, in January, we had to postpone it to February. So we have the men's 35k that mix getting used to or getting ready for. And at that race, they'll either have another 35k just to open one for the women to qualify for worlds, or a 20k just for for us to do for points because now everything's about either the super a standard or qualifying for by ranking. So you have to hit a certain time for quality ranking position in the world. So So that'll be in November that we're planning for the second week of November in San Diego area. And then January will be the men's and women's 35k nationals for 2022. Wow.
Nick VinZant 27:21
So that's what's next. I missed this one who is the Michael Jordan of racewalking. Michael Jordan of race walk. Like who's better? Who's the best? The best ever?
Robyn Stevens 27:34
In my eyes, it's gonna be his Seuss Garcia of Spain. Because, like he is the true goat of race walk, because in my eyes, because I mean, some people would argue that is Jefferson Perez. Some people might argue that, you know, it's somebody more current, but I think that will his use Garcia is correct. I mean, he was at the Olympics at 52. He's made every Olympic team in every world seen. He's been in the top like, I think his first one was in 1990. It was a couple years after Nick was born in 1990 No, I think it was 1991 or whatever. But I mean, he's been doing that ever since. And he's always in the top 30 like now because he's in the top 30 now, but back then it was like the top eight.