After being injured, Bonnie Stein stopped jogging for well more than 30 years ago. She did, however, discover an even better technique to keep in shape.
Because Stein, of the Village of Poinciana, tore the meniscus in her right knee. Her doctor advised her to walk quickly instead of jogging.
‘Turned out I was a much better walker than I was a runner,” Stein said.
Walking quickly for exercise has evolved into racewalking, which she has participated in at a local, regional and national level. Henry Laskau, a well-known Olympic racewalker, served as her coach. She has also been teaching racewalking to people for 30 years, and she continues to do so in The Villages via The Enrichment Academy.
When Stein first started racewalking, she entered races and completed more than 100, winning a handful.
The principal of the Florida elementary school where she worked at took note and asked if she would teach racewalking as part of an adult program at the school.
She has taught in different schools throughout the state and now teaches in The Villages, as well as one-on-one with people from nearby communities or through groups or seminars.
“I have been teaching the same class for 30 years, and the real joy that I get from this is that I see the benefits of racewalking for other people, not just for myself,” Stein said. “That’s what keeps me really highly motivated.”
Stein began running to lose weight, and while she accomplished so, she was also hurt on occasion. Stein lost nine pounds in the first nine months of racewalking, which is more than she lost in the same amount of time jogging. According to Stein, racewalking has a number of advantages.
“Number one: It’s all the benefits of running with none of the compression forces on your knees and on your back?” she said.
In the 30-plus years she’s been racewalking, Stein hasn’t suffered a single injury.
“Number two: It’s an easy way to always take fitness with you no matter where you go,” she said.
Stein has been teaching Racewalking for Beginners, Racewalking for Beginners Indoors and Racewalk Coaching & Practice for Advanced Beginners at The Enrichment Academy for the past two years.
Stein teaches people how to racewalk, how to choose the right shoes, how to preserve their knees and back while walking, and how to fire up their pace to receive the same training advantages as running.
“I teach everyone how to racewalk at the pace that gives them the perfect workout for them,” Stein said.
Arleane Soto was so enthusiastic about Stein’s classes that she took both the introductory and advanced sessions twice.
“She is just phenomenal. She is just an inspiration, which is why I took her class twice,” Soto said.
Because the resident is a native New Yorker, she has always walked to go around the city. She didn’t understand how poor her method was until she took Stein’s lesson.
Stein does not want the term “racewalking” to be associated with fear. It is not the intention of the workout or class for people to compete with one another.
“You get to do it at the pace and the intensity and duration that is perfect for you,” she said.