Michta: Woman in a hurry

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Maria Michta talks as fast as she walks, which is to say “muy rapido.” 

On Sunday, the Long Island, New York-native placed ninth in the women’s race walk at the Pan American Games, covering the 12.4-mile course by walking an average of 7 minutes, 56 seconds per mile in her first 20km race at altitude (about 5,000 feet).

A pair of women from Guatemala captured the gold and silver.

“The other girls brought their A-plus game,” she said, but Michta was the top US finisher and her performance capped an incredible year.

In June, Michta lowered her 20km personal best by about 3½ minutes at US Nationals (to one hour, 34 minutes, 51.47 seconds) and qualified for the 2012 Olympic Trials. In August, she made her world championship debut in Daegu, South Korea. In between, she worked on her PhD at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan where she is examining how the Hepatitis C virus uses a particular protein to infect cells.

Just as this year has been a blur, so has Michta’s walking career. Hearing her recount it after the race was a recipe for writer’s cramp, but in a nutshell:

As a ninth grader, Michta qualified for the high school nationals in just her fourth competitive race walk. As a senior, she placed third at the 2004 junior nationals in 10km, but the event caused her to miss her high school graduation. And when it came time to graduate from C.W. Post, she missed the ceremony to represent the US at the 2008 World Cup in Russia. A few months later, she made her debut at the US Olympic Trials and placed eighth at age 22.

Now 25, Michta attributes her early success to having natural biomechanics for race walking.

“I hyperextend my knees naturally so they’re easy to straighten,” she said, and race walking rules mandate that the advancing leg be straight (not bent at the knee) from the time it makes contact with the ground until the moment it is perfectly vertical.

“I also have loose and mobile hips,” she said. “Actually, I have an excessive amount, so as I get older, I’m learning how to control it.”

The excess mobility results in “hip drop,” which means that with every step, she twists slightly and loses forward motion.

To help her correct the inefficiency, two-time Olympian Tim Seaman has been coaching Michta long-distance from San Diego.

Meanwhile, Michta trains in New York City, often in Central Park, where she’ll walk 75 to 85 miles a week during peak training blocks

While practicing her hip-popping, swiveling stride in the city, she ignores comments from the uninitiated but usually, she said, the looks are fleeting “because everybody in New York is so different and someone behind you is usually doing something crazier.”

As for the myriad misconceptions people have about race walking, she said, “The best we can do is get people to understand and appreciate the sport.

“The analogy I like to make is that in swimming, Michael Phelps has won a lot of medals in a variety of strokes. Freestyle is the fastest, but no one makes fun of him for swimming breaststroke.”

It is arguably tougher, however, to make a living in race walking than swimming.

So far, Michta has been able to live off her graduate school stipend and is grateful to have a supportive dean and boss in the microbiology department at Mt. Sinai. Still, she only gets two weeks off each year and blew her vacation time training at altitude in Colorado Springs last week and competing at Pan Ams, so Michta plans to take a six-month leave of absence next February to try to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.

“But science has no pause button,” she said. “You risk losing the academic race and having someone make the discovery you’re working on any time you’re not in the lab.”

“I’m taking a risk, but you’re only young once, so why not?” she said.

When she returns next September, she will do what no race walker would ever do during a race.

“I’ll jump back into it,” she said, and let both feet leave the ground.

Aimee Berg is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.

Source: Teamusa.org