Yeah, I discovered this by attempting to racewalk around Antrim Lake in racewalking shoes. The trail is mostly packed gravel with a small section of asphalt.

Though I walk around this lake all of the time, today was the first time I’ve worn actual racewalking shoes here with the intent to practice racewalking form. It was a totally different experience. Because the shoes are flexible, I worked harder at rolling onto my toes and pushing off. Instead of increasing my speed, my foot actually seemed to slip. No matter how hard I worked, I didn’t go faster while on the gravel. But as soon as I hit the asphalt, I felt as if I was really moving! In fact, I was faster every loop.

While actually on the gravel, I could really feel my shin muscles. They were working hard!

Despite my shoes slipping, it was still a good workout.
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3 loops at 1.2 miles per loop for 53:49 total. Hmmm. That’s an average of only 14:57 per mile. But my fastest loop was 17:28 for 14:33 per mile. Imagine if I hadn’t been on gravel!
18:41
17:39
17:28

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