Mother Tries Walking Her Way Into Olympics

If you can find the time to get in shape, you will be very glad you did. That’s what Maryanne Torrellas has been telling people across the country. Torrellas, wife, mother and part-time track coach, has found time to become the No. 1 woman racewalker in the United States and, most recently, to tour 11 cities to encourage Americans to get in shape by walking.

“Walking is the simplest, easiest, most convenient form of aerobic exercise,” Torrellas said. “Even if you hate the thought of joining a health club, investing in expensive sports equipment or finding a workout partner, you can walk.”

Six months after she gave birth to her first son, Torrellas, now 29 and a mother of three, certainly didn’t have the time or inclination to work out. “I was a hefty 155; I’d gained 35 pounds,” she said.

But she hated carrying the extra weight. An injury-ridden middle-distance runner, she had attended St. John’s University in New York on a track scholarship and she missed training. Racewalking, she and her husband and coach, Richard, figured, was the answer to all Maryanne’s problems.

It is gentler on the body than running--runners land with three to four times their body weight while racewalkers land with only one to 1 1/2 times theirs. Mile for mile, racewalking burns the same number of calories as running.

When Torrellas talks about racewalking, she is talking about that stylized strut (elbows high, legs straight, hips rolling) you have probably seen in televised track meets. When she uses the term walking, she means any style of brisk and purposeful walking.

Racewalking 3 miles, four times a week, Torrellas whittled herself back down to 123 pounds in 3 months. She entered her first racewalking competition the following month and, to her surprise, qualified for the national championships. “That hooked me,” she said.

She has been training daily ever since, except the days she gave birth to sons Jason and Derek. Between long-distance walks (10 to 12 miles) around her Clinton, Conn., neighborhood and speed work at the local track, she logs 45 to 55 miles a week racewalking. She also runs an additional 15 miles and lifts weights to keep her heart, lungs and muscles strong. She eats a low-fat, high-carbohydrate, high-fiber diet and avoids red meat, white flour and sugar, except when she indulges in chocolate chip ice cream.

Not only has racewalking won Torrellas numerous national and international titles (she set a world record for the mile at the Ottawa International Games and won the national title in the 3,000-meter walk this year), it has taught her how to win in all aspects of her life.

“Racewalking’s so much more than just a sport,” she said. “It’s a way of life. I used the discipline and positive attitude that wins me medals in parenting and marriage. . . . When I’m in the middle of a difficult problem, it’s the same as if I were in the middle of a race. Rather than give up, I push through.”

That might explain how she can eagerly jump out of bed at 5 a.m., slip on her walking shoes and get in a 10-mile walk before Richard goes to work. Or how she finds the energy to do a weight workout while her sons nap.

“It’s tough in the winter, when it gets dark early,” she admitted. On snowy days, she packs up the family after dinner and takes them to Yale University’s indoor track. “I give the kids books to read and Richard coaches me while he watches the kids. . . . My friends can’t understand why I work out when I could be home, sitting on the couch watching ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ But I’d miss being in touch with my body and in touch with nature. I’d miss feeling energetic and giving.

“It’s not easy,” she said frankly. “But we make the time because it’s my burning desire to compete in the 1992 Olympics and my husband’s dream to coach an Olympic athlete.”