A Change of Pace

Are you registered for the Madison 1/2 Marathon tomorrow?  I am registered and I am really excited because I get to be a part of something really neat.  I will be a member of a pace team!

Okay, so I might have lied.  I am not just excited, I am beyond excited.  I am super excited.  I am climbing the walls excited.  This is something I have always wanted to try because I love to get other people excited about running.  I just think it is such a great sport and activity that is and can be embraced by so many people.  It really is very accessible to nearly everyone.  And I do mean everyone.  We got 4 minute mile people all the way up to 15 minute mile people.  And it's all good.  Sure, there are a few elitist types out there.  But I believe those people really are few and far between...I've been running for nearly 9 years and I've only run into a handful of them.  When I do run into them, I just walk away.  I've found that life is difficult enough without letting someone steal your joy or rain on your parade.

Anyway I am especially excited because I get to pace the 2:20 group.  Which means that we could have some newbies or people who are just starting to set time goals for themselves.  This is where I get them to drink the kool aid!  No, no...just kidding.  This is where some encouragement and support from us (my pace partner and myself) can make a big difference in how someone's race goes.  In some ways this "assignment" terrifies me.  Obviously we need to stay on pace.  We figured we need to run even 10:30 minute miles so that we can walk briskly through water stops and still hit our overall 10:40 pace that will bring us in at 2:19:59!  It is a tough course and we will have to help people manage the bigger hills, but most importantly we need to help them keep their spirit up and their confidence engaged.

I don't typically get to run with a pace group as I usually do smaller events where "extras" like that are just not needed.  I did run with an amazing pace group leader when I ran the Des Moines Marathon. The guy was amazing, clicking off 9:09 minute miles like a metronome.  Although I fell off the pace group at mile 22, I still finished close enough to my target to qualify for Boston.  Had I been self pacing, I probably would have blown up at mile 16.  I've tried other pace groups in races and have had so-so luck.  In one race I let them go because I wasn't in the shape I had hoped I was in (nothing like an honest pace to teach you that at mile 9 of 13.1).  In another I zipped ahead and away from the pace group because I couldn't stomach the thought of another cheery, like you know, like bubbly pep talk from our "cheerleader" pacer.  Sometimes less IS more and silence IS golden.  I hope I know where that line is.  I also hope that if I cross it someone tells me so I can back off.

I think I am actually more nervous than excited.  I can't remember the last time I was truly "nervous" about a race.  The advantage and disadvantage of doing a lot of races.

Here's hoping it goes well and that we stay on pace, that I don't get decked by a disgruntled runner and that I remember that sometimes silence is golden!