First things first
Let me introduce…
ROCKY
:) More to come on him
First let me say…
I am very introverted
Very shy
A little awkward around others
SO that being said…. Not only was I nervous to pace
the correct time at this race; but, I had to step out of my comfort zone and interact with people I didn’t know (Tragic :D)
I learned pacing is hard, no matter what the pace. I was running the 1:50 group, an ‘easy’ pace for me, and still found it difficult. When you are lining up for the race, people come up to you
and share their pre-race nerves and PR goals; seeming to pass some of that goal responsibility off to you. LOVED this. Loved being able to encourage them and
share in that excitement.
From the start until about mile 5, I had a large group with me. I probably checked my Garmin 587.893
million times to make sure I wasn’t running too fast or too slow. We were given pace bands that took
into account all the hills, which was super helpful. The first half of the race is rolling/down
hill and spirits were high. Then everyone seemed to disappear, except for 5
people - 4 who made it with me from start to finish, and 1 we picked up along
the way. This is where the awesome
headwinds and fun hills showed up.
Every time we would approach a hill I would tell them we are
going to
OWN this hill and up we went. It made me nervous to hearing their breath
start to get heavier and heavier. I would say each of their names and tell
them how strong and awesome they looked. Towards the end I would run ahead when
I saw an aid station and grab water’s and get the GU’s I had stored in my shirt!
I had never run this course before, and they kept asking is
this the last hill…. Um YES (
last hill for now anyways ;))
POWER UP it. One guy
started complaining about the head wind –
CHARGE THROUGH IT MAN, you so got this.
The top of last hill is at mile 11 and you can see all the way down to the finishing area. So funny how the attitudes changed - no more
complaining about hills or wind! The last mile I told them to go ahead of me
and kill it. I literally screamed at them to push it until they couldn’t hear me anymore.
1:49:46, 14sec. too fast.
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That feeling from a PR is hard to surpass. It was amazing to be able to share this feeling with these finishers.
After the race I loved getting hugs from them and sharing in the excitement of exceeding
their original 1:50 goal. ALL 5 of them
came in ahead of time.
Sitting in the finishing area, waiting for the other pacers I
realized I really needed this race…
***Sometimes I need to force myself out of my comfort zone to
experience times like these. Most people
don’t ‘get’ it, but it is HARD for an introverted person to engage in social
settings. Solitude is what feels ‘right.’ Forcing myself to step away from that, I met some awesome new
friends and glad to have done so.
***Race settings always remind me why I decided to change my life
around and STAY healthy. After the past
couple of weeks, this was defiantly a needed reminder to freaking –
STAY ON TRACK.
If you ever get a chance to pace a race I highly suggest you
do so.
Incredible experience.
I hope to
continue.
