Sunday 22 March 2015

Pacing responsibly

Richmond Half Marathon
22.03.2015
Day 341

A pacing day, Richmond Half Marathon for sub 2hrs, got them in around 1:58 (about 8.58 m/m),  then walked/jogged another 7 or so to make this a 20mile Slow Run day

You feel such a duty of care for the runners you're pacing. I must have looked at my watch about a dozen times a mile, trying to keep the pace steady. I fluctuated between 8:40 and 9:10 minute miles, but was all the time worrying about the efficacy of my Garmin. The very worst thing would be not to make the two hours, but  I am sure I erred on the faster side. The main problem was that I had no-one to check in with, since I was the sole pacer at this speed. The last few miles the people who were trying to keep me in their sights were puffing like trains. The last 400m I urged the runners to surge forward and sprint past me. I do hope that all the PB chasers were happy. I was certainly cheerful and encouraging, coaching as much as I could to keep them comfy. Perhaps they found that irritating? I'll never know, but I did receive plenty of thanks in the aftermath, so that made me feel good.
For myself, I had a few bladder issues that made me fret about comfort in a month's time. This morning my attempt to add more miles was compromised by the generous goody bag that I was carrying, but I jogged them, very slow, and considered this to be a Time On Your Feet run. Certainly was on my feet for 24 miles, as had to walk quite far to find a bus worth catching (nothing until Wandsworth). Ate most of goody bag goodies in the attempt.

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