Moab Race Pacing & Rocky....

First things first

Let me introduce…

ROCKY

 :) More to come on him

I had my first experience being a pacer this weekend at the
 Moab Other Half Marathon.

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.

 ----------

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.