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Pacing Group Question (Read 161 times)

Wing


Joggaholic

     What will the Pace Leader do at the fluid stations?   
    Uh, they will drink.  The Pacer will usually slow down or walk through the water stops. Listen for this information during the last minute instructions.

     

    You may want to ask "which" water stops, because they may not slow down to drink on all water stops.  For some large events they may have water stops every mile.

      FWIW ...

       

      1. I made the mistake at Twin Cities in 2010 of grousing afterward about the 3:30 pacers and their "poor" job, taking us out way too fast.  And like many, I was believeing my Garmin instead of checking splits from the actual mile markers.  Had I done that, I'd have seen that the pace team hit the 10k and HM almost dead-on 3:30 pace.

       

      2. With so many people wearing Garmins these days, it's hard for pacers to run what the course offers (i.e., a little slower on uphills, a little faster on downhills v. perfectly-even pace) and have folks stay with them.  I paced a HM last DEC; Miles 2-4 were mostly downhill, we ran them in 7:42/7:32/7:50, and  we lost most of our crowd.  (It was nice to not have to hear all the beeping every mile, though!)  It made me realize how glued to their Garmins' displays and pace read-out those guys were.  There were some good uphill miles later on, which we slowed for accordingly ... and so did the crowd who'd let us go early.  Finished in 1:44:21, only because our remaining racers wanted to race the last mile.

       

      So yeah, talk to the pacers and see what their plans are. Cool

      "I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."

      -- Dick LeBeau

      bpink76


         

         

        I pace with marathon pacing.com and I can tell you Jim wants to hear if you have a bad experience and he tells us to pace evenly.

        Still volunteers, of course.

         

        Marathon Pacing.com was awesome!

         

        If you want to print your own split chart check out www.tazrunning.com

        2013 Goals:

        5K: 25:00

        10K: 52:00

        Half: 2:00:00

        bpink76


          How do I post a link?

          2013 Goals:

          5K: 25:00

          10K: 52:00

          Half: 2:00:00


          an amazing likeness

            How do I post a link?

             

            Select the text you want to be a link, then in the toolbar the link setup tool is available -- it is the chain thingee immediately to the right of the undo/redo arrow set -- becomes available.  Paste the web link into the link setup wizard.

            Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

              Most larger races offer both "run/walk" and continuous pace groups- make sure you are with the right pacer.

              PBs since age 60:  5k- 24:36, 10k - 47:17. Half Marathon- 1:42:41.

                                                  10 miles (unofficial) 1:16:44.

               

              doctorjen


                My pace group advice is to use the pace group as a suggestion, and if it's not working, run your own race.  Be prepared with a back up strategy for maintaining your pace if the pace group doesn't work out.  I like the pace bands from mymarathonpace.com, and then using a watch with lap timing to see where I am.  I will run with my Garmin, but ignore the milage and just hit the lap button at each mile marker (my Garmin tends to hit a mile at about 0.99 mile, this minor error range really adds up over 26 miles.)  Even pacers who are a metronome may not work out for you if you need a little more of a breather one mile, or are feeling good and need to push at some point.  Following just behind can be a good strategy if they are not quite running the same paces and you want to just not let them get too far ahead.

                I enjoy running in a group, too, and run a lot of training miles with a group, but you may find it bothersome during a race.  I've run one race where the group was so big and so tightly packed that I was getting bumped and jostled every few steps.  This was my first sub-2 attempt for a half which tends to be a very popular goal and it was a very large group.  I passed them and got out of their traffic after about 2 miles and had a much better race alone.

                Sometimes even if the pacer is great, there are annoying folks running with the group that you feel the need to get away from.  Folks who want to argue every time their Garmin beeps with the pacer put me over the edge.  On the other hand, I've met some lovely people running with pace groups and a group may be a little more likely to chat if that's your thing.

                Although it's been said over and over in this thread, definitely be prepared to do your own thing just in case!

                bpink76


                  Thanks MT!

                   

                  The link I was trying to post was www.tazrunning.com. You can print your split times and order those tattoos that I think are so nifty.

                   

                   

                  Select the text you want to be a link, then in the toolbar the link setup tool is available -- it is the chain thingee immediately to the right of the undo/redo arrow set -- becomes available.  Paste the web link into the link setup wizard.

                  2013 Goals:

                  5K: 25:00

                  10K: 52:00

                  Half: 2:00:00

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