Pace Teams (Read 420 times)

Some discussion here - http://www.tapermadness.org/tm_phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=6581

Hey Grun: I agree with much of what I read in Trent's thread. I use the pacers but mostly as markers - in other words, I watch for them behind and in front of me. I make no effort to maintain their pace. The only time I did that was last year's disastrous CMM. Coincidence? For me, the biggest problem with pacers is that you're trying to force yourself to follow an artificial pace. In my recent marathon, my pace was almost perfectly where I planned it to be all the way through mile 21 - but there miles where I slowed down, and some where I sped up. Naturally. If I'd tried to force myself to stay at exactly goal pace each mile, or to stay right beside someone else .... well, it might have caused problems. Unless you don't know how to use a watch or read a clock - and you're vision is too bad to see the pacers when they're near you - I don't really see much point in using them. Except for the conversation. If it's a fun group, it might be worth sticking with them. I'm convinced I ran a decent Monkey Marathon last fall almost solely because Trent and Sam entertained me for the first half.