A fortnight ago I paced 2 hours at the Sydney Half Marathon.
Comparing to Canberra, it was anything but as straightforward as Canberra.
Here, where all that that can possibly go wrong, will all go wrong. Here’s what
happened.
0-5KM: We got to the start line without an
issue - on time and in good spirits. Time to switch on my Garmin! It won’t register – the GPS simply
kept…blinking and it just won’t get any reception! Horror! How would I know I
am running at 5:40min/km pace now? A nearby person heard me telling my pacing
partner of my watch issue and asked: “how are you going to pace us properly?”
I answered…calmly…in my yoga voice. “it’s ok – my partner’s GPS is
working - and mine is just erratic and delayed for now…”
Even though I was freaking out inside!
Problem was, I can no longer rely on the average pace function on the GPS
(which is what I was relying on at pace training) and I can only use a timer
watch which allows me to split/lap when I see the KM marker. Once the GPS works
again I can also use the spot pace to give me an idea how fast I am going.
5-10.x Km: As we were making our way down
to the 7km mark, my partner was saying that we were 30 seconds ahead of
schedule. But I suspect we were going slower than what was registering on his
GPS…my spot pace was telling me I was running at 6:20min/k pace! In a moment of
confusion, I have no idea what to believe. So I picked up my pace and just
started…running by feel! I know that, at my current point of
fitness, 6:20min/k pace is my “singing” pace, and at 5:40min/k, I can still
whole a full conversation but can’t sing, and that’s where I should be. So I
just…ran by feel.
10-15Km: Eventually my partner caught up
around 11Km mark and conceded that we might end up coming in late. As we head
up to the rolling hills in Pyrmont, I lost him again. At that point I just
decided to just keep going – at least one of us is on time (the weight of responsibility)!
At this stage of the run, another issue popped up – the KM markers were off –
it was…11km, 12km, 13km, 17km! 17km when my (now a bit dodgy GPS) watch reading
14.5km. And it certainly didn't feel like 17km at this stage. I am really thrown into the deep end learning how to run by feel…
16-20K: Forget about the KM markers – they were totally…everywhere!
As if they were just placed along the side of the road randomly. For me I just
kept going. Talking to, mostly myself along the way, and when my watch goes off
at a kilometre, I called out encouragements to the people nearby me. At that
pace, my body felt it is a well-oiled machine. This is my comfortable pace at
my current condition – not too slow, not too fast. Just a special sweet spot
for me. I was, for the first time, running by feel.
That-magic-moment-of-enlightenment. Ding!
I also felt strangely alone. My pacing partner
went kaput (turns out he was only a minute or so behind me, and he was closer
to the 2 hour time than I was!) so I ended up talking to myself like a mad
woman. The people who were holding on to me also went kaput. I was alone. Later
on a friend of mine, who was looking over the pedestrian bridge at King St
Wharf, said there was a MASSIVE swamp of people behind me. I was this…tiny bee
with a tiny flag, and a swarm – literally, at least 100 people, were chasing
for their PB using me. Me! This tiny Bee!!!
21-finish: When I saw the Opera house, I
knew there was about a kilometre to go. I yelled out words of praise to my pace
bus. “Well done guys! Just one K to go –
don’t give up now. It will be over in 6 minutes!” I spoke to people around
me, encouraged walkers to start running again. It was an exhilarating
experience once again, and I managed to get PBs for a large group of people. It
was the most exhilarating experience! Just getting people their PBs. Amazing!
And bravo to me too – I took them home
without the aid of my Garmin. I just ran by feel. And it felt great.
Post-blog comment: One of the strangest
comment I received was around the 13km mark where I was saying “great work
guys, we are way pass the half way mark”. Two girls turned around and one
exclaimed: “O wow there’s the marker person! We are not that slow! And the marker is a GIRL!” Umm…ok…what, girls can’t
run? O_o”
Lazy checking her watch...one KM till the finish! Job well done!
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