I had a ton of fun this weekend down in Fort Lauderdale at the Yoga Journal Conference! I always feel like these conferences really push my practice to the next level and inspire my yoga teaching. I’ll post more about it later.
I have some pretty cool news!
I am pacing the Bill Snyder Half Marathon in May 2016! I just received the email of our assignments, so it’s official. I will be pacing the 2:25 group. I am super excited and feel that it will be a really great experience.
If you’ve been following me for a while, you probably read about when I ran my first half marathon at the A1A Half. I used a pacer to get me to a sub-2 hour finish. Honestly, without them I would have gone out too quick and not run the smart race that I did. I really wanted to pay it forward and get people to the time they want.
I’ll be back to post more later, but I was super excited and wanted to let everyone know!
Have you ever paced a race or used a pacer in a race? Any tips for a newbie pacer?
She Runs the Wasatch 
Very cool! I know a lot of pacers and they all say it’s a very rewarding experience. I’m interested to see how you’ll train and prepare for this, as I’ve never paced before but always wondered what it’s like!
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Yeah… Honestly, I haven’t thought too hard about how I’m going to train. I know it’s going to be a bit of a balancing act since I have Colfax the weekend before Bill Snyder. I told the person who was assigning the paces to everyone about the marathon and he didn’t sound too concerned other than that I should be running way slower than usual. I imagine that I’ll do my recovery runs at 11:05 pace for practice.
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A lot of times, the group that puts together pacing teams also organizes group runs and training for the pacers (or gives them training guidance), so I didn’t know if they gave you a plan or any tips to follow or anything like that.
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I’ve been a pacer and used pacers for my races. LOVE races that have pacers! I found pacing to be a very fulfilling experience. I would love to do it again.
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I’m really excited about doing it. I like talking to people while I run and I’ll probably get to do a lot of that.
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Yay!! Pacing is the BEST! I personally have had both good and bad experiences with pacers. Most recent being with the Hartford Marathon. I regularly pace 1:45 half marathons – I just paced one three weeks ago. Before I did it, I actually wrote a blog post with 10 tips for pacing: https://invertedsneakers.wordpress.com/2015/10/15/10-tips-for-being-an-awesome-pacer/?preview_id=3836&preview_nonce=120911fe53&post_format=standard
Good LUCK and have FUN! You are going to do a great job!
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These are great tips! I’ll look over that post a few more times before the race. This pace (11:05) is way slower than my normal half marathon pace (8:00-8:30)… in fact my recovery runs are quite a bit faster than it. How much do you suggest I need to practice at this pace to run even splits on race day?
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I would devote one or two of your recovery runs to practice pacing. I don’t think it’s necessary to go and run a whole 13 miles at that pace before the race. Sometimes, running slower actually is hard because you are altering your stride. You will know what I mean when you do a few miles that way and be prepared for it come race day! Not like hard effort, just hard because you will be clock watching pretty closely and you will want to know what that effort feels like prior to the race. You are going to be a GREAT pacer! I can’t wait to read all about it!!
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That’s exciting! I think it would be really fun to help people achieve their goals. I second Hanna – I’m interested to read about how you plan to train to pace and what strategy you’ll use for the course.
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Yeah… training for this is gonna be hard. I still haven’t really decided what to do other than take my recovery runs at that pace. I am likely registering for the Colfax Marathon, which is the weekend before Bill Snyder and I told the coordinator for the pace groups about that. He wanted me to be at a slow pace in case my legs were still feeling a little tired. I’m expecting to do my recovery runs at this pace (11:05), even though it’s a little slower than I typically do.
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That is so awesome, what a great way to give back to the community! Like Lizzy and Hanna I’d love to hear about your strategy and what it’s like to pace a group on race day!
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I’m super excited about it. I had been waiting on the email for a few weeks to hear if they wanted me for the pace group. I will have to practice that pace (11:05), since it isn’t one that I run much. I think I’ll likely do my recovery runs at that pace leading up to the race so that it’s easy for me to just snap right into it.
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This is so exciting!! I bet you’ll be a great pacer. I like when my pacers are really friendly and can chat/keep my mind off the pain. And I like when they run consistent paces, with time to grab water. Some pacers make time for bathroom breaks but I don’t think it’s necessary in a half, and it means they’re running way faster than some people can keep up with!
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