To pace OR not to pace …… THAT was the question.

Information is pouring out of Orlando this week.  For those Marathon experts on the message boards, they are drinking it down like margaritas on spring break.  For the marathon newbies like me….well, we’re just trying to get a sip of water from the fire-hose, before it blows our heads off!  The official race information has been released.  I’m taking my time to take it all in…one piece at a time.  One thing that caught my eye — was the pace teams.  I was hopin’ to get me one of those!!  To put myself into a group, so the experience wouldn’t feel so lonely.

At the exposition before the race, you can meet the pace teams and pick up a pace band.  My first reaction was….KEWL!  My second reaction was….what the heck is a pace band?  And what do I do with it?

So off to Google I go —-> Pace Bands!

The best site I found was offered by Clif Bar & Company.  They offer a site where you can input your expected race finish and print your own custom Pace Band.

http://www.clifbar.com/play/pace_band/

The pace band has each 26.2 mles and an expected time for each mile.  So at one glance at your watch and then to your pace band — you can assess how you are doing, time wise.  I LIKED it.

So then I read the race info and find out that the last Pace Group is for a 5:30 hr. finish.  Hmmmm.  I think that’s too fast for me.  I figured it out and that would require me to run the whole marathon at 12:30 minute pace.  Grr, that’s likely too fast.

So, I decided to conduct an experiment.  To put the mouse (ME) back in the maze.  So I head out on my 15 mile run today, and see if I can do it at 12:30.  It started out OK, but about 8 miles into it — I was t.i.r.e.d., b.e.a.t.  It sucked.  Oh well.  Sometimes, even when experiments go bad…you still learn from them.  The experiment answered my question….even though it wasn’t the answer I WANTED.  So I had to suck it up, be a big-girl scientist, and accept that my pace for 26.2 miles — was somewhere slower than 12:30.  To be able to run the whole thing, i think I’m 13:13 – 13:20ish.

So…..I finished the 15 miles, with a bunch of walking the last miles….and waved Bye-Bye to the Marathon pace groups.  I would head out on Race Day, and take on this experience…in the same way I’ve faced all the training.  By myself.  And it’s Ok.  Cuz, I’ve got my three amigos….and we’ve spent alot of miles on the road bonding.  We know each other.  We’re strong together, we fight together, and we’ll succeed together.

My three amigos…..Me, Myself, and I!  It’s all good.

Mission for the rest of my runs…..to program my “switch” to feel 13:13.  That’s my speed.  Download the program Dozer — by next Sunday I need to feel 13:13 for 22 miles…

In the meantime — come along amigos — it’s almost Christmas.  Let’s go celebrate the birth of our savior and immerse ourselves in twinkly lights!

Ciao for now…..Diane