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| Todd and me at the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon, 2010 |
Before now, I had never really given any thought to elite pacers for marathons, but apparently there are people who pace the lead pack in a marathon so that the runners can remain on an elite pace. Often, they only run part of the race (since someone who can run an elite pace for the whole race should be running with the elites and not as a pacer). Often, there are male pacers for women. The IAAF believes that these male pacers give the ladies an unfair advantage, and therefore the records are no more.
Honestly, I don't know whether I'm on board with the whole thing, since the women got to the finish line on their own two feet. Whether or not a man helped them is rather subjective. I did start to wonder, though, what does this mean to ME?
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| Todd runs behind me at the Disney Marathon, 2010 |
The past couple of weeks I've tried to really think about how much Todd being there has helped. I've spent some races saying barely a word to him because I was working so hard. Occasionally, he will run ahead and finish on his own (this is rare, though). I mean, I appreciate him being there, but it's really hard to say if he is making my times better.
This is a big worry for me. I am running New York for time, and I want to have a great race.
What do you think? Have you run with someone who is faster than you? Did they help you achieve a better time?
3 comments:
First, I think you are really lucky to have him by your side as you run. With that said, being honest because I always am...I don't know if it is a disadvantage. I know that my life is completely opposite...all my training and most of my runs are done alone. Because of this, come race day, when I do have people around, I always do much better. People in general pump me up!
No matter what, you are valid. And you will have a good day!
I don't think you'll be slower Todd-less. Running with a partner helps the mental game (distracts you) so I could see issues there, but you def can't give him any more credit than that! :)
I'm tending to agree. It's an advantage to have him along with me for mental reasons, but I am not 100% certain if he helps my time, and if he does, how much? I think I can still have a good finish time without Todd, especially since he'll be spectating on the course.
Also, I re-read my post and I don't sound nearly appreciative enough and happy enough to have him with me! So, let me just say that I LOVE having Todd along on my runs, he makes them more fun and makes it so that I have someone to share the race memories with! :) Plus, he tends to chitchat with other runners when I do not.
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