Pacing a Champ!

 Unlike many "senior" runners I don't come from a track background, but when my friend Marg (Margaret) asked me to pace her for her attempt at the NSW >70s 3000m record, how could I say "No"? As Marg said, not wanting to take anything away from the lady that held the previous record, it was a relatively easy target for her to aim for, as it stood at over 24 minutes, and she was hoping to run about 16:30.  My big fear was getting the pace wrong and so being more of a hindrance than a help - mainly because everybody in Australia runs in kilometres (and so their pace is mins/k) whereas I'm still a miles girl! Luckily for Marg, I did manage to alter my watch at lunchtime so that it recorded and showed me kms so by the time I drove up to the track after work, we were all good to go. The weather was perfect as it was cooling off and there was a gentle breeze, but nothing much, and still some nice dappled sunlight

With Marg

She didn't want to do too much of a warm-up so we jogged a few laps and made sure that everything was set up with the time-keepers and officials. Marg had already checked with the governing body that a pacemaker was allowed, and I agreed with the race official that once people started to lap us, I would duck behind (or move out of the way) to avoid others having to run round both of us. I rechecked Marg's desired pace (and hence what lap splits to listen out fo)r and we took our place at the back of the field. A short briefing, some good luck wishes, a recap of race rules and we were off - with the speedsters streaking away from us, which was actually quite nice so that we could settle into our desired pace, though our start position did mean we had to run an extra couple of metres so I was glad that she wasn't trying to break the record by just a couple of seconds!!

Concentrating on my pacing duties

When I say "settle", I think the adrenaline had gotten to Marg as she took off like a bat out of hell and we were belting along way faster than planned. It was all I could do to drag her back to slightly faster than her anticipated pace over that first lap (I'm sure she got sick of me telling her to slow down and hold back though I did secretly hope we could settle at under the 5:30s she'd originally suggested as I thought she definitely had it in her to hold it there). From there on in it was a dream running with her, though I don't think that I've ever looked at my watch so much in a race. I did have to keep my wits about me as I was constantly checking both our pace, counting laps and looking out for other runners. I would try to ensure we were going the right speed before I ducked behind when runners came past and then got us back onto it when I came back alongside Marg. Later on, I actually found it easier to move really wide and let runners come between us, as then I could keep up the motivation/forward momentum.

Definitely the most I've looked at my watch during a run!

We went through the first km quicker than planned, but even allowing for some slight fade, I was hopeful that she would break the 16 minute barrier. I counted down the laps for her and took note of the km splits. We were still going at a decent pace when side by side though it tended to drop when I ducked behind, hence my choice to move wide and keep in sight later on. Whilst jogging earlier, we had joked about the 800m race on the track being a warm up distance for us, so with 2 laps to go, I reminded her Marg that we just had a warmup to go!! The penultimate lap is like the penultimate rep of a session - ie the time when you really need to focus in and stick with it as the last one always happens more easily due to the end being in sight. I was constantly coaching/nagging on that lap - postural things such as keeping relaxed with the shoulders down, working the arms etc - and also sticking with constant pace checks.....luckily Marg was giving it her all so couldn't spare the energy to tell me to shut up!!!

The champ!!! xx

A couple of other girls ran just ahead of us on our final lap as part of their cool down, but Marg remained cool, calm and collected down the back straight. We started to think about the finish and that sub-16 time around the final bend and then she powered away from the corner focusing on the finish line picking up the pace with every stride. I ran wide to ensure that her husband could film her crossing the line and to make sure that I stopped my watch at the exact moment she finished, just in case there was a timing fail. Luckily my watch and the clock agreed.....it was a brilliant new record of 15:51...she absolutely smashed it, and so I can't wait to go out this weekend and help her celebrate as it was an honour to witness her run firsthand

I'll pace again if I can earn more home-made banana bread