The vibrant energy in the air was contagious as participants, myself included, prepared for the race ahead.
Runners gathered at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on the Kansas State University campus early in the morning, eagerly anticipating the start of the Bill Snyder Highway Half Marathon. After all, my personal best in the half marathon stands at 1:43:27. The beauty of pacing is that it allows me to enjoy the race without the pressure of racing or hitting personal time goals. I was eager to chat with the participants, many of whom looked to me for guidance in achieving their personal bests. It was a valuable discovery that reinforced the effectiveness of the run/walk method in conserving energy and reducing overall perceived effort and fatigue.Īs for the race day itself, it was filled with excitement and anticipation.Īs I donned my pacing singlet and lined up alongside the runners, I couldn't help but feel a surge of energy. Not only did I have a lower average heart rate than last year despite pacing the same time (158 beats per minute to 156 bpm), but my rate of perceived effort was significantly lower as well. My Garmin smartwatch data also revealed an interesting insight regarding the strategy. It was a fun experiment that I believe benefited me and some of the runners I was guiding. It was a departure from the norm, yes, but taking walk breaks is actually encouraged by the Garmin SmartPacing team organizer, Eladio Valdez, so I wasn't breaking the rules by any means. Most people running with me decided to keep going, maintaining their running stride, but I did notice a couple of runners who followed suit and took the opportunity to stop and walk during those designated intervals. The timing worked out remarkably well because it took exactly 30 seconds to walk through each aid station entirely. To keep that consistency for this race, I decided to incorporate 30-second walk breaks at each aid station, which occurred every 2 miles. This time, though, I did deviate from my usual pacing strategy.Īlthough I am perfectly capable of running 13.1 miles without walking, I have been using the Jeff Galloway run/walk method during my long runs in my marathon training, implementing 3-4 minute run intervals with 30-second walk breaks. The goal is to help racers maintain an even effort and start conservatively, enabling them to run more efficiently. This strategy adjusts the pace based on the terrain, taking into account the uphills and downhills. Rather than maintaining an even pace throughout each mile, we employ a "SmartPace" approach. Pacers like myself follow a meticulously crafted pacing strategy designed to provide racers with the best chance of running a great race. But this time, it was back to the pace range of 8:46 to 8:51 per mile to hit that coveted 1:55 finish time. The Stilly Half in Stillwater earlier this year was the exception, when I stepped in as the 2:00 pacer.
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